INDIA METEOROLOGICAL DEPARTMENT

INDIA METEOROLOGICAL DEPARTMENTSTANDARD OPERATING PROCEDUREFORTRAINING ACTIVITIESININDIA METEOROLOGICAL DEPARTMENT2020Page 1 of 44

ForewordIndia Meteorological Department (IMD) is the National Meteorological Service of India and the principalgovernment agency in all matters relating to Operational Meteorology (weather forecasting), Climatology andallied subjects. Capacity building in the field of Operational Weather & Climate Services and in the allied fieldshas always been one of the prime thrust areas of the India Meteorological Department. Acknowledging theimportance of the above, formal training in General Meteorology commenced at IMD in 1943 at Pune,pioneering the meteorological education in India. Acknowledging the importance of Meteorological Instruments& Tele-communication in improvement of weather services in the country, formal training in the above aspectsstarted at IMD, New Delhi in 1970s. Since then, the training activities in IMD have undergone significantchanges in the spheres of training infra structure, capabilities, objectives and contents keeping pace with latestdevelopments in the field of operational meteorology and for catering to the needs of meteorological personnelat different levels. IMD has also established training centres at Chennai and Kolkata for catering to the regionalneeds. The training activities at Pune and New Delhi are World Meteorological Organisation (WMO)recognized Regional Training Centre (RTC) (Earlier known as Regional Meteorological Training Centre) since1986. Being RTC components, IMD training have national as well as international commitments towardscapacity building in different aspects of operational meteorology.IMD has undergone major transformation in terms of state of the art observational platforms, meteorologicaldata transmission & processing, numerical weather prediction, research & development activities and sectorspecific services. Designing and conducting different trainings for fulfilment above commitments is also anoperational service. Training activities of IMD have also kept pace with this modernization through moderninfrastructure, latest forecasters‟ work station for the trainees, providing training in blended mode throughvirtual class room, facilities to remotely register for training courses through training web portal; and a fullyfurnished hostel etc. However, need for a Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for Training activities wasbeing felt for quite some time.Acknowledging above need, a committee of scientist from various IMD offices was constituted to prepare anSOP for training. The committee members performed their task remarkably well, by sharing their experiencegenerously in the development of SOP. The uniqueness of this SOP are the key features like Virtual Class room,Training Web -Portal, faculty development program, constitution of a training advisory committee, Constitutionof cells like Academic cell, Examination Cell & result cell, etc.I express my deep appreciation to the members of the committee, viz., Dr Somenath Dutta, Sc F, Sh. PS Kannan, Sc E, Smt Samanti Sarkar, Sc E, Dr Kuldeep Srivastava, Sc E, Sh. Saurabh Adhikari, Sc E and Sh.Sunny Chug, Sc C, involved for their long hours of work in drafting and finalizing this document. I also put onrecord my appreciation for Sh. S.C Bhan, Scientist F for reviewing this document.Date: 21st December 2020Place: New DelhiMrutyunjoy MohapatraPage 2 of 44

To transform the existing IMD training facility into aninternational centre of excellence in the training ofOperational Weather & Climate Services and s, data communication & processing,Information technology, Agricultural Meteorology,Remote Sense Meteorology, etc., with the state ofthe art hi-tech teaching aids infrastructures, likeVirtual Class room, Training Web portal and variousother facilities at par with any Institute of national &International Repute.Page 3 of 44

Building and strengthening of the capacity ofpersonnel in the field of Operational Weather &Climate services and in other allied fields formeeting their required job competencies as set byWMO, ICAO and other standard internationalagencies for providing highest level of operationalWeather and Climate services.Page 4 of 44

ContentSerial 5678Page 5 of Operational importance of Training Activities in IMDObjectivesCommitmentsPresent Training activitiesBroad classificationLong term Ab-initio & competency requirement certificatetraining programsLong term career progression & competency requirementtraining programs for departmental personnelLong term competency requirement courses for personnelfrom Other Govt of India Organizations and from NMHSof neighboring countriesOrientation Training course for MTS& part timeobservation personnelShort term customized tailor-made training courseTraining MethodologyAdmission processEligibility Criteria for admissionAdmission processExecution of TrainingConstitute three disjoint cells of scientistsTraining delivery mechanismsTraining evaluation processSyllabus revision processTraining calendarTraining InfrastructureSuggested recommendationsAnnexure IAnnexure IIAnnexure IIIAnnexure IVAnnexure VAnnexure VIAnnexure VIIPage 1222529383940

1.Introduction1.1. Background: IMD is the National Meteorological Service of India and principalgovernment agency in all matters relating to Operational Meteorology (weatherforecasting), Climatology and allied subjects. Formal training in General Meteorologystarted at IMD, Pune in 1943 and that in Meteorological Instrumentation &Telecommunication in mid-1970s at IMD, New Delhi. IMD Training facilities at Puneand New Delhi has been recognized as Regional Meteorological Training Centre(presently known as Regional Training Centre - RTC) by the World MeteorologicalOrganization (WMO) in 1986. Since 1988, the training centres of India MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD) at Pune and New Delhi are functioning as WMO RTC in the fields ofGeneral Meteorology, Climate/Climatology, Agricultural Meteorology, AviationMeteorology, Seismology and Meteorological instruments & telecommunication.1.2. Operational importance of Training Activities in IMD: Science of Meteorology &Climatology is multi-disciplinary in nature. Previously, formal academic institutes didnot have any curricula on above multi-disciplinary subjects. Although as on today, thereare some institutes which have curricula on Atmospheric Science/ EnvironmentalScience/ Oceanography etc., they hardly address the operational aspects of thesesubjects. IMD and some other organizations such as the Indian Air Force, Indian Navyand Coast Guard recruit scientific personnel in Group-A and Group-B (non-gazetted)cadres, most of whom are not from the background of Atmospheric Science orMeteorology. Hence capacity building in different aspects of the above fields of thepersonnel recruited in IMD other organizations at different levels is very much essential.1.3. Objectives:1.3.1. Building and strengthening of Capacity of IMD personnel, at different levels, inthe field of operational Weather & Climate Services, Hydrometeorology,Agriculture Meteorology, Meteorological Instruments, Communication &Information System, enabling them to meet their required job competencies tokeep pace with latest developments in operation & upkeep of meteorologicalobservation systems, data communication & processing and operational weatherforecasting.Page 6 of 44

1.3.2. Building and strengthening of Capacity of the personnel from NM&HSs of thecountries in Afro-Asia & Pacific regions, in the field of operational Weather &Climate Services, Hydrometeorology, Agriculture Meteorology, MeteorologicalInstruments, Communication & Information System, enabling them to meettheir required job competencies.1.3.3. Building and strengthening of Capacity of the people from other Government ofIndia departments, in the field of operational Weather & Climate Services,Hydrometeorology, Agriculture Meteorology, Meteorological Instruments,Communication & Information System, enabling them to meet their requiredjob competencies.1.3.4. Development, augmentation and maintenance of training related infrastructureregularly1.3.5. To monitor, evaluate and update the training curricula and processes for furtherimprovements and to cater to the emerging trends & future needs.1.3.6. Community capacity development in enhancing awareness among commonpeople, stake holders about interpretation and application of weather & climateservice‟s products.1.3.7. To develop online and offline short training contents/modules.1.3.8. To upgrade the knowledge, skill & aptitude of trainers/training resourcepersonnel through a faculty development program.1.4. Commitments: Being nodal Govt agency in the relevant field and the owners of twoRTC components of WMO, IMD is committed to1.4.1. Building & developing capacity of the meteorological personnel of IMD and thoseof other government organizations, viz., Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard, IndianArmy, CWC etc in different aspects of Operational Meteorology, Climatology andInstruments & Telecommunication who are directly or indirectly involved in abovefields and also of the personnel of NM&HS of neighboring countries in the AfroAsia & Pacific regions; and1.4.2. To continuously enhance the knowledge, skill and aptitude (for maintaining andenhancing job competencies) of the personnel, engaged directly or indirectly in theabove fields, time to time.Page 7 of 44

2.Present Training activities: To fulfill above mentioned commitments, IMD designs andconducts various long term (4-12 months) routine certificate training programs and shortterm (one to a few weeks) customized tailor-made training/refresher training courses forthe meteorological personnel working at different levels. Long term certified trainingprograms are in the disciplines of General Meteorology (Weather & Climate services),Meteorological Instruments - Communication & Information system and in AgroMeteorology. Organizational structure of these certified trainings is shown in the figureRMC Delhi trainingcentreGeneral MeteorologyMeteorological TrainingInstitute, Office ofClimate Research &Services, IMD, PuneRMC Kolkata TrainingCentreRMC Chennai TrainingCentreIMD's Long termcertificate ation andinformation SystemInstrument, Communication, Informationsytem Training centre (ICITC), DGM' soffice, IMD, DelhiAgro-MeteorologyAgri-Met Division & MeteorologicalTraining Institute, Office of ClimateResearch & Services, IMD, Punebelow:Stake holders of IMD‟s training service is shown in the figure given below:Page 8 of 44

Stake holders of IMD TrainingIMD OfficialsNational StakeholdersOfficials from other GoIorganizations (Indian Army,Indian Navy, Indian CoastGuard, SASE, CWC, etc.)IMD’s Training ProgramOfficials from NationalMeteorological Services ofthe neighboring Countries inthe Afro-South Asian &Pacific Regions.Overseas Stake holdersDetails of training courses offered by IMD is discussed in the next section.2.1. Broad classification: A broad classification of training programs offered by IMD isgiven in below diagram, details of which are discussed below:Long term Ab-initio & competencyrequirementFor Departmental MetPersonnelLong term carreer progression &competency requirementOrientation TrainingShort term customizedIMD's Training programsFor Other Governmentof India Organizations'PersonnelFor the OverseaspersonnelLong term competency requirementcourseShort term CustomizedLong term competency requirementcourseShort term customizedNumber of personnel trained in General Meteorology discipline in different levels andthat of overseas personnel trained are given in annexure-I pictorially.2.2. Long term Ab-initio & competency requirement certificate training programs:2.2.1. Meteorologist Gr-II Training course:Page 9 of 44