Mission Mausam Implementation: Boosting India's Weather and Climate Resilience
UPSC / SSC current affairs note · IR
Why in news
Mission Mausam was launched by PM Modi on 14 January 2025 to make India a 'weather-ready and climate-smart' nation. The mission aims to enhance weather observation, modeling, and forecasting capabilities, with recent upgrades in computing power and AI-based models. This initiative is crucial for improving early warning systems and disaster preparedness.
Background
India's weather forecasting has traditionally relied on networks of Doppler Weather Radars (DWRs) and numerical weather prediction models. The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has been upgrading infrastructure, including high-performance computing systems, to improve forecast accuracy. Mission Mausam consolidates these efforts under a comprehensive framework.
Key facts
Mission Mausam was launched by PM Modi on 14 January 2025.
The mission aims to make India a 'weather-ready and climate-smart' nation.
Key objectives include deploying next-gen radars, wind profilers, and satellites; enhancing high-performance computing; and developing AI/ML-based models.
Current DWR network: 50 radars; planned expansion to 29 C-band, 45 X-band, and 12 S-band DWRs.
Global forecasting systems: IMD's GFS and NCMRWF's Mithun, both at 12 km resolution; IndiaFS runs at 6 km resolution covering block to panchayat levels.
MoES computing capacity increased from 6.8 PFLOPS in 2014 to 28 PFLOPS in 2025 with 'Arunika' and 'Arka' systems.
Three AI-based global models are operational for severe weather guidance.
Indigenous AI/ML tools developed for nowcasting and downscaled urban forecasts.
Decision Support System (DSS) and dissemination systems are being established for last-mile connectivity.
Mission includes capacity building and research collaboration.
Prelims pointers
- Mission Mausam launched: 14 January 2025
- Ministry: Earth Sciences (MoES)
- Doppler Weather Radars (DWR): C-band, X-band, S-band
- High-Performance Computing (HPC): Arunika, Arka (28 PFLOPS)
- Global Forecast System (GFS) and Mithun modeling system
- IndiaFS: 6 km resolution forecast
- AI/ML tools: nowcasting, downscaled urban forecasts
- Decision Support System (DSS)
- PetaFLOPS (PFLOPS) unit of computing speed
Mains angles
- GS3: Disaster Management – Role of early warning systems in mitigating natural disasters.
- GS3: Science and Technology – Application of AI/ML and HPC in weather forecasting.
- GS3: Environment – Climate resilience and adaptation through improved forecasting.
- GS2: Government Policies and Interventions – Mission Mausam as a flagship scheme for weather preparedness.