Phase II of the mission Mausam program to make India weather-ready and climate-smart is the establishment of 200 automatic weather stations (AWSs) and the enhancement of land and ocean observational systems. It is hoped that April will see the launch of the new phase, according to the officials.
On Thursday during the 151st Foundation Day of IMD, the Secretary of the Ministry of Earth Sciences M. Ravichandran highlighted that Phase II of the Mission Mausam would entail a massive modernisation of the observational systems all over the nation. The project will start where 20 AWSs shall be installed in Delhi this month, where other major cities such as Mumbai and Chennai will be provided with stations. India now has approximately 1,000 AWSs in place.
Ravichandran emphasized on the significance of ocean monitoring in proper seasonal forecasts especially on the monsoon, where India is highly relying on ocean parameters to make predictions. He also urged other nations to enhance their ocean observations to ensure that the US does not rely on one nation, as 50% of global ocean observation data is currently being supplied by the US.
He also said that the reduction of error margins in the monsoon forecasts that were down to 7 percent is mainly because of the increased ocean monitoring. As Ravichandran described, whereas AWSs are essential in forecasting the weather in the short term, forecasting medium and long-term weather depends on the parameters of the deep ocean, including coastal radars and measurements up to 100 km off the coast, as it is the ocean that remembers.
The economy of India depends on the monsoon forecasts since according to the data of the agriculture ministry, of the total acreage under farms in India, 51 percent is rain-fed, which works out to 40 percent of the total agricultural output in India. Precise forecasting is thus vital in terms of the planning and risk management in the agricultural sector and this explains the strategic significance of Mission Mausam Phase II.
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