Earth Observation

IMD publishes satellite assessment after Murasu’s Andhra landfall

INSAT-3DS imagery at 8:30 a.m. IST on November 3 placed the storm centre over land; the national bulletin recorded a crossing near Ongole.

03 November 2026 at 9:55 am ISTBy Science Desk1 min read

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INSAT-3DS sounder first-image panels acquired on March 7, 2024, at 05:50 UTC, released by ISRO on March 11. These instrument-reference images predate Cyclone Murasu and do not show the November 3 observations. Credit: ISRO. Original image, unchanged.

The India Meteorological Department’s November 3, 2026 satellite bulletin uses INSAT-3DS weather-satellite observations from 03:00 UTC, or 8:30 a.m. IST, to locate Murasu’s centre over land near 15.7°N, 80.2°E, in coastal Andhra Pradesh.

The department’s earlier national bulletin, issued at 7:30 a.m. IST, recorded landfall close to Ongole between 3:30 and 5:30 a.m. IST on November 3. It gave sustained winds of 100–110 km/h, gusting to 120 km/h, during the crossing.

INSAT-3DS carries a six-channel imager and a 19-channel sounder. ISRO’s instrument description explains that the imager observes Earth’s surface and atmosphere across several wavelengths, while the sounder measures atmospheric radiation to derive information about the atmosphere’s vertical structure.

The satellite assessment describes intense to very intense convection over coastal Andhra Pradesh, Rayalaseema, Telangana and adjoining areas. It records minimum cloud-top temperatures between minus 70°C and minus 90°C in that cloud system.

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