Sunday, May 31, 2015

Useful websites for Earthquake data and Weather monitoring

1. QUAKE DATA
a. IMD gives details on latest quake and also an inventory of quakes in current and previous month here
b. USGS has a huge amount of data on quakes here and you can get details on the latest quake along with a map here
I used these sites extensively during the recent Nepal Earthquakes and I found the quake reports being posted within minutes of the occurrence.
c. You can try this ArcGIS site for some maps and info (Nepal Quakes)
2. WEATHER INFORMATION
a. IMD has recently updated its website and put in a wealth of information :-
i. It has a ticker where you can register for cyclone alerts by SMS here. I tried registering myself but it did NOT quite work (hope it is a glitch which they will iron out soon).
ii. From this year onwards, IMD has a special weather forecast for the mountainous regions of the Western Himalayas here. While this is wonderful, I wonder when they will have something similar for the Eastern Himalayas as well.
iii. You can get your actual rainfall data etc from the Automatic Weather Stations and Automatic Rainfall Gauges almost on a real time basis here. A word of caution - many stations are not working or give wrong data!
iv. The satellite imagery page has undergone major changes with tons of data which are meant and can be understood only by a meteorologist. However, this is my absolute favorite where you can see cloud movements taking place almost as it is happening! The 'refresh' button updates the timing of the imagery. Please remember these are IR images.
b. It is worthwhile checking the websites of meteorological departments of our neighbours Pakistan and Bangladesh which also have satellite images, as well a host of other data.
c. The US Navy's JTWC is perhaps the best website for tracks of any cyclone/hurricane or typhoons which is also linked to Google Earth.
d. Last but not least you can look up our blog, where you will find the monthly rainfall data for the last four years of many stations in the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya. Also as a part of the 'STH stormwatch' series we publish early/advance warning, tracks and other data on adverse weather phenomenon for this region as soon as we detect it on websites  - which implies that our service is totally internet based and will not function if the network malfunctions.
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Comment by Praful Rao
If you know of other websites (and I am sure there must be a myriad other sites) which provide reliable early warning/ data/ information on hazards esp for this region which can be used to save lives, please share the same with us.
Contact us at :savethehills@gmail.com.

Praful Rao,
Kalimpong,
Dist Darjeeling

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