New Initiatives towards understanding and Nurturing Mother Earth.

YEAR ENDER 2007

Ministry of Earth Sciences

The year 2007 saw considerable progress under several programmes/schemes of the Ministry of Earth Sciences. Following are the most significant achievements and initiatives during the year.

• Formation of Earth Science Organization (ESO) Council: To bring various issues relating to Science and Technology of Ocean and Atmosphere, at the centre stage of national consciousness, the Government established a separate Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) to focus its attention and activities concerned with the Earth System as an integrated whole. The Ministry established council of ESO in September 2007, to derive scientific support from an Earth Science Organization (ESO) comprising of Ocean Science & Technology Department and the India Meteorological Department (IMD). At the policy level an over-arching Earth Commission guides the affairs of the Ministry. The Ministry, as a first step has taken up the modernization of IMD, envisaging up-gradation of observing and forecasting systems, communication facility and services rendered. It is envisaged that within this decade IMD will be contemporary, globally, in terms of observing system network and services rendered by them.
  
  
• Eleventh Plan Outlay: After great deliberations, an allocation to a tune of Rs. 7004 crores has been arrived at for implementation of the programmes of the Ministry during XI Plan indicating a substantial increase and giving a major thrust for ocean atmospheric science and technology. The ministry had taken an advanced action for formulation of 11th Five-year plan proposal as early as October 2005. These proposals have been reviewed thoroughly at different levels viz., Group of Experts, Working Group, Steering Committee, ESO, Earth Commission, Planning Commission.
  
  
• Tsunami Early Warning System: Keeping his promise to the nation, the Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Shri. Kapil Sibal inaugurated the National Tsunami Early Warning System at the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad on October 15, 2007. Recognizing the imperative to put in place an Early Warning System for mitigation of Oceanogenic Disasters that cause severe threat to nearly 400 million of our population that live in the coastal belt with devastation of life and property, and further driven by the national calamity due to the Indian Ocean Tsunami of December 26, 2004, the Ministry of Earth Sciences had taken up the responsibility of establishing the National Tsunami Early Warning System. The Warning System has been established by MoES as the nodal ministry in collaboration with Department of Science and Technology (DST), Department of Space (DOS) and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). The Indian Tsunami Early Warning System comprises a real-time network of seismic stations, Bottom Pressure Recorders (BPR) and tide gauges to detect tsunamigenic earthquakes and to monitor tsunamis. The Early Warning Centre receives real-time Seismic data from the national seismic network of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) and other International seismic networks. The system detects all earthquake events of more than 6 Magnitude occurring in the Indian Ocean in the less than 20 minutes of occurrence.
  
  
• Modernization of India Metrological Department: With the rains becoming more and more erratic in India, the India Metrological Department (IMD) is on an ambitious modernization drive to automate weather stations and rain gauges across the country. The modernization plan consists of up gradation and/or procurement of various instruments in the field of communication, observation, forecasting system, cyclone warning, aviation etc. The department is procuring 550 automatic weather stations (AWS) and 1,350 automatic rain gauges (ARG) for an up gradation project that will finish in 2008-09. The number of AWS is likely to go up to 1,000. These systems are being installed all over India, including 13 in the northeastern states. The primary purpose is to ensure that every district has a weather monitoring equipment like the AWS, directly linked to our Kalpana/INSET satellite, for monitoring weather data in real time. The first batch of 125 Automatic Weather Stations were procured and installed as part of a comprehensive programme of supplementing the manually operated surface observatories with unmanned observatories. A multilingual Web portal for disseminating Agrometeorological advisories for different parts of the country was created and is being routinely being updated from the Agrimet centre of IMD at Pune.
  
  
• Global and Regional Climate Change (GRCC) : The Ministry has taken up a programme to set up a dedicated centre at Pune to address various scientific issues relating to climate change including impacts on sectors like health, agriculture and water. With the mandate to explore and assess targeted science-facets of climate change that are of high relevance for the Indian region, along with their global linkages through the creation of a research infrastructure to be coordinated by a exclusive program on climate change science, integrate existing research groups and develop new groups through the development of institutional research network, developing collaborative linkages with international institutions and research groups to enhance research capabilities, coordinate systematic observation program for climate change related parameters including fluxes, over Indian region and ocean in the neighbourhood.
  
  
• Desalination: Accessing drinking water in islands and coastal areas has been serious societal problem. To alleviate this, the Ministry of Earth Sciences has taken a special initiative to develop Low Temperature Thermal Desalination (LTTD) technology to generate fresh water from sea water. In the LTTD process warm surface sea water is flash evaporated under low pressure and the vapour condensed using cold deep sea water. A LTTD plant of 1 lakh liter per day capacity set up at Kavaratti, an island of Lakshadweep has been working continuously and completed production of over 6 crore liters by Dec 2007. . In April 2007, a unique barge based LTTD plant with a capacity of 1 million liter per day was designed and commissioned 40 km off Chennai. The mooring is first of its kind in the world and deployed at a depth of 1000 metre for the first time in the Indian Ocean. The 1-MLD plant was successfully run for over 3 weeks in April 2007 demonstration of large-scale plants. Emboldened by the success of the LTTD technology, a LTTD plant for producing 10 Million litres water per day is planned.
  
  
• Mining the Ocean: India is the first country to be accorded status of a Pioneer Investor in 1987 and was allocated an exclusive area in the Central Indian Ocean by UN for exploration and utilization of resources. India is seeking to mine polymetallic nodules from the Indian Ocean bed found at a depth of about 6000 metre. Indian scientists in collaboration with Russian scientists have developed and tested an instrument to measure sea bed soil properties in-situ, at a depth of 5200 metre. Also a project for the development of a Remotely Operable Vehicle (ROV) to operate at a depth of 6000 metre has been taken up in collaboration with Russia. A prototype system has been developed and tested successfully at a depth of over 200 metre. The complete hardware and software for the instrumentation and control system was developed by Indian scientists. This places India among the handful of nations that have capacity for deep-sea mining. NIOT, the technical arm of the Ministry of Earth Sciences has taken up this challenging area of developing technologies for harnessing ocean resources.
  
  
• In-situ soil property measurement system: As part of the Manganese Nodule mining programme, the next phase is to design a crawler for 6000 m operation. The challenges at 6000 m are high pressure of 600 bar, extremely soft sea bed and the varied topography of the ocean floor. In order to design a crawler capable of locomotion in the soft sea bed, it is essential that the sea bed property is to be measured in-situ which will provide undisturbed ground truth. This prompted the scientists to develop an instrument to measure the soil property in-situ. An instrument has been developed jointly with Sevmorgeo, Russia to measure the soil property in-situ, at a depth of 6000 m. This is the first time an instrument for in-situ soil property measurement has been developed and tested at a depth of 5200m successfully by Indian Scientists.
  
  
• Antarctic Treaty-India’s 3rd Research Base at Antarctica: India was privileged to host the 30th Antarctic Treaty consultative Meeting (ATCM) in May 2007 for the first time ever since India joined the Antarctic Treaty in 1983 and was granted the consultative status.

Amongst other significant outcomes of this meeting, was the ATCM’s acceptance of the Indian proposal for a new Indian Research Base at the Larsemann Hills, East Antarctica, which paved way for India to proceed with final design of the 3rd station and its construction at the Larsemann Hills, Antarctica.

The ATCM has adopted two important Resolutions regarding tourism – one concerning ship-based tourism in Antarctic Treaty Area, and the second associated with the issue related to permanent land based infrastructures for tourism in Antarctica with a condition that Parties should discourage or decline to authorize tour operators that use vessels carrying more than 500 passengers from making any landings in Antarctica in addition to regulating the numbers of vessels and visitors landings at any one time at a site, to one and hundred respectively.

• Expedition to Arctic: In quest for knowledge and pursuit of science India has recently embarked upon Arctic research by launching first ever scientific expedition to this region under the leadership of Shri Rasik Ravindra, Director, NCAOR, Goa in the first week of August 2007 using the international research facility at Ny-Alesund in Spitsbergen island of Norway. The first Indian Arctic expedition has marked a beginning of long-term scientific research by Indian scientists in yet another arena of global scientific collaborative research in the difficult Polar Regions, since the first Indian scientific expedition landed in Antarctica in 1981. The five member interdisciplinary and inter-institutional team of scientists of the first Arctic Expedition drawn from NCAOR, Goa; CCMB, Hyderabad; IITM, Pune and Lucknow University; has initiated three projects on Atmospheric Studies, Arctic Microbes and Earth Sciences. In the second phase four more projects will be initiated in the early spring next year, commencing in February 2008.
  
  
• TDV Sagar Nidhi: To harness various non-living resources in a sustainable way, a suitable platform like Technology Demonstration Vessel(TDV) is essential. The construction of vessel Sagar Nidhi was completed in a record time and was launched in June 2007 by Shri Kapil Sibal. The vessel equipped with the state-of-the art facility, was delivered on the 10th December 2007. This new facility will also cater to shallow water survey, and act as a supply and support platform for the various coastal and deep ocean activities planned by the Ministry. This vessel will serve as a platform for the programme envisaged in the XI Plan and also serve as a utility science vessel which will augment the capacity needs of the marine living and non-living resources programme of the Department .The NIOT would be the nodal agency to implement this programme and to operate and maintain the vessel.
  
  
• Seismology Centre: The Seismic network needs to be increased in density to be able to capture earthquakes of lower magnitude, which are required for precursor studies, and more detailed zoning of vulnerability. In addition it must be connected by telemetry to reduce the time lag of occurrence and detection. Such a system will be especially required for Tsunamgenic earthquake detection. It is also important to conduct Geo technical evaluation of vulnerability at map scales of 1:10,000 for important towns/cities with high risk, to redefine building byelaws. First level of Microzonation of National Capital Region, Jabalpur and Guwahati were completed in respect of Seismic hazards, at a resolution of 1:50,000. A set of Ten broadband Seismic observational Network in the peninsular India were upgraded. Towards this, an Earthquake Risk Evaluation Centre was created in New Delhi to evaluate seismic hazards at a very high resolution so that its engineering applications were possible.
  
  
• Cloud Aerosol Interaction and Precipitation Enhancement Experiment (CAIPEEX): Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), launched a new programme for conducting a coordinated sustained national programme of cloud studies designed to reduce the knowledge gaps in the cloud microphysics is required. Research work carried out during last one year at IITM Pune has contributed to the studies relating to severe weather systems affecting Indian subcontinent, Asian monsoon variability and predictability, application of satellite data in weather forecasting, climate modelling and dynamics, regional aspects of global climate change using instrumental and proxy climate records, short-term and long-term climate diagnostics and prediction, hydrological modeling, cloud modeling, theoretical understanding of atmospheric and oceanic circulation, atmospheric monitoring and air pollution studies through LIDAR, radiometric and spectrometric remote sensing systems, middle atmosphere and chemical climate, atmospheric boundary layer experiments, atmospheric electrical characteristics, development of simulation techniques in cloud physics and surface observations of atmospheric electricity and electrical properties of clouds.
  
  
• Numerical Weather Prediction: Under National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting(NCMRWF), Cray X1e and PARAM Padma computer systems were installed and acceptance tests were carried out. Extended Range Monsoon Predictions were provided to IMD jointly with SAC, Ahmedabad using 10 ensemble members. The Weather Research Forecast (WRF) model with 30 km horizontal resolution and 31 levels in the vertical was installed. A set of Twenty-four (24) new Agromet Advisory Units was opened enhancing the all India network of AAS units to 107. A Meso-scale Eta model at 10 km resolution was installed and tested in Linux environment to facilitate input with better lead time to Wave Watch Model to forecast ocean state wind. The 3DVAR assimilation system was successfully installed and tested to enable provision of better initial conditions for operational MM5/WRF model. Daily forecasts with a temporal range of 4 days were issued to 82 Agromet Advisory Units twice a week. All India weekly weather forecasts were supplied to crop weather watch group of the Ministry of Agriculture on every Monday. Medium range customized forecast were provided to many user sectors: ISRO for space vehicle launch, defense for Eveest and other expedition, to agencies involved in water resource management, to power generation and transport sectors. Experimental seasonal forecast during monsoon 2006 and 2007 were generated and provided to IMD, DST and MoES. NCMRWF contributed towards capability building in generation, use and interpretation of NWP products. A BIMSTEC Center was established at NCMRWF.
  
  
• Dedicated Weather Channel: Recognising the importance of day-to-day weather information for the development of the country in various centres namely, Aviation, Tourism, Defence, Transport, Power, Sports and other socio economic events, the Ministry has decided to launch a state-of-the-art weather channel for providing the information on 24X7 basis. The various expertises available in the research, observations, modeling and communication would form an integral part of the Endeavour.

Source : Press Information Bureau
Date : December 28, 2007