TOPS to develop nowcasts and forecasts of ecosystem conditions

Hyderabad, Jul 17 (UNI) The Terrestrial Observation and Prediction System (TOPS) is to develop nowcasts and forecasts of ecosystem conditions, said Ramakrisha R Nemani, a research scientist at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), USA today.

Presenting a power point presentation on application capabilities of TOPS, in the presence of Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, he pointed out that TOPS included surface water, ground water, soils, agriculture, and other natural resources for use in a range of applications for develpmental activities.

Mr Nemani explained about the expected outcome of this type of studies and said the cost benefit ratio of such studies was 29 US Dollars for one USD investment.

''This type of studies for irrigation priority states like Andhra Pradesh will help to predict weather conditions more accurately'', he said.

Mr Nemani said the mission was ready to provide package information with value added services to the state government and suggested establishing a close network of meteorological stations throughout the state at least one in each mandal.

The Chief Minister wanted him to interact with irrigation department and APSRAC to chalk out further collaborative work to implement their technical know-how for the development of the state on non-commercial basis.

TOPS is a data and modelling software system designed to seamlessly integrate data from satellite, aircraft, and ground sensors with weather/climate and application models to produce operational nowcasts and forecasts.

Ecological nowcasts and forecasts are produced as data files at different spatial and temporal resolutions. TOPS is currently tracking ten different variables and produce daily images from the data.

Nowcasts are assessments of current conditions calculated using satellite data, meteorological data and biogeochemical models of biosphere processes. These nowcasts allow scientists and resource managers to track everything from temperature to fire risk, water quality to crop quality.

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