PM Modi Inaugurates Cutting-Edge High-Performance Computing Systems for Weather and Climate Research

With a total investment of ₹850 crore, the initiative marks a significant leap in India's computational power, aiming to enhance the accuracy and reliability of weather forecasting, particularly for extreme climate events.

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has inaugurated a state-of-the-art High-Performance Computing (HPC) system designed specifically for weather and climate research, an ambitious project led by the Ministry of Earth Sciences. With a total investment of ₹850 crore, the initiative marks a significant leap in India's computational power, aiming to enhance the accuracy and reliability of weather forecasting, particularly for extreme climate events.

The new HPC systems are housed at two key locations: the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) in Pune, and the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) in Noida. The IITM facility boasts an impressive 11.77 PetaFLOPS of processing power and 33 petabytes of storage, while the NCMRWF facility features 8.24 PetaFLOPS and 24 petabytes of storage. In addition, a standalone system dedicated to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) applications has been installed, with a capacity of 1.9 PetaFLOPS.

This advancement increases the Ministry of Earth Sciences' total computing capacity to 22 PetaFLOPS, up from the previous 6.8 PetaFLOPS—a significant boost that positions India at the forefront of global weather and climate research.

The systems have been given symbolic names connected to the sun, in line with earlier systems like Aditya, Bhaskara, Pratyush, and Mihir. The newly inaugurated HPC systems are called 'Arka' and 'Arunika,' drawing from the sun's energy, which plays a critical role in Earth’s climate system.

These enhanced computational capabilities will enable the development of high-resolution weather models, powered by AI and ML, which can simulate weather conditions with greater precision. Predictions related to tropical cyclones, heavy rainfall, thunderstorms, heat waves, and other extreme weather events will benefit from refined models at a resolution of 1 kilometer or less over critical Indian regions. This will greatly improve lead times and the accuracy of forecasts, bolstering India's preparedness for climate variability and extreme weather conditions.

With these new HPC systems, India aims to further strengthen its data assimilation, improve physics and dynamics in global weather models, and offer more sophisticated last-mile services to various stakeholders, significantly improving the country’s resilience to natural disasters and climate challenges.