The Complete Details for the Project of "Establishment of Specialized Medium Range Weather Forecasting Center and Strengthening of Weather Forecasting system".

1. PROJECT ASSIGNMENT
“THE PROJECT FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF SPECIALIZED
MEDIUM RANGE WEATHER FORECASTING CENTER AND
STRENGTHENING OF WEATHER FORECASTING SYSTEM”
Presented by : Sahar Ghuryani 19CRP23
Maham Safdar 19CRP36
Subject : Project Planning and Management
Presented to : Mr. Ubedullah Soomro

2. BACKGROUND:
◦ Government of Pakistan is committed towards promoting the culture of
resilience to natural disasters through implementation of roadmap identified
under ten-year National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP, 2013-22) and
priority actions & programs by all relevant Federal, Provincial, State and
Regional departments/agencies besides at the local level in a phased manner.
◦ In this context joint efforts and investments on effective implementation of
NDMP by public sector institutions as well as bilateral and multilateral donors
including the UN System shall lead to achieve the overall objective of making
Pakistan a disaster resilient country in consonance with international and
regional commitments of Pakistan.

3. ◦ In the above context, and to implement through Japanese
Government’s Grant Aid an important Priority-I project identified
under NDMA’s National Multi Hazard Early Warning System
Plan of NDMP namely “Project for Establishment of Specialized
Medium Range Weather Forecasting Centre and Strengthening of
Weather Forecasting System”.
◦ The Meteorological Department has officially inaugurated its new
Rs10 billion Specialized Medium Range Weather Forecasting
System.
◦ Unlike the old system, that was not able to view anything past
Margalla Hills, the new equipment is advanced.

4. ◦ This newly inaugurated system was part of a project for the
establishment of a specialized center for medium-range weather
forecasting and strengthening of the existing system. The upgrade was
possible through a Japanese grant.
◦ Funding was delayed and the project, which began in 2007 was halted
after Japan was devastated by a tsunami in 2011. It was restarted in 2014
and the new system was finally tested in 2020.
◦ At the inauguration ceremony, Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan
Kuninori Matsuda, Chief representative from Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA) Shigeki Furuta, Federal Minister for Aviation
Ghulam Sarwar Khan and Mohammad Riaz, director general of Pakistan
Meteorological Department (PMD) was present.

5. INTRODUCTION:
◦ Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has
initiated the step to enhance weather forecasting and
warning capabilities with the help of Japan
International Cooperation Agency JICA, Government
of Japan.
◦ Under the project “Establishment of Specialized
Medium Range Weather Forecasting Centre (SMRFC)
and Strengthening of Weather Forecasting System in
the Islamic Republic of Pakistan” sponsored by JICA,
installation of weather radar and a Wind Profiler
system, High Performance Computing Cluster system
has been installed at PMD Islamabad.

6. ◦ This project has updated the degraded weather radar system in Islamabad and
provided the wind profiler radar for upper-air observation, which monitor wind
direction and speed in the Head Quarter of PMD in Islamabad and Multan Airport.
◦ The weather forecasting and analysis system which enables medium-range (over 3
days up to 10 days) forecasting has been also provided to the Specialized Medium
Range Weather Forecasting Center (SMRFC) located in the Head Quarter of PMD in
Islamabad.
◦ Technical trainings on the operation and maintenance of the weather radar, utilization
of various meteorological products for weather forecasting, etc. were conducted as
well.
◦ In addition, meteorological data communication systems have been installed in
SMRFC and five PMD Regional Meteorological Centers, which enable exchange
weather information such as various weather forecasting products, weather radar
images, weather observation data, etc. between PMD Head Quarter and each PMD
Regional Metrological office.

8. WHY SMRWFC:
(Specialized Medium Range Weather Forecasting Center and Strengthening of
Weather Forecasting System)
◦ Pakistan has a high frequency of natural disasters such as
floods, landslides, cyclones and earthquakes. Quite notably,
every year Pakistan experiences heavy damages to whole
country due to floods triggered by heavy rains during the
monsoon season.

9. PROBLEM STATEMENT:

10. SCOPE:
◦ Weather systems under the grant are
being developed in Chitral, Peshawar,
Lahore, Quetta and Karachi. While in
Karachi, the system is already up and
ready for testing.

11. OBJECTIVE:
The key objective of this Project is to contribute to the
effective mitigation of the devastation caused by these
natural disasters.
To achieve this objective, the Islamabad existing meteorological radar system will be
replaced, the upper-air observation system, forecast & development system, meteorological
data trunk communication system and GTS message switch system will be installed, and the
SMRFC will be established in the PMD Islamabad Head Office. This assistance from the
Government of Japan will enable the PMD to:
1) Enhance its monitoring capability of hazardous meteorological phenomena;
2) Improve the accuracy of its short-range weather forecast (within 24-48 hours);
3) It should have the capability to handle medium-range weather forecast (over 48 hours);
4) Strengthen its prompt dissemination capability of forecasts/warnings.

12. STUDY AREA:
Broadly include establishment of a specialized Medium Range Forecasting
Centre in PMD Head Office Islamabad and establishment of the Upper Air
Observation System at five (5) locations at Chitral, Peshawar, Lahore, Quetta
and Karachi. Establishment of environmental (weather related) Monitoring and
Weather Surveillance Radar system in Islamabad is also included under the
project.

13. EXPECTED RESULTS:
The new technology will
help us predict wind-
driven weather systems
precisely and their
location. Being able to
predict the timing of the
weather systems is crucial
now. It will also allow
more storage space for
data in terabytes, which
was not possible.”
It will be capable for
timely dissemination of
accurate severe weather
forecast and warnings to
the vulnerable
districts/communities of
Pakistan. It will also be
able to measure highly
accurate rainfall intensity
and to detect the weather
situation.
It is expected that the
project will improve
weather surveillance
capacity and the weather
forecasting and warning
system in the country.

14. MINISTRIES HANDLED THE
PROJECT:
◦ The sponsoring agency for the project : JAPAN INTERNATIONAL
COOPERATION AGENCY (JICA)
◦ The responsible agency for the project : MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
◦ The implementing Agency for the project: PAKISTAN METEOROLOGICAL
DEPARTMENT (PMD)
◦ The coordinating agency for the project: NATIONAL DISASTER
MANGEMENT AUTHORITY (NDMA)

15. MINISTRIES INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT:
◦ Economic Affairs Division, Ministry of
Economic Affairs and Statistics
◦ Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD)
◦ National Disaster Management Authority
(NDMA)
◦ Ministry of Defense
◦ Federal Flood Commission (FFC)
◦ Capital Development Authority (CDA)
◦ Islamabad Electric Supply Company
(IESCO)
◦ Multan Electric Power Company (MEPCO)
◦ Frequency Allocation Board (FAB)
◦ Habib Bank Limited (HBL)
◦ National Bank of Pakistan (NBP)
◦ Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA)
◦ Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)
◦ Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

16. IMPLEMENTATION:
Implementation Resources are procured based on the direct support of
Japanese consultants who are in charge of equipment procurement for
the Project. The reasons are presented below.
 Personnel with advanced technique and knowledge of weather services
and meteorological radar system is necessary.
 Personnel as indicated above usually belongs to weather organizations
which actually conduct weather services.
 Personnel who has similar experience to the proposed technology
transfer is required.
.

17. IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE
◦ The implementation schedule of the whole Project and soft
component is indicated in the attached table below. The soft
component is planned to be implemented during the adjustment
stage after the installation of the meteorological radar system and
before the completion of the Project.

19. OBLIGATIONS OF THE RECIPIENT
COUNTRY
Obligations of the PMD for the implementation of Soft Component are as
follows.
1) Manpower Development
2) Longer Life Span of the Equipment procured and the Radar Tower
Building constructed under the Project
The PMD will be able to implement the above obligations through its
organizational and personnel capabilities. Most especially, the “continuous
recruitment of human resources for the next generation” is of vital concern. It is
important for the PMD to become self-reliant in technical areas such as the
operation and maintenance of radar systems.

20. Source : Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives

22. THANKYOU!