NewKerala.com

AI-Powered Weather Systems to Deliver Hyper-Local Forecasts: Jitendra Singh

Union Minister Jitendra Singh launched two advanced AI-enabled weather forecasting systems. The systems include an AI-powered monsoon forecast and a high-resolution rainfall forecast for Uttar Pradesh. These services aim to provide hyper-local, impact-based weather information to farmers and disaster managers. The initiative marks a shift from conventional to decision-support forecasting.

Key Points: AI Weather Systems for Hyper-Local Forecasts Launched

  • AI-enabled monsoon forecasting system launched
  • High spatial resolution rainfall forecast for Uttar Pradesh as pilot
  • Systems developed by IMD, IITM Pune, NCMRWF
  • Forecasts to support farmers across 16 states and 3,000 sub-districts
  • Weather infrastructure expanded from 16 to 50 Doppler radars
2 min read

AI-enabled weather systems to deliver hyper-local forecasts, monsoon updates: Jitendra Singh

Union Minister Jitendra Singh launches AI-enabled weather systems for hyper-local forecasts and monsoon updates, enhancing disaster preparedness and agriculture planning.

"IMD has today become an integral component of governance, disaster preparedness, agriculture planning and everyday public decision-making. - Jitendra Singh"

New Delhi, May 12

Union Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr Jitendra Singh, on Tuesday launched two advanced weather forecasting systems developed under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, aimed at providing hyper-local, AI-enabled and impact-based weather services across the country.

The newly launched systems include India Meteorological Department's (IMD) first Artificial Intelligence-enabled "Forecast of Monsoon Advance over Different Parts of the Country" and a "High Spatial Resolution Rainfall Forecast for Uttar Pradesh" as a pilot service.

The products have been jointly developed by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, and the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF).

Addressing the launch event in New Delhi, Jitendra Singh said India's weather forecasting capabilities had undergone a major transformation in the last decade with the use of advanced technologies, data integration and modern modelling systems.

"IMD has today become an integral component of governance, disaster preparedness, agriculture planning and everyday public decision-making," the Minister said.

He further stated that the newly launched systems marked a shift from conventional forecasting to "impact-based and decision-support forecasting" capable of delivering precise and actionable information to farmers, disaster managers, administrators and citizens.

According to the Ministry, the AI-enabled monsoon forecasting system will provide probabilistic forecasts of monsoon progression every Wednesday up to four weeks in advance. The service has been designed to support farmers across 16 states and more than 3,000 sub-districts through the dissemination network of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare.

The second product -- a high spatial resolution rainfall forecast system for Uttar Pradesh -- has been developed as a pilot initiative to generate rainfall forecasts at 1-km spatial resolution up to 10 days in advance.

Officials said the system integrates data from Automatic Rain Gauges, Automatic Weather Stations, Doppler Weather Radars and satellite-based rainfall datasets using AI-driven downscaling techniques.

Highlighting the expansion of India's weather infrastructure, Jitendra Singh said the country had only around 16 to 17 Doppler Weather Radars nearly a decade ago, while the number has now increased to about 50, with another 50 planned under Mission Mausam.

"Changing climate patterns and increasing extreme weather events have made precise and timely forecasting more important than ever before," he said.

The Minister added that weather advisories and early warnings are now being disseminated through mobile applications, SMS alerts, WhatsApp, Kisan portals, television and other digital platforms to improve public outreach and last-mile connectivity.

- ANI

Share this article:

Reader Comments

P
Priya S
Great initiative but let's see how it works in practice. In my village in Tamil Nadu, we still don't get reliable internet connectivity. AI forecasting is useless if the last-mile delivery fails. Hope they also invest in offline SMS-based alerts for rural areas. 🤞
V
Vikram M
Impressive! From 16 Doppler radars to 100 - that's serious progress. I work in disaster management and accurate monsoon forecasts can save lives during floods. The 1-km resolution for UP is particularly crucial because that's where we see most flood-related casualties. 👏
A
Ananya R
Why only Uttar Pradesh as pilot? What about other states like Bihar, West Bengal, and Northeast which face similar monsoon challenges? Hope this scales fast. Also, is the data open source for researchers? Would love to see academic collaboration on this. 🧐
J
James A
As a weather enthusiast from the US, I'm genuinely impressed by India's progress. The combination of Doppler radar network and AI downscaling at 1-km resolution is world-class. India is leapfrogging older systems that developed countries still rely on. Kudos to the scientists at IMD, IITM, and NCMRWF! 🌪️📡
S
Siddharth J
The four-week advance probabilistic forecast sounds ambitious. My concern is about accuracy - AI models need robust training data. Hope they've validated this against historical monsoon patterns. Also, 'impact-based' forecasting means we need better coordination between IMD and local disaster authorities. Just having data isn't enough.

We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.

Leave a Comment

Minimum 50 characters 0/50