FOURTH POST GRADUATION COURSE ON SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS & GLOBAL CLIMATE
at SAC, Ahmedabad
B R Rao, Course Director
S Ramdass, Course Coordinator |
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Introduction |
The Fourth Post Graduate Course on Satellite Meteorology and Global Climate, under the aegis of the UN affiliated CSSTEAP, was conducted at Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad during August 1, 2004 to April 30, 2005. 15 participants representing 10 countries of the Asia Pacific region attended the Course. The countries are Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal and Philippines, The course was formally inaugurated on August 1, 2004 by Dr. K Kasturirangan, former Secretary, DOS and Former Chairman, GB-CSSTEAP. Dr. A K S Gopalan, former Director, SAC was the guest of Honor. Director, SAC and other senior scientists of SAC were present on the occasion.
A thoroughly detailed syllabus on the basis of Grenada and Frascati documents of UN-OOSSA has been made for the course. The total Syllabus had been divided in to 3 units, each of 3 months duration. Unit-1 consisted of lectures covering Concepts in General and Satellite Meteorology, Satellite and Ground Systems, Applications related to mainly qualitative interpretation of satellite imageries etc. Basics related to Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Programming were also touched upon. In Unit-2, Radiative transfer, Parameter Retrieval, Applications in Meteorology, Oceanography and Climate studies using digital data were covered, besides Numerical Modelling and Environment Problems. Unit-3 consisted of Pilot Project. This is to be later expanded into a one year Project to be carried out back in the respective home countries of the Participants.
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Faculty |
Faculty members for this course were drawn mostly from the Meteorology and Oceanography Group, SAC. A few scientists from the other Groups of Space Applications Centre, the Physical Research Laboratory, experts from India Meteorological Department, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, National Institute of Oceanography, Indian Institute of Science, Andhra University etc also delivered lectures. Two Overseas Faculty members from USA also taught at the Course.
In addition to class room lectures during the morning hours, Practicals using satellite data were conducted in the afternoons. The main work-horse for the practicals was data from INSAT and NOAA satellites. Microwave Data Sets-SSM/I, TRMM and GCM outputs etc. were also extensively used.
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Special Facilities |
In November 2002, a new campus of Space Applications Centre was inaugurated. SATMET-IV course was held in the new spacious SAC campus. A special Satmet Laboratory with modular structure, uninterrupted power supply and networking was commissioned for the course with twenty PC's and Servers. This facilitated easy access to various satellite data sets, software etc to each participant, particularly during their three months pilot project phase. A dedicated high-speed 512 kbps internet facility has been established at the new campus. Special terminals for e-mail purposes were provided, both in office and at hostel, which helped the participants in data downloading, browsing and also remain in touch with their families/office.
A versatile software package "ERDAS" on each terminal provided much needed standardization in data processing (INSAT, NOAA etc.) to all the participants. This would help them immensely in the continuation of these activities back home. A set of three volumes of lecture notes prepared specially for the SATMET course comprised the main resource material. These were distributed in the beginning itself to all the participants.
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Seminar, Tutorials and Map Discussions |
Each participant gave two seminars during the Course, on the topics related to their Pilot Projects. They also got an excellent exposure to working with numbers during the Tutorial sessions where a number of simple, yet conceptual problems were discussed and solved in the class. Participants enjoyed these sessions meant to enhance the problem solving capabilities.
A weekly Map discussion of the current Weather over Indian and the Asia-Pacific using Satellite images and the weather charts available from various sources including Internet was conducted during first three months. This gave them a good exposure to various web sites providing operational satellite data and forecast and also helped them to keep track of various important meteorological events over their own region.
Although all the participants had declared good proficiency in English the actual level varied from person to person. After their interaction with the faculty for about a week, it was realized that about six participants would require a refresher course in English. Accordingly, a 3-months English Course was offered to them. These classes were held in the evening after the regular SATMET classes. These classes helped them immensely and were quite evident by their increased participation in the class room activities.
The performance of the participants were evaluated by periodic tests, seminars etc. End of the module examinations (3 theory and 1 practical) were also conducted.
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Technical Visits |
During the 9 months Course, the participants visited some of the important institutions/laboratories in the country to have a first hand experience of the utilisation of satellite data in operational environment. The technical tours included visits to:
- India meteorological Department, New Delhi (Satellite Meteorology Division, NHAC).
- National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts (NCMRWF), New Delhi.
- ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), Regional Remote Sensing and Service Centre (RRSSC), Banglore
- Indian institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), CSSTEAP Head Quarters, Dehradun.
- National Institute of Oceanography, Goa.
- National Centre for Antarctic & Oceanic Research (NCAOR), Goa
- Andhra University, Visakhapatnam.
- Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota
- Cyclone Detection Radar, IMD, Chennai
These tours were so designed that the participants not only had an opportunity to visit excellent facilities of ISRO and other National Organisations, but also get familiarized with the cultural heritage, diversity and natural scenic beauty of various parts in India.
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Pilot Projects |
The candidates learnt a lot during the 3 months Pilot-Project-about formulation of a problem of relevance to their country, specifying and acquiring data, execution, and communication both orally and in writing. The variety of coverage of themes can be appreciated from the list of Projects given in this Memoir.
The Pilot Project could be listed in following broad topics
- Tropical cyclone and storm surge studies using TRMM Data and model
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Aerosol / Dust storm studies using TOMS/MODIS data
- Meso-scale studies using Mm5
- Validation of merged Rainfall products
- Ocean Process Studies, Regional Climate Models
- MODIS data utilization and validation
The topics for one year Project work were identified after several discussions with the participants. The field of interest of the participants, the needs of the sponsoring organizations and the facilities available in the countries of participants for supporting the project work were taken into account while deciding the project.
It has been possible to conduct the third PG course on satellite Meteorology and Global Climate at Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad due to sincere and dedicated efforts put in by a large number of Persons at SAC. We would particularly like to thank all faculty members, focal points and project guides, who in spite of their busy schedule delivered lectures, organized practical sessions, conducted tutorials and provided guidance to the participants for their project related activities. We thank Director SAC and Director CSSTEAP for all the support in organizing this course.
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