Government to unveil Bharat Forecasting System on Monday
On Monday, the government will launch the 'Bharat Forecasting System,' developed by IITM, offering highly accurate and localized weather predictions. Utilizing the new supercomputer Arka, the BFS provides forecasts with a 6 km resolution, surpassing global standards. This advancement enables more precise nowcasts and supports disaster risk reduction, agriculture, and public safety initiatives across India.
Tired of too many ads?
Remove Ads
Tired of too many ads?
Remove Ads
The government will on Monday unveil a new ' Bharat Forecasting System ' that will enable the weather office to provide more accurate and localised predictions. Developed by Pune-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology ( IITM ), the Bharat Forecasting System (BFS) will provide forecasts with a 6 kilometre resolution -- the highest in the world -- that would allow forecasters to predict small-scale weather features more accurately."We will now be able to issue more localised and accurate weather forecasts," M Ravichandran, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, told PTI.The new forecasting model, developed by researchers including Parthasarathy Mukhopadhayay, was made possible due to installation of the new supercomputer Arka at the IITM campus last year with a capacity of 11.77 petaflops and storage capacity of 33 petabytes."The previous supercomputer 'Pratyush' used to take up to 10 hours to run the forecasting model. Arka performs the same data-crunching within four hours," Mukhopadhyay told PTI.Ravichandran said the BFS provides insight into weather events likely to take place in a grid of 6 km by 6 km against the earlier models that gave predictions for a 12 km grid.He said the data from a network of 40 Doppler Weather Radars from across the country will be used to run the BFS model that would enable the weather office to issue more localised forecasts and nowcasts.Gradually, the number of Doppler radars will increase to 100, which would allow the weather office to issue nowcasts -- weather forecasts for the next two hours -- across the country.The BFS can provide 6 km resolution forecasts for the tropical region that falls between 30 degrees South and 30 degrees North Latitudes. The Indian mainland extends between 8.4 degrees north and 37.6 degrees north latitudes.According to Ravichandran, the global forecast models run by the European, British and the US weather offices have a resolution between 9 km and 14 km.Union Earth Sciences Minister Jitendra Singh is scheduled to dedicate to the nation the BFS at a special function here on Monday."This significant milestone represents a major leap in India's self-reliance in meteorological sciences, enabling more accurate and granular weather forecasts up to panchayat level for disaster risk reduction, agriculture, water resource management and public safety," a senior official from the Earth Sciences Ministry said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
13 hours ago
- The Hindu
Flood situation improves in northeast; three die in Manipur
GUWAHATI: The flood situation in the northeastern region improved in the last 24 hours but the toll continues. According to Manipur's Directorate of Relief and Disaster Management, the State was dry on Friday, barring two areas, which experienced light rainfall. The rivers in receding mode, however, proved fatal for three persons, taking the death toll in rain-induced disasters across the region to 55. Assam recorded the most fatalities with 21 victims of floods and landslides, followed by 12 in Arunachal Pradesh, six in Meghalaya and Mizoram, four in Manipur, three in Sikkim, two in Tripura, and one in Nagaland. Nine persons, including a BJP Mahila Morcha leader from Odisha, are feared dead in Sikkim after the vehicle they were travelling in fell about 1,000 feet into the Teesta River on May 29. A Guwahati-based doctor, believed to have been caught in a landslide, has been missing in Arunachal Pradesh since May 31. While 1.66 lakh people continue to be affected by floods in Manipur, mostly in the Imphal Valley, the number of flood-hit people in Assam reduced by about 1.2 lakh to 4.44 lakh across 18 districts. A flood bulletin provided by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority said the Brahmaputra and four other rivers have been at certain stretches. 'We are currently operating 328 relief camps and relief distribution centres for 1.59 lakh people, who are yet to return home,' a spokesperson of the authority said.
Mint
3 days ago
- Mint
Oil Steadies With Focus on Canada Wildfires, US Crude Stockpiles
Oil steadied after a two-day gain as rains slowed the growth of some blazes which had disrupted Canadian crude production. Brent traded around $65 a barrel after closing at a three-week high on Tuesday, while West Texas Intermediate was near $63. One Canadian operator restarted a site after shutting down last week, with wildfires halting about 7% of output at one stage in the world's fourth-largest producer. Separately, the American Petroleum Institute reported US crude inventories dropped by 3.28 million barrels last week, according to a person familiar with the figures. That would be the biggest draw since March if confirmed by official data later on Wednesday. Oil rose at the start of the week after a decision by OPEC to raise production in July was in line with expectations, easing concerns over a bigger hike. However, prices are still down about 12% this year on fears around a looming supply glut, and worries that US-led trade wars could hurt demand. 'In the short term, the market shows a slightly bullish trend amid volatility,' said Gao Mingyu, Beijing-based chief energy analyst at SDIC Essence Futures Co. 'But OPEC 's rapid output increase makes it difficult for the supply-demand tightness that's driven by seasonal and geopolitical factors to persist.' Saudi Arabia led increases in OPEC oil production last month as the group began its series of accelerated supply additions, according to a Bloomberg survey. Nevertheless, the hike fell short of the full amount the kingdom could have added under the agreements. The OECD, meanwhile, cut its outlook for global economic growth on Tuesday, with the US among the hardest hit. President Donald Trump is pushing ahead with his tariffs, signing a directive that doubles rates on steel and aluminum. To get Bloomberg's Energy Daily newsletter in your inbox, click here. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
The Hindu
3 days ago
- The Hindu
Sikkim landslide: Lt. Col., his retired IAF officer wife among six missing
GUWAHATI: A Lieutenant Colonel and his retired Squadron Leader wife are among six individuals still missing after a landslide struck a military camp in northern Sikkim's Chhaten on Sunday evening (June 1, 2025). The missing are Lt Col. Pritpal Singh Sandhu, retired Indian Air Force officer Aarti Sandhu, their daughter Amayra Sandhu, Subedar Dharamveer, Naik Sunilal Muchachary, and Sepoy Sainudheen P.K. 'Search operations continue with urgency to locate the six individuals still missing. The Army has deployed specialised teams and engineering equipment, but the ongoing efforts have been significantly hampered by extremely bad weather, unstable ground, and the challenging high-altitude terrain,' a Defence Ministry statement said on Wednesday (June 4, 2025). Guwahati-based Defence spokesperson, Lt Col. Mahendra Rawat, said Army teams have been defying extreme weather conditions and a hazardous terrain to assist locals and stranded tourists. 'Lachen village, the main hub for tourism in the region, has been completely cut off. The Army has established foot connectivity to the village and reached out to 113 stranded tourists, who will be evacuated soon,' he said. Thirty tourists, including some foreign nationals, were airlifted by military helicopters after the weather eased on June 3. Landslides and rockfalls have been the major killers since the early monsoon rains began battering all eight northeastern States from the last week of May. Landslides claimed more than 70% of the 47 human lives claimed by rain-induced disasters across the region. Over 800 incidents of landslides have been recorded across the region, with Mizoram accounting for 644 of them, followed by Nagaland with 93. Landslides, landslips, and rockfalls have cut off many strategic locations in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. On the brighter side, the number of people affected by floods in Assam decreased by 16,008 from 6,33,144 recorded on Tuesday. According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority's morning flood bulletin on Wednesday (June 4, 2025) 6,17,136 people remain affected by floods across 20 districts. The number of districts hit on Tuesday was 21.
