New Delhi, Oct 23 (UNI) India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Thursday commissioned the dedicated Flash Flood Guidance Services (FFGS), first of its kind for South Asian countries namely India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka, an official release said here on Friday.
The FFGS is an advance and robust warning system designed to provide the necessary products in real-time to support the development of warnings for flash floods about 6-12 hrs in advance at the watershed level with resolution of 4kmx4km for the Flash Flood prone South Asian countries such as India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
IMD DG Dr M Mohapatra, while explaining the salient features of the system, said that FFGS will enable all the member countries for issuing impact-based forecasting at watershed and also city level, of floods which are very sudden and of short duration.
Flash Floods are highly localized events of short duration with a very high peak and usually have less than six hours between the occurrence of the rainfall and peak flood.
“There is general lack of flash flood warning capabilities and capacities of the nations across the world. Recognizing that flash floods have a particularly disastrous impact on lives and properties of the affected populations, the Fifteenth WMO Congress had approved the implementation of a Flash Flood Guidance System (FFGS) project with global coverage that had been developed by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) Commission for Hydrology jointly in collaboration with the US National Weather Service, the US Hydrologic Research Center (HRC) and USAID/OFDA”, Dr Mohaptra said.
Noting that IMD has highly advanced capabilities with respect to computing power, Numerical Weather Prediction,vast observational network (ground, air and space based), and an internationally acclaimed Weather Forecasting System, therefore, the WMO had entrusted India with the responsibility of Regional Centre of South Asia Flash Flood Guidance System for coordination, development and its implementation.
India Meteorological Department has tested the performance of the system during recent monsoon seasons in the pre-operational mode and the Flash Flood Bulletins were issued to National Hydrological and Meteorological Services in the Region for its validation. The system has in-depth science, dynamics and diagnostics to provide guidance for the possible occurrences of flash floods at local level
