weather station
December 7, 2006
From: Mrityunjay Bose
Automatic weather station in Thane
MUMBAI: A first-of-its-kind of Automatic Weather Station (AWS), which will be a part of over 120-odd similar new weather forecasting units spread across the country, will be commissioned in the neighbouring Thane district.
The AWS-Thane is located in the campus of Vidya Prasarak Mandal and will be inaugurated today coinciding with a two-day national seminar on geo-informatics that is being hosted here.
The ASW is unique in many ways. "Firstly, it is the first-of-its-kind in Maharashtra, secondly, it is fully automated and the predictions are much accurate," Dr Vijay Bedekar, the Chairman of Vidya Prasarak Mandal (VPM) told the Herald yesterday.
Dr Bedekar, who is also the President of Thane-based Institute of Oriental Studies, said from the AWS-Thane a radius of 150 to 180 kms could be covered.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has collaborated with the VPM for the project, he said and added that the scientific community and students will benefit a lot from the project.
"The data collected here will go to IMD-Pune and then to the headquarter of the weatherman. Being a digital technology based equipment, the forecasts are very good," he said.
In fact, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has taken keen interest in the project. The data from a large number of AWS located across the country could be collected through data relay transponders on board its INSAT satellites.
The AWS is compact, modular, rugged and is capable of operating with minimum power from battery and solar panel for extended periods in field conditions even in remote areas where power supply and communication are not available.
According to experts, recently weather forecasting models have failed all over the world. India is taking a giant step to go into the heart of this problem.
AWS can continuously record weather data like temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind speed and direction, rainfall, relative humidity and solar radiation, according to ISRO. This will help in correcting malfunctions of weather forecasting models and systems.
(This report was first published in The Maharashtra Herald, Pune)
From: Mrityunjay Bose
Automatic weather station in Thane
MUMBAI: A first-of-its-kind of Automatic Weather Station (AWS), which will be a part of over 120-odd similar new weather forecasting units spread across the country, will be commissioned in the neighbouring Thane district.
The AWS-Thane is located in the campus of Vidya Prasarak Mandal and will be inaugurated today coinciding with a two-day national seminar on geo-informatics that is being hosted here.
The ASW is unique in many ways. "Firstly, it is the first-of-its-kind in Maharashtra, secondly, it is fully automated and the predictions are much accurate," Dr Vijay Bedekar, the Chairman of Vidya Prasarak Mandal (VPM) told the Herald yesterday.
Dr Bedekar, who is also the President of Thane-based Institute of Oriental Studies, said from the AWS-Thane a radius of 150 to 180 kms could be covered.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has collaborated with the VPM for the project, he said and added that the scientific community and students will benefit a lot from the project.
"The data collected here will go to IMD-Pune and then to the headquarter of the weatherman. Being a digital technology based equipment, the forecasts are very good," he said.
In fact, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has taken keen interest in the project. The data from a large number of AWS located across the country could be collected through data relay transponders on board its INSAT satellites.
The AWS is compact, modular, rugged and is capable of operating with minimum power from battery and solar panel for extended periods in field conditions even in remote areas where power supply and communication are not available.
According to experts, recently weather forecasting models have failed all over the world. India is taking a giant step to go into the heart of this problem.
AWS can continuously record weather data like temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind speed and direction, rainfall, relative humidity and solar radiation, according to ISRO. This will help in correcting malfunctions of weather forecasting models and systems.
(This report was first published in The Maharashtra Herald, Pune)
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