New Delhi: The India Meteorological Department (IMD), under the Ministry, has undertaken district-wise and long-term analysis of rainfall variability and trends across the country, which are critical for assessing drought and flood risks. IMD has been issuing impact-based forecasts and early warnings for extreme weather events such as cyclones, heatwaves, cold waves, and heavy rainfall, enabling quicker evacuations and mitigation measures. IMD and associated institutions have contributed to climate risk and vulnerability assessments, including analysis of monsoon variability, extreme rainfall events, heat waves, cold waves, and cyclone characteristics. IMD provides early warning services for all weather extremes, using the above-mentioned information and data, to national and State disaster response agencies to enable quicker evacuation and mitigation measures.
The Ministry has installed HPC systems, namely ‘Arka’ at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, and ‘Arunika’ at the National Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting, Noida. These supercomputing systems support high-resolution climate modeling and long-term forecasting.
India Meteorological Department, under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, is an active member of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and plays a significant role in regional and global meteorological cooperation. IMD provides seasonal and monthly forecasts based on the multi-model ensemble techniques. The models used for this purpose include the Monsoon Mission Coupled Forecasting System (MMCFS) of MoES and other international ocean-atmosphere coupled climate forecast models.
IMD hosts the Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC), New Delhi, which provides tropical cyclone forecasting and advisory services for the North Indian Ocean region, benefiting several countries in South Asia. IMD is also a WMO-recognized Regional Climate Centre (RCC) for the Asia region, contributing to long-range forecasting, climate diagnostics, and capacity building at the WMO Regional Training Center (RTC). The operationalization of the South Asian Climate Outlook Forum (SASCOF) in 2010 focuses on addressing the climate information requirements of countries influenced by the Asian southwest monsoon by providing regionally coordinated and consensus-based seasonal climate outlooks. Recently, IMD has achieved the status of a Global Producing Centre (GPC) for Long-Range Forecasts under WMO.
Future projections of extreme temperatures, rainfall, and sea-level rise over India are derived using India’s first Earth System Model, IITM-ESM, within the CMIP framework under different future pathways. This information was submitted by Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Earth Sciences and Science & Technology Dr. Jitendra Singh in Lok Sabha.
