Hyderabad: India is home to some of the world's oldest meteorological observatories, dating back to 1875 and with its main headquarters located in Kolkata. As the primary government organisation in all areas pertaining to meteorology and related subjects, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) is commemorating its 150th anniversary nationwide on January 15.
The administrators at IMD have announced that they would be holding a year-long celebration beginning in January 2024 to mark the 150-year milestone. In addition to interactive student sessions, a number of activities, exhibitions, and international scientific lectures will be held during this time to inspire students to study meteorology and pursue careers in atmospheric sciences.
In conjunction with sister organisations and other government and non-government organisations, the Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi will host a grand exhibition on January 15 and 16 to suitably highlight the accomplishments of this sesquicentennial journey. This event will provide a memorable visual experience for visiting educational institutions, the scientific community, delegations, industry, and the general public.
History of meteorological services in India:
1785 - India is blessed with some of the world's oldest meteorological observatories. The British East India Company erected several such stations, for example, those at Calcutta in 1785 and Madras (now Chennai) in 1796 for investigating the weather and climate of India.
The Asiatic Society of Bengal, which was established in Calcutta in 1784 and Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1804, supported meteorological research in India. Captain Harry Piddington in Calcutta is credited with coining the term "cyclone," which refers to a snake's coil, and with publishing 40 papers on tropical storms in the Journal of the Asiatic Society between 1835 and 1855.
1842 - His seminal book on the "Laws of the Storms" was published in 1842. Several observatories operated by the provincial governments of India throughout the first part of the 1800s.
1871 - Calcutta was hit by a catastrophic tropical cyclone in 1864, and the monsoon rains failed to arrive in 1866 and 1871. The India Meteorological Department was founded in 1875, putting all meteorological research in the nation under one roof. The government nominated HF Blanford as its meteorological reporter. Sir John Eliot was the first Director General of Observatories, having been appointed at the headquarters in Calcutta in May 1889. Afterwards, the IMD headquarters were moved to Shimla, then to Poona (now Pune), and lastly to New Delhi.
1875 - Since its humble origins in 1875, IMD has steadily grown its meteorological observation, communications, forecasting, and weather services infrastructure while also achieving a commensurate increase in scientific output.
IMD organisational structure - The Director General of Meteorology is the Head of the India Meteorological Department, with headquarters at New Delhi. There is one Additional Director General in Pune and four in New Delhi. Ten of the twenty Deputy Directors General are located in New Delhi.
Six Regional Meteorological Centers, each under the direction of a Deputy Director General and with headquarters in Mumbai, Chennai, New Delhi, Calcutta, Nagpur, and Guwahati, are in place for the ease of administrative and technical management. Deputy Director General is in charge of several operational unit types, including Forecasting Offices, Agrometeorological Advisory Service Centers, Flood Meteorological Offices, Area Cyclone Warning Centers, and Cyclone Warning Centers, as well as Meteorological Centers located in state capitals. Currently, the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) oversees IMD.
In addition, there are separate Divisions to deal with specialised subjects. They are:
• Agricultural Meteorology
• Civil Aviation
• Climatology
• Hydrometeorology
• Instrumentation
• Meteorological Telecommunication
• Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre
• Positional Astronomy
• Satellite Meteorology
• Seismology
• Training
Vision - The goal of the India Meteorological Department is to support national development by offering effective weather and climate services that ensure the safety of people and property.
IMD is a continuously improving department: IMD is working continuously to improve its system with technological advancements and other systemic changes through the new models. As of now, IMD has 34 active radars through which it gathers information. Six radars have been added in the last three years.
IMD DG Mohapatra claims that "We are going to increase the number of radars. By 2025, the total number of radars in the country will be 65. In the next few years, we have decided to place four more radars in the Western Himalayan region, 10 radars in the Northeastern region, and 11 additional radars in the plains of North India." ( As on 2022)
Highest concentration on urban centres: IMD is also aware that people closely watch its forecasts and predictions for the major cities, and they must take responsibility if they are incorrect. Thus, when it comes to precise weather forecasting, cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata are also of utmost importance.
Evolution of IMD: Since its founding in 1875, Maryland has experienced multiple stages of development and has stood as a symbol of achievement, prestige, and national duty. With more than 500 observatories, 13 Radio Wind stations, 45 radars, and 6 high-performance computer systems, the India Meteorological Department is a formidable force in the field. Over 4000 scientists work at IMD, which is home to cutting-edge meteorological equipment, cutting-edge computer systems, models for predicting the weather and climate, information processing and forecasting systems, and warning systems.
IMD has used technology to create creative solutions like the dynamic Meteogram "MAUSAM GRAM," which offers weather information at all times and locations (Har Har Mausam, Har Ghar Mausam) in order to make weather services ubiquitous. With its headquarters located in Delhi and six Regional Meteorological Centers (RMCs) serving six distinct regions of the nation, IMD operates in a coordinated manner. The 26 state-level Meteorological Centers (MCs), which are dedicated to monitoring and distributing data, advisories, and warnings on local weather, provide additional support to these RMCs.
1875-1890 - All meteorological research in India was brought under the purview of IMD upon its founding. When India's first observatory was established at Alipore, Kolkata, in 1877, seismological activity began. The adoption of a common rain gauge type was carried out in 1890 with a decision passed by the then Government, and IMD became the Rainfall Registration Authority.
1891-1946 - In 1908, the first climatological information was released as a meteorological atlas of the Indian Seas. In 1925, an atlas of storm tracks in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal was created. From Kolkata, the IMD headquarters moved to Shimla in 1905, Pune in 1928, and Delhi in 1944. In the cities of New Delhi, Bombay, Madras, Nagpur, Kolkata, Karachi, and Lahore, seven regional meteorological centers were constructed.
1947-1959- The first wind-finding radar was installed in Dum Dum in 1954, and the relics of the Second World War were used to build an indigenous radar at Safdarjung Delhi in 1958.
1960-1970 - The first foreign training program started in 1967. In 1969, the Training Directorate was founded in Pune.
1971-1983 - Every three hours, satellite-based cloud photographs spanning the entire planet may be sent to IMD. As a result, since 1974, IMD has been able to identify all synoptic size (100–1000 km diameter) weather systems and produce more accurate 24-hour forecasts because of technological advancements. Delhi hosted the first-ever in-country X band radar installation in 1975.
1984-1990 - In 1986, WMO designated IMD's training services as a Regional Meteorological Training Center (RMTC). In 1988, the National Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) was founded, and in 1989, supercomputers arrived in India. The purpose of the 1990 establishment of the Cyclone Warning Directorate in Delhi was to conduct national and international coordination and to standardise cyclone warning efforts across the nation.
1991-2005 - ISRO launched Kalpana, the first dedicated meteorological satellite, in 2002. In 2005, 127 Automated Weather Stations (AWS) were created.
2006-13 - When the Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Phailin made landfall on the Odisha coast on October 12, 2013, the entire world was proven to be incorrect, but India was proven to be correct. The history was written by India. The entire world recognised IMD, and it became the world authority in tropical storm tracking and forecasting.
2014-23 - Since its humble beginnings in 1875, IMD has grown to boast 39 Doppler weather radars enabling improved observation and forecasting of extreme events nationwide by 2023, in addition to INSAT 3D/3DR dedicated weather satellites that provide cloud imaging every 15 minutes. In 2020 and 2023, the forecast lead duration for river catchments was extended from three days to five days and seven days, respectively. Cyclogenesis forecasts have improved their lead times from 24 hours to three days in 2014, five days in 2018, and seven days in 2023.
Compared to 2014, the forecast accuracy for all kinds of severe weather occurrences rose by almost 50 per cent in 2023. The accuracy of the 24-hour forecast is approximately 80 per cent for heavy rainfall, 86 per cent for thunderstorms, and 88 per cent for heat waves and cold waves. In addition to district-level and sector-specific forecast and warning services across the nation, IMD provides the forecast for around 1200 stations and city forecasts for roughly 1200 stations. In addition to serving the Indian subcontinent, IMD also offers forecast and warning services for cyclones to 13 countries in the north Indian Ocean as well as to the SAARC countries.
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