KOLKATA: The Met department at Kolkata airport is in the process of installing a new radar and wind profiling machine to assess wind speed and issue improved and more accurate forecasts to airlines so that they can plan their routes accordingly to avoid inclement weather systems. This will make air travel safer.
According to a Kolkata airport official, they have got in-principle sanction for installation of the devices and are scouting for a 10-storey building within 10-km radius of the airport above which the devices can be installed for a better prediction.
Currently the airport gathers weather system data from a doppler radar placed inside the signature football-like structure installed atop the New Secretariat building, which is around 15 kms away from the airport. The predictions as a result are not always perfect.
“We have got in principle sanction for the new machinery and are looking for a high building, preferably within 10 kms of the airport which can make better predictions based on wind speed closer to the airport,” said the official.
The officials have been eyeing a high-rise in Salt Lake – a multi-storeyed government building Mrittika Bhavan that houses the office of West Bengal Comprehensive Area Development Corporation – which is less than 8kms away from the airport. Officials said talks are on with the state government for using its roof for installation of the machinery.
“The radar measures the height of clouds hundreds of kilometres away. Once the clouds form, it measures the velocity at which they are approaching, their height and the amount of rain it may cause. The radar also provides a projection, which helps weathermen to predict with considerable accuracy, the expected wind speed and time and duration of rain,” said a weather official.
Radar and wind profilers, alone or in combination, can measure vertical wind shear, turbulence level and crosswind and are used to provide related data and issue warnings.
“Radars and wind profilers combine the output of different sensors, perform appropriate quality controls and optionally display all dedicated information on a screen,” said an official.
Airport officials said, stress on tracking weather systems and turbulence in advance have been in focus since a plane carrying chief minister Mamata Banerjee from Varanasi to Kolkata was caught in turbulence in March last year. The turbulence led to Banerjee suffering a waist injury when the flight made a steep climb-down the flight to cope with the turbulence.
The Met department and air traffic control (ATC) officials have now been inducted into the mandatory security meet before any VIP movement through Kolkata airport.
