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Mission Mausam Explained: Established in 1875, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) will complete 150 years of service on Wednesday (January 15). To mark the occasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Mission Mausam on Tuesday (January 14).
“We have launched Mission Mausam to make India weather ready and climate smart… Meteorology offers the most important support for the disaster management capability of any country. To minimise the impact of natural disasters, we need to maximise the efficiency of meteorology,” he said at the launch event in New Delhi.
Here is everything you need to know about the mission.
The mission will aim to upgrade the capabilities of India’s weather department in forecasting, modelling, and dissemination. Mission Mausam will have a budget of Rs 2,000 crore for the first two years of its implementation.
It will invest heavily in improving weather surveillance, modelling, forecasting to directly benefit key sectors — from agriculture, aviation and defence to disaster management, tourism and health, according to a statement by the government.
Mission Mausam aims to cover all aspects of weather and forecasting services offered in the country. A similar boost to monsoon prediction took place in 2012, with the launch of Mission Monsoon. It had targeted the improvement of India’s long-range forecasts.
Currently, IMD forecasting of an extreme event such as heatwaves up to 24 hours in advance is about 97.99 per cent accurate. The accuracy for heavy rainfall forecasts, however, stands at only about 80 per cent.
The mission will also ‘manage’ certain weather events, and on-demand, enhance or suppress rainfall, hail, fog and, later, lightning strikes.
For effective weather modification, one of the most important areas is cloud physics, in which India will have to strengthen research. Towards this end, India is establishing a first-of-its-kind cloud chamber at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune.
A cloud chamber resembles a closed cylindrical or tubular drum, inside which water vapour, aerosols, etc. are injected. Under the desired humidity and temperature inside this chamber, a cloud can develop.
The Pune facility will allow scientists to study the seed particles that form cloud droplets or ice particles sustainably.
Many countries have basic cloud chambers, which have limited functionalities and scope to perform specific studies.
With Mission Mausam, however, India will build a cloud chamber with convection properties, as required to study Indian monsoon clouds. Globally, there are only a handful of convective cloud chambers.
Mission Masum will be spearheaded by three institutions funded by the Ministry of Earth Sciences — the IMD, the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, and the National Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting, Noida.
