To carryout
research works related to the structure, intensification, movement and
development of tropical cyclones.
CYCLONE WARNING & RESEARCH CENTRE
(Established in 1972)
Cyclones are disastrous weather events that frequently affect the coastal areas of India. The eastern coastal districts, especially that of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal are victims of frequent and disastrous cyclones from time to time. Two cyclonic storms hit Andhra Pradesh coast in 1969, one in May and the other in November. Together, they took a death toll of about 900 human lives and the damage to crops, houses, roads and other property was of the order of Rs.200 crores. In view of such excessive damage to life and property, the Govt. of India, Ministry of Irrigation and Power, in consultation with the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation appointed a Cyclone Distress Mitigation Committee (CDMC) for Andhra Pradesh in December 1969 with Dr.P.Koteswaram, the then Director General of Observatories as the Chairman and several other central and state government officials as members to examine various measures to mitigate human sufferings and to reduce loss of life and property in the event of recurrence of cyclones in future. Similar studies were conducted for other vulnerable areas also.
In accordance with the recommendations of these committees, a full fledged research centre viz., Cyclone Warning & Research Centre, to conduct cyclone related research activities was established by IMD in 1972 at Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai.
To carryout
research works related to the structure, intensification, movement and
development of tropical cyclones.
To develop storm
surge model for Indian coast.
To popularise
among public and disaster mitigation managers, the role of cyclonic
disturbances in causing excessive damage to life and property and also to advise
government authorities for planning contingency measures against Natural
Disasters.
To have liaison with
different maritime state governments in order to make the society resilient to
cyclonic disturbances.
Preparation of brief
material for Indian delegates attending WMO/ESCAP Panel Sessions and Progress
reports on the action taken on the Final reports of WMO/ESCAP Panel sessions.
Major scientific works undertaken
Many chapters of
Cyclone Manual have been prepared.
Cyclone eAtlas – IMD,
a
software, to generate Tracks and Statistics of Cyclones and Depressions
of Indian seas has been developed recently and is updated every year.
Two kinds of
outputs can be generated from this atlas:
1. Display of tracks of C&Ds
2. Statistical information on frequency, formation, dissipation, movement, speed, direction of movement, recurvature, coastal crossing and intensification in Map form, Charts and Tables.
The Cyclone
eAtlas – IMD is available in two versions viz., (i)
Online
and (ii)
CD.
The
ONLINE
Version was developed
recently and made accessible to users from January 2012 freely at the
URL: www.rmcchennaieatlas.tn.nic.in.
Some sample
products from the software are given below:
The online version does not provide the background data based on which the products are developed. However the background data is provided in the CD version details of which are furnished below.
CD Version
The CD version was released in 2008 and contains data up to 2007. However, the database is updated every year and updated database and details of uploading are sent to all buyers every year.
The price of the Cyclone eAtlas – IMD CD is as under:
i) Rs.3000/- for Indian buyers
(ii) US $100 for buyers from countries of
WMO/ESCAP Panel
(viz. Bangladesh, Maldives , Myanmar, Oman,
Pakistan , Sri Lanka & Thailand)
(iii) US $185 for buyers from other countries
Please
click here
for further details.
CWCDSTAT-
A Fortran based software with easy to use, menu driven screen interface was
developed in-house to generate statistics on cyclones and depressions that
formed over North Indian Ocean.
A Met. Monograph entitled “A Fortran based software – CWCDSTAT – to generate statistics on cyclones and depression of North Indian Ocean” explaining the various features of the software and the outputs generated has been published
(No. Climatology 23/2008).
Computed “Probable
Maximum Storm Surge heights for the maritime districts of India” which
was used as input for the Met. Monograph on Probable Maximum Storm Surge (No.
Synoptic Meteorology – 5/2007)
Functioned as the
Field Operational Centre (FOC) in the
Forecast Demonstration Project (FDP) on cyclones over Bay of Bengal during
October-November in the pre-pilot and pilot phases (2008-2010).
Prepares
Experimental Outlook on Seasonal Cyclonic
Activity during the chief cyclone period of October-December over the
North Indian Ocean from 2009 onwards based on a statistical model developed
recently (S.Balachandran & B.Geetha, Mausam, 63, 1, 17-28)
Carried out the
editorial corrections, compilation and preparation of manuscript of the IMD’s
Standard Operating Procedure document during 2010-2011.
Involved in
operational running of Numerical Weather Prediction (WRF) model.
Tropical Cyclone
Track and Intensity Predictions based on WRF model are generated on experimental
basis for the RMC Chennai domain.
Involved in
guiding Under graduate / Post graduate students in their scientific projects
Lectures on various
aspects of Cyclonic disturbances and other disastrous weather events are
delivered to state and central government officials and NGO’s under various
training programmes.
Organises
Meteorological Exhibition during World Meteorological Day / National Science Day
and during other important occasions. New exhibits are prepared as and when
required. Met Instruments and exhibits are also supplied to city colleges /
schools for display in their college / school exhibitions.
Research Publications from the centre
(during the recent decade)
‘Statistical
Prediction of Seasonal Cyclonic Activity over the North Indian Ocean’ by
S.Balachandran and B.Geetha, Mausam, 2012, 63,1, 17-28.
‘Relation between
pressure defect and maximum wind in the field of a Tropical cyclone –
Theoretical derivation of proportionally constant based on an idealised surface
pressure model’ by Y.E.A.Raj – Mausam, 2010, 61,3, 291-316.
‘Signatures of
Northeast Monsoon Activity and Passage of Tropical Cyclones in the Integrated
Precipitable Water Vapour estimated through GPS technique’ by S.Balachandran
and B.Geetha –Mausam, 2010, 61,3, 346-360.
‘Asymmetric
structure of a severe cyclonic storm of North Indian Ocean as derived through
INSAT OLR data’ by Y.E.A.Raj, A.Muthuchami and RM.A.N.Ramanathan – Mausam, 2007,
58,4, 481-500.
‘Role of cyclonic
systems in excess and deficit monsoon years in India’ by A.Muthuchami and
S.Sridharan – Mausam, 2005, 56,4, 851-856.
‘Climatology of
cyclonic disturbances over Lakshadweep islands’ by S.Natarajan, B.Ramakrishnan,
Santosh Arora and P.A.Subadra – Mausam, 2004, 55,1, 705-711.
‘Some aspects of
Gopalpur cyclone of October 1999’ by S.Sridharan and A.Muthuchami – Mausam,
2002, 53,1, 99-105.
‘Some salient
features of the Bay of Bengal super cyclonic storm of October 1999’ by
S.Sridharan and A.Muthuchami – Mausam, 2002, 53,2, 237-241.
Other research works undertaken
(during the recent decade)
‘Role and impact
of Siberian High on the temporal variation of Indian Northeast monsoon rainfall’
by B.Geetha and Y.E.A.Raj – Mausam, 2009, 60,4, 505-520.
‘Relation between
Southern Oscillation Index and Indian Northeast Monsoon as revealed in
antecedent and concurrent modes’ by Y.E.A.Raj and B.Geetha – Mausam, 2008, 59,1,
15-34.
‘Rainfall
features over Valparai – a hill station in Tamil Nadu’ by S.Sridharan and
A.Muthuchami – Mausam, 2006, 57,2, 338-341.
‘Unusual winter
precipitation over Tamil Nadu in 2002’ by S.Sridharan and A.Muthuchami – Mausam,
2005, 56,4, 489-495.
‘An analytical
study of rainfall pattern over Chennai’ by S.Natarajan, B.Ramakrishnan and
RM.A.N.Ramanathan – Mausam, 2004, 55,4, 599-610.
‘Salient features
of maximum temperature distribution over Tamil Nadu’ by A.Muthuchami,
B.Ramakrishnan and P.A.Subadra – Mausam, 2001, 52,2, 351-356.
‘Various classes
of rainfall over coastal Tamil Nadu stations’ by G.S.Ganesan, A.Muthuchami and
A.S.Ponnuswamy – Mausam, 2001, 52,2, 433-436.
Contact us at: cwrcrmcchennai@gmail.com