VZCZCXYZ0001
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHNE #0345/01 0230600
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 230600Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
TO RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEAHLC/HQ ICE IAO WASHINGTON DC
INFO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2308

UNCLAS NEW DELHI 000345 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
USDOC FOR 532/OEA/M. NICKSON-D/JAY HATFIELD 
USDOC FOR 3131/USFCS/OIO/ANESA/KREISSL 
USDOC FOR 4530/MAC/ANESA/OSA 
ICE HQ FOR STRATEGIC INVESTIGATIONS 
STATE FOR EB/ESP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETTC ETRD BEXP IN
SUBJECT: EXTRANCHECK: POST-SHIPMENT VERIFICATION: NATIONAL CENTRE 
FOR MEDIUM RANGE WEATHER FORECASTING, NOIDA, U.P., LICENSE NO. 
D344798 
 
REF: USDOC 06362 
 
¶1. Acting Export Control Officer (ECO) David Nardella and BIS FSN 
Prem Narayan conducted a Post-shipment Verification (PSV) at the 
National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), 
NOIDA, U.P., on January 11, 2007. 
 
¶2. BIS requested a PSV at NCMRWF, a GOI entity under the Ministry of 
Earth Sciences.  The Ministry of Earth Sciences was created in July 
2006 to look after atmospheric sciences, ocean science and 
technology and seismology in an integrated manner. Earlier NCMRWF 
was under the administrative control of GOI Department of Science & 
Technology (DST).  NCMRWF is located at A-50 Institutional Area, 
Sector-62, Phase-II, NOIDA 201307, Uttar Pradesh, Tel: 
91-120-240-3727, Fax: 91-120-240-3626, Email:akbohra@ncmrwf.gov.in, 
Website: www.ncmrwf.gov.in. NCMRWF was listed as the ultimate 
consignee for one X1E computer, air-cooled with 2 chassis and 8 
modules containing 64 multi-streaming processors, 256 gigabytes of 
memory and software all controlled under 4A003. The license 
applicant was Cray Inc. (Cray), Mendota Heights, MN. 
 
¶3. ECO along with FSN Narayan met with B. Athiyaman (Athiyaman), 
Scientist 'E', Computer & Network Division, and S.C. Kar (Kar), 
Scientist 'E', and D. Praveen (Praveen), NCMRWF.  Prashant Agrawal 
(Agrawal), Under Secretary (AMS), Americas Division, GOI Ministry of 
External Affairs (MEA), facilitated the meeting.  Agrawal was also 
present at the meeting. 
 
¶4. NCMRWF officials were aware of the BIS regulations.  They have 
been party to previous BIS export licenses.  Former ECO Rufe and BIS 
FSN conducted a favorable Pre-license Check (PLC) on October 4, 2005 
at NCMRWF for this transaction.  Prior to shipment, Cray provided 
BIS export license conditions to NCMRWF by giving a copy of the BIS 
export license.  They were cooperative and provided a copy of the 
TSR Letter of Assurance for Export of Technology certifying that 
 
SIPDIS 
that NCMRWF will not re-export, release or export the technology to 
a national of a country in Country Groups D:1 or E:2, the direct 
product of the technology, if such foreign produced direct product 
is subject to NS controls; Cray End Use and Remote Access Statement; 
Statement by NCMRWF acknowledging the receipt and understanding of 
all restrictions governing the use of a Cray Computer system 
exported from U.S.A. under License Exception (CTP); Form BIS-711 and 
the NCMRWF Purchase Order. 
 
¶5. Kar made a slide presentation on various activities that NCMRWF 
undertakes with regard to weather forecasting. Kar confirmed the 
end-use of the Cray X1E Supercomputer stating that it is used for 
operational weather and climate forecasting, medium range weather 
forecasting for the Agricultural Advisory Service (AAS) for the 
benefit of farmers and research and development in weather 
forecasting. NCMRWF purchased their first supercomputer in 1989 from 
Cray (Cray X-MP/14) that was upgraded twice in 1992 and 2001. 
 
¶6. Kar stated that NCMRWF runs two global spectral models T-80 and 
T-170 that produce daily global forecasts.  The horizontal 
resolution of these models is 150 kilometers and 75 kilometers.  The 
systems used earlier did not support the T-170. In the earlier 
system the disk storage was limited as it could not process weather 
forecasting data fast enough and backlogs were difficult.  With the 
help of the Cray supercomputer NCMRWF has been able to issue 
location-specific weather forecasts to farmers.  The supercomputer 
is equipped with several advanced features to meet with NCMRWF 
requirements for more accurate location-specific medium range 
weather forecasting.  It will also help NCMRWF for timely completion 
of seasonal predictions for meaningful use especially by farmers. 
 
¶7. After the meeting, the ECO and FSN Narayan were given a tour of 
NCMRWF where the supercomputer and computer terminals connected with 
it are installed and operational.  The supercomputer and computer 
terminals connected to it are operating in a fully secured area. 
Only authorized employees can enter the computer area. 
Approximately 35 NCMRWF scientists use the computer terminals 
connected with the supercomputer.  Kar provided a sample 
computer-generated usage log.  He stated that remote access is not 
possible.  The systems can only be accessed in the NCMRWF building. 
The passwords to access the system are changed once every three 
months.  NCMRWF confirmed their compliance with the Security 
Safeguard Plan (SSP).  ECO Nardella and FSN Narayan recorded the 
serial and part numbers of supercomputer chassis.  Each 
supercomputer chassis contains 32 processors making a total of 64 
processors. The NCMRWF building is guarded 24 hours a day. 
 
¶8. Established in 1988, NCMRWF is the premier institution in India 
to provide medium range location-specific weather forecasts through 
 
 
deterministic methods. It renders agricultural advisory services 
(AAS) to the farmers.  It offers research opportunities in NWP, 
diagnostic studies, crop weather modeling and computer science.  It 
provides NWP guidance to its various partners/user agencies on high 
impact weather, and customized forecast products for other 
applications.  It is an active partner in several 
multi-institutional research programs at the national level 
involving many departments and research centers. 
 
¶9. It has several on-going international collaborative research 
projects at Florida State University, the University of Maryland, 
North Carolina State University and the University of Washington. 
NCMRWF interacts actively with all the meteorological centers of 
neighboring countries.  NCMRWF provides training on NWP techniques 
and the use of NWP products to personnel from various user agencies 
and to scientists from other developing countries.  NCMRWF runs in 
three shifts and employs 50 personnel. 
 
¶10. Recommendation: Post recommends the National Centre for Medium 
Range Weather Forecasting as a reliable recipient of the controlled 
U.S.-origin commodities.  All indications are that the listed 
commodities are used in accordance with U.S. export control 
regulations. (DNARDELLA/PNARAYAN) Mulford