Observatories to be deployed at sea to enhance forecasts
Work is already underway, with researchers from the city-based National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) conducting offshore geotechnical investigations for a coastal observatory. A 15-metre-tall platform was installed at a 10-metre water depth off their campus in Pamanji, Andhra Pradesh. The observatories will be installed under the Mission Mausam initiative to make India 'weather ready' and 'climate smart'.
"Unlike buoys in the ocean, which provide only surface-level data, these observatories will have instruments to measure subsurface, surface, and atmospheric parameters and transmit data in real time. A lidar will be used as a probing device to penetrate a few kilometres into the atmosphere and provide a vertical profile, including cloud density and wind speed and direction," said M Ravichandran, secretary, ministry of earth sciences.
He said the observatories will be deployed less than 60 km from the shoreline, starting along the east coast, with at least one observatory for every coastal state to complement land-based radars.
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Experts said that while Doppler Weather Radars on land with a 100 km to 500 km radius capacity, detect and measure thunderstorm clouds, precipitation, winds, and cyclonic movement, no such observations exist over ocean.
IMD also launches radiosondes or weather balloons daily to obtain vertical profiles over land, but not at sea.
"We do not know how coastal currents are changing and what variabilities impact weather. Unlike on land, we don't have data on diurnal variation in the ocean. This is a challenge for forecasting in coastal regions," Ravichandran said. India currently relies on satellites, ship-based surveys, and argo floats for ocean observations.
These provide mostly surface-level or snapshot data and lack the depth and continuity needed for detailed modelling.
"Atmospheric data helps in nowcasting and short-term forecasts. But for 10–15-day, monthly, or seasonal forecasts, or long-term studies, the clue is ocean," Ravichandran added. The observatories will also help generate long-term time-series data critical for understanding ocean variability, monsoon behaviour, and climate change.
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