India’s going to be getting a little help from China in predicting the weather.
Ahead of the monsoon the country’s meteorological department is replacing its old conventional radars with new and advanced Chinese-made equipment that can track and predict fast-developing weather systems such as thunderstorms, cyclones and cloudbursts.
The Doppler Weather Radars or DWR, which have been acquired from the Beijing-based Metstar Radar Company, will be mounted on building rooftops at a height of 16 meters and provide accurate short-range weather prediction in a 500-kilometer (310 miles) radius.
“The DWR is an attempt by the meteorological department to modernize its observational network,” A.P. Tyagi, director general of the Indian Meterological Department based in New Delhi told India Real Time Thursday.
These radars will play a vital role in providing information about bad weather events over Delhi and its adjoining areas.
The 14 other locations that may soon get the new equipment are Mumbai, Pune, Patna, Goa, Patiala, Mohanbari and Dibrugarh, Lucknow, Paradip, Karaikal, Kochi, Bhopal, Nagpur and Agartala.
“The installation will likely be completed before the onset of the monsoon next month,” Mr. Tyagi said.
Named after the Austrian physicist Christian Doppler, the cost of each radar is 100 million rupees ($2 million).
Currently India has five weather radars set up at Visakhapatnam, Machhlipatnam, Chennai, Kolkata and Sriharikota, according to the meteorological office.
“The Chinese radars will be operated round the clock. It will pick up more accurate information about the turbulence and wind speed of the atmosphere before a cyclone or heavy shower occurs,” Mr. Tyagi said.
The old equipment isn’t so bad though. Authorities in the southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh have been moving tens of thousands of people from their homes since Wednesday in preparation for the arrival of Cyclone Laila today, which made landfall packing winds of 110 kilometers (70 miles) an hour. Communication and power supplies have been disrupted and even air and train services have been thrown out of gear.follow @WSJIndia