India Launches Mission Mausam for Climate

Key points:

Mission Mausam approved: The Union Cabinet has given the green signal to ‘Mission Mausam,’ a comprehensive initiative to enhance India’s weather forecasting and climate resilience capabilities.
Budget allocation: The mission has been allocated a budget of Rs. 2,000 crores over two years.
Implementation: Primarily implemented by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, with support from meteorological institutions and collaborations with national and international entities.
Objectives: Improve weather surveillance, forecasting, and management; tackle extreme weather events; build capacity and resilience against climate change impacts.
Technologies: Next-generation radars, satellite systems, high-performance supercomputers, AI, machine learning, and advanced Earth system models.
Benefits: Expected to positively impact sectors like agriculture, disaster management, defense, aviation, water resources, and more.

Event

In a bid to strengthen India’s preparedness for extreme weather events and the challenges posed by climate change, the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the ambitious ‘Mission Mausam.’ With a substantial budget of Rs. 2,000 crore allocated over two years, this multi-faceted initiative is set to transform India’s weather and climate-related science, research, and services.

Spearheaded by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Mission Mausam is designed to empower stakeholders, including citizens and last-mile users, to better tackle the impacts of extreme weather and climate change. The mission will significantly expand India’s research and development capabilities in atmospheric sciences, weather surveillance, modeling, forecasting, and management.

By integrating cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced observation systems with high-performance computing, Mission Mausam aims to establish a new benchmark for highly accurate and timely weather predictions across various temporal and spatial scales.

The mission will prioritize improving observations and understanding to provide precise and timely weather and climate information, including monsoon forecasts, air quality alerts, extreme weather event warnings, cyclone tracking, and weather interventions for fog, hail, and rain management. Capacity building and generating awareness are also integral components of this transformative initiative.

Mission Mausam’s critical elements encompass the deployment of state-of-the-art radars and satellite systems equipped with advanced sensors, along with the utilization of high-performance supercomputers. Furthermore, the mission will foster the development of enhanced Earth system models and a GIS-based automated Decision Support System for real-time data dissemination.

The positive impacts of Mission Mausam are expected to be far-reaching, directly benefiting sectors like agriculture, disaster management, defense, environment, aviation, water resources, power, tourism, shipping, transport, energy, and health. Additionally, the mission will bolster data-driven decision-making in areas such as urban planning, road and rail transport, offshore operations, and environmental monitoring.

The primary implementation of Mission Mausam will be carried out by three key institutions under the Ministry of Earth Sciences: the India Meteorological Department, the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, and the National Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting. These institutions will receive support from other MoES organizations and collaborate with national and international institutes, academia, and industries, further solidifying India’s leadership position in weather and climate sciences and services.

Mission Mausam Unveiled

Key Goals

Enhanced Weather Monitoring:
- Develop advanced weather observation technologies
- Increase accuracy and frequency of atmospheric data collection
- Deploy modern radars and satellites with high-tech instruments
- Utilize powerful computers for data processing
Improved Weather Prediction:
- Deepen understanding of weather and climate patterns
- Create better models and use AI/ML for forecasting
- Research weather management techniques
Effective Communication:
- Build a cutting-edge system to deliver weather information directly to users
Capacity Building:
- Train professionals and build expertise in weather sciences