Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai
Encyclopedia
The Regional Meteorological Centre at Chennai
is one of the seven regional meteorological centres (RMCs) of the India Meteorological Department
(IMD) and is responsible for the weather-related activities of the southern Indian peninsula comprising the states of Andhra Pradesh
, Karnataka
, Kerala
, Tamil Nadu
and the union territories of Lakshadweep Islands and Pondicherry. The other regional centres function with their headquarters at Kolkata
, Guwahati
, Mumbai
, Nagpur
, Machilipatnam
(Bandar) and New Delhi
.
, in 1792 "for promoting the knowledge of Astronomy, Geography and Navigation in India", marking the beginning of the history of Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai. Oakeley was supported by William Petrie, a member of the Madras Government
, who had built an astronomical observatory at his own expense 5 years earlier.
The 15-feet tall granite
pillar monument weighing 10 tons, which carried the original transit equipment, is still preserved and carries the name of the architect, Micheal Topping Arch, and the year AD MDCCXCII. Inscriptions in Tamil
and Telugu
were carved on the pillar in order that "posterity may be informed a thousand years hence of the period when the mathematical sciences were first planted by British liberality in Asia". J. Goldingham, FRS, became the first astronomer of the observatory, who started recording the meteorological observations in 1796.
In 1840, Capt. S. O. E. Ludlow began recording meteorological observations on an hourly basis. From 1861, N. R. Pogson held the post of astronomer of the observatory for 30 years. He also held the post of meteorological reporter to the Madras government for many years, who was assisted in his work by his wife and daughter.
In 1875, the India Meteorological Department, also known as the Met Office, was established at New Delhi
, which is the chief body of national meteorological service in India and is the principal government agency in all matters relating to meteorology
, seismology
and allied subjects.
In 1899, R. L. Jones, a professor of physics at the Madras Presidency College
, was appointed as part-time meteorologist of the observatory. The post was abolished in 1926 and a full-time assistant meteorologist was appointed. The observatory, which was issuing the Madras Daily Weather Report since October 1893 and supplying the time signal throughout the Indian Telegraph system, was reduced to the status of an ordinary pilot balloon
observatory in 1931.
The Regional Meteorological Centre at Chennai was established on 1 April 1945 under a deputy director general of the India Meteorological Department to supervise and coordinate meteorological services in the Southern region of India, which covers the states of Tamil Nadu
, Andhra Pradesh
, Karnataka
, Kerala
and Union Territories of Pondicherry and Lakshadweep
. With the formation of the Regional Meteorological Centre, the storm-warning
work for the seaports on the east coast of India from Kalingapatnam
southwards was transferred to Chennai's Meenambakkam centre in 1945. The meteorological activities were bifurcated into marine and aviation for efficient functioning of the storm-warning services and separate storm-warning centre was established at Nungambakkam in 1969. The responsibility of storm-warning task for the ports on the west coast of India from Karwar
southwards too was transferred from Mumbai
to Chennai in 1969.
, between Good Shepherd School and Women's Christian College. The three meteorological centres in South India function at Hyderabad, Bangalore
and Thiruvananthapuram
serving the states of Andhra Pradesh
, Karnataka
, and Kerala
, respectively, under the technical and administrative control of the Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai.
With the establishment of the additional cyclone-warning centres at Bhubaneshwar and Visakhapatnam, the storm-warning centres at Kolkata
, Chennai and Mumbai were named as Area Cyclone-Warning Centres (ACWC) and the storm-warning centres at Visakhapatnam
, Bhubaneshwar and Ahmedabad
as Cyclone-Warning Centres (CWC). CWCs at Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneshwar and Ahmedabad function under the control of the ACWCs at Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai, respectively. The ACWC supervises and coordinates the non-aviation forecasting work at the meteorological centres functioning under it.
Under RMC Chennai, conventional seismological observatories are functioning at Thiruvananthapuram
, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada
, Minicoy
and Salem. In 1997, seismological observatories were established at Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram and Visakhapatnam under Global Seismological Network (GSN). In addition, an observatory under World Wide Standardised Seismological Network (WWSSN) functions at Kodaikanal
and a broadband system functions at Mangalore
. The hydrology section at RMC Chennai periodically inspects about 2,000 rainguage stations maintained by organisations such as railways and state governments.
The non-aviation forecasting work, including cyclone warnings, is supervised and co-ordinated by the ACWC at Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai, by means of the Cyclone Detection Radar. The Cyclone Detection Radars are located at Chennai, Machilipatnam
, Vishakhapatnam, Karaikal
and Kochi
which track tropical cyclones over the Bay of Bengal
and the Arabian Sea
. The Cyclone Detection Radar Station in Chennai is located at the Port Trust Building of the Chennai Port
. The aviation weather forecasting activities, which are required by pilots and airport authorities, are controlled and coordinated by the Aerodrome Meteorological Office at Chennai Airport in Meenambakkam
. The cyclone warning bulletins are disseminated to remote centres in the coastal districts from the Cyclone Warning Dissemination System (CWDS) unit in Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai. The Regional Meteorological Centre and other Meteorological Centres periodically inspects the observatories to ensure the accuracy of meteorological observations and all the instruments at the observatories are calibrated at least once in 2 years.
Since 1978, Agromet Advisory Units are functioning at RMC Chennai and other meteorological centres under it. These units regularly issue Agromet Advisory Bulletins twice a week benefiting the farming community in their respective states.
In 1984, a training unit was started at RMC Chennai to conduct basic meteorological training courses, each course spanning 4 months. More than 1,000 trainees have been trained so far in about 50 batches.
The Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai maintains 121 surface observatories of which 53 are departmental observatories and 68 are part-time observatories. In addition, it maintains 13 pilot balloon observatories, 10 Rawin stations and 1 Radiosonde station. There are also Port Meteorological offices at Chennai, Kochi and Visakhapatnam, which interact with masters of ships and shipping companies and other marine interests.
More than 1,400 personnel including 300 officers work in various offices under Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai which includes 3 meteorological centres, 1 area cyclone warning centre, 1 cyclone warning centre, 6 cyclone detection radar stations and 17 aviation meteorological offices (AMOs).
The IMD also maintains Voluntary Observing Fleet (VOF) through the Port Meteorological Office at the Chennai Port comprising ships of merchant navy, Indian Navy
and foreign agencies.
and Tamil
on Tuesdays and Fridays based on the weather forecast received from the centre.
The IMD has plans to replace its S-band 10 cm Cyclone Detection Radar (CDR) network with modern Doppler weather radars
(DWRs) in a phased manner. Although the decision to set up the DWR network was taken in the 1990s and funds allocated, the first DWR units are being installed only in the 2000s. Two DWRs, METEOR-1500S, imported from Gematronik Gmbh, a German firm, at a cost of 130 million each, have been installed at the Regional Meteorological Centres in Chennai and Kolkata. The Chennai DWR is operational since 2001-2002. In the same period, a High Wind Speed Recorder (HWSR) was installed at the Chennai centre.
In 2003-2004, a laser ceilometer was installed at Chennai airport for reporting data on height of base of low cloud for aviation. During the same period, automatic message switching systems was also installed at the Chennai International Airport. Chennai is one of the five state-of-the-art regional message switching centres connected with the central hub in IMD's National Meteorological Telecommunication Centre (NMTC) at New Delhi. Other regional systems are located at Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Guwahati
.
The city's first automatic weather station was installed at the RMC in Nungambakkam in 2007. As part of its 9,200-million modernisation plan, the Department of Meteorology plans to install Doppler Weather Radar in Chennai. At present, data from the manual observatory in Meenambakkam
is being used for forecasting weather. The Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai will install an automatic weather unit at Meenambakkam in 2011 as part of its modernisation project, which aims to improve weather monitoring facilities. The department set up two more in the suburbs of Madhavaram and Ennore
recently. With the new automated weather stations to be installed, the state of Tamil Nadu would have 42 such facilities.
At present, the staff of Meteorological Department and of other government agencies such as Water Resources Department, manually measure the rainfall in facilities set up in some parts of the city. For the first time in the city, the department would create a mesoscale network of satellite-based automated rain gauges to cover areas within the radius of 5 km. In the first phase, 10 such facilities would be installed in various localities of the city. The localities where such rain gauges are to come up are Chembarambakkam, Avadi
, Kolapakkam, Puzhal
, Anna University
, Taramani, Pallikaranai
and Tambaram
. The department is in the process of selecting one more site.
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
is one of the seven regional meteorological centres (RMCs) of the India Meteorological Department
India Meteorological Department
The India Meteorological Department , also referred to as the Met Office, is an agency of the Ministry of Earth Sciences of the Government of India. It is the principal agency responsible for meteorological observations, weather forecasting and seismology...
(IMD) and is responsible for the weather-related activities of the southern Indian peninsula comprising the states of Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...
, Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
, Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
and the union territories of Lakshadweep Islands and Pondicherry. The other regional centres function with their headquarters at Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
, Guwahati
Guwahati
Guwahati, Pragjyotishpura in ancient Assam formerly known as Gauhati is a metropolis,the largest city of Assam in India and ancient urban area in North East India, with a population of 963,429. It is also the largest metropolitan area in north-eastern India...
, Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, Nagpur
Nagpur
Nāgpur is a city and winter capital of the state of Maharashtra, the largest city in central India and third largest city in Maharashtra after Mumbai and Pune...
, Machilipatnam
Machilipatnam
Machilipatnam is a city and a special grade municipality in the Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located south east of state capital, Hyderabad.-History:...
(Bandar) and New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
.
History
Systematic meteorological observations in Chennai started much earlier than the actual establishment of the India Meteorological Department in 1875. The Madras Observatory, as it was known then, was established by Sir Charles Oakeley, the then Governor of Madras under the East India CompanyEast India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
, in 1792 "for promoting the knowledge of Astronomy, Geography and Navigation in India", marking the beginning of the history of Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai. Oakeley was supported by William Petrie, a member of the Madras Government
Madras Presidency
The Madras Presidency , officially the Presidency of Fort St. George and also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision of British India...
, who had built an astronomical observatory at his own expense 5 years earlier.
The 15-feet tall granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
pillar monument weighing 10 tons, which carried the original transit equipment, is still preserved and carries the name of the architect, Micheal Topping Arch, and the year AD MDCCXCII. Inscriptions in Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
and Telugu
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
were carved on the pillar in order that "posterity may be informed a thousand years hence of the period when the mathematical sciences were first planted by British liberality in Asia". J. Goldingham, FRS, became the first astronomer of the observatory, who started recording the meteorological observations in 1796.
In 1840, Capt. S. O. E. Ludlow began recording meteorological observations on an hourly basis. From 1861, N. R. Pogson held the post of astronomer of the observatory for 30 years. He also held the post of meteorological reporter to the Madras government for many years, who was assisted in his work by his wife and daughter.
In 1875, the India Meteorological Department, also known as the Met Office, was established at New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
, which is the chief body of national meteorological service in India and is the principal government agency in all matters relating to meteorology
Meteorology
Meteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere. Studies in the field stretch back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not occur until the 18th century. The 19th century saw breakthroughs occur after observing networks developed across several countries...
, seismology
Seismology
Seismology is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or through other planet-like bodies. The field also includes studies of earthquake effects, such as tsunamis as well as diverse seismic sources such as volcanic, tectonic, oceanic,...
and allied subjects.
In 1899, R. L. Jones, a professor of physics at the Madras Presidency College
Presidency College, Chennai
Presidency College is an arts, law and science college in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. Established as the Madras Preparatory School on October 15, 1840 and later, upgraded to a high school and then, graduate college, the Presidency College is one of the oldest government arts colleges...
, was appointed as part-time meteorologist of the observatory. The post was abolished in 1926 and a full-time assistant meteorologist was appointed. The observatory, which was issuing the Madras Daily Weather Report since October 1893 and supplying the time signal throughout the Indian Telegraph system, was reduced to the status of an ordinary pilot balloon
Weather balloon
A weather or sounding balloon is a balloon which carries instruments aloft to send back information on atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity and wind speed by means of a small, expendable measuring device called a radiosonde...
observatory in 1931.
The Regional Meteorological Centre at Chennai was established on 1 April 1945 under a deputy director general of the India Meteorological Department to supervise and coordinate meteorological services in the Southern region of India, which covers the states of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
, Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...
, Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
, Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
and Union Territories of Pondicherry and Lakshadweep
Lakshadweep
Lakshadweep , formerly known as the Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi Islands, is a group of islands in the Laccadive Sea, 200 to 440 km off the coast of the South West Indian state of Kerala...
. With the formation of the Regional Meteorological Centre, the storm-warning
Storm warning
At sea, a storm warning is a warning issued by the National Weather Service of the United States when winds between 48 knots and 63 knots are occurring or predicted to occur soon. The winds must not be associated with a tropical cyclone...
work for the seaports on the east coast of India from Kalingapatnam
Kalingapatnam
-History:Kalingapatnam is a panchayat and mandal headquarters located in Srikakulam district, where the River Vamsadhara meets the Bay of Bengal and It is one of the safe and clean beach resorts in North Andhra....
southwards was transferred to Chennai's Meenambakkam centre in 1945. The meteorological activities were bifurcated into marine and aviation for efficient functioning of the storm-warning services and separate storm-warning centre was established at Nungambakkam in 1969. The responsibility of storm-warning task for the ports on the west coast of India from Karwar
Karwar
Karwar is the administrative headquarters of Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka, India. It is a seaside town situated on the banks of the Kali river which is on the west coast of the Indian peninsula. The town lies about 15 kilometres south of the Karnataka–Goa border and 519 km north-west...
southwards too was transferred from Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
to Chennai in 1969.
Functions
The Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai is located at College Road, NungambakkamNungambakkam
Nungambakkam is one of the wealthiest localities in the heart of Chennai, India's fourth largest metropolitan city. The neighborhood is abound with multi-national commercial establishments, important government offices, foreign consulates, sprawling educational institutions, shopping malls,...
, between Good Shepherd School and Women's Christian College. The three meteorological centres in South India function at Hyderabad, Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
and Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
serving the states of Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...
, Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
, and Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, respectively, under the technical and administrative control of the Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai.
With the establishment of the additional cyclone-warning centres at Bhubaneshwar and Visakhapatnam, the storm-warning centres at Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
, Chennai and Mumbai were named as Area Cyclone-Warning Centres (ACWC) and the storm-warning centres at Visakhapatnam
Visakhapatnam
Visakhapatnam is a major sea port on the south east coast of India. With a population of approximately 1.7 million, it is the second largest city in the state of Andhra Pradesh and the third largest city on the east coast of India after Kolkata and Chennai. According to the history, the city was...
, Bhubaneshwar and Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad also known as Karnavati is the largest city in Gujarat, India. It is the former capital of Gujarat and is also the judicial capital of Gujarat as the Gujarat High Court has its seat in Ahmedabad...
as Cyclone-Warning Centres (CWC). CWCs at Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneshwar and Ahmedabad function under the control of the ACWCs at Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai, respectively. The ACWC supervises and coordinates the non-aviation forecasting work at the meteorological centres functioning under it.
Under RMC Chennai, conventional seismological observatories are functioning at Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada
Vijayawada
Vijayawada is the third largest city in Andhra Pradesh, India, located on the banks of the Krishna River and bounded by the Indrakiladri Hills on the West and the Budameru River on the North. The city is located in the Krishna District, about from the state capital Hyderabad.Vijayawada literally...
, Minicoy
Minicoy
Minicoy, locally known as Maliku is a census town in the Indian union territory of Lakshadweep and was formerly a part of Maldive Islands.-Etymology:...
and Salem. In 1997, seismological observatories were established at Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram and Visakhapatnam under Global Seismological Network (GSN). In addition, an observatory under World Wide Standardised Seismological Network (WWSSN) functions at Kodaikanal
Kodaikanal
-Climate:Kodaikanal has a monsoon-influenced subtropical highland climate . The temperatures are cool throughout the year due to the high elevation of the city.-Economy:...
and a broadband system functions at Mangalore
Mangalore
Mangalore is the chief port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located about west of the state capital, Bangalore. Mangalore lies between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghat mountain ranges, and is the administrative headquarters of the Dakshina Kannada district in south western...
. The hydrology section at RMC Chennai periodically inspects about 2,000 rainguage stations maintained by organisations such as railways and state governments.
The non-aviation forecasting work, including cyclone warnings, is supervised and co-ordinated by the ACWC at Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai, by means of the Cyclone Detection Radar. The Cyclone Detection Radars are located at Chennai, Machilipatnam
Machilipatnam
Machilipatnam is a city and a special grade municipality in the Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located south east of state capital, Hyderabad.-History:...
, Vishakhapatnam, Karaikal
Karaikal
Karaikal is a major port city of east coast of India and a municipality in Karaikal district in the Union Territory of Pondicherry, India. Several explanations are offered for the word 'Karaikal'. The imperial Gazetteer gives it the meaning 'fish pass'. According to Julien vinson the town is said...
and Kochi
Kochi
-Places:* Kochi, a city in the state of Kerala, India, formerly known as Cochin* Kingdom of Cochin, a former feudal city-state on Malabar Coast, India** Fort Kochi, one of the three main urban components which constitute the present day city of Kochi, Kerala, India...
which track tropical cyclones over the Bay of Bengal
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal , the largest bay in the world, forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. It resembles a triangle in shape, and is bordered mostly by the Eastern Coast of India, southern coast of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to the west and Burma and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the...
and the Arabian Sea
Arabian Sea
The Arabian Sea is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui in northeastern Somalia and Kanyakumari in India...
. The Cyclone Detection Radar Station in Chennai is located at the Port Trust Building of the Chennai Port
Chennai Port
Chennai Port , formerly known as Madras Port, is the second largest port of India, behind the Mumbai Port, and the largest port in the Bay of Bengal. Being the third oldest port among the 12 major ports of India, it is over 125 years old, although maritime trade started way back in 1639 on the sea...
. The aviation weather forecasting activities, which are required by pilots and airport authorities, are controlled and coordinated by the Aerodrome Meteorological Office at Chennai Airport in Meenambakkam
Meenambakkam
Meenambakkam is a town in Kancheepuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The Chennai International Airport Cargo Terminal is situated here. It has access to other parts of the city through suburban trains and buses. It also has a splendid hillock nearby.AAI Quarters is located in...
. The cyclone warning bulletins are disseminated to remote centres in the coastal districts from the Cyclone Warning Dissemination System (CWDS) unit in Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai. The Regional Meteorological Centre and other Meteorological Centres periodically inspects the observatories to ensure the accuracy of meteorological observations and all the instruments at the observatories are calibrated at least once in 2 years.
Since 1978, Agromet Advisory Units are functioning at RMC Chennai and other meteorological centres under it. These units regularly issue Agromet Advisory Bulletins twice a week benefiting the farming community in their respective states.
In 1984, a training unit was started at RMC Chennai to conduct basic meteorological training courses, each course spanning 4 months. More than 1,000 trainees have been trained so far in about 50 batches.
The Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai maintains 121 surface observatories of which 53 are departmental observatories and 68 are part-time observatories. In addition, it maintains 13 pilot balloon observatories, 10 Rawin stations and 1 Radiosonde station. There are also Port Meteorological offices at Chennai, Kochi and Visakhapatnam, which interact with masters of ships and shipping companies and other marine interests.
More than 1,400 personnel including 300 officers work in various offices under Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai which includes 3 meteorological centres, 1 area cyclone warning centre, 1 cyclone warning centre, 6 cyclone detection radar stations and 17 aviation meteorological offices (AMOs).
The IMD also maintains Voluntary Observing Fleet (VOF) through the Port Meteorological Office at the Chennai Port comprising ships of merchant navy, Indian Navy
Indian Navy
The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. The President of India serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff , usually a four-star officer in the rank of Admiral, commands the Navy...
and foreign agencies.
Additional services
The Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai also issues Farmers' Weather Bulletin, a bulletin on weather-based agro-advisory services for the Cauvery delta zone in Tamil Nadu. This information is available both in EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
on Tuesdays and Fridays based on the weather forecast received from the centre.
Developments
In June 1995, High-Resolution Picture Transmission (HRPT) direct readout ground station was established at RMC Chennai. This receives AVHRR satellite imageries and TOVS data from polar-orbiting NOAA satellites.The IMD has plans to replace its S-band 10 cm Cyclone Detection Radar (CDR) network with modern Doppler weather radars
Weather radar
Weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, estimate its type . Modern weather radars are mostly pulse-Doppler radars, capable of detecting the motion of rain droplets in addition to the...
(DWRs) in a phased manner. Although the decision to set up the DWR network was taken in the 1990s and funds allocated, the first DWR units are being installed only in the 2000s. Two DWRs, METEOR-1500S, imported from Gematronik Gmbh, a German firm, at a cost of 130 million each, have been installed at the Regional Meteorological Centres in Chennai and Kolkata. The Chennai DWR is operational since 2001-2002. In the same period, a High Wind Speed Recorder (HWSR) was installed at the Chennai centre.
In 2003-2004, a laser ceilometer was installed at Chennai airport for reporting data on height of base of low cloud for aviation. During the same period, automatic message switching systems was also installed at the Chennai International Airport. Chennai is one of the five state-of-the-art regional message switching centres connected with the central hub in IMD's National Meteorological Telecommunication Centre (NMTC) at New Delhi. Other regional systems are located at Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Guwahati
Guwahati
Guwahati, Pragjyotishpura in ancient Assam formerly known as Gauhati is a metropolis,the largest city of Assam in India and ancient urban area in North East India, with a population of 963,429. It is also the largest metropolitan area in north-eastern India...
.
The city's first automatic weather station was installed at the RMC in Nungambakkam in 2007. As part of its 9,200-million modernisation plan, the Department of Meteorology plans to install Doppler Weather Radar in Chennai. At present, data from the manual observatory in Meenambakkam
Meenambakkam
Meenambakkam is a town in Kancheepuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The Chennai International Airport Cargo Terminal is situated here. It has access to other parts of the city through suburban trains and buses. It also has a splendid hillock nearby.AAI Quarters is located in...
is being used for forecasting weather. The Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai will install an automatic weather unit at Meenambakkam in 2011 as part of its modernisation project, which aims to improve weather monitoring facilities. The department set up two more in the suburbs of Madhavaram and Ennore
Ennore
Ennore is a suburb in Chennai, India. Ennore is situated on a peninsula and is bounded by the Korttalaiyar River, Ennore creek and the Bay of Bengal...
recently. With the new automated weather stations to be installed, the state of Tamil Nadu would have 42 such facilities.
At present, the staff of Meteorological Department and of other government agencies such as Water Resources Department, manually measure the rainfall in facilities set up in some parts of the city. For the first time in the city, the department would create a mesoscale network of satellite-based automated rain gauges to cover areas within the radius of 5 km. In the first phase, 10 such facilities would be installed in various localities of the city. The localities where such rain gauges are to come up are Chembarambakkam, Avadi
Avadi
Avadi is a suburb of chennai and a municipality in Thiruvallur district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Avadi is an acronym for "Armoured Vehicles and Ammunition Depot of India". Situated about 23 km north west of Chennai, it is surrounded by major defence establishments.-Geography:Avadi...
, Kolapakkam, Puzhal
Puzhal
Puzhal is a town in Thiruvallur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The town is well known for Puzhal central prison.Puzhal is located on the banks of Red Hills Lake.-Demographics:...
, Anna University
Anna University
Anna University was a premier technical university in Tamil Nadu, India. Anna University was formed on September 4, 1978, as a unitary university that integrated four technical institutions in the city of Chennai , including the College of Engineering, Guindy, Alagappa College of Technology,...
, Taramani, Pallikaranai
Pallikaranai
Pallikaranai is a town in Tambaram Taluk of Kancheepuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is now one of the Chennai prime suburbs.-Demographics:...
and Tambaram
Tambaram
Tambaram is a suburb of Chennai situated 27 km south of the city in Tamil Nadu, India. It is an urban node. Tambaram is a hub to all major destinations in south Tamil Nadu as it lies on the busy Chennai–Trichy national highway. The highway and the railway line from Chennai Egmore to...
. The department is in the process of selecting one more site.