There is no dedicated institution existing in the country exclusively for addressing technology related issues by fully considering the emerging observing needs of the country by leveraging the global advancements of the observational and communication technologies related to weather and climate. In order to consolidate, expand and sustain the state-of-the-art observing systems for India, it is necessary to identify and put in place an overarching agency who can pool-in the national technical resources/facilities from different government departments, autonomous organizations, universities and even private industrial enterprises towards design and development of prototype technologies through appropriate R & D efforts; and transfer the technology to industries for the ultimate mass production through complete indigenization efforts. Such a dedicated and orgnaised effort can only ensure the cost effecitve and state-of-the-art observing systems for India to provide quality forecasting and early warning services for all times to come.

(a). Objectives:

Establishment of an exclusive Centre for Atmospheric Technology with a mandate to develop indigenous capabilities in India through innovative efforts towards development of contemporary instrumentation sensors/communication assembly components for atmospheric measurements.

(b). Participating Institutions:

1. India Meteorological Department, New Delhi
2. Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune
3. National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai

(c). Implementation Plan:

National Centre for Atmospheric Technology should be located preferably in the vicinity of a viable institution having proven expertise in respect of instrumentation, Indigenization of sensor development, integration of sensor, power and communication sub-systems such as AWS, ARG, PDWR, MPAR, RS/RW, Wind Profilers, Space technology components. Such an effort is strategically important from the point of view of reducing dependency and at the same time enhancing self-sufficiency for weather and climate sensitive sectors of the Indian economy and reduce commissioning costs of global technology imports. Secondly, lot of interfacing with information technology development effort would be needed to manage, visualize, process and generate customized products for multiple areas of application of forecast products which are not available off–the-shelf.

The National Centre for Atmospheric Technology (NCAT) could be set up as an incubation unit of a well established institution like NIOT with focus on development of microwave, IT, opto-electronic and space science and technology related to sensors, digital measurement, communication and networking, processing, visualization, storage and retrieval and dissemination of atmospheric variable. It will also transfer technology to PSUs and private industrial organizations for mass manufacture of atmospheric observational equipment indigenously. The centre will have Atmospheric Technology Advisory Council with members drawn from IMD, NCMRWF, IITM, NIOT, Centre for Climate Change Research (CCCR), etc., along with other allied institutions, thus to have linkages with premier institutions. The establishment of the NCAT will have strong linkages to the requirements of atmospheric science and services by meeting all observation technology development needs of the country.

(d). Deliverables:

It is envisioned to build advanced atmospheric technology development system for the country through indigenous and self-sustaining efforts in coming ten years.

(e). Budget requirement

including foreign exchange component : 85 crores

(Rs. In crores)