PARLIAMENT QUESTION: IMD’S OBSERVATION ON WEATHER FORECASTING FOR COASTAL AREAS OF KERALA
PARLIAMENT QUESTION: IMD’S OBSERVATION ON WEATHER FORECASTING FOR COASTAL AREAS OF KERALA
This is only a temporary closure in response to the eviction notice issued to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) by the Maritime Board, Kerala State. Despite the closure, the Automatic Rain Gauge (ARG) installed in the same location continues to provide essential weather data, and this office is utilizing it for weather forecasting purposes, thereby not compromising the forecasting capabilities along Kerala’s coastal areas.
Meteorological Center (MC)-Thiruvananthapuram has approached the Government of Kerala to provide a suitable site with a building within a 2-3 km radius of the old observatory so that the existing climatological data of the Alappuzha observatory remains relevant and applicable to the new location.
Currently there are no plans for establishing additional weather monitoring stations in the State of Kerala. However, the installation process of one X-Band Radar on the campus of Pazhassi College, Pulppally, Wayanad, is progressing as per the timeline. IMD has already established a sufficient number of Automatic Weather Stations/Automatic Rain Gauges/ and Agro-AWS (AWS/ARG/Agro-AWS) networks in the State of Kerala. Also, IMD has already established AWS and ARG networks in sensitive districts, Idukki and Wayanad, as given in Annexure-1.
The AWS/ARG/Agro-AWS are under the annual maintenance contract (AMC) for maintenance and calibration. The following measures are implemented/being implemented to address the reliability issues of the automatic weather stations and rain gauges in Kerala:
Annexure-1
AWS/ARG/AGRO-AWS NETWORK
S. No.
State/ UT
Aws
Arg
Agro-Aws
1
KERALA
109
30
3
S. No.
State
District
Aws/Arg Station
Lat
Lon
1
Kerala
Idukki
Anayirankal Dam
10.0104
77.2087
2
Kerala
Idukki
Ayyappankovil
9.7100
77.0100
3
Kerala
Idukki
Cheruthoni
9.8650
76.9983
4
Kerala
Idukki
Kovilkadavu
10.2597
77.1688
5
Kerala
Idukki
Kundala Dam
10.1461
77.2019
6
Kerala
Idukki
Meencut
10.0410
77.0460
7
Kerala
Idukki
Munnar
10.0833
77.0567
8
Kerala
Idukki
Pampadumpara
9.7986
77.1614
9
Kerala
Idukki
Peermade
9.5730
76.9910
10
Kerala
Idukki
Sengulam Dam
10.0124
77.0318
11
Kerala
Idukki
Udumbannoor
9.8667
76.8586
12
Kerala
Idukki
Upper Perinjamkutty
9.6000
77.0100
13
Kerala
Idukki
Vattavada
10.1777
77.2538
14
Kerala
Idukki
Vellathooval
9.9800
77.0100
15
Kerala
Idukki
Thodupuzha
9.9100
76.6000
16
Kerala
Wayanad
Ambalavayal_Afmu
11.6173
76.2141
17
Kerala
Wayanad
Kabanigiri
11.8544
76.1781
18
Kerala
Wayanad
Kalpeta
11.6264
76.0886
19
Kerala
Wayanad
Karapuzha
11.6180
76.1670
20
Kerala
Wayanad
Kuppadi
11.6786
76.2269
21
Kerala
Wayanad
Padamala
11.8111
76.0758
22
Kerala
Wayanad
Padinjarathara_Dam
11.6560
75.9460
23
Kerala
Wayanad
Mananthavady
11.7900
76.0000
24
Kerala
Wayanad
Meenangadi
11.6600
76.1600
25
Kerala
Wayanad
Pookot
11.5300
76.0200
This information was given by Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science & Technology and Earth Science, Dr. Jitendra Singh in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.