Domestic airlines may soon have to share weather data with IMD: Official

New Delhi: The government is planning to make it mandatory for domestic airlines to share weather data captured by aircraft during takeoff and landing with the IMD, which senior officials say will significantly enhance forecasting capabilities.

M Ravichandran, secretary in the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences, told PTI that his ministry had been in discussions with the civil aviation ministry on the matter, and providing weather data would be "made mandatory for domestic airlines within a year".

"It has to be mandatory... It will not only be very useful for airline operations but also for weather forecasts everywhere," he said.

The earth sciences ministry secretary said weather forecasts depended largely 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 (obtained from 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, Ravichandran said.

Weather systems such as storms form and evolve in the atmosphere, where temperature, humidity and wind conditions at different altitudes play a key role, he said.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) launches weather balloons from 50-60 stations to collect critical data on temperature, humidity and wind at various altitudes.

Aircraft also record weather data during takeoff and landing. This data is transmitted to the ground in real-time and integrated into forecasting models. Unlike the limited number of weather balloons, thousands of aircraft can relay data.

Ravichandran said all aircraft operating on international routes provided weather data because it was required by law.

However, not all domestic airlines do so as it is not mandatory for them.

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.

One major advantage of collecting weather data from aircraft is their ability to provide information from regions where weather balloons are rarely or never launched, such as over oceans or in remote areas.

Established in 1875, the IMD will turn 150 on January 15.