Kalpetta: The installation of a Doppler weather radar, which would immensely improve weather predictions in northern districts of Kerala, is being delayed as authorities are unable to zero in on an ideal location. 

The existing Doppler radar in Kochi cannot cover the entire state. Weak coverage has affected the weather predictions in Wayanad, Kannur and Kasargod districts. Since the deluge in 2018 and the cyclonic storm Ockhi, there have been demands for an improved weather monitoring system covering the whole of Kerala, as the state is vulnerable to natural calamities.   

 Dr S Abhilash, director of the Advanced Centre for Atmospheric Radar Research at CUSAT, said that scanning the atmosphere from an elevated surface would result in missing lower-level cloud formations and faulty climatic predictions. 

“The IMD radar was expected to be located in Malappuram or Kannur. It may have been shifted to Wayanad in the wake of the latest devastating landslides. Installing the DWR in the northern part of Kerala will give a detailed weather forecast as the movements of clouds and structure formations could be captured better. A radar for the Malabar region was sanctioned much earlier but got delayed due to failure in identifying an ideal location for its installation," he said. 

IMD Director Neetha K Gopal said the met department has yet to finalise an ideal location. “We will finalise the location as soon as possible and will announce it later through the official channels," she said. The IMD team has searched many locations in the Kozhikode, Wayanad, and Kannur districts, but the right spot has not been fixed. The Kannur University campus has the best signal reach among the locations tested.  

Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) Member Secretary Sekhar Kuriakose said that the Chief Minister’s office will declare the location once finalised and till then there is no room for speculation. “The system will be fixed on the right spot ensuring maximum reach for signals and better coverage of the Malabar region,"he added.