Early Lightning Detection System | 15 Jul 2024

According to the sources, The Uttar Pradesh government plans to establish an early lightning detection and warning system.

This system aims to avert casualties caused by lightning strikes in the state, particularly during the monsoon period.

According to an India Meteorological Department (IMD) report Uttar Pradesh ranks among the states with the highest lightning strike casualties in the country.
On the direction of the chief minister, the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), decided to set up a state-of-the-art lightning detection system based on time of arrival (ToA) technology, which is more time and location accurate, across the state.
- The IMD currently relies on radar-based systems and satellite data to warn about the possibility of lightning strikes in an area but it is not considered a real-time warning.
- The ToA-based system can successfully detect and warn about the possibility of lightning in a particular area at least 30 minutes in advance.
The Uttar Pradesh Lightning Alert Management System will be set up in three phases.
- In the first phase, it will be implemented in 37 districts.
- It is expected to be set up in 20 and 18 districts respectively in the second and third phases.

It is a device which uses electromagnetic waves in the microwaves region to detect location (range & direction), altitude, intensity and movement of moving and non-moving objects.

IMD was established in 1875. It is the National Meteorological Service of the country and the principal government agency in all matters relating to meteorology and allied subjects.
- It works as an agency of the Ministry of Earth Sciences of the Government of India.
It is headquartered in New Delhi.
IMD is also one of the six Regional Specialized Meteorological Centres of the World Meteorological Organization.