Rourkela: The steel city’s second Automatic Weather Station (AWS) was inaugurated on the campus of the National Institute of Technology-Rourkela (NIT-R) on Monday.
The foundation stone for a meteorological observatory was also laid by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) Director General of Meteorology Mrutyunjay Mohapatra. An MoU was also signed with NIT-R for academic and research collaboration on the day.
The observatory will provide current meteorological information and help forecast weather. Likewise, AWS will transmit and record observations obtained from measuring instruments.
In his inaugural address at the conference as chief guest, Mohapatra said the IMD has set up another AWS at Rourkela Airport.
Notably, the two stations at the airport and NIT-R would help in the smooth conduct of the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023.
“States like Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal and others are prone to lightning strikes. Every year, around 2,500 people die of it. Though the IMD makes forecasts, a lot remains to be improved when it comes to understanding lightning strikes,” he said.
In-charge director of NIT-R Prof Pradip Sarkar, conference convenor Dr Krishna Kishore Osuri, registrar Prof Rohan Dhiman and head of the host department Jagabandhu Panda also attended the event.
