AMRITSAR, JULY 27: The meteorology centre at Raja Sansi International Airport, in the absence of suitable instruments, seems to have mastered the art of ``estimating'' weather data used for civil and defence aviation, research and agrometeorology. Almost all the data used by the international airport for aviation purposes is generated through educated guesswork.The meteorologists working here can measure the height of clouds and gauge the visibility of runway on a foggy day with the naked eye. This may soundunbelievable but the practice has been going on for the last many years.The local meteorology centre depends on several instruments which had been installed more than 50 years ago. Quite a few of these are out of order.Incidentally, when The Indian Express visited the meteorology centre today, one of the employees was attempting to estimate the height of the clouds, ``We get an idea of the height by merely watching the sky, having had years of exeperience,'' the concerned meteorologist declared.Since international flights have started operating from Amritsar airport, this weather data is used extensively by the airport. Ironically, all local, area and route forecast for aviation purposes are dependent on this visual observation of the atmosphere.The cellograph used for finding the most essential mintra level, the level at which the clouds are formed, is not available at the meteorology office. The centre here is without a seismograph and electronic instruments such as wind direction indicator and barometer. The single anemometer to measure average speed of the wind every three minutes is also out of order.The plan to install a current weather indicator system (CWIS) was proposed 10 years back. The local office was intimated in writing that a team fromPune would arrive to select the site. But neither did the team arrive nor was the CWIS installed. This is one of the most important requirements for aviation purpose, according to meteorology experts.Neither does the centre possess a skopograph which is necessary to measure visibility. The two rain gauge instruments are damaged.The instruments which require replacement are thermograph, relative humidity recorder, steven screen (for recording maximum and minimum temperature), evaporation meter and upper wind indicator which are all over 40 years old.Makhan Singh, officer in-charge of the centre, said they had alreadyrequested director meteorology at Palampur to renovate the centre andprovide new instruments. Makhan Singh, however, maintained that the manualobservation of the sky provided a more authentic picture than any instrument reading. He said the local meteorology centre was at least serving the requirements for aviation.According to department sources, the plan to update the local centre was drawn up 20 years ago but it has never seen the light of day. The centre sends data to the Northern Hemisphere Exchange Centre (NHEC) and the meteorology department at Safdarjang and Palampur airports, Delhi.
