The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) will expand its observational network and upgrade its forecast techniques.
What’s it about? The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), Chennai, will expand and upgrade its observational network for better forecasting accuracy. More stations will be added in several areas to accurately predict weather patterns in urban areas.
- The IMD is currently identifying locations for automatic rain gauges and weather stations. Chennai has 12 automatic rain gauges and weather stations.
- The IMD will use new-age technology like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to upgrade their forecasting techniques and analyse radar data.
Who said what? P Senthamarai Kannan from the Area Cyclone Warning Centre spoke of the importance of the southwest monsoon in ensuring water availability. B Geetha from the RMC said the state recorded normal rainfall during last year’s northeast monsoon. Scientist B Arul Malar Kannan spoke of the 50 years since radar came to Chennai and the instalment of the doppler weather radar.