Pilot project for thunderstorm warning

Kolkata, Mar 22 (UNI) The pilot phase of the Severe Thunderstorms Observations and Regional Modeling (STORM) programme in Gangetic West Bengal starts in April-May, 2006.

The programme, a part of the ongoing weather and climate research programmes of the Department of Science and Technology(DST), is a multi-disciplinary research and development effort to warn the people about the outburst of nor'westers, known as Kaal Baisakhi in West Bengal.

The observation and collection of data for the pilot phase has been given to the Physics department of Calcutta University, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur Director S K Dubey told a press conference after a two-day meet with the scientific community of the city.

The STORM programme includes designing of a coordinated plan for monitoring the lifecycle of nor'wester over the belt covered by West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Jharkhand and the adjoining states in the North-East, evolving a strategy for monitoring the outbursts of organised thunderstorm and the role of other factors that results in Kaal Baisakhi.

Experts and scientists of more than 40 research organisations in the couintry are involved in implementation of the programme.

The experimental design strategy of the programme comprises among others, mesoscale environment monitoring, covering Asansol-Murshidabad-Kolkata-Digha-Asansol with establishing about ten Automated Weather Stations (AWS) under the programme by Calcutta University and IIT, Kharagpur.

The environment of the meso-net area embedded within the regional scale environment would have 30 surface observatories, all fitted with AWSs. Besides, weather radar stations at Patna, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Paradip, Chandipur, Dum Dum and Kolkata would keep continuous watch on the development of the severe thrunderstorm, Prof. Dubey said.

UNI KDG SJC/SRC1952