Boosting Weather Forecasts: India's New Aviation Data Mandate

The Indian government plans to mandate domestic airlines to share weather data with the India Meteorological Department (IMD). This initiative aims to enhance weather forecasting by incorporating data from aircraft during takeoff and landing, significantly improving predictions with more complete atmospheric observations.

The Indian government is poised to enforce a new regulation requiring domestic airlines to share weather data during aircraft takeoff and landing with the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Officials suggest that this policy will vastly improve forecasting capabilities by leveraging data that provides a comprehensive view of atmospheric conditions.

M Ravichandran, secretary of the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences, revealed discussions with the civil aviation ministry, indicating that providing weather data will become mandatory for domestic airlines within a year. The move is part of efforts to enhance predictive accuracy, akin to gathering extensive polling data for clearer results.

The integration of vertical weather observations into forecasting models is crucial because they offer insights into atmospheric conditions, such as temperature, humidity, and wind at various altitudes. With air connectivity expanding nationwide, this data collection is expected to fill gaps in regions not covered by traditional weather balloons.

(With inputs from agencies.)