The Ministry of Earth Sciences has significantly enhanced India's weather forecasting capabilities through advanced technological implementations. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) under MoES has adopted state-of-the-art technologies including high-performance computing facilities for high-resolution Numerical Weather Prediction models, modern observational networks, and artificial intelligence-enabled forecasting tools. The weather observation network comprises manual observatories, Automatic Weather Stations (AWSs), Automated Rain Gauges (ARGs), Agro-AWS, Doppler Weather Radars (DWRs), upper-air observatories, and weather monitoring satellites.
Under Mission Mausam, global and regional NWP modeling systems have been operationalized to generate seamless short-, medium-, and extended-range forecasts. The Bharat Forecasting System (BharatFS) with 6 km spatial resolution generates forecasts at the cluster of Panchayat level, enabling capture of localized weather features. IMD in collaboration with the Ministry of Panchayati Raj has launched Panchayat-level weather forecasts covering nearly all Gram Panchayats in India, accessible through digital platforms including e-Gramswaraj, Meri Panchayat app, e-Manchitra, and Mausamgram.
Three AI-based global models (Pangu Weather, FourCastNet, GraphCast) are operational to provide guidance for severe weather prediction. AI and Machine Learning applications have been developed indigenously by MoES scientists for monitoring and observational processing, including Nowcasting tools and downscaled urban forecasting.
IMD implements the Gramin Krishi Mausam Sewa (GKMS) in collaboration with 55 Host Institutes including ICAR institutes, State Agricultural Universities, IITs, and other institutions. Under this scheme, 130 Agrometeorological Field Units (AMFUs) covering 127 agro-climatic zones issue district-specific agro-meteorological advisories twice weekly (Tuesday and Friday) based on IMD's medium-range weather forecasts. All agriculturally important districts across the country are covered, including Uttar Pradesh, providing real-time weather forecasts, agro-meteorological advisories, and early warnings directly to farmers.
IMD also issues district-level impact-based weather forecasts and risk-based warnings valid up to 7 days through Regional Meteorological Centres twice daily, with more frequent issuance during severe weather. Dissemination occurs through multiple communication platforms including mobile applications, APIs, web portals, SMS, television, radio, and social media in coordination with Central and State Government agencies.
Specific mobile applications include MAUSAM App for weather forecasting and warnings, MEGHDOOT App for agro-meteorological services, DAMINI App for lightning warnings, and UMANG App for weather forecasting across the country. IMD regularly conducts surveys to assess the usefulness of products for specific sectors like agro-advisory services to farmers and nowcast services for the general public, with survey reports publicly available on the IMD website.