Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology
The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) is a scientific institution based in Pune, India for expanding research in tropical Indian Ocean (formerly on tropical meteorology), of the tropics in general with special reference to monsoon meteorology, and air-sea interaction of Indian monsoon.
 Logo of IITM | |
| Type | Research institution |
|---|---|
| Established | 17 November 1962 |
| Director | Dr. Ravi Nanjundiah |
| Students | PhD, MTech, MSc |
| Location | , , |
| Website | www.tropmet.res.in |
History
As proposed in the third five-year plan of India, the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) was founded as the Institute of Tropical Meteorology on 17 November 1962 at Pune as an individual unit of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the main organisation responsible for meteorological observations, weather forecasts, and detecting earthquakes in India. [1]
On the recommendation of Committee for Organization of Scientific Research of the Government of India, Institute of Tropical Meteorology was then made an autonomous institution under the new name, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, on 1 April 1971.
Until 1984, it worked under the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation. In 1985, it was taken by the Department of Science and Technology/Ministry of Science and Technology. As per the notification No. O.M. No.25/10/2006 dated 19 July 2006 by the President of India, the Institute has been put under the control of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) with effect from 12 July 2006.[1] The institute conducts an M.Sc., M.Tech. and PhD course, under the aegis of the University of Pune.
Computational facility
Adithya HPC, one of the largest computational capacities of India, is located at IITM. It is a common facility for all MoES institutions.
Pratyush or Prathyush (Hindi: प्रत्यूष, meaning "first light on the sky before rising the Sun") is a supercomputer designed and developed by IITM, Pune. As of January 2018, Pratyush is the fastest supercomputer in India, with a maximum speed of 6.8 petaflops.
The system was inaugurated by Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for science and technology, on 8 January 2018.
Pratyush consists of two High Performance Computing (HPC) units. They are located at two government institutes: 4.0 petaflops unit at IITM, Pune; and 2.8 petaflops unit at the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), Noida. Pratyush uses both units and provides a combined output of 6.8 PetaFlops.
Pratyush is used in the fields of weather forecasting and climate monitoring in India. It helps the country to make better forecasts in terms of monsoon; fishing; air quality; extreme events like tsunami, cyclones, earthquakes, and lightning; and other natural calamities such as floods and droughts.
India is the fourth country in the world to have a High Performance Computing facility dedicated to weather and climate research, after Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom.
References
- IITM. "IITM - About". Retrieved 14 September 2011.