IMD comes up with unique Public Weather Observation system for local-level weather mapping

According to IMD officials, people from across the country can upload real-time weather updates including photos and videos of rainfall and hailstorm on the IMD's website, with the help of this system.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has come up with a unique Public Weather Observation (PWO) system that will enable people to post local weather updates to the weather forecaster. The move came in a bid to get detailed data of the local-level weather conditions in remote districts and villages as well as metro cities.

According to IMD officials, people from across the country can upload real-time weather updates including photos and videos of rainfall and hailstorm on the IMD’s website, with the help of this system. The primary objective is to get a macro-understanding of adverse weather conditions in some of the areas that do not have any weather observatory in their close proximity, they added.

“During the recent pre-monsoon rains, we saw that several parts of interior Maharashtra had received a huge volume of hail during the rain. Even though we had predicted the possibility, the intensity of the hailstorm was only understood once the residents and local representatives shared photos and videos with us… With this latest system, real-time information could be directly uploaded on the website by the citizens, which would make information available in our common database, and we can circulate it further,” said Sushma Nair, senior scientist at IMD, Mumbai.

Meanwhile, IMD Mumbai held an exhibition displaying all the major apparatus including rain gauges, thermometers, and model of radars on Thursday (March 23) to mark the 150th anniversary of the International Meteorological Organisation, now known as the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). March 23 is observed as World Meteorological Day, and IMD officials said that this year’s theme was ‘Future of Weather Water and Climate, across generations’.
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