Union Minister Sh. S. Jaipal Reddy today (15.01.2014) dedicated the “INSAT 3D Meteorological Data Processing System to the Nation” on 139th Foundation Day of India Meteorological Department (IMD) here in New Delhi. Dr. Shailesh Nayak, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences ans Dr. L. S. Rathore Director General of Meteorology was present on this occasion. A website INDIA WEATHER was also launched on the occasion.
Shri Reddy also felicitated Eminent Scientist Dr. Ajit Tyagi, former Director General of IMD and gave Awards to best employees, best offices of IMD and to School Children for various competitions on this occasion.
Shri Reddy complemented the accurate forecast for normal 2013 monsoon and thePhailin cyclone which resulted in evacuation of almost 1 million people from the coastal regions. He also lauded the the accurate forecast of other cyclones namely Mahasen, Helen, Lehar and Madi by IMD during last year.
The minister said heavy rain which led to disaster in Uttrakhandwas due to multiple reasons and highlighted the need for better coordination between service providers, disaster managers and other stakeholders to develop a sustainable and effective monitoring, warning and management system. He expressed hope that Integrated Himalayan Meteorology Programme will plug the data gaps in hill regions andimprove weather forecasting and services.
Shri Reddy said the expectations of the society have tremendously increased for better weather climate services owing to accurate forecast provided by IMD in the last year.
He emphasized the need to increase in number of stations and frequency of observations to provide better forecast. He said he is sure that INSAT-3D, just dedicated to the Nation will provide impetus in improving weather and climate services. He said due to significant improvements in spatial resolution, number of spectral channels and functionality as compared to KALPANA and INSAT-3A Satellites, INSAT-3D will provide information on various parameters which will lead to significant improvement in weather forecasting.
Further, more than 2/3rd of the area of earth is under oceans, but most of the observing stations are established over land. So, there is need for increase in observations from the oceans.
The Minister said the services need sustained investments in research and development, capacity building and developing effective linkages with decision makers and users. The language used in forecast and information should be easy to understand and serve as a clear basis for taking action.
He said Government of India has allocated significant amount of funds during XII Five Year Plan to improve weather and climate services in the country. I am sure that the IMD and MoES are making an effective and efficient use of this opportunity.I assure the scientific community that there will be no dearth of support from the Government of India. IMD should efficiently utilize all resources at its command i.e. satellites, radars, computers, advance models and of course human resource.
Shri Reddy said his Ministry has established an effective mechanism for dissemination of weather and climate forecasts to different stake holders using different communication channels like internet (web sites and e mails), news papers and Television, radio, mobiles and hot line telephone connections with the relevant control rooms and the concerned government officials. He expressed happiness on the information that Agromet Advisories provided through SMS is used effectively by more than 47 Lakhs farmers during various stages of farming and the service is being extended to sub- district or block level.
The minister expressed concern on the deterioration of air quality and health of people due to increase population rapidly in our cities along with increase in transportation and industrialization. He said the System of Air Quality Monitoring and Forecasting (SAFAR) put in place by the Ministry is a significant step. He also showed happiness on WMO also recognizing our programme and show-cases it a global Pilot project.
The minister said Climate services are very important for short and long term planning and strategy development. An Extra-ordinary Congress of World Meteorological Organization was specially convened to initiate climate services initially in four major areas viz. Agriculture, Health, Water and Disaster Risk Reduction. India has special responsibility of expanding this service over globe with election of India as Co-Vice-Chair of Global Framework on Climate Services. He hoped that that a national framework will be created on priority to provide climate products and information for Sectoral applications.
Welcoming the Minister Dr. Shailesh Nayak, Secretary M/o Earth Sciences said with significant improvements in spatial resolution, number of spectral channels and functionality, INSAT-3D will provide information on various parameters which will lead to significant improvement in weather forecasting in the following areas:
ü Onset of Monsoon over Kerala
ü Tracking and prediction of Tropical Cyclones
ü Western Disturbances, Night time FOG, Snow Cover Mapping
ü Detection of High impact weather events such as Heavy rainfall, thunderstorms, duststorms etc.
He said INSAT 3D Meteorological Data Processing System (IMDPS) has been set up at National Satellite Meteorological Centre (NSMC), IMD, New Delhi to receive and process the satellite data on a real time basis. The system is capable to process and generate images and products on 24X7 basis.
Dr. L.S.Rathore, DG India Meterological Department said IMD celebrates its Foundation Day on 15thJanuary to commemorate the assumption of Mr. H. F. Blanford as Imperial Meteorological Reporter on 15thJanuary, 1875.
He said in the last few years, IMD has received worldwide appreciation from various stake holders, Meteorological agencies, disaster managers, user organizations, media and public at large for improvement in services, outreach, delivery system and high accuracy of weather forecast and warnings with a lead time of 2-3 days. Some of the recent achievements are as follows:
Ø False Alarm Rate and Missing rate for heavy rainfall warnings have reduced by 52% and 28% respectively from their mean of last 10 years.
Ø Similarly Critical Success Index and Probability of Detection have increased by 42% and 27% respectively.
Ø Tourist Forecast for 87 and Public Weather Forecast for 220 cities for 5 days in advance and nowcast for 125 locations has been introduced.
Ø Special Forecast for Amarmath ji Yatra, Char Dham Yatra, Kumbh Mela, Sports events and Mountaineering expeditions was provided.
Ø Accurate prediction of tropical cyclones like Mahasen, Phailin, Helen, Lehar and Madi with reduction in landfall forecast error less than 50 km was achieved.
Ø Dissemination of Agromet advisories to 47 lakh farmers, Cyclone Warnings and Amarnath Yatra forecast through SMS and IVR technology was done.
Courtesy: Press Information Bureau (pib.nic.in)
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