Development of Meteorology in Sri Lanka

Lareef Zubair

International Research Institute for Climate Prediction, Palisades, New York

10964-8000, U.S.A.

Email: lareef@>iri. Columbia, edu Fax: (1)-845-680-4864

Development of Meteorology in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The fields of meteorology, oceanography and climatology have begun to receive

renewed interest globally on account of environmental awareness and concern regarding

climate change, the El Nino phenomena and hydrological and weather anomalies.

Weather and Climate bears on critical fields such as energy, irrigation, public health,

infrastructure planning, construction, fisheries, wildlife, vegetation and agriculture. Thus

improvements in the fields of meteorology and climatology should be understood,

supported and harnessed by professionals in the many sectors concerned with the

environment of Sri Lanka. Here, the history of meteorology in Sri Lanka is reviewed,

along with a summary of communication among meteorologists, state of the literature

and its availability in Sri Lanka, education in meteorology and data availability. Finally,

seven steps are proposed for the immediate development of meteorological and climate

field in Sri Lanka.

1.0 Introduction

The related fields of meteorology, climatology and oceanography have seen accelerated

development in many industrialized countries. Although, the imperatives are more urgent

for poorer countries, the field of meteorology lags well behind the former. In this paper,

the developments in Sri Lanka are examined to highlight the progress in meteorology

and the impediments to its development. The history of meteorology in Sri Lanka and

aspects that bear on the development of the field such as communication among

researchers and users, meteorological education, access to literature and data are

reviewed. Finally, recommendations are made to support the development of the field.

2.0 A History of Meteorology in Sri Lanka

2.1 Early Meteorology: Sri Lanka is reputed for its hydraulic civilization and evidence

of adaptation of agriculture, fisheries and housing to weather and climate extending three

millennia back. However, meteorologists have not yet drawn on this legacy or that from

the Portuguese and Dutch periods of colonization from the 16th Century to the 19th

Century. Indeed, the science and practice of meteorology remain rooted only in the

institutions established by the British Empire in the 19th Century. This synopsis will

trace developments since then.

2.2 Meteorology Under the British: There are various registers of meteorological

measurements in the early nineteenth century maintained by various colonial officers,

but these measurements were not carried out in any organized way. However, in 1853,

Colonel Fyers of the British Royal Engineers was instrumental in first instituting rainfall

measurements at Colombo. By 1871, 10 meteorological stations had been established

and an additional 22 rain gauging stations. By 1881, there were 14 meteorological

stations and 50 rainfall-measuring stations. By 1907, there were 90 stations. Part-time

observers maintained most of these stations.

C.H. Allen, the Acting Trigonometrical and Meteorological Assistant of the Survey

Department published the first "Memoirs of the Colombo Observatory" in 1881. Since

then until its termination in 1907, the Observatory published annual reports and

submitted these to the Colonial Office in England. The Superintendent of

Trigonometrical Surveys of the Surveyor-General's Department controlled the

meteorological services, collected the data from the measuring stations and processed

them. The "Colombo Observatory" was established in 1907 as a distinct unit in the

Survey Department, which gave the meteorological work prominence. H. O. Barnard of

the Survey Department was appointed as its first Superintendent.

2.3 After Decolonization: After World War II, there was a rapid increase in the demand

for meteorological services. In addition, there was a new administrative structure in

place. This led to the reorganization and expansion of the meteorological services. The

Colombo Observatory was separated from the Survey-General's office and set up as an

independent Department in 1948. At that time, rainfall records for nearly 500 stations

were being recorded along with pilot balloon observations at Trincomalee, Mannar,

Hambantota and Colombo. Since 1970, the Department of Agriculture has set up an

additional 30 meteorological stations to cover areas of agricultural importance. The

Irrigation Department too has archives of meteorological records close to lakes,

reservoirs and rivers starting from 1948.

2.4 International Liaison of the Department of Meteorology: The Department of

Meteorology of Sri Lanka was the 47th country to join the World Meteorological

Organization (WMO) in May 1951. It has been participating in the Global Observing

System (GOS), Global Telecommunications System and the World Weather Watch for

several decades. The National Meteorological Center was established in 1972. This

Centre transmits meteorological observations from 22 surface observation stations,

aerological observations from the radiosonde station at Colombo and the upper wind

observations at the southern, western and eastern extremities of the island to the regional

GOS centre in New Delhi. It was also set up to relay data from the Maldives to New

Delhi. Radiotelephony was put in place in 1972 with the assistance of H. Berger, an

expert in meteorological telecommunications under the Volunteer assistance program of

the WMO. The Department has participated in various regional experiments such as the

MONEX (Monsoon Experiment conducted in collaboration between the USA and India

in 1978-79), GAME (GEWEX Asian Monsoon Experiment where GEWEX is Global

Energy and Water Experiment, web site: http://www.ihas.nagoya-u.ac.ip/game/ ) and

INDOEX (Indian Ocean Experiment web site: http://www-indoex.ucsd.edu/ ) exercises.

A satellite receiving station was set up at the Katunayake Airport in 1973 and this was

used mainly for aviation. A satellite receiving station was established in Colombo in

1978. A separate station for receiving INSAT images was provided to Sri Lanka by the

Indian Meteorological Department in 1999 under a government-to-government scientific

cooperation treaty. At present, the Department receives satellite images four times a days

from the polar-orbiting NOAA 12, 15 and 16 satellites (USA). In addition, it receives

images from the geostationary METEOSAT (European) and INSAT (India) satellites.

Images from FY2 (Chinese) satellites are anticipated soon.

2.5 Recent Developments in the Department of Meteorology

In 2001, a Centre for Climate Change Studies was established at the Department of

Meteorology by the Ministry of Science and Technology. This Centre has formed links

with selected researchers in other institutions who serve it in an advisory capacity or

receive funds disbursed by it (Basnayake, 2002) and hopes to serve as a coordinating

entity on climate change studies in Sri Lanka.

Historically, the department has been under resourced and its cadre of staff has increased

only a little for a few decades. Two new buildings have been constructed at its

Headquarters in Colombo since 1999.

However, the land on which the Meteorological Department Head office, Colombo is

located on continues to be parceled off to various foreign embassies. This urbanization

immediately around the meteorological department may affect its more sensitive

measurements, which are of particular importance at understanding issues such as

climate change.

2.6 Meteorology outside the Department of Meteorology: Apart from the Department

of Meteorology, there are a number of institutes that are concerned with weather and

climate. Among these, are those involved in agriculture, fisheries, oceanography,

aviation, energy, water resources, environment, natural resources and planning (see table

1). In addition, researchers attached to the Universities contribute towards

meteorological education and research.

A survey of research work and data needs in relation to climate conducted by the

National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka had responses from thirty institutes. These

respondents have programmes that are of varying productivity. It is evident from the

responses that the efforts outside the Department of Meteorology have been isolated and

uncoordinated. Several of these respondents called for assistance with data, literature

and communication (National Science Foundation, 1999).

In response to international treaties and funding opportunities, agencies of the

government have put in place various committees pertaining to meteorology. Among,

these are the Sri Lanka committee on the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program,

Man and the Biosphere program, the National Committee on Atmospheric Sciences and

the Montreal Protocol Compliance Unit. Officials of the Civil Service who do not have a

background or commitment to the advancement of the field of meteorology often

supervise these committees. Often these officials do not serve for long before being

transferred to an entirely different department. They also do not meet regularly or

interact with the meteorological and scientific communities.

Agriculture

Fisheries

Oceanography

Aviation

WaterResources

Minerals

Energy

Environment

Universities

Natural Resources Management Centre, Dept. of Agriculture, TeaResearch Institute, Sri Lanka Tea Board, Rubber Research Institute,Agricultural Research and Training Institute, Coconut ResearchInstitute, Sugar Cane Research Institute, Palmyrah DevelopmentBoard, Sri Lanka Cashew Corporation

Ceylon Fisheries Corporation, Ceylon Fisheries Harbors Corporation,Ministry of Fisheries, National Aquatic Research Agency

National Aquatic Research Agency, Marine Pollution and PreventionAgency, Ministry of Shipping, Ministry of Defense, Navy, IndianOcean Marine Affairs Cooperation Secretariat

Civil Aviation Authority, Air Lanka, Air Force

National Water Supply and Drainage Board, Irrigation Department,Mahaweli Authority, Water Resources Secretariat

Lanka Salt Ltd.

Ceylon Electricity Board, National Engineering Research andDevelopment Centre, Intermediate Technology Development Group

Central Environmental Authority, Ministry of Environment, NationalScience Foundation, Inst. of Fundamental Studies, National BuildingResearch Organization, Wildlife Conservation Dept., Forest Dept.

Depts. Of Agriculture, Geography, Physics, Natural Resources andGeology in the Peradeniya, Jaffna, Colombo, Sabragamuwa, Ruhuna

and Open Universities

Table 1: Government Departments and Statutory Bodies in Sri Lanka whose mandates

bear on meteorology.

The Ministry of Environment has become active in issues of climate change and

stratospheric ozone depletion. A "Montreal Protocol Unit" and a "Climate Change Unit"

have been established within the Ministry. This Ministry has been coordinating the

compilation of the national communication on climate change that was submitted to the

Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change.

3.0 Communication among Meteorologists

A learned society, the Ceylon Meteorological Society, was started in 1971 with G.S.

Jayamaha, the then Director of Meteorology, at the helm. This Society produced a

quarterly journal starting in 1972. However, its publication did not last beyond 1974 due

to the exorbitant price of newsprint in that period. Since 1999, this authour has been

instrumental in maintaining a network of meteorologists and oceanographers and a

newsletter.

At present, researchers communicate via the Physics, Engineering and Agriculture

sections of the Sri Lankan Association for Advancement of Science (SLAAS), but here

meteorology is not a topic that gets special attention. The presentations related to climate

and meteorology are scattered even within these disciplines and attendance is usually

poor. The work done by Geographers goes unreported here.

From time to time, various agencies organize meetings to do with the meteorology. For

example, the International Geophysical Union organized a meeting bringing together

geographers in 1982 at the University of Peradeniya. In 1995, there was a country study

on the impact of global change funded by the Asian Development Bank. This team did

not include local meteorologists but consulted with meteorologists from Australia who

are familiar with the region. In 1996, the Ministry of Environment organized a meeting

on climate change under the aegis of Sri Lankan National Committee of the international

geo sphere-bio sphere program. The US country studies program on climate change

funded this effort. The National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka organized a separate

meeting on global climate change. Thereafter, the National Science Foundation

organized a separate meeting on the Impacts of El Nino in mid-1997. In 1999, a meeting

was organized by the "Lanka International Forum on the Environment", an NGO, on the

societal and economic aspects of climate change with funding from the Inter-

Governmental Panel on Climate Change. Often, local meteorologists are not invited for

these meetings and do not come to know of them.

4.0 Education in Meteorology

An introduction to weather, climate and meteorological instruments is included in

syllabus of year 6 to 9 in the schools. The basics of Climate and Meteorology are taught

in the Universities for undergraduates in the Geography, Physics and Agriculture

departments of Universities alone. Even then, atmospheric science is not taught beyond

a single course. Oceanography fares worse in the academic curriculum.

Some significant positive development has been the implementation of post-graduate

programs in Atmospheric Science and Oceanography at the Universities of Colombo and

Peradeniya respectively. The first batch of eighteen students with backgrounds in

Physics are receiving instruction from various lecturers drawn from the Universities,

Department of Meteorology and scientists from overseas. This M.Sc. programme has

been well supported by the Asian Development Bank funded programme of the Ministry

of Science and Technology to strengthen the capacity of scientific and technology

personnel in Sri Lanka (Jayaratne, 2002). The M.Sc programme in Oceanography was

due to commence at the beginning of 2002.

5.0 Meteorological Literature

There is a rich literature on the climate of Sri Lanka starting with the entry due to A.O.

Brodie on climate observations in Puttalam that was published in 1847 in the

Proceedings of the Royal Asiatic Society. A survey of literature pertaining to Sri Lankan

climate and related aspects yielded more than a thousand entries. This literature however

is in various journals that are difficult to access in Sri Lanka particularly away from

Colombo. Some of these journals are available in the Department of Meteorology,

University libraries and the National Science Foundation library. These collections are

incomplete and scattered. A system of electronic catalogues, inter-library loans or

assistance from research librarians is not available. The researcher is left with the

exhausting task of searching these libraries on their own which in any case have severe

access restrictions due to security and financial concerns. The compilation of a Union list

of holdings on climate in Sri Lanka will help researchers.

The library of the Department of Meteorology has the best collection of journals (mainly

from World Meteorological Organization and American Meteorological Society

contributions). However, its collection of textbooks is inadequate. A new building has

been constructed in the Department premises to house the library. However, this library

is not kept open regularly and it is hoped that regular services will likely resume once a

librarian is recruited. Much of the literature is also held in various British and United

States of America archives. The researcher in these countries is at an advantage in

comparison with the local researcher in accessing literature.

6.0 Meteorological Data

The data collection started by Colonel Fyers and continued by many others has left a

legacy of 150 years of meteorological data in Colombo and a 130 year record in 17

stations throughout the island. In addition, there have been records for a shorter period in

500 other stations predominantly for rainfall. The data is available at several British

Meteorological archives, the Department of Meteorology, the Irrigation Department, the

Ceylon Electricity Board and the Natural Resources Management Centre. In addition, the

United States of America's National Climatic Data Centre has archived much of the data

from Sri Lanka and makes these data available at high prices when compared with the

prices from the Department of Meteorology. In recent years, there has been a concerted

effort on the part of the Department of Meteorology to put the data into electronic form.

Thus an urgent priority is to ensure that data that is recorded in various paper formats are

preserved and duplicated and no data is lost. Indeed, the government may prepare a

catalogue of all the data that is available in the various government departments and

periodically check this inventory for integrity.

While there are rich sources of data, the local researcher faces difficulties in accessing it,

due to the lack of communication and transport facilities and funds to purchase the data.

7.0 Recommendations for Supporting Meteorological Research

This review of meteorology in Sri Lanka shows significant achievements and a rich

heritage in the meteorological field. Some impediments in meteorological studies have

been identified in this article. To alleviate these them, several immediate steps are

suggested below.

1. Establish a learned society for meteorology and related disciplines to spearhead

the development of the field. This learned society should meet regularly and

should have standing with government agencies and international agencies.

2. Develop a consensus or on an action programme for meteorological and oceanic

research in Sri Lanka that involves the Department of Meteorology, National

Acquatic Research Agency, other relevant Agencies, Universities and individual

researchers. This work can be coordinated by the professional body.

3. Develop a program for government-level cataloguing and inventorying of data

for assuring its integrity and preservation. These data can be'made available in a

satisfactory manner to those who generate and archive the data and the various

users while also being cognizant of the national interest.

4. Establish a national data and literature archiving system. This archiving system

should be geared to purchase, process, archive and disseminate the data. Identify

the data outside the country that are likely to be useful for research in Sri Lanka

and archive them in Sri Lanka.

5. Encourage Universities and funding agencies to support research with support

services such as computer and Internet facilities, proper library services and their

data services. Historically, scientific and in particular meteorological and climate

services have catered largely to the scientists in Colombo. It is important to

ensure the wider user of climate services by having regional resources and

research on climate.

6. Improve holdings on meteorology in selected research libraries. Meta information

on the literature is urgently needed. A bibliography and a Union list of

Publications available in Sri Lanka libraries related to meteorology should be

prepared and updated periodically.

7. Climatological training and education should be enhanced particularly at school

and undergraduate levels. A periodic training programme on the availability and

usage of meteorological data should be developed. A taskforce should be

established to integrate meteorological aspects into the training of technicians and

scientists in related fields.

The suggestions made here are only as it pertains to meteorology and it will have to be

reviewed and implemented within the framework in place for the advancement of

scientific education and research.

Acknowledgements:

This work derives from the work of many past meteorologists in Sri Lanka who have not

been mentioned and from an extended visit to the Department of Meteorology and the

University of Colombo in January 2002 sponsored by the Ministry of Economic Reform,

Science and Technology. The courtesies offered in these two institutions to me are

gratefully acknowledged.

References:

Jayamaha, G.S. The Department of Meteorology, Journal of Ceylon Meteorological

Society, 1974, 3(3-4).15-18p.

Jayamaha, G.S., History of the meteorological service in Ceylon, Journal of Sri Lanka

Meteorological Society, 1972, l(4).2-7p.

Jaymaha, G.S., Weather forecasting in Ceylon, Ceylon Today (Colombo), 1955, 4(7/8).6-

15p.

Jayamaha, G.S., Some problems confronting the forecaster, Journal of Sri Lanka

Meteorological Society, 1974, 3(3/4).2-llp.

National Science Foundation, Findings of Survey of Climate Researchers in Sri Lanka,

1999.

Ministry of Environment, Sri Lanka, Initial National Communication under the United

Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Ministry of Environment,

Colombo, October 2002.

S.B. Basnayake, personal communication, 2002.

C. Jayaratne, personal communication, 2002.

Authour Biography:

Lareef Zubair obtained his B.Sc.(Eng.) degree (First Class Honors) from the

University of Peradeniya and his masters and doctorate in Engineering from Yale

University, U.S.A. He joined the University of Peradeniya as a Senior Lecturer in

Environmental Engineering in 1995. Thereafter, he joined the Institute of

Fundamental Studies, Hantana, Kandy as a Research Fellow in Computational

Mathematics in 1997. In 2000, he joined the International Research Institute for

Climate Prediction and Columbia University, New York, USA and has since been

conducting a program on the application of climate information and predictions in

river basin management, agricultural and environmental management.