Government Schools in Kerala to Install Weather Stations

Vinod Kakumanu
Dec. 20, 2022, 3:04 p.m.

In a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country, 240 government schools in Kerala will soon install weather stations. These will be used to observe and record daily changes in the weather conditions in the state. This project is part of efforts to help the young generation to understand climatic changes and to prepare for taking required precautions in the event of natural disasters in the state.

The project was launched by the General Education Minister of Kerala at the Kayanna Government Higher Secondary School recently – as part of the first district- level inauguration in Kozhikode district. The department has already started the process of setting up weather monitoring at other schools in a phased manner, and 18 government schools in Kozhikode district will be covered under this initiative.

Each weather station would have 13 devices, including rain gauge, thermometer, barometer, weather data bank, etc. Students would observe the amount of rain received, monitor wind speeds and atmospheric pressure, and record it on special charts. For this activity, training is planned to be given to geography students and teachers. The aim is for students to gather the data and gain a practical understanding of what they are learning from the regular textbooks.

The project is also linked to the topography of the state – which is highly undulating and causes significant microclimatic variations. With limited weather stations in the state, daily data on weather conditions was also lacking. This project will directly address this gap and help build widespread data, and support in-depth analysis of climatic changes.