News Brief
Government Set To Mandate Domestic Airlines To Share Weather Data To Improve Forecasting
SpiceJet and IndiGo planes parked at the Indira Gandhi International airport (File Photo) (Ramesh Pathania/Mint via Getty Images)
In a move to bolster weather forecasting capabilities, the government is reportedly set to mandate domestic airlines to share weather data captured during takeoff and landing with the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Union Ministry of Earth Sciences Secretary M Ravichandran stated that discussions with the civil aviation ministry are underway to ensure that sharing weather data becomes mandatory for domestic airlines "within a year", news agency PTI reported.
"It has to be mandatory... It will not only be very useful for airline operations but also for weather forecasts everywhere," he said.
Ravichandran emphasised that the accuracy of weather forecasts largely hinges on the number of observations collected.
"The more observations we have, the better our predictions can be. It is similar to an exit poll -- if you gather data from more places, you will get a clearer picture. In the same way, we aim to collect information on temperature, humidity, and wind wherever possible," he said.
Vertical weather observations, such as those collected by aircraft and weather balloons, are more important than ground observations because they provide a complete picture of the atmosphere, not just what is happening at the surface.
Storms and other weather systems originate and evolve in the atmosphere, where temperature, humidity and wind conditions at different altitudes play a key role.
The IMD deploys weather balloons from 50-60 stations nationwide to gather essential data on temperature, humidity, and wind across different altitudes.
Weather data collected by aircraft during takeoff and landing is relayed to the ground in real-time and integrated into forecasting models.
According to Ravichandran, all international flights already provide weather data as mandated by law.
In contrast, domestic airlines are not obligated to share weather data.
He said many countries had made it mandatory for their airlines to provide this data and India needed to have a similar mechanism.
"The aircraft are already gathering the data. It would be a different issue if they were not doing so," he said.
"Air connectivity is increasing tremendously in India, with each state having 10 to 15 airports. Our prediction capability will improve significantly if all domestic airlines start providing this crucial data," he added.
Aircraft provide weather observations using sensors and instruments installed on the plane, which are typically part of onboard systems collectively referred to as Aircraft Meteorological Data Relay (AMDAR) or other advanced systems.
Aircraft data offers the unique advantage of covering regions like oceans and remote areas where weather balloons are seldom deployed, ensuring broader atmospheric insights.
