Thunderstorm research test bed

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha’s Balasore will get the country's first thunderstorm research testbed, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said.

The objective of setting up the thunderstorm testbed is to minimalise human fatalities and loss of property due to lightning strikes.

IMD Director-General Dr Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, speaking with a private television channel, revealed a first-of-its-kind monsoon testbed is also being planned near Bhopal. Both the projects are in the planning stage and detailed project reports are being made.

He said the thunderstorm testbed will be established in a collaboration between the Ministry of Earth Sciences, IMD, Defence Research and Development Organisation and Indian Space Research Organisation. "The IMD, ISRO and DRDO already have their units in Balasore. Observatories will be set up to cater to nearby areas and studies on thunderstorms will be conducted on the testbed," he said. Balasore's Chandipur has the Integrated Test Range for launching missiles.

"The testbed will have several observational networks, a full-fledged observatory, radar, auto-station, microwave radiometer and a wind profiler," Mohapatra told over the phone. "A meteorological research testbed is akin to what a missile test-range is for testing missiles," he said. Mohapatra, often referred to as the 'Cyclone Man of India' for his accurate prediction of cyclones in the Indian subcontinent, pointed out many lives are lost in Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand due to lightning strikes every year between April and June.