Handy tool: Director General of Meteorology Ajit Tyagi (centre) handing over the first copy of the Cyclone eAtlas-IMD CD to NIOT director S.Kathiroli in Chennai on Tuesday. R.V. Sharma, Deputy Director General of Meteorology, RMC, is in the picture. CHENNAI: The electronic version of the cyclone atlas of India Meteorological Department - Cyclone eAtlas-IMD - was released by the Director General of Meteorology Ajit Tyagi here on Tuesday. Speaking at the CD launch function at the Regional Meteorological Centre in the city, he said: "The Cyclone eAtlas-IMD will play an important role in planning and prediction of Climatology.' "As past data of storms and depressions are crucial for managing future natural calamities, the data in user friendly format will help disaster management experts, mariners, meteorologists, hydrologists and geographers,' R.V. Sharma, Deputy Director General of Meteorology, Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), Chennai said. "The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) is developing an algorithm to process data regarding surface current and wave height near the coast. The entire east coast of India will be covered this year.' said S.Kathiroli, NIOT Director, who received the first copy of the CD from Dr. Tyagi. "The CD, designed with user friendly menu driven interface, incorporates three basins, Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea, and India and Neighbouring countries,' said Y.E.A. Raj, Director of RMC Chennai. It could be installed in a personal desktop computer with Microsoft Windows operating system. The price of the CD is Rs.3,000 and can be obtained from the RMC, Chennai.