Kochi to get Doppler radar by year-end

KOCHI: Kochi will get a Doppler radar by the year end as the installation work is moving at a fast pace at Palluruthy in West Kochi. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said once commissioned, this S-band Doppler radar system will give accurate and location specific weather information.
The new complex that is being constructed at a cost of Rs 7 crore will accommodate the 10-meter high, 15-tonne S-band Doppler radar that is currently under construction.The Doppler radar is being developed by Bharat Electronics Limited at project cost of about Rs 10 crore.
P S Biju, director in-charge of IMD Thiruvananthapuram said Doppler radar system is unique in its functioning and can measure the velocity of the particles inside the weather system. "The 10-meter-high radar would transmit climatic data including cloud density, amount of rainfall and thunderstorm. The information would be further disseminated to the public through the IMD web portal," he said.
The new radar system would replace the conventional cyclone detection radar, which is currently under operation for over two decades at the Southern Naval Command.
"In the conventional cyclone detection radar, the cyclone tracking system is manual and its movement needs to be recorded with human intervention every hour. The new radar system has an auto-prediction and computerized monitoring system, by which the data is updated digitally at intervals of half-an-hour," Biju said.
Biju also said the second Doppler radar in the state would come up at Thiruvananthapuram in the next phase. "With one more system coming up at Mangalore along the Eastern
coast, the whole of Kerala would be covered and accurate weather information would be disseminated," he added.