Mission Mausam: India to Deploy 70 Radars, Enhancing Weather Forecasts

India is set to install approximately 70 new Doppler radars under Mission Mausam to enhance weather prediction accuracy at the panchayat level. This initiative aims to improve short- to medium-range forecast precision by five to 10 per cent, according to officials on Thursday.

Mission Mausam's First Phase

M Ravichandran, secretary of the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences, announced that the five-year mission will be executed in two phases. The first phase, which will run until March 2026, focuses on expanding the observation network. This includes adding around 70 Doppler radars and 10 wind profilers. The Union Cabinet approved Rs 2,000 crore for this phase, which also involves establishing a cloud chamber at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune to study cloud processes.

During the first phase, 60 to 70 new radars will be installed within 18 months. Currently, there are 39 operational Doppler radars. Additionally, ten wind profilers and ten radio metres will be set up. Ravichandran stated, "We will also conduct an Observing System Simulation Experiment (OSSE) in the first phase, which will help determine the number of observations needed moving forward."

Second Phase Enhancements

The second phase of Mission Mausam will focus on incorporating satellites and aircraft to further boost observational capabilities. Over the five-year period, institutions like the India Meteorological Department, the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, and the National Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting will work together. Their goal is to enhance understanding of weather and climate processes and improve prediction capabilities.

Mission Mausam aims to increase short- to medium-range weather forecast accuracy by five to 10 per cent and improve air quality predictions in major metro cities by up to 10 per cent. It will enable weather predictions at the panchayat level with a lead time of 10 to 15 days and improve nowcast frequency from three hours to one hour. A nowcast provides very short-term predictions useful for tracking fast-changing weather events like thunderstorms or heavy rain.

Challenges in Tropical Weather Forecasting

Tropical weather forecasting remains challenging due to complex atmospheric processes and limitations in current observation and model resolution. Observational data is sparse both spatially and temporally. The horizontal resolution of Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models is currently at 12 kilometres, making it difficult to accurately forecast small-scale weather events in India.

Climate change is causing more chaotic atmospheric conditions, leading to isolated heavy rainfall and localised droughts. These simultaneous challenges include flooding and drought. Cloudbursts, thunderstorms, lightning, and squalls are among India's least understood weather events. Understanding these patterns requires detailed knowledge of physical processes within clouds, on the surface, in the upper atmosphere, over oceans, and in polar regions.

The ministry emphasised that high-frequency observations at ground level and across Earth's system with improved spatial and vertical resolutions are essential. Increasing the horizontal resolution of NWP models from 12 kilometres to six kilometres is necessary for generating accurate panchayat-level forecasts.

Mission Mausam's comprehensive approach aims to address these challenges by enhancing observational capabilities and improving weather prediction accuracy across India.