End-to-end prediction system for predicting thunderstorm to be operational by April 2019

NewsBharati    15-Jan-2019
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New Delhi, Jan 15: Meteorological Department will be implementing an end-to-end prediction system for predicting thunderstorms or lightning by April 2019. 

Union Minister of Earth Sciences and Environment Dr Harsh Vardhan told at a press conference in New Delhi yesterday that Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) and IMD are developing prediction tools for thunderstorm and lightning.


IITM Pune has already installed 48 lightning sensors around the country which can locate the thunderstorm and lightning activities in real time. IITM Pune also developed a Mobile App called “DAMINI” to give alerts on impending lightning activity over the area. The DAMINI App is available from Google Stores.

Dr Harsha Vardhan informed that these new tools will help IMD to disseminate forecasts and warnings on time and more effectively to the users and the new website and mobile Apps will be ready for launch by June 2019.

Minister said, strengthening the observational network and by end of this year, projects which are in pipeline are…

1. 10 new X-band weather radars will be installed over NW Himalayas (J &K, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand).

2. 11 more C-band radars will be installed by IMD by 2020 over the plains of India including one over Andaman Nicobar Islands and one over Lakshadweep Islands.

3. IMD will be installing 100 new Automated Weather Stations including rain-gauges to monitor weather activities in the state.


4. IITM Pune with the help of IMD and Mumbai Municipal Corporation is installing a new dense rain-gauge network over Mumbai City with 200 rain-gauges. In addition, 4 X-band radars will be also installed so that a merged rainfall data set at 2 km resolution will be prepared and made available to the public on real time.

5. “In addition, IMD is installing 200 Automated Weather Stations at District Agromet Units for providing weather services to farmers and another 200 AWS will be installed over major cities and towns for providing City Specific Weather information and forecasts,” said Dr Vardhan.

6. In another initiative, the existing 130 Agro-Meteorological Field Units, have an addition of 8 new District Agro-Meteorological Field Units (DAMUs) which have been established and also Block level Agro-Meteorological forecasts have been started in 200 blocks.