India Unveils Mission Mausam for Advanced Weather Forecasting

India is set to deploy 70 new Doppler radars under Mission Mausam to enhance weather predictions down to the panchayat level. The mission, approved with a budget of Rs 2,000 crore, aims to improve forecast accuracy and tackle challenges posed by increasingly chaotic weather due to climate change.

India is on the brink of a significant leap in weather forecasting with the rollout of Mission Mausam, aiming to deploy 70 new Doppler radars, officials announced on Thursday. The mission seeks to refine weather predictions down to the panchayat level and improve forecast accuracy by five to 10 per cent.

Unveiled at a press conference by M Ravichandran, secretary of the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences, the mission will implement its first phase by March 2026. This phase includes the addition of the new radars and ten wind profilers, with a budget allocation of Rs 2,000 crore, approved by the Union Cabinet.

Mission Mausam not only looks at upgrading the observation network and technologies but also aims to address complex weather phenomena. The initiative will work to increase the spatial resolution of Numerical Weather Prediction models from 12 to six kilometres, enhancing the ability to provide accurate forecasts for small-scale weather events.

(With inputs from agencies.)