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The city of <keyword id="19895037" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bengaluru" source="keywords">Bengaluru</keyword> will get a C-band Doppler Weather Radar this year to enable better <keyword id="20178895" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="weather-forecasting" source="keywords">weather forecasting</keyword>, Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje has said. The Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Labour &amp; Employment took to X to share that India Meteorological Department (IMD) has agreed to her request to install the Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) in the state capital. Posting a letter written to her by Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Jitendra Singh, who is also in charge of the Ministry of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Karandlaje said, "We will now be able to predict our weather with accuracy. Following my request, the IMD has greenlit the installation of a <keyword id="22264487" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Doppler-radar" source="keywords">Doppler radar</keyword> in the city, scheduled to be operational by year-end. This is a major step towards <keyword id="22519773" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="better-weather" source="keywords">better weather</keyword> forecasting &amp; preparedness for <keyword id="19922196" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="natural-disasters" source="keywords">natural disasters</keyword>." In his letter, Jitendra Singh said the radar will have an operational range of 250 km and will be installed in Bengaluru this year. He also mentioned that the site for the radar installation has already been identified and the Centre had informed the state government to acquire the site. "The proposed C-band DWR in Bengaluru will not only help in protecting the state infrastructure and state economies during natural disasters but also significantly enhance the accuracy of weather forecasts and provide the early warning of severe weather conditions," he wrote. According to a news report published a year ago, <keyword id="19896017" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Karnataka" source="keywords">Karnataka</keyword> was the only state in South India not to possess this forecasting system and although it was first proposed in 2007 that the site for the radar would be in Devanahalli, nothing ever materialised since. It was stated in the report that to assess weather conditions in Bengaluru, Kolar, Ramanagara and Chikkaballapura, Karnataka uses Chennai's Doppler radar, for North Karnataka, the one in Goa is used, while for interior Karnataka and Malnad, Kerala's radar is used. Incidentally, the report also quoted an IMD official, according to whom the process of procuring and housing two such radars - one in Bengaluru and another in Mangaluru - was on and that it could materialise by early 2024.

Karnataka to get its first Doppler radar by this year to for better weather forecasting

India’s federal auditor, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), gave the Modi government a comfortable headline — the final cost of Rafale jets as negotiated by the incumbent government was cheaper than the deal struck by the previous Congress government. While the report deftly evaded the questions of alleged corruption, it has certainly exposed a set of serious problems in the way India buys its arms and ammunition, no matter which political party is in power. The issues highlighted by Rajiv Mehrishi, the CAG, not only indicate the room for and possibilities of corruption and kickbacks, it may also compel people to question if the country’s unsuspecting forces are wielding substandard equipment. Here are some of the shocking truths: 1. Requirements are changed to include or exclude specific vendors The rules mandate that the Indian Air Force must clearly state its needs in verifiable and measurable terms before inviting bids from suppliers. People do that even before buying phones-- have a clear picture of what features they need and a price range-- before going to a shop or a website to buy a phone. Here, we are speaking about defence equipment. But, the CAG report noted, the requirements of the Air Force are changed several times. The Air Force diluted its needs in the purchase of Attack Helicopter and the <keyword id="134615" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Doppler-Weather-Radar">Doppler Weather Radar</keyword> as no vendor could meet its requirement. What is worse? The audit noted that in case of acquisition of Apache Attack Helicopters and Chinook Heavy Lift Helicopters, “the Air Staff Qualitiative Requirements (ASQR) were aligned to products of a particular vendor.” 
 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="image" title="Chinook Heavy Lift" msid="67982017" hostid="261"></div>













 India approved the purchase of Chinook Heavy Lift Helicopters and Apache Attack Helicopters from Boeing in 2015 for $2.5 billion under the Modi government. Boeing’s Chinook was up against Russian MI-26, which offered nearly double the capacity to transport weapons, supplies and soldiers. Suppose, forces have to be transported to a conflict zone, Chinook would take twice as many trips as the MI-26 would have. But the Air Force reduced its requirement which allowed for Boeing's bid to be accepted. Essentially, the needs of the Air Force were tweaked to match Boeing’s offering. 2. The decision to pick a certain aircraft, weapon or a vendor over another is often ad hoc In an ideal situation, the government would have a benchmark price set for a particular purchase, and the bids can be evaluated in relation to the benchmark. However, in many cases, the government changed the benchmark prices after opening the bids and ended up favouring one vendor over the others. In some cases like the procurement of Doppler Weather Radars and Apache Attack Helicopters, technical bids were rejected when the vendors failed to meet the parameters. But in other cases that included MMRCA, Heavy Lift Helicopters and C130 J30 aircraft, bids were technically qualified even when they did not meet critical ASQRs based on the assurance given by the respective vendors. 
 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="image" title="Apache Attack Helicopter" msid="67982126" hostid="261"></div>













 3. A vendor is allowed to make changes even after placing a bid In the case of the Basic Trainer Aircraft supplied by Pilatus, the Swiss company was allowed to change its offer after the bids were received from all potential vendors. The two other vendors had offered a better price by including certain hardware within their bid that Pilatus hadn’t. 
 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="image" title="Basic Trainer Pilatus" msid="67982127" hostid="261"></div>













 However, instead of accepting one of the other bids, the government decided to seek a clarification from Pilatus and allowed it to make its bid competitive again. The contract was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security, under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government led by the Congress, in May 2012. 4. Vendors can get away giving assurances What’s more unfair than allowing vendors to change bids after submission? At times when the vendor does not meet the requirements still, the government has taken the supplier’s word for future improvements, while either undermining the needs of the forces, or putting lives at risk. Both MI-26 and Chinook were cleared based on the presentation/assurance of the vendor to rectify the ASQR non-compliance before delivery. 
 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="image" title="MI26" msid="67982128" hostid="261"></div>













 The government does not even maintain proper records of the field trials of the equipments that were considered, making future reviews of such decisions difficult. 5. India could have bought weapons for cheaper prices but... Indians buying cars, or even two wheelers, are notorious for being penny wise. They not only consider the mileage but also the cost of maintenance before making their choice. Similarly, for defence equipment, mid-life upgrades for sustainment of the capabilities, if not for enhancement, should ideally be considered. However, the Indian government is a lot more lax, or selective in enforcing prudence. Out of eight cases, the government did not consider the costs that may be incurred during the life of the product purchased. For example, in 2017, the government decided that it <a href="https://www.defensenews.com/training-sim/2017/07/20/swiss-firm-not-extending-maintenance-deal-for-indias-pc-7-trainers/">cannot</a> continue using Pilatus’ trainer aircraft because the maintenance cost was raised too high. If this had been considered at the time of purchase, some other vendor may beat the Swiss manufacturer. 6. Endless delays The delay in decisions, signing of the contracts,and eventual procurement by the Indian government can be termed ‘proverbial’. “Against three years envisaged in Defence Procurement Process, four cases took more than three years and seven cases took more than five years to reach the contract conclusion stage. Delays in acquisition was essentially due to a complex and multi-level approval process, where objections could be raised at any stage,” the CAG report said. And delays cost money. 
 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="image" title="Doppler Weather Radar" msid="67982119" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The contract for Doppler Weather Radar was signed in 2012 and the actual delivery was in 2016.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>













 7. Unforced errors leading to higher cost India’s bureaucracy has also acted lazy at times. For instance, for all procurements from Russia or CIS countries, India allows for a 5% annual increase in cost, and for European suppliers the cost is allowed to increase by 3.5% every year of delay. The actual increase, going by market rates, would have been less than half. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cag-rajiv-mehrishi-who-tabled-rafale-deal-audit-report-in-parliament/articleshow/67975553.cms">The man who audited the Rafale deal is now the subject of the controversy</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cag-report-on-rafale-deal-tabled-in-parliament-says-jets-cheaper-under-modi-government-than-upa/articleshow/67970948.cms">CAG report on Rafale deal is a blessing for Modi government</a>

Seven shocking truths about how India buys arms

Much like advanced mobile phones have rendered our pocket diaries obsolete, navigation apps are gradually diminishing our ability to recall routes independently. It's concerning that humans face this issue, but it turns out that birds are also grappling with their own set of navigation problems! A study examining historical <keyword id="51700" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="bird" source="Orion">bird</keyword> <keyword id="56025" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="migration" source="Orion">migration</keyword> patterns and <keyword id="6359982" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="earth" source="Orion">Earth</keyword>'s geomagnetic events has revealed that space weather events are causing significant disruptions in the migration of nocturnal birds. While this primarily affects perching birds such as thrushes and warblers, it also impacts ducks, geese, swans, sandpipers, and plovers. Most humans struggle to detect <keyword id="133780" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="magnetic-field" source="Orion">magnetic field</keyword>s, only witnessing them when they create aurora-like phenomena in the skies. Birds, in contrast, like sea turtles, trout, and many other organisms, have developed organs sensitive to Earth's magnetic field. With no equivalent of a Bird-Map app at their disposal, many species heavily rely on their geomagnetic sense to navigate over long distances during their migratory cycles. However, solar outbursts and other space disturbances frequently disrupt Earth's natural magnetic fields, leaving them without a dependable compass to guide them. Data collected from US Doppler weather radar stations and ground-based magnetometers have revealed that 9-17% fewer birds migrate during these space weather events in the spring and autumn. Birds daring to venture out at night face substantial challenges in navigating with their unreliable compasses, particularly as autumn brings a host of visibility-reducing overcast weather. High geomagnetic disturbances not only reduce the migration intensity (the number of birds within each migrating group) but also cause disoriented birds to drift aimlessly with the wind. The study found that birds migrating thousands of kilometres across the US Great Plains during strong solar storms in the fall put in only three-quarters of the effort to battle crosswinds and often end up lost. The <keyword id="24879" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="sun" source="Orion">Sun</keyword> is gradually approaching the peak of its 11-year solar activity cycle, and it is already more active than usual. During its peak, it can unleash particle storms that overload Earth's satellites, radios, and power grids. As we've just learned, these storms can wreak havoc on birds' journeys. Since migration is essential for birds to find food, breed, and protect themselves from extreme weather, magnetic disruptions can have severe consequences for these hardworking organisms and prove fatal for many species. The findings of this research have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and can be accessed <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2306317120" data-type="tilCustomLink">here</a>.

Solar storms and bad space weather is making migratory birds hesitant and confused, study finds

<div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image"></div></div>
ONE of the scarier videos on YouTube (ow.ly/sBIOq) was recorded by the nose-cone camera of a fighter jet as it was taking off. Just after the plane leaves the runway a large bird comes hurtling towards it and vanishes into the aircraft's engine. The pilot spends an agonising 30 seconds or so trying to regain control, before issuing the order to eject, after which the viewer is treated to a shot of the onrushing ground before the screen goes blank.
Bird strikes are a problem--sometimes a fatal one--for military and civil aviation alike. America's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reports that there are about 10,000 such strikes a year to the country's non-military aircraft, costing more than $957m in damage and delays. The worldwide figure is estimated by the European Space Agency to be $1.2 billion.
Moreover, though relatively few people have been killed in accidents caused by bird strikes (research by John Thorpe, former chairman of the International Bird Strike Committee, recorded 242 deaths between 1912 and 2004), the potential for something horrible to happen is real--as was shown by one of the most famous strikes of recent years. In 2009 an Airbus with 155 people on board hit a flock of geese when it was taking off from LaGuardia airport in New York. The passengers were saved only by the skill of the pilot, Chesley Sullenberger, who managed to ditch the plane safely in the Hudson river.
At the moment, attempts to deal with the problem mostly involve efforts to cull flocks of the larger species--geese in particular--in the vicinity of airports, and also the use of bird scarers to try to drive off those actually sitting near runways. As the figures suggest, these approaches do not work well. There may, however, be a better way. For a decade or more the air forces of several countries have used radar to track birds which might threaten their aircraft. Now, similar systems are being considered for civilian airports. If they work, the old methods of trying to scare birds away, or cull them, can be abandoned.
<h3>A bird in the band</h3>
The longest-running study of the use of radar to prevent bird strikes was started three decades ago, in Israel, by Yossi Leshem of Tel Aviv University. It has helped the Israeli air force reduce the number of strikes it suffers by two-thirds.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_left"><div class="image"></div></div>Dr Leshem began his research using a mixture of powered gliders, drones, ground-based bird watchers and radar to build up data on the flocks that migrate over Israel in the spring and autumn.
From these observations he has worked out the meanings of different sorts of radar blips, and can thus tell what is going on ornithologically from radar alone.
The upshot is a system which can follow individual birds that weigh as little as ten grams and are as far away as 20km (12 miles).
He can track birds the size of pelicans and geese at a distance of 90km. Moreover, knowledge of the weather, and of how birds have behaved in previous years, allows him to predict what they will do next, so aircraft can be routed above them.
Inspired by Dr Leshem, other air forces have taken up the idea of tracking birds by radar. A cottage industry manufacturing kit tweaked to do so has developed (mostly using naval X-band radars, whose wavelength is perfect for spotting birds).
One such piece of equipment, the eBirdRad radar unit made by Accipiter Radar Technologies, a Canadian firm, can track more than 100 targets at the same time, at a range of at least 11km and up to an altitude of 1km, according to a study carried out in 2011 by the IVAR (Integration and Validation of Avian Radars) project, a consortium of government and academic researchers. Accipiter's radars are deployed at Naval Base Ventura County, in California, and Elmendorf Air Force Base, in Alaska. They are also being tested at John F. Kennedy airport in New York, O'Hare airport in Chicago and Seattle-Tacoma airport in Washington state, in an experiment run by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and sponsored by the FAA.
DeTect, an American firm, has its equipment (branded "Merlin") installed at numerous American air force bases, and also at bases in Latvia, Nigeria, Poland and South Africa. And Robin Radar, a Dutch manufacturer, has created a system which lets the Dutch and Belgian air forces watch their collective airspace--and which has halved the number of bird strikes happening in its purview.
Like Accipiter, Robin has also dipped a toe in the civil-aviation market. In April 2013 the authorities at Schiphol airport, near Amsterdam, started a year-long trial of its system, watching the approaches to one of Schiphol's six runways. Yet, given avian radar's success in the military arena, civil aviation seems surprisingly sceptical.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image"></div></div>One worry seems to be that radar cannot distinguish between different species.
At the moment that is generally true, though according to Dr Leshem the Swiss Ornithological Institute in Sempach has developed a Doppler radar that can identify blips by species.
Michael Begier, national co-ordinator of the airport-wildlife-hazard programme run by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), who is a member of the IVAR, thinks species identification is essential. If a system cannot tell the difference between a flock of waterfowl and a flock of songbirds, he suggests, it is hard to issue meaningful warnings.
Dr Leshem disagrees. "You don't", he says, "need to identify the species by radar, but to identify an approaching flock, and this we see perfectly with radars used by the Israeli air force, and in air bases in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium." He thinks reluctance to adopt avian radar for civil aviation, in Israel and elsewhere, is caused by bureaucratic inertia.
Gary Andrews, DeTect's general manager (and thus, admittedly, an interested party), puts it more bluntly. He believes the USDA sees radar as a threat, because the department is paid by local authorities to try to control birds by traditional methods.
Whatever the reason for reluctance in the past, a change of direction now seems sensible. In a report whose publication is pending, the USDA itself recommends that "new technologies such as the use of bird-detecting radar...should be pursued more vigorously." Perhaps, though, the last word should go to Captain Sullenberger, a strong supporter of avian radar since his unexpected ducking in the Hudson. Noting the slow-footedness of the authorities, he says, "I think many are hoping we can continue to be lucky."
Click <a href="https://subscriptions.economist.com/nwcd">here</a> to subscribe to The Economist

How Radar Could Prevent Aircraft Bird Strikes

<div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image">REUTERS/Osman Orsal</div></div>
ONE of the scarier videos on YouTube (ow.ly/sBIOq) was recorded by the nose-cone camera of a fighter jet as it was taking off. Just after the plane leaves the runway a large bird comes hurtling towards it and vanishes into the aircraft's engine. The pilot spends an agonising 30 seconds or so trying to regain control, before issuing the order to eject, after which the viewer is treated to a shot of the onrushing ground before the screen goes blank.
Bird strikes are a problem--sometimes a fatal one--for military and civil aviation alike. America's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reports that there are about 10,000 such strikes a year to the country's non-military aircraft, costing more than $957m in damage and delays. The worldwide figure is estimated by the European Space Agency to be $1.2 billion.
Moreover, though relatively few people have been killed in accidents caused by bird strikes (research by John Thorpe, former chairman of the International Bird Strike Committee, recorded 242 deaths between 1912 and 2004), the potential for something horrible to happen is real--as was shown by one of the most famous strikes of recent years. In 2009 an Airbus with 155 people on board hit a flock of geese when it was taking off from LaGuardia airport in New York. The passengers were saved only by the skill of the pilot, Chesley Sullenberger, who managed to ditch the plane safely in the Hudson river.
At the moment, attempts to deal with the problem mostly involve efforts to cull flocks of the larger species--geese in particular--in the vicinity of airports, and also the use of bird scarers to try to drive off those actually sitting near runways. As the figures suggest, these approaches do not work well. There may, however, be a better way. For a decade or more the air forces of several countries have used radar to track birds which might threaten their aircraft. Now, similar systems are being considered for civilian airports. If they work, the old methods of trying to scare birds away, or cull them, can be abandoned.
<h3>A bird in the band</h3>
The longest-running study of the use of radar to prevent bird strikes was started three decades ago, in Israel, by Yossi Leshem of Tel Aviv University. It has helped the Israeli air force reduce the number of strikes it suffers by two-thirds.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_left"><div class="image"><a href="http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local/new_york&amp;id=9338345">ABC 7 News Screengrab</a>Two birds hit the engine of a Virgin America plane in November 2013.</div></div>Dr Leshem began his research using a mixture of powered gliders, drones, ground-based bird watchers and radar to build up data on the flocks that migrate over Israel in the spring and autumn.
From these observations he has worked out the meanings of different sorts of radar blips, and can thus tell what is going on ornithologically from radar alone.
The upshot is a system which can follow individual birds that weigh as little as ten grams and are as far away as 20km (12 miles).
He can track birds the size of pelicans and geese at a distance of 90km. Moreover, knowledge of the weather, and of how birds have behaved in previous years, allows him to predict what they will do next, so aircraft can be routed above them.
Inspired by Dr Leshem, other air forces have taken up the idea of tracking birds by radar. A cottage industry manufacturing kit tweaked to do so has developed (mostly using naval X-band radars, whose wavelength is perfect for spotting birds).
One such piece of equipment, the eBirdRad radar unit made by Accipiter Radar Technologies, a Canadian firm, can track more than 100 targets at the same time, at a range of at least 11km and up to an altitude of 1km, according to a study carried out in 2011 by the IVAR (Integration and Validation of Avian Radars) project, a consortium of government and academic researchers. Accipiter's radars are deployed at Naval Base Ventura County, in California, and Elmendorf Air Force Base, in Alaska. They are also being tested at John F. Kennedy airport in New York, O'Hare airport in Chicago and Seattle-Tacoma airport in Washington state, in an experiment run by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and sponsored by the FAA.
DeTect, an American firm, has its equipment (branded "Merlin") installed at numerous American air force bases, and also at bases in Latvia, Nigeria, Poland and South Africa. And Robin Radar, a Dutch manufacturer, has created a system which lets the Dutch and Belgian air forces watch their collective airspace--and which has halved the number of bird strikes happening in its purview.
Like Accipiter, Robin has also dipped a toe in the civil-aviation market. In April 2013 the authorities at Schiphol airport, near Amsterdam, started a year-long trial of its system, watching the approaches to one of Schiphol's six runways. Yet, given avian radar's success in the military arena, civil aviation seems surprisingly sceptical.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/98190700@N06/with/10673110256/">David Davis</a>This Cathay Pacific 747 was hit on the nose by a bird.</div></div>One worry seems to be that radar cannot distinguish between different species.
At the moment that is generally true, though according to Dr Leshem the Swiss Ornithological Institute in Sempach has developed a Doppler radar that can identify blips by species.
Michael Begier, national co-ordinator of the airport-wildlife-hazard programme run by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), who is a member of the IVAR, thinks species identification is essential. If a system cannot tell the difference between a flock of waterfowl and a flock of songbirds, he suggests, it is hard to issue meaningful warnings.
Dr Leshem disagrees. "You don't", he says, "need to identify the species by radar, but to identify an approaching flock, and this we see perfectly with radars used by the Israeli air force, and in air bases in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium." He thinks reluctance to adopt avian radar for civil aviation, in Israel and elsewhere, is caused by bureaucratic inertia.
Gary Andrews, DeTect's general manager (and thus, admittedly, an interested party), puts it more bluntly. He believes the USDA sees radar as a threat, because the department is paid by local authorities to try to control birds by traditional methods.
Whatever the reason for reluctance in the past, a change of direction now seems sensible. In a report whose publication is pending, the USDA itself recommends that "new technologies such as the use of bird-detecting radar...should be pursued more vigorously." Perhaps, though, the last word should go to Captain Sullenberger, a strong supporter of avian radar since his unexpected ducking in the Hudson. Noting the slow-footedness of the authorities, he says, "I think many are hoping we can continue to be lucky."
Click <a href="https://subscriptions.economist.com/nwcd">here</a> to subscribe to The Economist

Radar Stops Aircraft Colliding With Each Other - It Should Stop Them Colliding With Birds Too

This post is part of the "<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/future-of-business">Future of Business</a>" series, which examines how cutting-edge technologies are rapidly reshaping our world, from how businesses run to how we live. "<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/future-of-business">The Future of Business</a>" is sponsored by SAP.
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/future-of-business">See more Future of Business &gt;&gt;</a><div class="image-container float_right click-to-enlarge" style="width:400px"><div class="image"><a title_source="(Governor's Office/Tim Larsen) New Jersey Governor's Office" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/50f46e6cecad04c03d000006-960/hurricane-sandy-jersey-shore-10.jpeg"></a></div><a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152217304070389&amp;set=a.10152217302555389.932217.493471480388&amp;type=3&amp;theater">(Governor's Office/Tim Larsen) New Jersey Governor's Office</a></div>The East Coast is still rebuilding after Superstorm Sandy killed at least 125 people in the United States and caused about $62 billion in damage in October.
But it could have been a lot worse.
Thanks to the warnings from the National Hurricane Center days in advance, many were able to evacuate.
<keyword id="6359992" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Weather">Weather</keyword> forecasters can predict the path of a storm with amazing accuracy, thanks to better satellites, smarter computer models and faster <keyword id="6387283" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="computers">computers</keyword>.
Weather organizations, like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) collect "on order of billions" of pieces of data every day in order to predict the weather, Bill Lapenta, acting director of the environmental modeling center for NOAA told Business Insider.
But the process isn't easy and forecasters don't make people evacuate their cities unless they're sure.
For instance, in the seven-day <keyword id="44566" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Forecast">forecast</keyword> before Hurricane Sandy, U.S. forecasters didn't sound the alarm, even though the European forecasters were already seeing a big, bad storm coming our way. This situation lead <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/83293.html">to some criticism</a> that NOAA doesn't have the resources it needs to warn of life threatening storms fast enough.
The U.S. team tweaked their model and five days before, "The U.S. and European models were locked in and consistent and forecasters had a high level of confidence that said something unprecedented was going to happen," Lapenta said.
The fact is, he says, predicting weather seven days in advance is still pretty difficult to do.
Predictions actually start with airplanes and a group of brave pilots who call themselves the "Hurricane Hunters."
Here's a breakdown of how they gather data and save lives:
1. Storm chasers fly airplanes to "conduct tropical storm reconnaissance," explains the <a href="http://www.hurricanehunters.com/mission.html">Hurricane Hunters Association</a>. These Hurricane Hunters are members of the Air Force's 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron (53rd WRS) out of Keesler Air Force Base near Biloxi, Mississippi. They can fly up to 3 storms at a time. Many of the pilots work part-time for the WRS and are civilians with regular jobs.
Plus NOAA has its own aircraft that make similar flights out of MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida.
These pilots will literally fly into a hurricane (at 10,000) feet to gather data.
Here's a look at the Hurricane Hunter planes and the people.
<table class="image-container click-to-enlarge" width="200"><tr><td><div class="image"><a title_source="Hurricane Hunters Association" title_caption="Hurricane Hunters" class="zoomin" href="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/50f46c146bb3f78720000019-960/hurricane-hunters.jpg"></a></div><a href="http://www.hurricanehunters.com/people.html">Hurricane Hunters Association</a>Hurricane Hunters</td></tr></table>
2. Pilots drop capsules from their airplanes into the hurricanes. The capsules are called "dropsondes" and they transmit a constant stream of weather data. Here's what the dropsondes looks like.
<table class="image-container click-to-enlarge" width="200"><tr><td><div class="image"><a title_source="NOAA" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/50f464a7eab8ea7a4b000027-960/dropsondes.jpg"></a></div><a href="http://www.aoc.noaa.gov/instrumentation.htm">NOAA</a></td></tr></table>
3. Weather forecasters also use satellites to watch the storm. During Sandy, the Hurricane center was taking satellite images every 7 1/2 minutes, <a href="http://www.npr.org/2012/10/31/164046039/high-def-storm-models-yielded-accurate-predictions">reports NPR's Jon Hamilton</a>.
Here's what Superstorm Sandy looked like on satellite as it hit the coast.
<div class="image-container click-to-enlarge" style="width:319px"><div class="image"><a title_source="NY Post Twitpic" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/508e9c7eeab8ea7516000003-960/satellite photo sandy 11am.jpg"></a></div><a href="http://twitpic.com/b8hvy5">NY Post Twitpic</a></div>
4. Doppler radar is another tool for storm watching. It detects rain associated with a hurricane and can help forecasters figure out how big a storm is and will become.
Here's what Sandy looked like via Doppler radar images.
<div class="image-container click-to-enlarge" style="width:349px"><div class="image"><a title_source="Forensic Weather Consultants" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/50f46e12eab8ea4063000019-960/sandyref_324-resize-380x300.jpg"></a></div><a href="http://www.weatherconsultants.com/got_doppler/index.cfm">Forensic Weather Consultants</a></div>
5. Weather scientists take those billions of pieces of data, combine them with the latest scientific knowledge about the atmosphere, seas, ice, land masses to make models of the weather pattern. These models let forecasters visualize how the storm is forming and what direction it will move.
NOAA wrote their own software for this, some 30-odd years ago, using a popular mainframe language of the day (which is now considered a dinosaur) called Fortran. That software has been updated and kept fresh over the years to take advantages of the latest advances in hardware, Lapenta says.
6. The models run on powerful supercomputers.
Here is a photo of NOAA's brand new supercomputer center in Wyoming.
<div class="image-container click-to-enlarge" style="width:295px"><div class="image"><a title_source="Carlye Calvin/UCAR" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/50f469356bb3f7fe1b000012-960/supercomputer-2.jpg"></a></div>Carlye Calvin/UCAR</div>
 
Here's a video of how the Hurricane Hunters do it: 

<div id="ooyalaplayer" style="width: 618px; height: 347px;"> </div>
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OO.ready(function() { OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer', 'pqc3JxODp-4bNOwqioFIzIlyQRWHKcZn'); });
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Produced by William Wei
Don't miss: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/future-of-business">The Future Of Business </a>

Here's How 'Hurricane Hunters' Save Millions Of Lives By Predicting The Path Of Storms

<ul class="summary-list"><li>'Twisters' aims to be more scientifically accurate than its predecessor, 'Twister.'</li><li>Many of the film's characters are scientists or storm chasers who know a lot about tornadoes.</li></ul>You don't need to know a lot about tornadoes to understand the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/iowa-tornado-video-injuries-damage-2018-7">massive storms</a> you'll see on screen in the new film "Twisters," debuting in US theaters Friday.However, the filmmakers worked to make "Twisters" more scientifically <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=8794e36cb8c1aa27c3f5637620281e7f8509966ad7e2a48650e0fa7451426dd4&amp;postID=669816d520eaab25bc1945d7&amp;postSlug=twisters-tornado-science-terms-should-know-before-seeing-2024-7&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fd41586-024-02276-x">accurate</a> than its predecessor, and the scientists and storm chasers in the movie spit out some jargon that could leave you scratching your head.So, a weather refresher might help if you want to follow along more closely. Here are a couple dozen terms that show up in the film and may be worth reviewing before you head to the theater. We tell you what the terms mean but not how they appear in the film, so no spoilers.<h2 id="62a1be3e-7668-4811-8ca1-cc77753aad30">22 science terms to know before seeing 'Twisters'</h2>Cap: A layer of warm air thousands of feet high in the atmosphere that can slow or stop the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hurricanes-and-rain-getting-stronger-2018-6">formation of a thunderstorm</a>. Sandwiched between warm, moist air and cold, dry air, the cap can also increase instability and cause a severe storm if it's removed.Cloud microphysics: This branch of atmospheric science relates to the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/cloud-microphysics">study</a> of ice formation and similar processes in the air. Scientists use it to <a target="_blank" href="https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/bams/100/4/bams-d-18-0005.1.xml">more accurately</a> simulate clouds in their <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-flood-prediction-save-lives-climate-change-2023-12">weather models</a>.Cloud seeding and silver iodide: Some regions hoping to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-dubai-airport-flash-floods-show-downsides-controlling-the-weather-2024-4">increase precipitation</a> release particles of silver iodide — a compound of silver and iodine that can encourage ice formation — to cause rain or snow to fall.Death ridge: <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/storm-chaser-job-live-salary-news-extreme-weather-hurricanes">Storm chasers</a> use this term to describe conditions that lead to milder weather. When an elongated area of hot, dry high atmospheric pressure settles over the Plains, it means severe storms are less likely to form, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/06/16/jet-stream-extreme-pattern-weather-tornadoes/">according to</a> The Washington Post.<div type="image" title="A Doppler radar tower with a large white ball on top" height="1500" width="1925" msid="111871259" hostid="261" sizebytes="90852"></div>Doppler radar: The National Weather Service's Doppler radars look like they have <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW9og0xK2Bc">giant</a> golf balls sitting on top of them. These are the antennae, which spin around and scan the atmosphere at different heights. The radar's beam hits particles of precipitation and receives the information back, creating a picture of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-hunters-noaa-air-force-planes-2019-8">what's happening in the sky</a>.Enhanced Fujita Scale/EF Scale: Meteorologist Ted Fujita created the original scale, with ratings from 0 to 5, for tornado intensity in 1971. The newer version from 2007 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.weather.gov/oun/efscale">includes</a> more types of buildings and objects to better reflect the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/what-is-tornado-insurance">level of damage</a>. When a meteorologist describes a tornado as EF1 or EF5, it's a reflection of how destructive the storm was. Tornadoes are only rated after the NWS performs an assessment.FEMA, NASA, NOAA, and NWS: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) helps coordinate disaster response. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and National Weather Service (NWS) all contribute to weather and climate data with satellites, radar, and other technology. The NWS is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/">responsible</a> for issuing tornado warnings.<div type="image" title="A black-and-white image of two tornadoes side by side near a road" height="1068" width="1188" msid="111871260" hostid="261" sizebytes="86136"></div>Fujiwhara effect: Named for Sakuhei Fujiwhara, who wrote about the effect in 1921, this uncommon phenomenon occurs when two cyclones pass close enough to each other that their centers either lock into a dance, or in rarer cases, they can merge into a single, more powerful storm. The effect occasionally happens with hurricanes, and in 2023, atmospheric scientist Matthew Cappucci <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="c-link" href="https://x.com/MatthewCappucci/status/1648898968099729409">noted on X</a> that the phenomenon occurred with tornadoes in Oklahoma.Hook echo: When a hook shape shows up on a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/extreme-weather-blunts-the-us-militarys-technological-edge-2024-5">radar screen</a> as part of a supercell storm, it can indicate the conditions are ripe for a tornado. The spinning storm can show up at a hook's tip, but it's not a guarantee that a tornado has formed, <a target="_blank" href="https://weather.com/storms/severe/news/2024-03-20-tornado-severe-weather-radar-terms-debris-ball-hook-echo">according</a> to Weather.com.Instability, lift, and moisture: These are three ingredients needed for a thunderstorm. The instability comes from air that keeps rising after something provides lift, like a cold front or mountain. The rising air brings heat and moisture to the cooler atmosphere above. As the water vapor cools, it condenses and becomes a cloud. It's these cumulonimbus clouds that you see in thunderstorms.Goldilocks problem: Much like a certain fairy tale figure's porridge, the temperature of the air flowing into a supercell storm has to be just right for a tornado to form, <a target="_blank" href="https://pubs.aip.org/physicstoday/article/67/9/26/414837/What-we-know-and-don-t-know-about-tornado">according to researchers</a> Paul Markowski and Yvette Richardson. Everything needs to be perfect for all the other ingredients, too.<div type="image" title="A tornado cloud in front of a pinkish sky" height="1168" width="1732" msid="111871258" hostid="261" sizebytes="31026"></div>Hail: When rain freezes in a thunderstorm's updraft, it can turn into ice chunks ranging from pea-sized (0.25 inches) to grapefruit-sized (4.5 inches).Lagrangian mechanics: Joseph-Louis Lagrange <a target="_blank" href="https://pubs.aip.org/physicstoday/online/9280/Joseph-Louis-Lagrange">published</a> important work on celestial mechanics in the late 18th century. Researchers still use his principles in modeling work on tornadoes and thunderstorms.Phased Array Radar (PAR): The National Severe Storms Laboratory has used PAR for weather data since the early 2000s, installing a newer version in 2018. It's a large, stationary flat panel antenna on top of a building in Norman, Oklahoma. Experts can control the radar beam <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nssl.noaa.gov/tools/radar/atd/">electronically</a> and point it at a storm to get the most relevant data.Sodium polyacrylate: This super-absorbent polymer, which is often used in the gel layer of diapers, can <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmu.edu/gelfand/lgc-educational-media/polymers/polymer-and-absorption/super-absorb-powder.html">irritate</a> the eyes and nose. It plays an important role in the film's opening scene.Supercell: Most storms aren't supercells, but these long-lived storms can be severe. Strong tornadoes are often the result of supercells.Tornado: When a thunderstorm causes a violent rotation of air to touch the ground, it <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tornadoes-more-us-than-anywhere-else-world-2019-5">creates a tornado</a>. Sometimes the funnel is visible but not always. Tornadoes need the right amount of moisture, instability, lift, and wind shear to develop.<div type="image" title="A tornado by some wind turbines with a field in front" height="1500" width="2250" msid="111871261" hostid="261" sizebytes="48724"></div>Tornado Alley: This is the area of the US where tornadoes have traditionally occurred most frequently. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-tornado-alley-is-shifting-east-to-mississippi-tennessee-alabama-2023-4">Tornado Alley</a> encompasses parts of Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas. Recent research suggests severe storm activity is shifting to states like Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee.Tornadogenesis: The process of tornado formation.Updraft: Warm air rising in a thunderstorm is called updraft. It sucks in more warm, moist air to help power the storm. If the updraft starts rotating vertically, it can produce a tornado.Vortex: A vortex is a horizontal or vertical mass of air that's rotating in a column or spiral. Some tornadoes can have more than one.Wind shear: Wind shear is when winds at different heights change speed or direction or both. If it contributes to rotation in a thunderstorm's updraft, a tornado can form.Despite taking some artistic license on how to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/twister-wrong-and-right-about-tornadoes-2019-6">stay safe from tornadoes</a>, the 1996 "Twister" movie inspired in many people a deep appreciation for and interest in meteorology — or, at the very least, in jaw-droppingly powerful storms. Now its sequel could do the same for a new generation.

The science you need to know before seeing 'Twisters'

After being hit by <keyword id="6355648" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="summer" source="Orion">summer</keyword> cyclones for three consecutive years since 2019, the <keyword id="6357961" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="odisha" source="Orion">Odisha</keyword> government began preparations for any such eventuality this season even as the IMD forecast no possibility of a low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal in a fortnight. The government decided to open a round-the-clock control room across the districts from May 1 for monitoring the situation, a senior official said. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Secretary P K Jena on Wednesday where the state government's preparedness was reviewed. Senior officers of several government departments, the Director General of Police, the Director General of Fire Service, the Special Relief Commissioner, and a senior official of IMD Bhubaneswar were among those who attended the meeting. Jena asked line departments like Revenue and Disaster Management, Rural Development, Housing and Urban Development, Health, Home, and Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water to be prepared in case a <keyword id="17259042" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="summer-cyclone" source="Orion">summer cyclone</keyword> hits the state. Discussions were held on information from Doppler radars installed at Paradeep and Gopalpur. These two radars will help track any summer cyclone formed over the Bay of Bengal. While Odisha encountered cyclone Fani in 2019, cyclones Amphan and Yaas hit the state in 2020 and 2021, respectively. However, there was no such cyclone last year. While the telecom operators have introduced several measures to deal with the devastations caused by cyclones, the state government asked them to ensure uninterrupted services and send alerts to people regarding cyclone updates. IMD officials and senior weather scientist US Dash, who attended the meeting, said that steps have been taken for broadcasting weather bulletins and cyclone updates through radio and television channels. He said the state government was informed that there was no possibility of any low-pressure formation in the Bay of Bengal in the next 15 days, and therefore no possibility of a summer cyclone now. "Cyclone mock drills will be held in each district on June 18 and 19 except Puri where a festival will be held on June 20," an official said. The officials of 317 fire stations in the state have been kept ready to face any eventuality. At least 17 teams of NDRF can be deployed for rescue and rehabilitation work in case of any cyclone hitting Odisha this summer, a statement issued by the chief secretary's office said. The state has altogether 879 multipurpose cyclone/flood centres to provide temporary shelters to people. The Odisha State Disaster Management Authority has been asked to keep all equipment ready for rescue and rehabilitation work, it said. The Water Resources Department has been told to introduce the necessary measures to manage flood-like situations during the cyclone. The Health and Family Welfare Department will store adequate medicines, anti-venom injections and other essential items at the district headquarters hospitals, the statement said. The Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Department has been asked to store adequate amounts of dry food and other essential commodities. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/vivo-x90-and-x90-pro-take-on-the-galaxy-s23-series-and-oneplus-11-smartphones-in-india/articleshow/99782279.cms">Vivo X90 and X90 Pro take on the Galaxy S23 series and OnePlus 11 smartphones in India</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/mahindra-bolero-roars-past-1-lakh-sales-mark-in-fy23/articleshow/99725410.cms">Mahindra Bolero roars past 1 lakh sales mark in FY23, proving it's still a favourite amongst Indians</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/unpaid-subsidies-worth-1200-crore-leading-to-serious-liquidity-crisis-among-ev-makers-says-industry-body/articleshow/99589401.cms">Unpaid subsidies worth ₹1,200 crore leading to ‘serious liquidity crisis’ among EV makers, says industry body</a>

Wary of a summer cyclone, Odisha prepares for the worst

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A large <keyword id="768766" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mural">mural</keyword> dedicated to <keyword id="9295731" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="george-floyd">George Floyd</keyword> in <keyword id="15091" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Ohio">Ohio</keyword> collapsed to the ground Tuesday in Toledo, Ohio. </li><li>A lightning strike, disrepair, and vandalism have all been pointed at as the possible culprit.</li><li>The artist who created the mural says he plans on re-creating it at another location. </li></ul>A large mural dedicated to George Floyd in Ohio has collapsed - and everything from vandalism to lightning has been pointed at as the possible culprit. The bright mural, which was painted on the side of a building's brick wall in the city of Toledo last year, wound up being destroyed and reduced to a heap of rubble Tuesday. Online photos show the artwork honoring Floyd, who was <a href="https://www.insider.com/derek-chauvin-verdict-george-floyd-death-2021-4">killed by fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin</a> on May 25, 2020, with a gaping hole in it as a mound of colored bricks laid beneath it on the ground. Witnesses reported to local police and fire officials that the mural crumbled as a result of a lightning strike at around 4:30 p.m. local time, according to <a href="https://www.13abc.com/2021/07/13/george-floyd-mural-summit-lagrange-collapses/">WTVG</a> and <a href="https://www.wtol.com/article/news/local/george-floyd-mural-collapse/512-c55a220d-affc-48aa-85aa-536ca6b0fdab">WTOL</a>. Doppler weather radar used by 13abc detected a lightning strike on the block of the mural's location at the same time on Tuesday. One witness who saw the mural wall collapse told the Toledo Fire and Rescue Department that they saw lightning strike the building, WTOL reported. However, city building inspector Hugh Koogan <a href="https://www.toledoblade.com/local/city/2021/07/13/george-foyd-mural-in-toledo-crumbles/stories/20210713122">told The Blade</a> that it appeared that the wall crumbled due to natural deterioration. "It was just age. It just came away," Koogan said, explaining that the city noticed bowing in the middle of the wall recently. "It happens to the older buildings."Artist David Ross who painted the mural titled, "Take a Breath," in the month after Floyd was murdered amid nationwide and global protests against police brutality said he was suspicious of the cause and questioned whether it was vandalism. "When I did the mural, there was stuff on the wall that I couldn't remove and that let me know how strong that structure was," Ross told The Blade. "The lightning thing, that's possible, but I know it didn't just fall."Regardless, the artist says he plans on re-doing the mural at another location. "I'm not upset because I know I'm going to do it again, whether it was natural or vandalism," Ross said.

A George Floyd mural collapsed in Ohio - and everything from vandalism to a lightning strike has been blamed

<ul><li><keyword id="6358070" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="mumbai">Mumbai</keyword>, which was battered by heavy rains on Wednesday, may see less <keyword id="9707086" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="intense-showers">intense showers</keyword> on Thursday, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said in a late night forecast. </li><li>There was some decrease in the cloud mass around Mumbai, the IMD said</li><li>While Mumbai, Raigad, Palghar, Thane are still expected to receive heavy rain at isolated places, an orange alert has been issued for Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Pune, Kolhapur and Satara districts.</li></ul> Mumbai, which was battered by heavy rains on Wednesday, may see less intense showers on Thursday, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said in a late night forecast. There was some decrease in the cloud mass around Mumbai, the IMD said. On Wednesday, the Colaba observatory in <keyword id="6361338" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="South-Mumbai">south Mumbai</keyword> recorded 293 mm rainfall from 8.30 am to 8.30 pm. "The Doppler weather radar Mumbai is showing up a little reduction in cloud mass around Mumbai. Intermittent intense spells are going on in Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and North Konkan," said K S Hosalikar, deputy director general of IMD, Mumbai. "Reduction in activity is expected from tomorrow onwards as per the IMD global forecast system model guidance. The IMD will update about it tomorrow," he added. While Mumbai, Raigad, Palghar, Thane are still expected to receive heavy rain at isolated places, an orange alert has been issued for Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Pune, Kolhapur and Satara districts. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/the-beirut-explosion-created-a-huge-mushroom-cloud-and-visible-blast-wave-but-nuclear-weapons-experts-say-it-wasnt-an-atomic-blast-heres-why-/articleshow/77362144.cms">The Beirut explosion created a huge mushroom cloud and visible blast wave, but nuclear weapons experts say it wasn't an atomic bomb. Here's why.</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/microsoft-for-startups-lathika-pai-says-entrepreneurs-pitching-for-investments-need-to-have-this-one-question-answered-in-their-pitch-decks/articleshow/77352935.cms">Microsoft for Startups’ Lathika Pai says entrepreneurs pitching for investments need to have this one question answered in their pitch decks</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/linkedin-tcs-disney-hotstar-zee-and-other-companies-hiring-right-now-in-india/slidelist/77352775.cms">LinkedIn, TCS, Disney+ Hotstar, Zee and other companies hiring right now in India</a>

Mumbai may witness less intense showers from August 6, says Indian Meteorological Department

New Delhi, May 19 (IANS) The National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), headed by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, in its third meeting on Tuesday stressed on "timely and complete evacuation" of people from low lying areas coming in the path of cyclone 'Amphan' which is expected to impact West Bengal and Odisha coasts on Wednesday. Reviewing the preparedness of the states and Central agencies, Gauba asked the state governments to ensure timely and complete evacuation of people from low lying areas and maintain adequate quantities of essential supplies such as food, drinking water and medicines, a Home Ministry statement said. They were also advised that teams for road clearance and other restoration work be kept ready as very high wind speeds ranging up to 155-165 kmph gusting to 185 kmph are expected accompanied by heavy rainfall and storm surges of 4-5 metres in the coastal districts of the two states. India Meteorological Department (IMD) has stated in the meeting that 'Amphan' is expected to impact the West Bengal coast by May 20 afternoon or evening and districts of East Medinipur, South and North 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, and Kolkata are expected to be impacted. The damage potential of the cyclone is expected to be higher than that of cyclone 'Bulbul', which hit the West Bengal Coast on November 9 last year. The cyclone will also bring heavy rainfall, squally winds and storm surges in the coastal districts of Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Jajpur and Balasore in Odisha. Chief Secretary Odisha and Additional Chief Secretary West Bengal apprised the NCMC of preparatory measures taken by them. Attending the NCMC meeting through video conferencing, the officials of the two states informed that evacuation of people from the low lying areas was being carried out. "All actions have been taken to stock food grains, drinking water and other essential supplies. Teams for maintenance and restoration of Power and Telecom services have also been positioned," NCMC was informed. It was apprised that 36 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams were currently deployed in both the states, rescue and relief teams of the Army and Navy along with ships and aircrafts of the Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard had been put on standby. Officials from agencies of the department of Telecommunications and Ministry of Power are also deployed in the states to ensure maintenance of essential services. Senior Officers from the Ministries of Home Affairs, Defence, Shipping, Power, Telecommunications, Health, IMD, NDMA and NDRF also attended the meeting.NCMC will meet again to take stock of the emerging situation.The weather agency has issued an orange alert for coastal West Bengal and Odisha, where it said widespread damage is expected. The super cyclone Amphan is now being continuously tracked by the Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) at Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh). --IANS rak/sdr/

Cyclone Amphan: NCMC stresses on timely evacuation

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Most meteorologists sit behind computers to crank out hurricane forecasts and warnings.<h2>Others, however, fly straight into the giant storms.</h2>Their goal is to figure out where hurricanes are headed and help people on the ground stay safe.That's precisely why a small fleet of "hurricane hunter" jets and turboprop planes fly through storms. Unless someone is out in a storm measuring crucial&#xa0;meteorological data that's difficult&#xa0;for satellites to get, we can't reliably classify a storm&#xa0;like Hurricane Hermine (now a tropical storm) or know its true power and behavior.Master sergeant Brian Lamar of the US Air Force Reserve, who flies such missions, told Business Insider in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/meteorologists-fly-through-hurricanes-2015-10">a previous story</a> that these missions run in 8- to 12-hour shifts until a storm "fizzles out in the ocean, and it's no longer a threat to land, or it makes landfall."<a href="http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/people/shirleytmurillo/">Shirley Murillo</a> is a NOAA meteorologist who's also flown on such&#xa0;missions, which record hurricane wind speed, temperature, humidity, air pressure, rainfall, and other variables that are tricky for satellites in space to measure in detail.Some of the planes deploy disposable probes, called dropwindsondes, to get this data:<div></div>Lamar said missions fly in a figure-8 pattern, "puncturing" into and out of the eyewall - the powerful band of clouds around the storm's eye or center - several times while dropping the probes.This helps researchers figure out a hurricane's larger structure and movement:<div></div>All of the information is critical to <a href="http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT1+shtml/">issuing accurate warnings</a> for millions of people who live in areas prone to one of nature's most destructive forces.Murillo previously told Business Insider by email what hurricane hunting is like:<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="NOAA" title_caption="Shirley T. Murillo" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/560db025dd0895166b8b4688-960/shirley-murillo-noaa.jpg"></a><a href="http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/people/shirleytmurillo/">NOAA</a>Shirley T. Murillo</div></div></div>Most of my colleagues and myself fly in the WP-3 Orion airplane. NOAA has two of them. It's our work horse! The P3 flies inside the hurricane at about 8-10,000 feet above sea level. Our flights are about 8 hours long as we collect data in all quadrants of the storm. All storms are different therefore the flights all feel different. Some flights are bumpy. They feel like if you were going on a regular commercial airline through some turbulence. Some flights can get extra bumpy especially when we get close to the storm's center (the eye). In order to reach the eye we have to cross the eyewall. A hurricane's eyewall tends to have the strongest winds and updrafts so the plane can get jostled while we cross it.A lot of people think it's dangerous but we are very safe. Safety is key in what we do. The pilots are highly trained and know how to fly in extreme weather conditions like hurricanes.NOAA flies every hurricane season. <a href="http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/">NOAA's Hurricane Research Division</a> drives the <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">science</keyword> that is conducted on the aircraft. We fly different types of flight patterns depending on what type of data we are collecting. We also launch instruments in the storm that gives us measurements of how the storm is evolving. We have a Doppler radar mounted on the tail of the aircraft that provides information on the structure of the storm. All the data that we collect is transmitted in real-time to the National Hurricane Center for the forecasters and it also goes to our computer models that take the data that aids in improving our forecasts. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/life-storm-chaser-weather-tornado-colorado-new-mexico-2015-7">Experience what it's like to be in the center of a powerful storm in this time-lapse video</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="1zZTRrdjoH78y8wmEZ7jHsXGRX6TnZo4" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

A meteorologist reveals what it's like to fly an airplane through a hurricane

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>A lot of meteorologists sit behind computers to crank out hurricane forecasts and warnings.Others, however, fly straight into the terrifying storms.Their goal is to figure out where hurricanes are headed and help people on the ground stay safe.That's precisely why a small fleet of "hurricane hunter" jets and turboprop planes fly through storms.Unless someone is out in a storm measuring crucial meteorological data that's difficult for satellites to get, we can't reliably classify <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-matthew-dangerous-wind-speed-2016-10">a storm like Hurricane Matthew</a> or know its true power and behavior.Master Sgt. Brian Lamar of the US Air Force Reserve, who flies such missions, told Business Insider in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/meteorologists-fly-through-hurricanes-2015-10">a previous story</a> that these missions run in eight- to 12-hour shifts until a storm "fizzles out in the ocean, and it's no longer a threat to land, or it makes landfall."Jim Van Fleet, a meteorologist at CBS Tampa (WTSP 10) is currently on a hurricane hunter flight through Matthew and is tweeting his experience.This is Van Fleet's view outside the window:<div></div>And here's a look at the plane's data instrument panel:<div></div>But what do hurricane hunters do, exactly, while flying through one of nature's scariest phenomena?<a href="http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/people/shirleytmurillo/">Shirley Murillo</a> is a NOAA meteorologist who's also flown on such missions, which record hurricane wind speed, temperature, humidity, air pressure, rainfall, and other variables that are tricky for satellites in space to measure in detail.Some of the planes deploy disposable probes, called dropwindsondes, to get this data:<div></div>Lamar said missions fly in a figure-eight pattern, "puncturing" into and out of the eyewall - the powerful band of clouds around the storm's eye or center - several times while dropping the probes.This helps researchers figure out a hurricane's larger structure and movement:<div></div>All of the information is critical to <a href="http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT4+shtml/061755.shtml">issuing accurate warnings</a> for millions of people who live in areas prone to one of nature's most destructive forces.Murillo previously told Business Insider by email what hurricane hunting is like:<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="NOAA" title_caption="Shirley T. Murillo." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/560db025dd0895166b8b4688-960/shirley-murillo-noaa.jpg"></a><a href="http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/people/shirleytmurillo/">NOAA</a>Shirley T. Murillo.</div></div></div>"Most of my colleagues and myself fly in the WP-3 Orion airplane. NOAA has two of them. It's our work horse! The P3 flies inside the hurricane at about 8-10,000 feet above sea level. Our flights are about 8 hours long as we collect data in all quadrants of the storm.""All storms are different therefore the flights all feel different. Some flights are bumpy. They feel like if you were going on a regular commercial airline through some turbulence. Some flights can get extra bumpy especially when we get close to the storm's center (the eye).""In order to reach the eye we have to cross the eyewall. A hurricane's eyewall tends to have the strongest winds and updrafts so the plane can get jostled while we cross it.""A lot of people think it's dangerous but we are very safe. Safety is key in what we do. The pilots are highly trained and know how to fly in extreme weather conditions like hurricanes.""NOAA flies every hurricane season. <a href="http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/">NOAA's Hurricane Research Division</a> drives the <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">science</keyword> that is conducted on the aircraft. We fly different types of flight patterns depending on what type of data we are collecting. We also launch instruments in the storm that gives us measurements of how the storm is evolving.""We have a Doppler radar mounted on the tail of the aircraft that provides information on the structure of the storm. All the data that we collect is transmitted in real-time to the National Hurricane Center for the forecasters and it also goes to our computer models that take the data that aids in improving our forecasts." <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/drone-hurricane-weather-science-forecast-noaa-2016-10">This drone flies inside hurricanes to gather data that could save your life</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="g3eDRwcDq7Pl5eT09NlbCFefQFjt0MB-" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

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