US, India share weather data after 16 yrs

New Delhi, NOV 14: Relations between India and the United States have reached a new level with the setting up of a joint data centre here...

New Delhi, NOV 14: Relations between India and the United States have reached a new level with the setting up of a joint data centre here to share vital weather and climate data. The post-Pokharan chill seems to be finally thawing with both countries agreeing to share sensitive satellite weather data.

This ends 16 years of secrecy and fills a data gap over the Indian Ocean that has handicapped forecasters and climate researchers the world over. The new initiative is also being seen as a part of India8217;s attempt to play a bigger role in the global space industry. The Rs 40 lakh data centre, which is already running, will be inaugurated by the chief of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, James Baker, who is leading a high-powered 14-member delegation to India. Once the centre is fully functional, experts at the India Meteorological Department say they would be in a better position to predict super cyclones of the type that recently devastated Orissa.

The new data centre, along with itstwo high-speed dedicated links, will give US agencies, in particular NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA, online access to weather and atmospheric data collected by India8217;s INSAT series of geostationary satellites. In return, India will obtain direct electronic links to NASA8217;s rich earth and atmospheric science databases, including the data collected by NOAA8217;s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite programme.

The Indian data, including information on short-term cloud variability, wind circulation patterns, and diurnal temperature variations over the ocean surface, should help to improve global weather models and aid both countries in tracking major storms and phenomena such as monsoons and El Nino.

India has been collecting satellite meteorological data ever since its first INSAT satellite was launched in 1983. But it has always denied prompt access to raw, high-resolution data, saying the information was vital to national security. The Americans jokingly call it8220;the great Indian gap8221; and after hectic negotiations between the two countries this gap is now finally going to be plugged.

India had for long resisted giving unhindered online access to cloud cover images since Indian security experts felt these could also be used to accurately target missiles in times of war. But it seems the hectic negotiations between Strobe Talbott and Jaswant Singh has finally cleared this cloud of suspicion, opening a new era of co-operation between the two of the world8217;s largest democracies. Observers say that this may actually be the first step in the lifting of technology denial curbs and sanctions that have been imposed by US on the Indian Space Research Organisation.

The initiative to share the data came from within the scientific community of both countries, which felt there was a real need for a joint cooperative effort, and they say it is a win-win situation for both parties.