IMD Ranchi installs disdrometer to improve rainfall forecasts

Ranchi: Residents, especially farmers, of Jharkhand would soon receive more accurate information about rain as the Ranchi office of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has become the first unit in Bihar-Jharkhand region to get a high-resolution measuring instrument for rain and hail, known as a disdrometer, weather scientists said on Saturday.Abhishek Anand, deputy director of Ranchi Met office, said, “The advanced rainfall measurement instrument will play a key role in studying rainfall parameters and improving forecasts. It will measure the size, number, and fall velocity of raindrops. It enables the study of vital parameters such as the drop size distribution, rainfall intensity, and accumulated rainfall. Thus, it helps in understanding the microphysical characteristics of rainfall.”Stating that the device would act the same way for hail, he said, “The device will aid rainfall studies in Jharkhand, where Ranchi and adjoining areas receive widespread and sometimes intense rainfall under the influence of low-pressure and monsoonal systems originating over the Bay of Bengal. The data will be useful for public, especially farmers as the size of hailstones directly affects crops.”The instrument was installed by Ambuj Kumar Jha and Rohit Patil from Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, in close coordination with IMD, Ranchi.The installation is part of the disdrometer network being developed under the Union ministry of earth sciences’ 'Mission Mausam’. The network aims to study rainfall microstructure and microphysical characteristics across different climatic regions of the country, helping improve weather forecasting and rainfall analysis.“The installation will strengthen rainfall observation capabilities in Ranchi and surrounding areas, support regional weather research, improve radar-based rainfall estimation and observations, and help evaluate and upgrade weather forecasting models,” Ambuj said.