Three more Doppler
Weather Radars (DWR) are being installed at Paradip, Vishakhapatnam
and Machilipatnam, under the on-going programme for better weather
and cyclone prediction by the India Meteorological Department
(IMD). Three DWRs already installed along the East-Coast at
Chennai, Sriharikota and Kolkata have become functional. The
DWRs are capable of providing the velocity structure of tropical
cyclones.
In order to strengthen
the observation system further, 20 High Wind Speed Recorders
have also been installed at the Coastal stations. Apart from
these, a number of data buoys have also been deployed in the
Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, under the national data buoy
programme of the Department of Ocean Development. These provide
continuous observations of wind-pressure, temperature, (ambient
and sea surface), wave heights etc. which are of immense use
for forecasts. The IMD now has a well-established cyclone warning
system for the country with six cyclone warning centres operational
at Kolkata, Bhubaneshwar, Vishakhapatnam, Chennai, Mumbai and
Ahmedabad, covering the entire Indian Coastline.
The IMD follows
a four stage cyclone warning system. A pre-cyclone warning is
issued 4 days in advance, when a depression is formed, followed
by a Cyclone Alert 2-3 days in advance and in the third stage,
cyclone warnings are issued 1-2 days in advance specifying expected
place and time of landfall. In the final stage a post-landfall
outloook is issued, 12 hours in advance.
Though the accuracy
of cyclone forecasts by IMD are at par with any advanced nation,
the fact remains that weather prediction in North America and
Europe is more accurate than the tropical countries like India,
because of their location in the extra-tropical latitudes where
the movement of weather systems follows an orderly track.
