IMD to install new rain gauges & automatic weather stations in Tamil Nadu

MeT to install new rain gauges & automatic weather stations in Tamil Nadu

In a bid to improve predictions and gather more precise weather data, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) is revamping its existing rain gauges and automatic weather stations and expanding its weather observation network across the state of Tamil Nadu.

The IMD further plans to accelerate work in the next few weeks for more precise forecasts. According to the IMD officials, field visits and installations were a challenge during the lockdown period. Presently, IMD has 40 automatic weather stations and 75 automatic rain gauges across Tamil Nadu. However, IMD has received equipment for installing 20 automatic rain gauges and 10 automatic weather stations in the first phase.

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S Balachandran, Deputy Director-General of Meteorology, Chennai, said, “We are finalising strategic locations to install the Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) and Automatic Rain Gauges (ARGs). We plan to set up more such facilities as we get additional equipment. A denser network covering more places will help us collect additional weather data and issue weather forecasts for a specific region.”

Further, IMD is also heading to install high wind speed recorders in strategic locations to get high-resolution data. Locations, including Kanniyakumari, are being considered. The wind recorders would be helpful in disseminating information of cyclones.