India: Flash flood warning before six hours soon

By Rajesh Kumar

To improve preparedness for flash floods, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has prepared a Flash Flood Guidance System (FFGS) that will predict flood in six hours in advance in the country.

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According to [Director General of the IMD, KJ] Ramesh, the Flash Flood Guidance System will use existing satellites and on-ground equipment to track real-time rainfall in any part of the country.

“Since the soil’s ability to absorb rainwater influences the probability of flash floods, the early-warning system will use data like soil moisture, soil temperature, levels of soil saturation, and the topography of the land, to predict flash floods up to six hours in advance”, he added.

“Some moisture is retained by the soil when it rains. Once the soil gets saturated, the runoff — outflow from the soil — starts. Until then, whatever rain has come will be absorbed by the soil. Local hydrology will be computed on daily basis [under the new system]. The whole of India has been divided into about 28,800 micro watersheds, each about 52 to 56 square kilometres in size. At that scale, the soil hydrology model will be run on a daily basis by which you can clearly assess the runoff potential of the soil of an area,” Ramesh said.

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