SkyCast System: India Launches First Aviation Weather Forecasting System Under Mission Mausam

Context

India inaugurated its first SkyCast System at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI), New Delhi, under Mission Mausam to improve aviation weather forecasting.

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About SkyCast

• What is it? An integrated aviation weather monitoring and forecasting system that provides real-time atmospheric intelligence to pilots, airlines and air traffic management agencies.
• Purpose: Improves safety of take-offs and landings by providing advance warnings on fog, turbulence and visibility
• Key Technologies: Integrates Radar Wind Profiler, SODAR, Microwave Radiometer, Ground-based Fog Aerosol Spectrometer (GFAS) and Lidar-based Ceilometer.
  • Radar Wind Profiler: Measures wind speed, wind direction, turbulence and vertical air movement up to about 3 km altitude.
  • SODAR (Sonic Detection and Ranging): Uses sound waves to monitor lower-atmosphere wind patterns and turbulence.
  • Microwave Radiometer: Measures atmospheric temperature, humidity and water vapour profiles.
  • Ground-based Fog Aerosol Spectrometer (GFAS): Analyses fog droplets and aerosols to improve fog forecasting and visibility assessment.
  • Lidar-based Ceilometer: Uses laser pulses to monitor cloud base height, fog layers and vertical atmospheric structure.
• Additional Uses: Supports weather forecasting, pollution monitoring, disaster preparedness, urban weather services and AI-based decision support systems.
• Global Status: India became the 19th country to deploy such an advanced integrated aviation weather monitoring system.
• Scientific Basis: Developed using findings from the Winter Fog Experiment (WiFEX) launched jointly by IITM and IMD in 2015.

About Mission Mausam

• Launch: Approved by the Union Cabinet in September 2024 with an outlay of ₹2,000 crore for two years.
• Nodal Ministry: Implemented by the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) through IMD, NCMRWF and IITM.
• Objective: To make India “Weather Ready” and “Climate Smart” through improved weather forecasting and climate services.
• Key Focus Areas: Enhancing weather forecasting, monsoon prediction, disaster warnings and climate services using advanced observation systems and high-resolution models.
• Major Components: Expansion of Doppler Weather Radars (DWRs), Automatic Weather Stations (AWS), rain gauges, satellites and supercomputing infrastructure.
• Applications: Supports agriculture, disaster management, water resources, energy, health and aviation sectors.

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