ITR, Chandipur Emerges as the Saviour with its Technical Prowess in Weather Science : as Odisha Experiences Tropical Cyclone Ampahn

ITR, which has its own fully equipped Weather Station, took responsibility of monitoring the development and tracking the trajectory of the cyclone using its world class Doppler Weather Radar (DWR). In addition, ITR mobilized its resources such as Material Handling equipment (mobile cranes, recovery vans), heavy duty Diesel Generator sets etc. A dedicated team was earmarked to assess the possible damages and meet any sort of disaster by providing support to the affected and performing emergency evacuation on need basis.

REPORT BY GOVIND RATHI, BALESHWAR. 

When the entire world is battling against the global pandemic COVID-19, nature’s wrath once again struck the state of Odisha in the form of another tropical cyclone AMPHAN which grazed past the coastal districts including Balasore on May 20, 2020. Exactly a year ago, the extremely severe cyclonic storm ‘Fani’ had battered the state with its devastating power. However, time and again, the people of Odisha shielded the possible desolation due to extreme preparedness and timely action taken at various levels.
ITR Chandipur, the premier DRDO laboratory situated on Chandipur coast, once again became the good Samaritan replicating its role performed during FANI by proving all possible support to the state authority at the time of dire need faced by humanity. ITR team, led by its Director Dr B K Das, prepared itself to face any eventuality arising out of the cyclonic storm by mobilizing its state of the art resources and a plan for extending disaster management support to the district administration.
The planning of ITR team began with a station level meeting held at ITR under the Chairmanship of Dr B K Das in presence of the heads of other defence establishments in Chandipur and Balasore such as Proof and Experimental Establishment (PXE), Estate Management Unit (EMU), Project Management Unit (PMU) and Military Engineering Services (MES).

ITR, which has its own fully equipped Weather Station, took responsibility of monitoring the development and tracking the trajectory of the cyclone using its world class Doppler Weather Radar (DWR). In addition, ITR mobilized its resources such as Material Handling equipment (mobile cranes, recovery vans), heavy duty Diesel Generator sets etc. A dedicated team was earmarked to assess the possible damages and meet any sort of disaster by providing support to the affected and performing emergency evacuation on need basis.
The development of the cyclone was studied by ITR Meteorological team (MET Department) and the trajectory (trace of the cyclone on ground) was predicted in consultation with Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). As per the predicted trajectory and possible wind speed due to the cyclone, all important Defence installations and instruments were safe guarded well in advance against any sort of damages. ITR MET department started tracking the cyclone using its radar since 0830 hrs on May 19, 2020 at a distance of more than 500 km. Here onwards all the data obtained from the weather radar was shared with IMD as well as the Balasore district administration to provide vital information related to the trajectory of cyclone, wind speed and other forecast parameters on hourly basis till landfall.
At about 0400 hrs on May 20, the eye of the cyclone was tracked by ITR Doppler Weather Radar at a range of about 250 km along with prediction of wind parameters. Led by the Director Dr. B K Das himself, the analysis team at ITR weather station was kept on updating district administration about the progress of the cyclone in real time. At about 1130 hrs the cyclone went past the APJ Abdul Kalam island at a distance of about 100 km from the coast inside sea. The maximum wind speed observed there was about 115 kmph as predicted by the radar.

As predicted by ITR MET department, AMPHAN continued its North-North Easterly heading to go past
Balasore at about 1230 hrs with reported wind speed of about 100 kmph as per DWR data confirmed by
measurements from digital anemometers installed within ITR campus.

The land fall of the cyclone started at 1400 hrs near Sundarban area, an event again tracked and confirmed
by ITR weather radar. The wind speed at land fall was measured as 140-150 kmph with gusting wind at
185 kmph.

ITR’s contribution in tracking the cyclone AMPHAN and providing critical data to both IMD and Balasore
District Administration ITR Doppler Weather Radar has been well appreciated at every level including
DRDO Head Quarter, Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) and State Relief
Commissioner (SRC). The preparedness of ITR in Disaster Management has also garnered wide admiration.
The weather analysis team of ITR, working tirelessly for last few days has also contributed towards
emergency preparedness at both DRDO and State level with flawless prediction of cyclone path and
weather forecasts.
The update from ITR weather radar was also important as during the early hours of May 20, some media
sources reported landfall of the cyclone at Balasore causing worries for many. However, ITR radar could
predict the landfall exactly near Sundarban. The fact was appraised to all including all media and the
District Magistrate of Balasore to provide a sigh of relief for all. The predictions made by ITR radar on the
trajectory of the cyclone and wind speed had been very accurate which is also confirmed by IMD .