Why weather forecasts in India will become more accurate soon
What's the story
The Indian government is mulling a policy that would make it mandatory for domestic airlines to share weather data, collected during takeoffs and landings, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
The move would greatly enhance the accuracy of weather forecasts.
Presently, the IMD depends on weather balloons launched from 50-60 stations across the country, to collect crucial data on temperature, humidity, and wind speed at different altitudes for its forecasting models.
Policy implementation
Mandatory sharing for airlines within a year
M Ravichandran, Secretary in the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences, has confirmed that they are already in talks with the Civil Aviation Ministry about this.
He hopes that within a year, it will be compulsory for domestic airlines to offer weather data.
"It has to be mandatory... It will not only be very useful for airline operations but also for weather forecasts everywhere," Ravichandran said.
Information expansion
Data to enhance weather forecasting accuracy
Ravichandran stressed on data collection to improve the accuracy of weather forecasts.
He said as new airports come up across India, the IMD could have access to data from a wider geographical area, resulting in better localized predictions.
"The more observations we have, the better our predictions can be," he explained.
Data relay
Data collection and transmission
Aircraft collect weather data during takeoffs/landings, which is transmitted to the ground in real-time for integration into forecasting models.
This is done using onboard systems known as Aircraft Meteorological Data Relay (AMDAR) or other advanced systems.
Ravichandran noted that while all aircraft operating on international routes provide weather data as per law, not all domestic airlines do so since it's not yet mandatory in India.
Forecast improvement
Data collection could boost IMD's prediction capability
Ravichandran highlighted the advantages of compulsory data sharing from domestic airlines.
"Air connectivity is increasing tremendously in India, with each state having 10 to 15 airports. Our prediction capability will improve significantly if all domestic airlines start providing this crucial data," he said.
He added that aircraft can offer weather observations from areas where weather balloons are rarely or never launched, like over oceans or remote areas.