1

Vol. 1 SEPTEMBER 2008

IMD UPDATE Bi-monthly

Mausam Bhawan, New Delhi

Prepared and compiled

by

PUBLICATION SECTION

INDIA METEOROLOGICAL DEPARTMENT LODI ROAD, NEW DELHI – 110 003

2

PREFACE India Meteorological Department has a great history since its inception in 1875. Today the department has developed into a vast organization comprising of various divisions and providing services to different sections of the society. The department is involved in a variety of nation wide multi location and multiagency projects The RMCs and MCs are actively participating in various modernization plans. The forecasts & weather information provided by the department are very useful for various purposes. Since the department has offices & observatories in remote areas also the officials working there are generally unaware of the developments taking place in the various divisions of the department. In the absence of information flow to these stations they feel cut off from the mainstream. To keep all the officials / personnel of the department informed about all the activities / programs being taken up by different divisions and main centres, it has been decided to publish ‘IMD update’ regularly in alternate months (i.e., Jan, March, etc). IMD update includes the information about the programs, plans and projects under taken by different offices / divisions for modernization of IMD. It is due to concern and thereafter the inspiration of DGM to keep the entire fraternity of IMD well informed about the changing scenario in the department that lead to the publication of ‘IMD update’. It is hoped that all the personnel of the department would find it useful.

Dr. A. L. KOPPAR

DDGM Publication Divisions

O/o D.G.M. New Delhi

3

INDEX

S. No. On going activity and future program of various units Office Page

No.

1. Instrumentation & Telecom

1.1 Upper Air Instrument DDGM(UI), N.Delhi 1

1.2 Surface Instrument DDGM(SI), Pune 6

1.3 Telecom division DGM’s, New Delhi 8

2. Forecasting

2.1 Northern Hemisphere Analysis Centre DGM’s, New Delhi 12

2.2 NWP Computer Center DGM’s, New Delhi 17

2.3 National Satellite Meteorological Centre DGM’s, New Delhi 20

2.4 Weather forecasting DDGM(WF), Pune 26

2.5 National climate centre /

Long range forecasting unit

ADGM(R), Pune 32

3. Hydrometeorology

3.1 Hydromet division DGM’ New Delhi 36

4. Agrometeorology

4.1 Agro-met division Agromet, Pune 42

5. Seismology

5.1 Seismology & EREC division, New Delhi DGM’ New Delhi 47

6. Research & Training

6.1 Environment Monitoring & Research Centre DGM’ New Delhi 59

6.2 National Data Centre (NDC) ADGM(R), Pune 63

6.3 Central Training Institute, Pune DDGM(WF), Pune 66

7. Modernization

7.1 IT division DGM’ New Delhi 68

7.2 Establishment of dedicated weather channel DGM’ New Delhi 69

8. General Administration

8.1 Budget and planning DGM’ New Delhi 73

8.2 Welfare DGM’ New Delhi 77

8.3 CPU DGM’ New Delhi 81

8.4 Publication section DGM’ New Delhi 82

8.5. General section DGM’ New Delhi 84

9. Astronomy

9.1 PAC Kolkata PAC, Kolkata 85

10. Commonwealth Games

10.1 Weather information and forecast System RMC, (SFD)New Delhi 87

4

UPPER AIR INSTRUMENTS, NEW DELHI

1. Radar Section

Radar section of DDGM (UI) office is responsible for maintenance and operation of

IMD,s weather radar network.

IMD presently operates a network of eleven Cyclone Detection and 29 Storm

Detection Radars. Most of the radars of this network are very old and are based on

conventional analog systems, which are now obsolete. Moreover, their products

are incompatible with present day requirements of digital data on different

parameters which can be directly used as inputs to weather prediction models.

There has already been some progress in this regard through procurement and

commissioning of 5 Doppler Weather Radar systems on the east coast (Kolkata,

Visakhapatnam, Machalipatnam, Chennai and Sriharikota). Induction of an

adequate number of Doppler Radars in the network would facilitate improvement in

analysis. Doppler radars will give us more derived products than the conventional

radars, which are useful for weather forecasting. Some of the examples are radial

winds, precipitation rates, vertical velocity of air etc. Doppler radars are especially

useful for forecasting severe weather events, and are power full tools for

nowcasting. Under the modernization plan of IMD ,it is proposed to replace all

existing old and obsolete conventional radars with the state-of-art modem radars

having Doppler capabilities. It is proposed to install 55 S-band Doppler weather

radars in the IMD's network to bring the entire country under radar coverage. In

,the first phase of modernization plan of IMD, it is proposed to replace 12 of the

existing radars with state of art Doppler Weather Radars at Paradip, Mumbai, Goa,

Lucknow, Patna, Patiala, Mohanbari, Agartala, Bhopal, Delhi, Karaikal and Nagpur

supply order for which has already been placed on M/s Metstar, China. In addition,

it is planned to install DWRs at Bhuj (Gujrat) & Kochi (Kerala) for which order has

already been placed with M/s BEL Bangalore as part of the already approved plan

scheme of the Department.

5

2. Wind profiler

Under the modernization plan phase-I of IMD four numbers of wind profilers are

proposed to be procured.

Current achievements and future Dlans OF UPPER AIR OBSERVATORIES

In I.M.D. upper air observations are made at 39 RS/RW stations and 62 Pilot

Balloon observatories to provide Met data i.e. pressure, temperature, humidity &

wind at various levels in the atmosphere up to an altitude of 30-35 kms for RS/RW

and up to a maximum altitude of 18 Kms employing optical theodolites for PB

stations.

TYPES OF GROUND EQUIPMENT USED

RS/RW observatories have been equipped with three types of ground Equipment

as under:

• Radiosonde Ground equipment (ECIL/DIGITAL make) along with X band

Wind finding Radars (EEC/MULTIMET) at 401 MHz

• IMS-1500 Radiotheodolite at 1680 MHz

• SAMEER Radiotheodolite at 401 MHz

MAINTENANCE OF EQUIPMENT

6

The maintenance is carried out by HQ through spares initially procured and few

spares procured later from time to time. Recently at many RS stations operating on

401 Mhz PM broadcast from nearby AIR station is interfering with RF signals at

many RS stations. To over come this problem improved RS receivers need to be

procured. The optical theodolites are being serviced and maintained in IMD

Workshop by procuring spares from the manufacturing firm.

RECENT IMPROVEMENTS IN UPPER AIR COMPUTING SYSTEM

To eliminate manual interaction and to minimize instrument error, up-gradation of

the RS/RW computing system has been done.

(i) IMD Mark - IV radiosonde developed in-house has been implemented at all

RSRW stations. This radiosonde is being used with IMS - 1500 Radiotheodolite as

well as with new auto computation system. Plans are to completely stop the

manufacturing of MK - III radiosonde as all the RS/RW stations are now equipped

to work with MK-IV radiosonde. DDGM (SI) office has b~en requested to change

the design of their radiometersonde and ozonesonde to MK-IV so that we may stop

the manufacturing of MK -III radiosonde. The software developed. by SAMEER,

Mumbai generates Meteorological message in standard WMO format and also

gives plots of T-Phi gram, temperature and humidity profiles.

(ii) The Pressure sensor of IMD MK-IV radiosonde is a mechanical design and

needed urgent 'up-gradation for more reliable data. A solid state pressure sensor

based radiosonde was designed and tested. The software was suitably modified

and the ascents were conducted at RSRW Thiruvananthapuram. The sensor

performed satisfactorily in the full range. More ascents are planned with new bead

type thermistors to improve the data further. After the tests the modified MK-IV

would be used for observations in the network.

7

(iii) Development of hand held data loggers along with software for PB

computations has been completed under an MOD with SAMEER and implemented

at 62 stations. All the optical theodolites would be replaced with new theodolites for

improved ascents. Procurement procedures are in the final stages for 5 numbers of

electronic optical theodolites and supply order has been placed for 70 numbers of

optical theodolites.

FUTURE PLANS FOR FURTHER IMPROVEMENTS

1. It is proposed to install mini-electrolyser for generating hydrogen gas in-situ at

the RS/RW stations employing technique of electrolysis of water. It will cut down

expenditure on transportation of chemicals to the station. Electrolyser plant has

already been installed and commissioned at RMO Ayanagar, Manali and Jammu.

2. Development of indigenous MEMS sensors for IMD radiosonde is being done in

collaboration with SCL, Chandigarh in order to replace the existing sensors.

3. Development of GPS based radiosonde is under progress in collaboration with

SAMEER, Mumbai. Prototype testing is expected in September 2008. ISRO has

also developed GPS radiosonde and trial ascents have been taken at SHAR and

VSSC, one test ascent has also been taken at New Delhi and results are

encouraging. Plan, is to start regular ascents at five stations.

4. Development of 1680 MHz indigenous radiotheodolite and receiver is under

progress in collaboration with SAMEER, Mumbai.

5. Ten upper air stations are being up graded by installation of GPS system, five

under MFI and five IMD procurement, order has been placed.

8

6. As a step for improvement of data quality a scheme for taking ascents with

Sippicon radiosonde at ten stations with IMS radiotheodolite is under consideration

at IFD, MoES to accord approval for procurement on PAC basis.

7. Development of 1680 MHz MMIC transmitter for IMD radiosonde is under

progress in collaboration with GAETEC, Hyderabad. Prototype expected to be

ready within two months.

9

SURFACE INSTRUMENT, PUNE

Modernisation plan phase - I

(as on 1st September 2008)

S. No. Name of the project Present status

1. Commissioning of automated weather stations AWS (550 nos)

Order placed. Design review meeting in Sept 08 Site Selected 351.

2. Commissioning of automatic rainguages ARGs (1350 nos)

Order placed ,LC opened Design review conducted. Model site installation in Sept 08. Site selected 431

3. Commissioning of new integrated and automated Meteorological systems for airports (20 Nos)

TEC Report sent to HQ Supply order awaited. All sites selected.

4. Establishment of Lightning detection network

Tender enquiry floated, prebid meeting on 9th Sept 08 at Pune

5. RVR equipment for Lucknow Airport

Tender enquiry floated

10

On-going schemes

S. No. Name of the project Present status

1. Installation of Integrated AMI at Mumbai airport

Installation completed. Book debit vouchers for 70 Lakhs pending.

2. Installation of Integrated AMI at seven airports

Installation completed at Delhi (RWY 27), Hyderabad and Bangaluru; Installation in progress at Jaipur Installation at Delhi RWY29/11 completed. Order to be placed for additional requirement

3. Additional requirement for 7 airports

4. Additional requirement for Delhi airport (RWY 29-11)

5. Augmentation of radiation network of India

Stores received . Order to be placed for installation Fresh proposal for Sun Shine Recorders sent to HQ.

6. Establishment of UV radiation network

Procurement of UV A completed Fresh indent sent for procurement of UV-B and UV-Total radiometer

7. Establishment of aerosol monitoring network

Revised indent sent to CPU.

8. Procurement of radiation standard

Fresh approval for absolute cavity awaited from HQ. All queries raised by HQ replied on 25th June 08 TEC report sent for standard pyranometer CM-21. Order awaited.

9. Procurement of digital standard barometers (100) and Dead weight tester (2 nos.)

Delivery of Dead Weight Tester received.Delivery of Indian Items awaited. Book Debit Voucher for 8 Lakhs pending.

10. Procurement of wind tunnel

No response to our tender Approved in principle, for signing R & D MOU with IISC Bangalore and IMD is awaited.

11. Upgradation of existing Radiosonde/ozonesonde

Approval of expenditure sanction for 30% advance payment is awaited..

12. Replacement of old DCPs and establishment of earth station at Pune

Installation completed. Comparision and validation of data to continue

13. Construction of test & evaluation laboratory and vertical extension of AWS building at Pashan

Administrative approvals and Expenditure sanction

11

Telecom Division

Telecom Division has taken the following initiatives in last one year to provide

connectivity to all M.O.s, MCs, RMCs, CWC, ACWC and FMOs:

(i) Broadband Internet with PC, Printer and UPS to all smaller observatories in

all regions.

(ii) VPN connectivity to all larger RMCs, MCs and M.O.s

Stations Type Speed 1. AMSS Mumbai Bronze 512 Kbps 2. AMSS Chennai -do- -do- 3. AMSS Kolkata -do- -do- 4. RTH New Delhi Silver -do- 5. DDGM(WF)Pune Bronze -do- 6. M.C. Bangalore -do- -do- 7. M.C. Bhopal -do- 256 Kbps 8. M.C. Shimla -do- -do- 9. CDR Karaikal -do- -do- 10. RMC Guwahati -do- -do- 11. M.O. Mohanbari -do- -do- 12. M.C. Itanagar -do- -do- 13. CDR Kochi -do- -do- 14. M.C. Raipur -do- -do- 15. M.C. Agartala -do- -do- 16. M.O. Imphal -do- -do- 17. M.C, Hyderabad -do- -do- 18. M.C.Thiruvananthpuram -do- -do- 19. M.C. Dehradun -do- -do- 20. CWC Visakhapatnam -do- -do- 21. CDR Machilipatnam -do- -do-

22. M.C. Gangtok -do- -do- 23. AMO Hyderabad -do- 512 Kbps 24. AMO Bangalore -do- -do- 25. DWR Visakhapatnam -do- 256 Kbps 26. DWR Shar -do- -do- 27. DWR Chennai -do- -do- 28. DWR Kolkata -do- -do-

(iii) High speed data terminals to all larger RMCs, MCs and M.O.s

12

S.NO. Name of the stations 1. M.C.Ahmedabad 2. M.O.Bangalore 3 M.C.Bhopal 4. M.C.Bhubaneswar 5. M.C.Chandigarh 6. M.C.Hyderabad 7. M.C.Shimla 8. M.C.Jaipur 9. M.C.Itanagar 10. M.C.Lucknow 11. M.C.Dehradun 12. M.C.Patna 13. M.C.Sri Nagar 14. M.C.Thiruvananthapuram 15. C.W.C.Visakhapattanam 16. A.M.O.Nagpur 17. M.O.Goa 18. C.D.R.Karaikal 19. C.D.R.Machilipattanam 20. R.M.C.Guwahati 21. M.C.Ranchi 22. M.O.Mohanbari 23. M.C.Gangtok 24. C.D.R.Kochi 25. M.C.Raipur 26. M.C.Agartala 27. M.O.Imphal 28. D.G.M(Telecom) Lodhi Road

13

(iv) 64 kbps IP VSAT connectivity to inaccessible RMCs, MCs and M.O.s

S.No. Micro Earth Stations (VSAT) IP Address

1. M.C. Bhubaneswar 10.70.150.17

2. CDR Paradip 10.70.150.81

3. RMC Guwahati 10.70.150.89

4. CDR Karaikal 10.70.150.97

5. CDR Machilipatnam 10.70.150.9

6. M.C. Srinagar* 10.70.150.105

7. M.C. Thyiruvananthapuram 10.70.150.1

8. CSO Shillong 10.70.150.113

9. M.O. Agartala* 10.70.150.121

10. RMC Chennai 10.70.150.129

11. DDGM(WF) Pune 10.70.150.41

12. HQ Office New Delhi 10.70.150.25

13. RMC Kolkata 10.70.150.145

14. CWC Visakhapatnam 10.70.150.33

15. M.O. Gangtok* 10.70.150.153

16.. M.O. Mohanbari * 10.70.150.161

17.. M.C. Ahemdabad 10.70.150.169

18.. RMC Mumbai 10.70.150.137

19.. M.C. Bhopal 10.70.150.177

20. M.C. Portblair* 10.70.150.49

21. M.C. Itanagar* 10.70.150.185

22. M.O. Aminidevi* 10.70.150.57

23. M.O. Minicoy* 10.70.150.65

24. RMC Nagpur* 10.70.150.73

25. M.C. Shimla* 10.70.150.193

26. SHAR Radar* 10.70.150.201

* Under process

14

(v) IVRS for dissemination of weather and warning to most of the state capitals

Popularly known as “Weather on telephone”, the Interactive Voice Response

System (IVRS) is functioning with effect from July, 2000. One can access current

weather and forecast for major Indian cities by dialing Toll free number 1800 180

1717. Our all four Metros are already equipped with this system. Recently this

IVR facility has been extended to 22 more stations (state capitals).

(vi) LAN and Internet bandwidth expansion

Effort has been made to expand the internet bandwidth at all RMCs and 4 AMSS

metro centres. In addition Telecom Division has provided some additional plotters

to Pune and RMCs for downloading plotted charts from Flight workstations.

Telecom Division has also sanctioned cases for a large number of officers and staff

to be trained in PC, internet and Office Automation software.

15

NORTHERN HEMISPHERE ANALYSIS CENTRE (NHAC)

Areas of activities = OPERATIONAL UNIT

• Plotting and synoptic analysis of all weather charts

• Issue of Sub-division wise All India Weather Forecast bulletin twice a day for

the next 3 days with an outlook for subsequent 48 hours.

• Media co-ordination on all India basis.

• Issue of Weather forecast for mountaineering expeditions of Army.

• Day to day weather briefing to DGM and other senior IMD officials.

• Issue and update of location specific weather forecast for major cities to

WMO and IMD Web-site.

• Monitoring of southwest and northeast monsoon.

• Weekly briefings to Ministry of Agriculture in the national task force- Crop

Weather Watch Group.

• Issue of weather reports for various ministries particularly MHA (NDM).

16

CYCLONE WARNING DIVISION (CWD)

•• TToo ccoooorrddiinnaattee && ssuuppeerrvviissee ccyycclloonnee wwaarrnniinngg aaccttiivviittiieess aallll oovveerr tthhee ccoouunnttrryy

•• MMeeddiiaa ccoooorrddiinnaattiioonn:: DDiisssseemmiinnaattiioonn ooff CCyycclloonnee wwaarrnniinnggss ttoo RRaaddiioo &&

TTeelleevviissiioonn cchhaannnneellss ffoorr nnaattiioonnaall nneettwwoorrkk

• CClloossee iinntteerraaccttiioonn wwiitthh aaggeenncciieess eennggaaggeedd iinn DDiissaasstteerr MMaannaaggeemmeenntt CWD has

the following functions at the international level:

•• MMoonniittoorriinngg CCyycclloonniicc DDiissttuurrbbaanncceess oovveerr tthhee NNoorrtthh IInnddiiaann OOcceeaann ((BBaayy ooff

BBeennggaall aanndd AArraabbiiaann SSeeaa))

•• RRuunnnniinngg NNuummeerriiccaall mmooddeellss ffoorr CCyycclloonnee TTrraacckk pprreeddiiccttiioonn ((QQLLMM)) aanndd SSttoorrmm

SSuurrggee pprreeddiiccttiioonn mmooddeellss

• IIssssuuee ooff TTrrooppiiccaall wweeaatthheerr oouuttllooookk// CCyycclloonnee wwaarrnniinnggss ttoo tthhee PPaanneell CCoouunnttrriieess

viz. Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar, Pakistan, Srilanka, Sultanate of Oman

and Thailand.

• IIssssuuee ooff TTrrooppiiccaall CCyycclloonnee AAddvviissoorriieess ffoorr AAvviiaattiioonn aass ppeerr tthhee gguuiiddeelliinneess ooff

IICCAAOOCCoolllleeccttiioonn,, PPrroocceessssiinngg && aarrcchhiivvaall ooff DDaattaa ppeerrttaaiinniinngg ttoo TTrrooppiiccaall

CCyycclloonneess oovveerr tthhee NNIIOO aanndd tthheeiirr eexxcchhaannggee wwiitthh mmeemmbbeerr ccoouunnttrriieess ooff tthhee

PPaanneell

• Updating of WMO/TD-No. 84, Tropical Cyclone Programme, Report No.

TCP-21 and its submission to WMO for publication and distribution.

•• PPrreeppaarraattiioonn ooff AAnnnnuuaall RReevviieeww aanndd RRSSMMCC rreeppoorrttss

•• RReesseeaarrcchh oonn SSttoorrmm SSuurrggee,, TTrraacckk && IInntteennssiittyy PPrreeddiiccttiioonn TTeecchhnniiqquueess

17

• RSMC New Delhi provides the training to the tropical cyclone forecasters of

WMO/ESCAP Panel member countries.

TECHNICAL UNIT

• All Correspondence relating to weather related activities, Disaster Warnings,

Cloud Seeding

• Seminar/Conference/Symposia on Technical matters attended by

DGM/ADGMs

• ACR/AMR meetings and subsequent sub-committees meetings

• WMO Correspondence through O. S.

• Action on various projects as PRWONAM, STORM, CTCZ, etc.

• NHAC receives a number of Technical books relating to weather and

climate matters. These are properly studied and reply sent to the concerned

unit.

PARLIAMENT AND WEATHER SUMMARY UNIT

• Preparation and Supply of Replies of Parliament Questions during Lok

Sabha and Rajya Sabha Sessions.

18

• Preparation of Special Daily Weather Report during Southwest Monsoon

Season (June to September) for supply to various high dignitaries and for

website

• Collection of daily rainfall, Monsoon activities from all MCs and RMCs and

preparation of rainfall distribution for all 36 Meteorological Sub-divisions for

Website.

• Preparation and issue of End-of Season Report regarding performance of

southwest Monsoon for supplying various Government high officials and

website

• Preparation and supply of weekly weather report during whole year

describing main features/weather systems , rainfalls, seasonal rainfall,

Temperatures, Cold Wave and heat wave during the week and outlook for

the next week.

• Collection of data, preparation and issue of forecast for VVIP.

• Supply of actual and climatological weather data to various departments i.e.

Agriculture Ministry, Ministry of Home Affairs, BCCI, etc.

FUTURE PLAN

Dedicated state-of-art display system for different products like NWP,

Radar, Satellite etc

(MFI).

• Local networking

• Digitization of plotted charts of past 25 years.

19

• Automisation of dissemination of weather forecast related products. (MFI)

• Mechanism for generating customized weather products (MFI)

• Launch of a dedicated weather channel

• A co-located dedicated group of synoptic, satellite, NWP, Radar etc. experts

during cyclone period.

• Special attention in now-casting.

• Video conference facility with CWC/RMCs and extensive use during cyclone

period.

• To issue district wise quantitative weather forecast in place of current

practice of sub-division wise qualitative

• Automation of analysis of different weather charts. (MFI)

20

NWP COMPUTER CENTER

Present Computer facilities

At present NHAC computer division is having a low cost automated data

processing and chart plotting MET GIS software using DELL server (Intel Xeon 2.8

GHz Processor, 1 MB Cache) and Altix-350 server (2 CPU, 2 GB RAM, 73 GB

HDD) to cater the essential operational functions. This system was purchased in

2004 as a backup system for short term arrangement as part of CYBER-2000U

replacement program. The basic functions carried out by this workstation/server

consist of data processing, decoding and display of incoming meteorological data

via Global Telecommunication System (GTS) and running various NWP models

such as LAM, MM5 and QLM. In addition to Altix-350, another server Origin-200

(Dual 270 MHz 64 bit RISC Processor, 2GB RAM) is presently used as backup

system for running the operational limited area analysis and forecast system for

providing real time forecasts based on 00 & 12 UTC initial conditions.

Procurement of High Performance Computing System (HPCS)

Ministry of Earth Science (MoES) had taken initiative to procure High Performance

Computing System (HPCS) for its constituent units including IMD in November

2006 for high resolution weather modeling. In this regard global tender was

released on 31 May 2007. Under the program, it is proposed to procure HPCS with

the peak performance of 10 TF at IMD HQ and 1TF at NCC, Pune along with high-

end servers and graphic workstations. In addition, it is also proposed for providing

High-end servers of 100 GF capacities with minimum of 32 CPUs to each of 12

major Meteorological Centres (RMCs: Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Nagpur, Kolkata,

Guwahati, MCs: Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhubaneshwar, Chandigarh, Hyderabad,

WS Pune) for regional data base management, mesoscale data assimilation and

high resolution local area modeling.

21

Numerical Weather Prediction

The NWP Centre of IMD, under the modernization programme is set to acquire a

High Power Computing system to run global forecast models in medium range at a

resolution of 45/27 km in horizontal directions. It shall also run within this several

regional models with different resolutions viz. 15, 5 km and 9,3 km.

In addition it will also generate nowcast products valid for ensuing 12-24 hrs,

predominantly using Doppler Weather Radar data as inputs.

A large number of gridded data products will be available to users which will be

archived for research purposes.

Extended Range Forecast System (ERFS) Project

A program on development and application of ERFS for Climate Risk Management

in Agriculture has been initiated by Ministry of Agriculture. It is a national

coordinated program to be funded by the Department of Agriculture and

Cooperation (DAC), Ministry of Agriculture. The major objective in this program is

to develop a forecast system to provide seasonal monthly scale prediction of

precipitation and surface air temperature during the monsoon season as well as

other seasons over meteorological subdivisions/agro-climatic zones in India for its

use in agricultural sector and for other end-users. It is envisaged that about 12

national agencies (IMD, IITD, NCMRWF, DAC, ICAR, SAC, IITM etc.) and a

number of leading international organizations will be associated with the

development of ERFS for India. The Ministry of Agriculture has constituted a

Project Implementation Committee (PIC) on ERFS under the chairpersonship of

Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Co-operation (DAC) in which DGM, IMD

is the co-chairman. The Scientific and Technical Committee (STC) is headed by

Prof. U.C. Mohanty, IIT Delhi and ADGM(S), Dr. L.S. Rathore, Head, Agrimet are

Members from IMD. The project implementation program initiated with effect from

28 February 2006.

22

National Satellite Meteorological Centre

• At present two Indian Geostationary Satellites, namely KALPANA-I and

INSAT-3A are operational at 740 E & 93.50 E Longitudes respectively for

meteorological purposes. The NSMC also uses another satellite INSAT-3C

for communication purposes.

• A dedicated Meteorological Satellite KALPANA -1 was launched by India in

September 2002 having three channels Very High Resolution Radiometer

(VHRR) for cloud imagery in Visible (0.55-0.75 micrometer), Infrared (10.5-

12.5 micrometer) and Water Vapor (5.7-7.1 micrometer) and a Data Relay

Transponder (DRT) for receiving the data from Automatic Weather Stations

(AWS). 125 nos. AWS stations are now operational with Kalpana-1 satellite.

• INSAT -3A was launched in April, 2003 by India with a 3 channel VHRR

(Visible, Infrared and Water Vapor) similar to Kalpana-1 and a Charged

Coupled Device (CCD) camera (Visible, Near IR and SWIR) for cloud

imagery and a DRT payload for collection of meteorological and hydrological

data from automatic weather Stations. Both these satellites are working

satisfactorily and are being operationally used for meteorological

applications. Satellite Meteorology Division (now NSMC) of India

Meteorological Department (IMD) performs the reception and processing of

above satellite’s data. The Images in all channels and the derived products

are updated on IMD website as well as supplied to various users.

• The S - band broadcast capabilities of INSAT – 3C is being used for Digital

Meteorological Data Dissemination (DMDD) and Cyclone Warning

Dissemination System (CWDS). A network of 37 nos. DMDD stations is

operational at RMCs/MCs for receiving satellite imageries and synoptic data

and analyzed weather charts. (Annexure-II). It is also planned to install

DMDD stations at Nepal, Srilanka and Male shortly.

23

• A network of 353 CWDS (252 analog and 101 Digital) stations is operational

along the east and west coast of India for warning the coastal regions in

their local language in case of cyclones approaching those areas. The state

wise installations of CWDS/DCWDS is enclosed at Annexure-I.

• NSMC also has a National Satellite Data Centre (NSDC) for archiving

satellite data. The old data can be supplied for research purposes.

• NSMC has recently installed 5 nos. GPS stations for computing Integrated

Precipitable Water Vapor (IPWV) at New Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata

and Guawahati.

Applications of Operational Weather Satellites

National Satellite Meteorological Center (NSMC) has been displaying following

satellite imageries and satellite derived products on the IMD WEB sites

www.imd.gov.in. and www.imd.ernet.in round the clock for the users.

• Hourly animation of the INSAT imageries of last 24 hours. Three hourly

animations of the INSAT imageries of last 72 hours.

• Updation of half hourly INSAT imageries as per the following:

• Full disk imageries for Visible, Infrared and water vapor channel and color

composite.

• Asia Mercator sector imageries for Visible, Infrared and water vapor

channel and color.

24

• North West sector imageries for Visible, Infrared and water vapor channel

and color.

• Display of Quantitative Precipitation Estimates (QPE) and Outgoing Long

wave Radiation (OLR) 3 hourly covering area 400 N – 400 S and 400 E –

1200 E. Display of Cloud Top Temperatures (CTT) on 3 hourly basis.

• Display of Cloud Motion Vector (CMV) and Water Vapor winds in 3 levels

(low, medium and high) 4 times a day.

• The IPWV data derived from GPS technique is also updated hourly on

website.

In addition to above the CMV and WVW are assimilated in NWP models .

Future Programmes of NSMC

• Under INSAT-3D programme, a new Geostationary Meteorological Satellite

INSAT-3D is being designed by ISRO. It will have an advanced imager with

six channels (VIS, SWIR, MIR, TIR-1, TIR-2, WV) and a nineteen channel

sounder (18 IR &1 Visible) for derivation of atmospheric temperature and

moisture profiles. It will provide 1 km. resolution imagery in visible band, 4

km resolution in IR band and 8 km in water vapor channel. This new

satellite is scheduled for launch in May , 2009 and will provide much

improved capabilities to the meteorological community and users. In

addition to the surface parameters the satellite will be able to provide

vertical profiles of temperature , humidity and ozone and several other

weather parameters . The Centre and the the intensity of the cyclone will

also be derived objectively using Advanced Dvorak Technique (ADT) . The

establishment of a new ground segment facilities to receive and process

25

data from INSAT-3D is going on at NSMC, New Delhi. A separate Earth

Station for receiving data from INSAT-3D shall also be established.

• NSMC has plans to install 50 numbers GPS stations for computing

Integrated Precipitable Water Vapor (IPWV) . The stations will be

mainly located in North-East and Eastern region and will be useful in

studying Norwesters.

• NSMC has plans to install data reception / processing systems from

NOAA/Metop/MODIS polar orbiting satellites at New Delhi, Chennai and

Guawahati in one year time.

• NSMC has plans to install 300 nos. Digital Cyclone Warning Dissemination

Stations (DCWDS) in a year’s time. The existing 252 Analog stations will be

replaced under this scheme.

26

Annexure-I

List of state wise Analogue CWDS Stations installed

S. No. State /U.T Total

1. West Bengal 31

2. Orissa 35

3. Tamil Nadu 56

4. Pondicherry 03

5. Andhra Pradesh 79

6. Kerala 05

7. Karnataka 05

8. Monitoring Stns. 07

9. Gujarat & U.T. 22

10. Maharashtra & Goa 09

Total 252

Digital CWDS installed

S.No. State /U.T Total

1. Andhra Pradesh 100

2. Kavaratti (Lakshdweep ISL.)

01

Total 101

27

Annexure-II

28

WEATHER FORECASTING

Upgradation in the observational network, computational facilities and numerical

modeling are envisaged towards improvements in the Weather Forecasting. The

initiatives in this direction are summarized below .

1. Observational Network

In the process of upgrading and strengthening the observational network,

action is on towards installation of

a) Nationwide network of Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) with spatial

resolution of 50 km.

b) High density satellite rainguage stations.

c) Nationwide Doppler Weather RADAR network and

d) Wind profilers.

e) Upgradation of 10 RS/RW stations to GPS Sonde System.

f) Megha – Tropiques : employing Microwave Satellite Sensors.

2. High Performance Computing System (HPCS)

Recently MoES has taken initiative to provide the state-of-the-art High

Performance Computing (HPC) platforms to IMD for high resolution weather

modelling. Under the programme, it is proposed to procure HPCS with a peak

performance of 10 TF at IMDHQ and 1 TF at NCC, Pune along with High-end

servers and graphic workstations. In addition, it is also proposed for providing

29

High-end servers of 100GF capacities with minimum of 32 CPUs to each of the 12

major meteorological offices viz. RMCs: Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Nagpur, Kolkata

& Guwahati ; MCs : Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh,

Hyderabad and also to WS Pune, for regional data base management, mesoscale

data assimilation and high resolution local area modeling with local mesoscale

nested WRF model and ARPS model.

3. Proposed Status Of Numerical Modeling At IMD Hqrs.

The following activities are planned for the period 2008-2010 at NHAC, New Delhi.

a) Data assimilation system (Global & Regional).

b) To run a global model upto 240 hrs for medium range forecast and regional

model boundary conditions (Daily two runs) with resolution T-254/ L-64 (65 Km).

c) Meso-scale model (WRF) (00, 06, 12 & 18 UTC initial conditions) for RSMC

domain 30S – 50 N/ 25 E – 130 E), Resolution : 25 Km.

d) Cyclone Model (H-WRF) for Track prediction at 15/5 km resolution and

e) Storm surge model (Resolution : 10 Km).

4. FTP Facility

NHAC is providing real time observation plots and United Kingdom Meteorological

Office (UKMO), NCMRWF T-254/L-64 model wind and rainfall forecasts upto 5

days for day to day operational requirements, through IMD RTH ftp server in the

jpeg/gif format. These are in addition to the products available on IMD’s web

server. The schedule of availability of charts are as follows:

30

1. UKMO (00 UTC) : 2 P. M.

2. NCMRWF Charts (00 UTC) : 1 A.M.

3. Surface charts (W3) : 2 hours cut off time

(00, 03, 06, 09, 12, 15, 18, 21 UTC)

4. Upper air charts : 5 hours cut off itme

(00 & 12 UTC)

5. AWS Charts : 1:45 hours cut off time

(hourly : 24 Nos.)

User ID/Password and procedure to download charts are given below:

IP address of ftp server : 202.141.140.210

User name: nhac

Password : wX%24ac4

5. Issuance of District-Scale Quantitative Forecasts

As a major step towards downscaling forecasting activities, IMD has initiated the

project of issuing district scale quantitative forecasts for all 586 districts of India.

Under this project, quantitative weather forecasts are issued for the Weather

parameters of daily Weather Forecast - Maximum/ Minimum temperature, rainfall,

31

maximum & minimum temperatures (Trend). Total cloud cover, surface relative

humidity (0200 & 12UTC) and surface wind (00 & 12 UTC) 5 days in advance.

These forecasts are generated through a multi-model ensemble system. The

system consists of dynamical models, viz. European Centre for Medium Range

Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) at 25 km resolution, National Centre for

Environmental Prediction (NCEP) at 1º x 1º Lat./Long. resolution and Japan

Meteorological Agency (JMA) at 1.2 x 1.2º Lat./ Long. resolution. Each model

output is converted into uniform 25 km resolution and weight for each model at

each grid is computed. The models used in this scheme are the state of the art

global models from the leading global NWP centres. The ensemble output is

generated at 25 km resolution and district rainfall is computed by averaging the

grid point values falling over a particular district. These forecasts are available on

the national website of IMD.

6. WRF Model runs, at other centres

As a follow up of the 1st plan review meeting recommendations, many forecasting

centres of IMD have started running the WRF model on trial basis.

7. Synergie Workstations & Clients under MFI

Synergie is envisaged as a mature, integrated and powerful tool for operational

meteorology for effectively managing and displaying the met. data. Various

projects under this scheme are being formulated and shall be operational in due

course.

8. Streamlining and Improving Forecasting Activities

The O/o DDGM(WF) Pune, acting as the regulatory body in matters related to

Weather Forecasting, has taken the following major steps towards further

32

streamlining and improving the Weather Forecasting activities, in concurrence with

DGM.

a) Forecasters’ Guide

A guide containing the instructions pertaining to Weather forecasting, has been

prepared and dispatched to all field offices.

A soft version of the same has also been supplied and updated version is available

on the website www.imdpune.gov.in.

b) Revised forecast verification methodology

The forecast verification procedures have been made more objective, based on

computations of various statistical skill scores, in order to make it more

comprehensive and up-to-date. A forecasting circular No. 1/2008 has been issued

to all forecasting offices in this regard.

c) Issuance of local forecasts, 4 times a day.

As per the instructions contained in the Forecasting Circular No. 2/2008, all

forecasting offices will issue local forecasts based on 00, 06, 12 & 18 UTC

observations and update the same in the website.

9. Forecast Demonstration Project

A project entitled “Forecast Demonstration Project - Bay of Bengal Tropical

Cyclone Experiment (FDP-BOBTEX) is planned in collaboration with USA. The

main scientific objectives of the project are :

a) Improvement in understanding of the genesis, intensification, structure and

movement of Tropical cyclones through enhanced observations and modeling and

33

b) Demonstration of societal benefits through improved skills, resulting from

improved observational system and use of high resolution models.

The pilot phase is planned during 15th Oct – 15th Nov 2008 & 2009 and the main

phase is planned during 15th Oct. to 15th Nov. 2011.

34

National Climate Centre / Long Range Forecasting Unit

The National Climate Centre (NCC), Pune has been providing various climate

related services to the country, since 1985. The centre has been carrying out many

India specific climate related activities like Climate Monitoring and Analysis,

Climate Prediction (Seasonal Forecasts), Climate Data Management and Climate

Research. NCC is bringing out climate diagnostic bulletins regularly and different

climate data products are prepared for the user community. Operational Seasonal

forecast for rainfall over the country is another important activity of the NCC. As a

part of recent major modernization activities undergoing in IMD, efforts are going

on to widen the activities of the centre so that in the near future it can cater the

needs of the entire south Asian region. Brief information regarding the present

activities and future plans of the centre is provided here.

The present activities of the NCC

(i) Climate monitoring and analysis : Prepares and publishes monthly,

seasonal climate diagnostic bulletins and annual climate summaries for the Indian

region regularly. Detailed special monsoon reports are also being published every

year. The diagnostic bulletins provide brief account of the main weather and

climate feature during the period of analysis.

(ii) Long and extended range forecasts : Prepares long range forecasts for

winter (Jan- March) precipitation, monsoon season (Jun to Sept) rainfall and

northeast monsoon (October-December) rainfall. The main approach used for

preparing these forecasts is statistical method. Since 2003, IMD issues long range

forecast for the south-west monsoon rainfall in two stages. The first stage forecast

is issued in mid-April and the second stage forecast is issued by the end of June.

35

The first stage forecast consists of quantitative forecast for the seasonal (June to

September) rainfall over the country as a whole. The second stage consists of

update for the forecast issued in April, a forecast for July rainfall over the country

as whole and forecasts for seasonal rainfall over four broad rainfall homogeneous

regions of India viz, Northwest India, Northeast India, Central India and South

Peninsula. By 15th May, IMD also issues a forecast for the southwest monsoon

onset over Kerala using an indigenously developed statistical model. Recently the

centre has started preparing 5-20 days experimental forecast of outgoing long

wave radiation distribution over Indian region during monsoon region based on

analog method. The OLR forecast can be used for predicting the intraseasonal

variation of monsoon rainfall.

At present, the forecast for the southwest monsoon season rainfall over the country

as a whole is issued using the new statistical forecasting system based on the

ensemble method introduced in 2007. In this new ensemble forecasting system a

set of 8 new predictors were used. For the first stage forecast of seasonal rainfall

over the country as a whole, 5 predictors are used and for the update forecast 6

predictors are used. The forecast for the July rainfall over the country as whole and

that for the seasonal rainfall over the four homogeneous regions are based on

multiple regression method using separate set of parameters.

The existing operational long range forecasting system of IMD is based on the

statistical models. However, looking at the potential of dynamical models, IMD has

also implemented an experimental prediction system based on dynamical models.

For this purpose, IMD has adapted a dynamical model (Atmospheric General

Circulation Model) developed at the Experimental Climate Prediction Centre

(ECPC), Scripps Institute of Oceanography, USA.

(iii) Data services and Climate data products : IMD has long time series of

various climate data in its archive. Data rescue and data services are mainly

provided by National Data Centre (NDC) at Pune. NCC generates many climate

36

data products for smaller spatial and temporal scales for the user community.

These data products include daily gridded (1 o X 1o) rainfall (1951-2007) and

temperature data (1969-2005) over Indian region, district wise normal for various

surface parameters, grid point marine climate summaries for Indian Ocean region

etc.

(iv) Research and Development : Research projects on climate variability and

predictability studies for the Indian Region have been carried out. Major emphasis

has been given to monsoon which contributes 75-90% of the annual rainfall over

most parts of the country. Empirical models for the long range and extended range

prediction of the monsoon rainfall have been developed. Studies have also been

conducted on the links of regional climate variability with ENSO and global

circulation features and climate change issues over the Indian region. The centre

publishes the important research works as NCC research reports.

(v) Internet and Web services : NCC maintains internet facilities and a web site

(www.imdpune.gov.in) for all the four IMD offices of Pune. The web site provides

various information such as daily weather information, real time satellite pictures,

short range forecasts, agricultural advisories, farmers, details of surface

instruments, air pollution monitoring, cyclone tracks over Indian Ocean etc. Various

products from NCC such seasonal forecasts, 5-20 days OLR forecast, climate

diagnostic bulletins, research report etc. are being made available for the user

community through this web site.

Future Plans

In order to improve and broaden the scope of India specific climate services, the

following future activities are planned. It is also planed to extend the services to

entire south Asia.

37

(i) To upgrade activities of NCC to the level WMO recognized Regional Climate

Centre so that climate services can be provided to the entire south Asia.

(ii) Establishment of an operational dynamical prediction system for generating

global monthly and seasonal forecasts of rainfall and temperature at various lag

periods and to provide forecast outlooks for smaller spatial scales. Generation of

GCM model hind casts for at least last 20 years and preparation of verification

statistics of the as per the WMO guidelines.

(iii) To develop area specific seasonal forecast for both rainfall and temperature

based on statistical recalibration of GCM outputs. We may extend this service to

entire south Asia.

(iv) To prepare monthly and seasonal outlooks for the south Asian region based

on the ensemble model outputs from the centre and that from the WMO recognized

Global Producing Centres (GPCs). The climate outlook will be made available to

the users through the web site.

(v) To prepare high resolution daily grid point (0.5x0.5) rainfall data over Indian

region. These data can be used for recalibration of the model output as well as

verifying the skill of the dynamical models.

To take up projects on the regional climate variability and predictability, climate change and their impacts etc. It is planed to employ research assistants and research fellows to carry out research required for operational services in the project mode.

38

Hydromet Division 1 Background India Meteorological Department was made sole custodian of rainfall observations

in India vide Rainfall Resolution of 1890. In order to develop value added product

from the rainfall data achieved in IMD’ the Hydromet Division at New Delhi was

established in 1971. This Division is thus entrusted the responsibility of providing

necessary technical and operational support related to hydrometeorology to

various Central / State Govt. Organizations, policy makers, planner and the public

mainly dealing in the field of water resources development, water related disasters

like flood and drought, agriculture etc.

Hydrometeorological services benefit a wide range of user interests; viz.,

hydropower generation, flood control, agriculture, navigation, water resources

management, crop insurances environmental protection and public utility

requirements etc.

2 Functional Units Hydromet Division at HQ is rendering services through different Units namely (1) Rainfall Monitoring Unit (2) Design Storm Unit (3) Storm Analysis Unit (4) Glaciology Unit (5) Flood Met. Unit (6) International Hydrological Programme . In addition Organization Unit looks after logistics , work in Rashtra Bhasha. 3 Activities 3.1. Hydromet Forecast for Flood Warnings

39

IMD has set up ten Flood Meteorological Offices (FMO) located over flood-prone

areas of the country. These FMOs are located at Ahamadabad, Hydrabad,

Bhubaneswar, Patna, Asansole, Jalpaiguri, Gauhati, Delhi, Agra and Lucknow.

FMOs provide necessary meteorological support to the Central Flood Forecasting

Divisions of Central Water Commission (CWC). During flood season, FMOs issue

Hydrometeorological bulletins to CFFDs for timely flood forecasting, which include;

- Quantitative Precipitation Forecast (QPF) in different ranges of rainfall for

the next 24 hours for the concerned catchments / sub-catchments.

FMOs keep round-the-clock watch during Flood Alert period as and when declared

by the Central Flood Forecasting Divisions of CWC. Hydromet Division provides

technical guidance and control to these field units.

3.2. Rainfall Monitoring

Hydromet Division is entrusted with the responsibility of, monitoring districtwise

rainfall on real time basis. At present, about 2300 raingauge stations of both IMD

as well as State Govt. agencies report weekly rainfall data on near real time basis

under the Districtwise Rainfall Monitoring Scheme (DRMS). Daily stationwise

rainfall data is collected, compiled, checked and processed at the Meteorological

Centers of IMD. The districtwise processed rainfall data is transmitted to the

Hydromet Division of IMD at New Delhi for preparation of periodical rainfall

statistics mainly district / met sub Divisional / country as whole, rainfall realized and

its departure from long term average for week and season. The output is available

both in tabular and pictorial form for the benefit of planners, policy makers,

agricultural scientists, civil and irrigation engineers, research scholars etc and is

also available on IMD ‘ s website.

40

3.3. Estimation of Design Storm for hydraulic structures

Hydromet Division provides Design storm values for designing major Hydraulic

structures like dams or reservoirs for irrigation or hydro-power generation as well

as for construction of railway and road bridges, drainage systems and designing

spillways. Design estimates, based on analysis of past rainstorms over the

catchment area are supplied to the design engineers for deciding Design Flood so

as to ensure safety of the structure.. A rainstorm capable of occurring over the

river basin is selected and subject to detailed isohyetal analysis to find out

estimates of Standard Project Storm (SPS) and Probable Maximum Precipitation

(PMP).

Division also provides rainfall values of various return period as an input for flood

estimates for construction of minor structures, like railway and road bridges,

drainage systems. For this purpose, India has been divided into 7 meteorologically

homogeneous zones and 26 sub-zones. The additional inputs provided are the

normal and heaviest rainfall observed at shorter duration, conversion factor for

short duration rainfall from 24 hr rainfall value, area reduction factor etc.

3.4. Glaciological Studies

Glaciers are important sources of renewable hydropower and water and sediment

transport into river system for development and utilization of water resources for

human sustenance. Himalayan glaciers are responsible for the perennial nature of

the rivers in the north India. Thus glaciological investigations are undertaken by

many agencies and Hydromet Division is participating in the expeditions and

extending meteorological support and recording observations for developing

climatology of the glacier. Thus by now the said services are provided to 21 glacier

expeditions

41

Division has established 31 snow gauges in Himalaya for an assessment of snow

cover and depth and thus snow melt potential. The proposal of extension of snow

gauge network in Sikkim area is under process.

3.5. Hydrology Project Aided by World Bank, Hydrology Project (HP) is aimed at enhancing the physical

infrastructure of Hydrological / Hydrometeorological activities in nine different

states of India viz., Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra

Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Chhatisgarh and Kerala. Besides State Govts.,

five Central Govt. Organisations, including IMD, are also participating in Hydrology

Project.

As a nodal agency for the Hydrometeorological activities of Hydrology Project,

Division is coordinating the following important tasks in the participating states,

- Designing raingauges and climatological network

- Assistance to State Govt. for procurement, testing, calibration and installation of

meteorological instruments

- Annual inspection / maintenance of about 3000 raingauges

- Hydrometeorological training to State Govt. personnels

- Establishment of additional nine Hydromet Data Banks at state level.

in collaboration with RMCs , MCs, ADGM (R) , DDGM (WF – Training), DDGM

(SI), DDGM (UI).

In second phase of this project same services are extended to states of Goa,

Pondicherry, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. In addition, Division is going to take

up Drought Monitoring, Flood Forecasting and Radar Hydrological studies in these

states.

42

3.6. Research and Development

Division has already brought out 13 publications on various facets of

hydrometeorology. These publications now need revision. In addition user friendly

monographs like “Generalized PMP Atlas”, “ Return period values of short

duration rainfall” are to brought out as same are demanded by project authorities.

International / National Cooperation and Public Awareness

Division has been actively rendering its support to the International Hydrology

Programme. IMD is one of the members of Indian National Committee on

Hydrology (INCOH) for implementation of International Hydrological Program and

Hydromet Division is representing IMD in INCOH .

Division is participating in Working Group on Hydrology (Region II) of World

Meteorological Organization and compiled reports on Hydrological Droughts and

Hydrological Services in India. Division has contributed six components on

hydrometeorology in the Hydrological Operational Multipurpose System (HOMS)

reference manual. Division is also participating in other International Program like

Asian Water Cycle.

Division is also providing advices to National Disaster Management Authority

(NDMA), National Water Development Agency(NWDA), Brahmaputra Board, Dam

Safety Organisations of Central Water Commission, National Institute of

Hydrology(NIH) etc.

Division is maintaining Central Hydromet Observatory (CHO) for the purpose of

creating awareness amongst school children in the field of Hydro-meteorology.

Every year about 2000 visitors including students from IIT s, BHU are visiting

Central Hydromet Observatory. Officers from the Division are delivering lectures on

Estimation of Design Storm to Post Graduate students of IIT Roorki.

43

4 Challenges and Proposed Extension / Modification of Existing Services

In course of time the demand from users has increased many folds. After

liberalization private agencies are approaching to undertake the studies on

payment basis with business interests.

As a result clients expect results with short notice, more cost effective and if

forecast then with more accuracy and higher lead time. Hence infrastructure

developed in past needs review with increasing demand. Hence Division has

planned program for Upgradation of Hydromet Services.

Division has identified 13 activity wise Technical challenges in meeting the

demands of users and developing objective methods in Hydrometeorology.

These challenges will be addressed by incorporating computer applications to have

more automation. It is proposed to procure modern computing system and

software to incorporate AWS , ARG and Radar data which will get installed under

Modernization Program of IMD.

44

Agro-Met Division Agrimet Division serves as a catalyst in enhancing agricultural production through

Agromet services and research. The service aspects include Agromet Advisories,

training, agromet observation and data management whereas the research

component include R&D on water requirements of crops, pest & disease, dry

farming research and crop weather relationship.

1. District Level Agromet Advisory Service

Integrated agro-meteorological advisory service is essentially a multi-institutional

programme with participating organizations like IMD, NCMRWF, Agricultural

Universities, ICAR Institutes, State Department of Agriculture, Department of

Information Technology, Department of Space, MS Swaminathan Research

Foundation, NGOs etc.

Considering the high variability of weather in time and space and need of farming

sector, IMD has upgraded the Agro-Meteorological Advisory Service from agro-

climatic zone scale to district level. From 1st June, 2008, IMD has started issuing

district level (612) districts) weather forecast for meteorological parameters up to 5

days in quantitative terms. These products are based on a Multi Model Ensemble

technique using forecast products available from number of models of India and

other countries. The products are disseminated through Regional Meteorological

Centres and Meteorological Centres of IMD located in different states after value

addition to these products and communicate to 130 Agromet Field Units (AMFUs).

Agromet Advisory with contingency planning is being issued/advised for problem

45

areas particularly with deficit/scanty/no rain through Integrated Agromet Advisory

Services.

In order to strengthen Information Dissemination Organization at

district/block/village level, District Agromet Advisory Service (DAAS) meeting were

organized in each of the state of the country inviting the officers/scientists from all

stakeholders with objectives to create appropriate information generation-cum-

dissemination mechanism as well as extension mechanism for communicating the

Agromet Advisory to the farmers.

2. Training

The training unit of this Div. has conducted (i) 6 weeks Agromet Core course, (ii)

Basic Agromet course and (iii) ‘On the Job’ training course recently.

Arrangement are being made for training course on ‘Agrometeorology towards

better advisories for serving end users requirement’ for AMFU Scientists/Technical

officers.

3. Data management

Agrometeorological data form the basis of any agricultural pursuit, whether

planning, development, operational or research. Agrometeorological parameters

recorded form a agricultural firm form database. These data are scrutinize,

archived and supplied to scientists, planners etc. Attempts are being made to clear

the backlog of Agromet Data.

46

4. Research and Development

Extensive R&D activities are also being carried out in the division so as to provide

better advisories to the farming community. Major thrusts areas of research directly

or indirectly contribute to the operational agrometeorology are:

Water requirements of crops

Forewarning of Pest & disease

Dry farming research

Crop weather relationship.

5. Water requirements of crops

Crop production can be maximized by better scheduling of irrigation. Scarce water

resources can be economically used by providing water to crops when it is known

to be most beneficial. For this purpose, precise water requirements of crops at

various growth stages are being studied through field experiments and regular

lysimeter measurements through 41 evapotranspiration measurement stations

located at different agro climatic zones in India.

6. Forewarning of Pest and diseases incidence

The possibility of occurrence of insects and diseases particularly under favourable

weather conditions when outbreak of pest and diseases occur is an important area

of study. In order to develop forewarning models of pests and diseases, the

following measures are being taken:

47

(i) Creation of data base through collection of historical data on outbreak of

insects and diseases and delineation of the regions prone to different insects and

diseases.

(ii) Utilization of pest / diseases- weather relationship already available at

different State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) / ICAR Institutes.

(iii) Identification of threshold values of weather parameters for each individual

phase of growth cycle of the pest / disease.

(iv) Development of prediction model and strategies for integrated pest

management based on weather parameters through about 20 collaborating

Agriculture Institution/Universities.

7. Dry farming research

Semi-arid regions constitute a major part of India comprising 9 states which

receives 400 to 1000 mm of rainfall. Scanty rainfall during crop growing season is

the major constraint for growing crop in the season. This need to be overcome by

adopting the risk management strategy through probability of rainfall occurrence

and water balance studies. Probability of wet and dry spells information in the

region also helps to plan not only sowing time but also adopt contingency planning

under weather vagaries. By analyzing long period rainfall data (more than 70

years) and computing moisture availability index for the stations in the semi-arid

region suitable cropping patterns are being suggested.

8. Crop weather relationship

Theoretical models of crop weather relationship enable to understand,

quantitatively, the role played by weather elements on crop growth and yield. Such

models have been applied to wheat, paddy, cotton and groundnut crops and

48

response of these crops in various phonological stages in relation to

meteorological factors have been studied. Fluctuations in weather with regard to

crop-factors like leaf area index, stomatal resistance, crop co-efficient, and dry

matter production are also been studied. Energy balance in the crop canopy for

cereals and legumes are being worked out.

49

SEISMOLOGY AND EREC DIVISION India Meteorological Department (IMD) is the nodal agency of Government of India

responsible for monitoring seismicity in and around the country. Timely

dissemination of earthquake information, to concerned state and central

government agencies, plays a very important role in dealing with the post-disaster

relief and rehabilitation related matters. Towards achieving these objectives, India

Meteorological Department (IMD) is maintaining a National Seismological Network

to keep a continuous watch on the seismic activity.

1. Earthquake Operational Centre

An Earthquake Operational Centre is functioning on a 24X7 basis at IMD

Headquarters in New Delhi. The responsibilities of the Centre include retrieval of

waveform data from remote field stations either in real time or through VSAT / dial

up communication facilities, data analyses and quick dissemination of earthquake

information to various user agencies including State and Central Government

departments dealing with relief and rehabilitation measures. The information

relating to under-sea earthquakes capable of generating tsunamis on the Indian

coastal regions is also disseminated to all concerned user agencies including the

Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad for

issue of tsunami related bulletins and warnings. The earthquake information is also

transmitted to public information channels, press, media etc. and posted on IMD’s

Website (www.imd.gov.in and www.imd.ernet.in). The Duty officer may be

contacted at the following numbers for earthquake related information:

011-24619943 / 24624588

The information on recent significant earthquakes can also be obtained from an

Interactive Voice Recording System (IVRS) through the following number:

011-24657879

50

Figure 1. National Seismological Network

51

Figure 2. VSAT based Seismic Telemetry Network in and around Delhi 2. National Seismological Network (NSN)

52

National Seismological Network (NSN) consisting of 55 observatories, which

includes four observatories in Himachal Pradesh for dam related studies under the

Bhakra Management Board (BMB). Of these, 30 stations are equipped with state-

of-art broadband sensors, high dynamic range (24-bit) digitizers, GPS time

synchronization and facility to access the data remotely through satellite

communications and telephone mode. The remaining 25 stations are equipped

with analog seismograph systems, which are proposed to be replaced by digital

seismograph systems. The locations of these 55 observatories are shown in

Figure 1. IMD also maintaining a 16-station V-SAT based digital seismic telemetry

system around National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi for close monitoring of

seismic activity in the region (Figure 2). As part of the Indian Tsunami Early

Warning Center, IMD has established a 17-station Real Time Seismic Monitoring

Network (RTSMN), which includes 13 existing stations of IMD and 4 new stations

located at Campbell Bay, Diglipur, Hyderabad and Dharmshala.

3. National Seismological Data Base Centre (NSDC)

The seismological data from all the network stations is compiled, processed,

analyzed and archived systematically at the National Seismological Database

Centre (NSDC) at IMD Headquarters, Lodi Road, New Delhi on a regular basis.

Seismology Division supplies earthquake data / seismicity reports of specific

regions to insurance companies, industrial units, power houses, river valley

projects etc. on payment basis. Consultancy services are also provided to various

state and central government agencies on earthquake related matters.

Seismological data and earthquake related information is also supplied to various

user agencies dealing with relief and rehabilitation measures, earthquake disaster

mitigation and management related matters, seismic zoning, etc. Earthquake data

is also supplied, on request, to various scientific, academic and R&D institutions for

research purposes.

53

4. National Seismological Bulletin

Seismology Division publishes a monthly National Seismological Bulletin,

containing the phase data and the processed information on source parameters of

all earthquakes located by the Seismological Network of IMD. India is a permanent

Member of the International Seismological Centre (ISC), UK.

5. International Collaboration in Seismology

As part of international collaboration, bilateral cooperation in the fields of

Seismology and earthquake prediction research is currently being pursued with

Russia, Iceland and Mexico. The Indo-Russian Centre for Earthquake Research

(IRCER), established in 2003 in IMD premises, as part of Integrated Long Term

Programme (ILTP) of Department of Science and Technology, has the primary

mandate of development and coordination of collaborative projects in the field of

earthquake research through multi-institutional participation. IRCER is coordinating

several projects being implemented by various R&D and academic institutions in

the country including IMD.

6. Seismological Observatory, Ridge

Established in the year 1963, the Seismological Observatory at Kamla Nehru

Ridge, Delhi has been providing continuous earthquake observations through

various analog and state-of-art digital seismological instruments deployed from

time to time. The Observatory functions on a round-the-clock basis and maintains

an electronic laboratory for test and calibration of instruments. The operation and

maintenance of the four seismological observatories under the agency scheme of

the Bhakra Beas Management Board, is also looked after by the Ridge

Observatory.

54

7. Seismology Training

Seismology Division organizes periodical training programs/refresher courses in

Seismology and allied subjects at various levels to station operators and various

departmental officers and non-departmental agencies, such as Indian Navy, Air

Force, State government agencies, etc.

8. Seismology Workshop

Development and manufacture of analog type seismological equipment,

accessories and spares is undertaken in the departmental workshop. Besides

catering to the needs of the observatories under the national network, the

department also makes a limited supply of analog seismological equipment to

other institutions.

9. Seismic Zoning of India

Bureau of Indian Standards [IS-1893 – part – 1: 2002], based on various scientific

inputs from a number of agencies including earthquake data supplied by IMD, has

grouped the country into four seismic zones viz., Zone-II, -III, -IV and –V (Figure3).

Of these, zone V is rated as the most seismically active region, while zone II is the

55

Figure 3. Seismic Zones of India (IS 1893 (Part I):2002)

56

least. The Modified Mercalli (MM) intensity, which measures the impact of the

earthquakes on the surface of the earth, broadly associated with various zones is

as follows:

Seismic Zone Intensity on MM scale

II (Low intensity zone) VI (or less)

III (Moderate intensity zone) VII

IV (Severe intensity zone) VIII

V (Very severe intensity zone) IX (and above)

10. Seismological Activities / Services offered:

Following are a few significant seismological activities / services offered by

the department:

• Dissemination of earthquake information in operational mode to various user

agencies for relief and rescue operations and to media.

• Supply of earthquake data and seismicity reports of specific regions for

establishment of dams, industrial units, power houses, etc.

• Supply of earthquake certificates to insurance companies.

• Supply of earthquake data to various national and international

organizations including research and academic institutions for R&D.

• Supply of earthquake related data and information for framing replies to

questions from Parliament and Assemblies.

57

• Provide consultancy services to various state and central government

organizations in making policy guidelines relating to seismology and

establishment of new seismological observatories.

• Liaison with various state and central government agencies including

Ministry of Home Affairs on issues relating to disaster management and

earthquake prediction.

• Digitization of analogue charts for extending the database to pre-digital era.

11. Research and Development

The upgraded seismological network has generated very useful and unique digital

broadband and strong motion data sets for several significant earthquakes in the

last decade including the recent great Sumatra earthquake of 26th December, 2004

and Pakistan earthquake of 8th October 2005. Analyses of these data sets have

greatly helped in improving our understanding about the earthquake process in the

inter- and intra-plate seismic regimes. The crust and upper mantle structure of the

Peninsular shield region has also been delineated with higher resolution using the

broadband data sets generated by the regional events.

12. Major Plan Schemes / Projects under implementation:

• Under the scheme “Optimum seismological network programme”, it is

planned to establish 100 more state-of-art seismological observatories to

enhance earthquake detection capabilities to M 3.0 in India.

• As part of a plan scheme on “Archival and digitization of seismic analog

charts” it is proposed to set up a system to vector digitize the seismic analog

charts for use by research community.

58

• A proposal is under active consideration of MoES, for creation of a new

‘National Centre for Seismology’ at Ayanagar complex of IMD, New Delhi.

As part of this, a new ‘Operational Centre’ and ‘Training Centre in

Seismology’ are planned to be established, for which SFC proposals are

under preparation.

• The existing National Seismological Database Centre is also being

upgraded to meet the increasing requirements of data analysis, information

dissemination and archival.

• As part of the joint collaboration with Russia under the Integrated Long Term

Program (ILTP) of Department of Science & Technology, four new research

projects have been approved for implementation by the Indo Russian Centre

for Earthquake Research (IRCER) set up in IMD.

• As part of the Indo-Mexican joint collaboration in the field of Seismology, a

project proposal on “Near real-time estimation of (a) long-period magnitude,

(b) moment tensor and (c) tsunami potential of offshore earthquakes” has

been approved by DST / MoST for implementation by IMD scientists.

• Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has launched a major National Program

on Earthquake Precursors (NPEP), as part of it’s eleventh plan activity. The

program is aimed at generating multi-parametric geophysical observations

in critical geographical location on long terms basis, as a basic scientific

input for future earthquake prediction related studies. The National Program

will be implemented through a multi-institutional and multi-disciplinary

mechanism under the overall umbrella of MoES with IMD as the lead

agency.

59

B. Earthquake Risk Evaluation Centre (EREC)

Earthquake Risk Evaluation Center (EREC) in India Meteorological Department

(IMD) has been setup with specific mandate of seismic hazard and risk evaluation

of the country and prove inputs for construction of earthquake resistance structures

and disaster management in the event of occurrence of damaging earthquakes.

Activities of EREC are multidisciplinary and will be centered around diversified

Disciplines (Geology, Geophysics, Geotechnical, Earthquake Engineering , Field

survey & data collection, Local Network Monitoring, Training (Engineers/members

of concerned community), Publication (Reports, publicity material, Films, Video

etc).

The knowledge products to be generated by EREC in future are:

• Detailed information and data bank about risk hazard and vulnerability due

to earthquake

• Inputs for effective earthquake emergency planning

• Habitat safety from earthquake hazard through earthquake preparedness

measures

• Inputs for building design and regulations

• Inputs for optimum land use

• Inputs for planning post disaster mitigation and management including

identification of critical facilities such as transportation corridors, fire stations

and medical centers

• Safety inputs for strategic installations

• Inputs to commercial sector with safeguards

60

• Public awareness programmes on earthquake hazard and precautionary

measures

• Detailed inputs for identifying prospective sites for new essential facilities,

hospitals, fire stations, bridges etc. as a measure for rehabilitation

• Necessary information on areas requiring special study before development

• Information on the extent of Retrofitting of important structures

• Effective local earthquake monitoring and generation of good quality data

base for seismic hazard evaluation.

Major and important beneficiaries are the various Government organizations

engaged in disaster management and mitigation, Civic authorities, Health

Departments, Town Planners & Builders, Defense Establishments for planning

strategic installations, Heavy Industries, Insurance Sector, etc. and the public at

large. EREC is actively participating in design and development of Seismic Hazard

related programme of NDMA

Plan for 2009

i. Seismic Microzonation of NCT Delhi on 1:10,000 scale.

ii. Establishment of NE Telemetry network

iii. Upgradation of Delhi telemetry network

iv. Initiation of Establishment of EREC& seismology data base Center

61

ENVIRONMENT MONITORING &

RESEARCH CENTRE

BACKGROUND

IMD’s tradition of monitoring weather and climate spans more than 130 years

giving it a sound and useful dataset to fall back upon for environmental

assessment. The Ozone network was started as a globally pioneering effort as

early as in 1950 realizing that this trace gas plays a very important role in

atmospheric chemical mechanisms. It also started radiation measurements about

50 years back providing with an exclusive countrywide dataset for assessment of

solar energy resources.It established a network of 10 Background Pollution

Monitoring Network (BAPMoN) stations in the country in 1974 as part of a global

network. A well-equipped chemical laboratory was set up at Pune for conducting

rain chemistry studies and making atmospheric turbidity and air quality

measurements to quantify trends and acid rain threats.

Ongoing activities

Existing Environmental Monitoring Programme are as follows.

(a) Total Ozone : 6 stations

(b) Vertical Distribution of Ozone (Ozone sonde) : 4 stations

(c) Surface Ozone : 7stations

(d) BAPMoN : 10 stations

(g) Air Quality : 2 stations

(h) Skyradiometer : 1 station

(i) Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)

Environment Meteorology Unit (EMU)

62

EMU provides specific services / inputs on meteorology and air quality for the last

25 years to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoE&F) in the assessment of

air pollution impacts likely to arise from Thermal Power Stations, Industries and

Mining activities in the country. Atmospheric diffusion models are employed for

carrying out air quality impacts of multiple sources located in different climate and

geographic conditions. More than 250 projects per months are being received for

evaluation. IMD serves on the Panel of Experts of various Committees of MoE&F

designated for grant of clearance.

The department maintains a meteorological observatory at Taj Mahal (Agra) to

monitor meteorological parameters at hourly intervals to study air pollution in Agra

region since 1976 under an agency scheme financed by MoE&F / Central

Pollution Control Board upto 1905 and by IMD afterwards. Periodical Reports

based on data of Taj Observatory, Agra have been prepared. ]

Air Quality, Precipitation chemistry and weather parameters are continuously

monitored at GAW Ranichauri (Uttrakhand)

National Ozone Centre

(a) Total ozone and Umkehr observation by Dobson Ozone

spectrophotometer are taken daily basis from 4 stations viz. Delhi, Varanasi, Pune

and Srinagar. At Delhi, Kodaikanal and Maitri (Antarctica) ozone is monitored with

Brewer Spectrophotometer, which has an additional facility to measure NO2, SO2

and UV-B radiation also.

(b) Vertical distribution of ozone is measured by balloon-borne ozonesonde

(IMD-made) fortinightly frequency at Delhi, Pune, Thiruvananthapuram and Maitri

(Antarctica).

(c) Surface ozone measurement is taken at 8 stations viz. New Delhi, Nagpur,

Pune, Kodaikanal, Srinagar, Thiruvananthpuram, Dakshin Gongotri and Maitri

(Anarctica).

63

Ozone data is available at the National Data Centre, Pune and also at the National

Ozone Centre at IMD, New Delhi. This centre has also been designated as the

Regional Centre for the Regional Association II (Asia) of the WMO Ozone has a

strong relationship with biomass burning, traditionally seen over eastern parts of

the subcontinent extending into that East Asia. This area is also a thickly vegetated

region releasing organic compounds that participate in atmospheric photochemistry

in whish ozone has a significant role to play. Thus the anthropogenic emission

define the residence times of various GHGs of biogenic origin via the ozone link in

this region. Monitoring of troposphereic ozone distribution over eastern parts of the

country, mainly in the NE region and Bay Islands, will be undertaken.

Air Pollution Section

Precipitation chemistry and Atmospheric turbidity - The ultimate fate of most

biogenic or anthropogenic gaseous emissions is their highest state of oxidation

which are acidic and render them water soluble too. Thus rain is a good indicator of

atmospheric composition. In recent years it has been noted that when certain

areas are subjected to high load of acidic deposition the natural alkaline buffer

action of soil derived crust gives way to acid rain , which is potentially harmful.

Intense monitoring of precipitation chemistry would be carried out in the Indian

BAPMoN, with newly added locations.

Activities Planned

(1) Green House Gas (GHG) and aerosol concentration variability needs to be

documented across the world to understand the global Carbon Cycle and compute

radiative forcing that may lead to global warming.

GHGs monitoring also be carried out to measure the ambient concentration of CO2,

CH4 and N2O at the surface from different regions of the country as an off-line grab

sampling strategy. In addition, 2 Baseline stations for conducting continuous

monitoring will also be opened during the period of XI FYP. The data will be

64

archived at a central location in the IMD New Delhi and will be analysed to quantify

source and sink potentials.

(2) A network of aerosol stations using sky radiometer for measuring the radiative

properties of aerosols will be established in the country .

(3) Aerosol Mass and Chemistry measurement in arid, coastal, island and high

altitude locations using High Volume Air Sampler and Black carbon measurement

using Aethalometer.

(4) Continue monitoring of O3 at Port Blair and Guwahati.

(5) Upgradation of surface ozone measurements at existing 6 stations and opening

of 4 more stations.

(6) To create a facility for archival of quality environmental data along with

metadata for parameters such as GHGs, O3, aerosols, radiation, air - quality gases

etc. for scientific research and applications and to create connectivity with NDC,

Website.

65

National Data Centre (NDC) i) Climatology System from MFI

Under the modernization of IMD, computing capabilities of National Data Centre

are being upgraded with the modern computing facilities relational data base

development system, improved data retrieval and a web based query system

through MFI (Meteo France International) NDC will be acquiring servers and

peripherals for data base development and also for web based queries.

The system at Pune is likely to be installed in the month of April, 2009.

ii) Climatological Data Rescue Scheme

India Meteorological Department (IMD) since its establishment in 1875, is

collecting meteorological data from large number of observatories, scattered all

over the country. Data recorded at field stations in the manuscript form are sent to

Meteorological Centers / Regional Meteorological Centers. These data, in the

manuscript form are preserved at Meteorological Centers (MCs) and Regional

Meteorological Centers (RMCs).

The scrutinized data are keyed and verified at these centers. After verification,

these data are sent to the NDC, Pune for archival. .

Monthly data since the inception of the observatories and daily surface data from

1969 onwards have been digitized and archived at NDC. Monthly means of

surface data prior 1969 are available in the archives. The daily surface data prior to

1969 is required to be put on electronic media. This has been taken under the

above mentioned plan scheme, where in, the data keying work is proposed to be

outsourced. It will be implemented at each RMCs and Pune, as major part of the

66

data are at these locations. It is planned that the data at MCs which are still in

manuscript form and not in any digital form will also be taken for data entry.

In summary, once the project is completed, NDC, Pune will have long series of

climatological data, which will definitely help the research community and

operational forecasters.

iii) Archival of Automatic Weather Station (AWS) Data in NDC

Background

It is well known that AWS data have more advantages over conventional manual

data recording as it is more consistent in their measurement, provides data at a

significantly greater frequency in all weather conditions all around the year. India

Meteorological Department is modernizing observational network all over the

country and 125 AWS stations have already been installed. The data transmitted

by AWS are received and stored in FM-14 Synop form at DDGM(SI) office,

Pashan, Pune. Also these synops are transmitted through GTS channel for

weather forecasting purpose. For archiving processed AWS data, a 2.4 GHz Radio

Link has been established in National Data Centre (NDC) for receiving AWS

synops. The processing, quality control and archival of AWS data in simple, user-

friendly format is very important to meet the growing demands of scientists and

other users in India and abroad.

AWS Data Archival

After transmission of AWS data on GTS, these synops need to be stored

permanently. Thus while deciding on AWS data storage in NDC, consideration has

been given to the ease of quality control and retrieval of the data. The use of

standard data format permits easy exchange of data and it further helps in

processing and quality control of data with a minimum of reformatting. For this

purpose, a flexible, simple and human-readable format was designed to archive

67

AWS data in NDC. This format has a provision to include quality control flag for

each data element in the 0-9 scale. Hourly observations sent by AWS stations are

archived in NDC after applying quality control procedures.

Plan scheme “Archival of AWS Data”

A plan scheme “Archival of AWS Data” has been approved by DGM for archiving

AWS data records in NDC. Supply order has been placed after receiving

expenditure approval (Rs. 9,85,949/-) from DGM office, New Delhi for procurement

of Hardware and Software under the scheme. The procurement of these hardware

and software will enhance the computing and data archival capabilities at NDC.

The GIS software under the scheme will be a useful tool in creating geo-spatial

maps of AWS data. The hardware and software will be installed and commissioned

by the end of Sept, 2009.

AWS data on Web:

AWS synops received from DDGM(SI), Pashan are first converted to data archival

format. Then these data records are further processed and quality control

procedures are applied. One day AWS data (previous day’s) are hosted on IMD

Pune website for public use.

68

CENTRAL TRAINING INSTITUTE, PUNE BRIEF HISTORY The Central Training Institute of India Met. Dept. is a WMO recognized “Regional

Meteorological Training Centre” (RMTC), which provides professional training in

different disciplines of Meteorology to Officers and members of staff of different

categories in IMD and officers of other government departments like Indian Navy,

Indian Coast Guard, IITM, etc.

It also provides professional training in Meteorology to candidates from foreign

countries who are attached with their respective National Meteorological and

Hydrological services.

(I) ONGOING ACTIVITIES

a) Advanced training in General Meteorology of One year duration for non IMD

personnel and foreign trainees from RA- II region.

b) Advanced training in General Meteorology of six months duration for IMD

class II promotees.

c) Intermediate training in General Meteorology of 4 months duration, three

batches per year at New Delhi and Pune for IMD staff.

d) Basic training course in General Meteorology of four months duration for

fresh recruited `Senior Observers conducted at New Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai

concurrently – three batches a year.

69

e) Lab attendants Modular course for two months duration for promotee Gr. D,

who are likely to be promoted to Gr. C as Lab Attendants. Three batches in a year

at Chennai, Kolkata, New Delhi and Pune concurrently.

(II) FUTURE PROGRAMMES

1. In connection with the “Revamping of Training in Atmospheric Sciences a

meeting of the sub committee has been constituted look into the technical content

under the Chairmanship Dr. M. Rajeevan, Scientist NARL, Tirupati. The said

meeting is proposed to be held on 30-31st, Aug 2008.

2. In connection with the Modernisation of CTI the following work is in progress:

i) A firm has been approached to give the latest layout details for LAN to be

installed in Central Training Institute.

ii) The installation of WRF model at CTI is in process.

iii) The renovation of the Trainees Hostel is proposed.

3. Refresher course in Aviation Meteorology for IMD personnel working at

national and international airports is proposed around September 2008.

4. A short term training programme is proposed at RMC Chennai (M.O.

Chennai) for the SSAPT, Puttaparthy Airport personnel as per IMD guidelines.

70

IT Division Information Technology Division has taken the following initiatives in last three

months to provide an IT framework for all M.O.s, MCs, RMCs, CWC, ACWC and

FMOs including HQ:

(i) Carving out the IT personnel out of the existing IMD officers and staff to set-

up an IT Division at HQ and similar set-up in RMCs and MCs with people working

in a matrix mode in addition to his normal duties.

(ii) Setting – up of the intra – IMD portal as an information repository for all

kinds of information related to support services including personnel information.

(iii) Meeting with DG, NIC to implement various Office Automation Packages

including email, mirror website and e-library.

(iv) A video conferencing system project to connect various Regional Centres

and H.Q. to enhance the level of interaction.

(v) Preparing Project Plan for implementation of E-Governance in a big way for

implementation of end – to –end workflow.

71

Establishment of Dedicated Weather Channel Project Status Report 1. Project Status

• Completion of Primary & secondary research and presented in the July 29th

session.

• Interaction with industry experts and channel operators

• Submission of final EOI Notice and EOI document

• First round of discussions with all the stakeholders on August 5th

• Preparation of agenda and presentation for Open House Discussion on

August 19th under EOI stage

• Drafting of possible PPP options and Business case

2. Ongoing Activities

• Collating queries from prospective applicants and drafting clarifications for

the same

• Working on PPP model & detailed Business case including the financial

model

• Initiated work on the Action plan and Institutional Framework

• Initiated the Detailed Project Report (DPR)

72

• Coordinating with prospective applicants, collaborators and partners for

gathering inputs and addressing their concerns

Next Steps

• Second round of interaction with IMD officials and other stakeholders

• Submission of draft clarifications on EOI for the prospective applicants to

IMD

• Submit the Business case and Action plan for IMD’s inputs.

• Submission of draft DPR including the Business case, Action plan,

Institutional Framework.

• Initiate documentation of the RFP

73

Project Timelines

S. No. Deadline Milestone Progress Remarks

Phase A

A1 May 22, 2008 Commencement Date-Date of

signing of contract with

Consultant

Task

completed

Date of receipt

of work order

A2 May 31, 2008 Project Kick-off Task

completed

Held on May 15,

2008

A3 September 7,

2008

Submission of DPR including

Recommendation, Institutional

Framework and Action Plan

Task-in-

progress

Revised from

August 23, 2008

vide July 29,

2008 meeting

A4 T2 Acceptance of DPR including

Recommendations and Action

Plan by MoES

Task Yet

to Begin

Phase B

B1 T2 + 6 weeks Issuance of RFP to prospective

bidders

Task Yet

to Begin

B2 T2 + 16 weeks Submission of final Evaluation

Report

Task Yet

to Begin

B3 T3 Approval of Evaluation Report

by MoES

Task Yet

to Begin

B4 T3 + 2 weeks Contract negotiation and

finalization with most responsive

bidder

Task Yet

to Begin

74

Project Risks and Concerns

S.

No.

Risk/ Concern Impact Proposed

Mitigation

Measure

Concerned

Authority

1. Costs of a dedicated facility could

generate equivalent value only if

substantial incremental benefits are

provided in each stage in the value

chain data gathering, processing and

distribution

High

Strategy to

upgrade

equipment and

physical

infrastructure to

provide

customized

services

IMD/ MoES

2. Government agencies like Central

Water Commission, ISRO, DRDO,

State River & Irrigation authorities,

have their own weather networks

and operations, which if not

integrated would result in duplication

of effort and wastage of key

resources.

Medium

Coordination,

knowledge

interface and

technical

systems which

could converge

information from

various

networks is

required

between all the

departments/

authorities

IMD/ MoES

75

Budget and Planning New initiatives (A) Approval, in principle, for initiating advance action to purchase additional

equipments under the modernization programme of IMD Phase-II and

Common Wealth Games-2010.

Under the modernization programme of IMD, which had been approved by the

Cabinet in Dec., 2007 at an estimated cost of Rs. 920 crores and to be

implemented in 2 years (Phase-I), orders for some of the major equipments have

already been placed. Processing of the cases for placement of orders for some

more items are also in an advanced stage and orders are likely to be placed

shortly. Already cash flow for one of the major components of the programme i.e.,

MFI project, has started. Some additional payments are also likely to materialize

during current financial year for the equipments which are on orders. An important

point to be noted is that actual cost of some of the items for which order is already

placed is considerably less than the cost projected earlier at the time of obtaining

Cabinet’s approval. As a result of this, phase-I of the modernization plan will be

implemented at a cost lower than Rs. 920 crores. Details of actual likely

expenditure during current financial year (2008-09) are being worked out and will

be presented to the Secretary, MoES during next meeting of the review committee

of MoES constituted under the Chairmanship of Secretary, MoES.

2. Considering that the 11th Plan allocation for IMD is quite large and there are

some long lead items which need to be procured, advance actions have to be

taken for planning and procurement of equipment in time so as to ensure full

utilization of funds during the current plan period. Already about 1½ years of the

current plan are over and only 3 ½ years are left to implement all other major

projects. Considering this, the Department has already started taking action for

preparation of papers for obtaining approval for Phase-2 of the modernization

76

programme. The main basis for planning the future observation systems is the

report of Dr. Sikka’s committee on observation system which has been accepted

by the Earth Commission. While the process of obtaining approval for Phase-2 is

in progress, it is considered necessary to start advance procurement actions for

purchase of equipments so that we are assured of incurring large expenditure,

particularly during next 2 Financial Years when the equipments for modernization

(phase-2) are expected to arrive. It is proposed to complete all the procurement

processes, except for placement of final order which will be done only after getting

project approval and allocation of funds. Similar approach was also adopted, after

approval from MoES, for procurement of equipments for modernization Phase-I.

Because of this strategy it was possible to place orders for major equipments

within about six months after getting approval from the Cabinet.

3. India is hosting the 19th Common Wealth Games during 3-14th October,

2010 in New Delhi. The Common Wealth Games is the biggest international event

in the recent past of the city of Delhi. The Weather Services are required to

support planning and coordination of Common Wealth Games activities. Nowcasts

are a particularly important component of the sports weather service requirement.

India Meteorological Department as a Govt. agency has to provide all weather

services for sport events. Forecasts will be required at 1-3 hourly interval on

temperature, humidity, wind and rain for each of the prime venues, and severe

weather warnings will be required at 10-15 minutes interval. To steer the task of

putting all equipments and systems in place, a Scientific Advisory Committee was

constituted by the Secretary, MoES and notified vide Office Order No. CWG-01

dated 1st May, 2007. The committee has recommended a network of 60 AWS, C-

Band Doppler Weather Radar, Low Level Wind Profilers-5 Nos., Lightening

Detection System-5 Nos. , Sun photometer-5 Nos. and Multiple Utility Vehicle-2

Nos. for this purpose. The entire system is likely to be in place before the end of

Financial Year 2009-2010 in order to provide adequate time for testing and fine

tuning before starting its actual operational use in October’ 2010.

77

4. For the phase-2 of modernization programme and to establish system for

venue specific forecast for Common Wealth Games-2010, it is proposed to initiate

advance procurement action in a similar manner for the specific equipments as

given in Annexure-I, which are long lead items and generally require lot of time for

installations and commissioning after placement of formal orders with the suppliers.

In view of the justification given above, MoES may kindly accord approval, in

principle for starting immediately procurement action for the equipments as per

Annexure-I enclosed at a total estimated cost of Rs.1169.85 Crore the major

portion of actual expenditure on the above equipments will be incurred during the

two Financial years 2009-2010 and 2010-2011.

(B) Case has been iniaited and is under process for obtaining approval from

MoES for construction of Radar buildings for installation of 12 Nos DWRs by

outside agency other than CPWD to avoid delay.

78

Annexure-I

Detailed breakup of cost under infrastructure, contingency, consumables etc. Rs./Crores

S. No.

Items Number Capital Revenue Grand Total Cost Infrast-

ructure Contin-gency

Consum-ables

TA/DA Salary

1 Synoptic AWS

600 60.00 12.00 2.50 0.80 1.30 - 76.60

2 ARG 2250 100.00 50.00 2.00 1.00 2.00 - 155.00 3 Airport

Systems 30 60.00 25.00 4.00 1.00 2.00 - 92.00

4 Wind Profiler

10 35.00 10.00 1.50 2.20 0.75 - 49.45

5 Doppler Weather Radar

37 569.80 125.80 28.67 11.56 1.66 - 737.49

6 Automatic Weather stations on board ships

50 6.00 - 0.40 - 0.60 - 7.00

7 Common wealth games

i DWR (C-Band)

1 13.00 5.00 1.00 0.20 0.10 19.30

ii AWS 60 6.00 1.20 0.25 0.08 0.13 7.66 iii Wind

profiler 5 18.00 1.25 0.20 0.20 0.50 20.15

iv Micro Wave Radio System

1 1.00 - - - 0.20 1.20

v Integration/Networking

1 0.50 - 0.50 - - 1.00

vi Service provider

1 - - 3.00 - - 3.00

Total 869.30 230.25 44.02 17.04 9.24 1169.85

79

WELFARE SECTION

Honorarium

Honorarium is granted to officials for laborious and meritorious work of intermittent

nature as per DOPT OM No.17011/3/97-Estt.(Allowances) dated 17th July,1998.

DEPARTMENTAL CANTEENS / TIFFIN ROOMS

Canteen facilities are being provided to IMD staff at New Delhi/Pune/ Mumbai/

Chennai/ Agra/ Shillong/ Srinagar/ Thiruvananthapuram. The Canteens/Tiffin

Rooms have categorized as per DOPT OM No. O.M. No.13/10/2001-Dir.(C) dated

22.12.2004.

S.No. Description of the Canteen /Tiffin Room with address Category

1. Non-Statutory Departmental Canteen, DGM’s office,

Mausam Bhawan, Lodi Road, New Delhi.

Type ‘2A’ Canteen

2. Non-Statutory Departmental Canteen, ADGM(R)’ office,

Shivaji Nagar, Pune

Type ‘B’ Canteen

3. Non-Statutory Departmental Canteen, DDGM, RMC,

Chennai, 50 College Road, Chennai

Type ‘D’ Canteen

4. Non-Statutory Departmental Canteen, DDGM, RMC,

Mumbai, Colaba, Mumbai

Type ‘D’ Canteen

5. Departmental Tiffin Room, M.C. Srinagar. Type ‘A’ Tiffin Room

6. Departmental Tiffin Room, H.F. Agra Type ‘A’ Tiffin Room

7. Departmental Tiffin Room, AWS Lab. Pashan, Pune. Type ‘A’ Tiffin Room

8. Departmental Tiffin Room, CSO, Meath House, Shillong Type ‘B’ Tiffin Room

9. Departmental Tiffin Room, Seismo. Observatory, Ridge,

Delhi

Type ‘B’ Tiffin Room

10. Departmental Tiffin Room, M.C. Thiruvananthapuram. Type ‘D’ Tiffin Room

COMPASSIONATE APPOINTMENT

80

Compassionate appointment is done as per DOPT OM No.14014/6/94-Estt(D)

dated 9th October, 1998 & instructions issued from time to time.

SPORTS ACTIVITY

The All India IMD Annual Sports Meet is being organized by the All India IMD

Sports Co-ordination committee which is constituted by DGM. Employees who

participate in the Inter Ministry and National games are granted special causal

leave vide DOPT OM No.6-1/85-Estt. (Pay-I) dated the 16th July,1985, 7th

November,1988 and 8th June,1989.

Nine games so far have been conducted from 1998 to 2006.

RECREATION CLUBS

There are 32 Recreation Clubs are functioning in various offices of IMD to provide

recreation facilities to the officials. Grant-in-aid is also provided to these clubs as

per DOPT OM No.1/3/98-Welfare dated 14th October, 1999.

ACCOMMODATION / GUEST HOUSE / HOLIDAY HOME

This section forward application of officials to CPWD and different sub-offices of

IMD for booking of Guest Houses.

CENTRAL SECRETARIAT LIBRARY

Central Secretariat Library facilities are provided to officials as per Central

Secretariat Library rules.

PERMISSION TO DELIVER LECTURES

81

Permission to deliver lectures on various topics is given to the officials and

permission to accept honorarium and fee is accorded.

COLLECTION OF CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS NATURAL DISASTER

Contribution towards natural disaster is collected as and when decided by

the Government. Contribution collected sent to Prime Minister Relief Fund.

FLAG DAY

Armed Forces Flag Day is celebrated as per guidelines issued by Ministry of

Defenses and donations collected from the officials sent to MoD for welfare of

Armed Forces personals.

BLOOD DONATION / RED CROSS SOCIETY

Government servants who donate blood on a working day, granted casual

leave for that day.

Red Cross Society is approached for the welfare of officials if required.

HIGHER STUDIES

Permission to acquire higher studies in India to the officials is accorded in

accordance to the government instructions and guidelines.

FIRST AID

First aid medicines are being provided to officials posted in different sections

as and when necessary.

DUTY POST QUARTER RESIDENT’S WELFARE

Election to the post of office bearers of Resident’s Welfare Association,

Meteorological Complex, Lodi Road is organized under the supervision of Welfare

Section, DGM office.

82

CPU

The following activities were being carried out in CPU during July & Aug-2008.

a.) Supply Orders placed for the following projects under Modernisation scheme.

1. Automatic Weather Stations 550 Nos.

2. Doppler Weather Radars 12 Nos.

b.) Tender Notices were issued for procurement of following :

1. Lightening Detection Systems 10 Nos.

2. Display Board at Mausam Bhavan and IGI Airport, New Delhi.

3. Transmissiometer at Lucknow Airport.

c.) Procurement process being put on http://metnet.imd.gov.in

83

PUBLICATION SECTION

1. It is proposed to make the departmental journal, ‘Mausam’ as electronic journal

i.e. online edition of ‘Mausam’. Access to ‘Mausam’ online edition will be free but

the users will be required to get registered. The servers of ‘Mausam’ archive and

portal for online ‘Mausam’ will be separate and independent of IMD website. A

large portal of ‘Mausam’ independent of the archive is to be designed. This will

include the online edition as well as a system for online submission of papers and

their review. This will eliminate to a large extent email correspondence as authors

can upload their papers directly and referees can download them for review. The

status of the papers will be available in transparent manner on the portal.

2. In order to improve the quality of publication efforts are being made to include

the names of renowned Indian as well as foreign scientists in various areas of

Meteorology and its allied subject for panel of subject editors.

3. Highlighting ongoing activities of different divisions in IMD is being compiled and

publish as quarterly ‘IMD News’ and distributed to all offices of IMD as well as to

other institutions.

4. Publication Section undertakes compilation of information on ongoing activities

and future plan in respect of Modernization of IMD from all sub-offices and brings

out ‘IMD update’ on bi-monthly basis.

5. There is a plan for Modernization and Automation of H.Q. Library (NMSDOC) for

which civil and electrical work related to Air conditioning and complete renovation

work of different rooms of Publication Section is to be carried out by G.S.

(Works). However for automation as per meeting with NIC, the procurement of

related hardware is under process and the related software will be included in the

proposal. NIC will provide e-granthalaya software free of cost subject to minor

84

activation charges. This software will provide electronically database library

solution for Administration, Acquisition, Cataloguing, Serial control, Indexing etc.

85

GENERAL SECTION

All types of general administrative work. Which consists of :

1. Maintenance of stores, equipments, machinery items. Repair/condemnation of

office equipments/vehicle.

2. Allotment and maintenance of departmental quarters, maintaining records of

allotee of estate quarters and realizing their license fees.

3. Maintaining of individual GPF accounts, cases of GPF withdrawal and part final

withdrawal.

4. All types of advances i.e. vehicle, house building, computers, etc.

5. Maintaining records & provide allowances for part time observatories.

6. All cases pertaining to uniform.

86

PAC Kolkata

PAC Kolkata is functioning from Kolkata under direct administrative control of

DGM, New Delhi. It is entrusted with the national job of bringing out 14 language

editions of Reashtriya Panchang together with the publication of Indian

Astronomical Ephemeris annually. The Centre has in possession three portable

telescopes (diameter 14”, 11” and 6”) which are set up at the time of observation of

important astronomical events. The telescope and its accessories are also

transported to different parts of the country to carry out such observations.

Recent activity

In recent times, there was an event of Total Solar Eclipse (the partial phase of

which was visible from all parts of the country) on 1st August, 2008. The event was

observed through a 6” telescope on the roof top of PAC building by projecting the

image of the event i.e. of the Sun on a white screen with the help of the telescope.

The different phases of the eclipse was observed and different contact timings

(ingress and egress etc.) were noted and recorded by setting clocks. It has been

noted that timings computed in advance by this Centre tallies well with the

observed data. A good coverage of the observation of the event were made by

different electronic and print media.

Future plan

A similar event of Total Solar Eclipse will occur on coming 22nd July, 2009, the

totality path of which will pass through a narrow corridor of the country, covering

the state of Maharashtra, M.P., Bihar, North Bengal etc. This Centre is also

planning to take observation of the same event from a place where totality of the

event will be seen with the help of portable telescope. A project proposal of the

same will be sent soon to HQ, Office.

87

Like previous occasion, this Centre also has a plan to bring out a special booklet

on that event. This particular edition will cover all details of the eclipse along with

local circumstances, illustrations by maps and relevant photographs.

Like previous occasion, this Centre is also planning to participate in Kolkata Book

Fair, which is scheduled to be held in the month of January, 2009. This is done as

a pet of mass popularization programme of this Centre’s publication and its

activities among the common mass.

Other activities

The Centre has taken possession of its own building, which has been constructed

in the Salt Lake, Kolkata from CPWD with effect from 1st July, 2008. The shifting

process to the new building will be taken up very soon.

88

Specific Weather information and forecast

System for Commonwealth Games,

Delhi - 2010

Objective

The basic objective is to provide venue specific real time weather information,

provide venue/ event specific weather forecasts in medium, short and now cast

ranges and to standardized the nowcast techniques for Delhi region and adopt the

system as a Metropolitan Weather Information & Forecast System.

Infrastructure

The Infrastructure required has been identified as 60 AWS, One C-band Doppler

Weather Radar, Five Vertical Wind Profilers and five Lightening Detection

Systems , One Radiometer, Three portable GPS Sonde and One Professional

Service Provider to provide and operate the auto-nowcast system; generate

visualization products; designs and operates web-site/web portal and arranges for

transmission and display of products.

Action regarding procurement of the above instruments have been initiated.

Current Status

The Work on site selection for AWS started, 14 sites have been inspected,

Concurrence of NDMC, MCD, IAF, JNU, IARI and Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan

received for installation of AWS in the premises of various establishment under

their control.