The India Meteorological Department (IMD) is the principal agency responsible for meteorological observations and weather forecasting in India. It was established in 1875 and is headquartered in New Delhi, operating hundreds of observation stations across India and Antarctica. IMD provides weather forecasts and warnings, conducts research, and monitors earthquakes. It has achieved accurate predictions of monsoon rainfall and cyclones in recent years through new initiatives like the System of Aerosol Monitoring and Research.

1. India Meteorological Department
SIDDU M
UAS, Raichur

2. Sequence of presentation
 Introduction
 History
 Mandates
 Services
 Tasks
 New initiatives
 Achievements

3. Introduction
The India Meteorological Department (IMD), also referred to as
the Met Department, is an agency of the Ministry of Earth Sciences of
the Government of India.
 It is the principal agency responsible for Meteorological observations,
weather forecasting and seismology.
 IMD is headquartered in New Delhi and operates hundreds of
observation stations across India and Antarctica.

4.  IMD is also one of the six Regional Specialised Meteorological
Centres of the World Meteorological Organization.
 It has the responsibility for forecasting, naming and distribution of
warnings for tropical cyclones in the Northern Indian Ocean region,
including the Malacca Straits, the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea and
the Persian Gulf.

5. History
 In 1686, Edmond Halley published his treatise on the Indian summer
monsoon, which he attributed to a seasonal reversal of winds due to
the differential heating of the Asian land mass and the Indian Ocean.
 The first meteorological observatories were established in India by
the British East India Company.
 These included the Calcutta Observatory in 1785, the Madras
Observatory in 1796 and the Colaba Observatory in 1826.
 Several other observatories were established in India during the first
half of the 19th century by various provincial governments.

6.  The Asiatic Society, founded in Calcutta in 1784 and in Bombay in
1804, promoted the study of meteorology in India.
 Henry Piddington published almost 40 papers dealing with tropical
storms from Calcutta between 1835 and 1855 in The Journal of the
Asiatic Society.
 He also coined the term cyclone, meaning the coil of a snake. In 1842,
he published his landmark thesis, Laws of the Storms.
 After a tropical cyclone hit Calcutta in 1864, and the subsequent
famines in 1866 and 1871 due to the failure of the monsoons, it was
decided to organise the collection and analysis of meteorological
observations under one roof.
 As a result, the Indian Meteorology Department was established in
1875. Henry Francis Blanford was appointed the first Meteorological
Reporter of the IMD.

7.  In May 1889, Sir John Eliot was appointed the first Director General
of Observatories in the erstwhile capital, Calcutta.
 The IMD headquarters were later shifted to Shimla in 1905, then
to Pune in 1928 and finally to New Delhi in 1944.
 IMD became a member of the World Meteorological Organization
after independence on 27 April 1949.
 The agency has gained in prominence due to the significance of the
monsoon rains on Indian agriculture.
 It plays a vital role in preparing the annual monsoon forecast, as well
as in tracking the progress of the monsoon across India every season.

8. Mandates
 To take meteorological observations and to provide forecast
meteorological information for operation of agriculture,
irrigation, shipping aviation .
 To warn against severe weather phenomenon (tropical
cyclones , heavy rains, heat waves, etc.)
 To provide meteorological statistics .
 To conduct and promote research in meteorology .
 To detect and locate earthquakes and to evaluate seismicity
in different parts of country.

9. Services
 Agro meteorology
 Astronomical services
 Aviation metrology
 Cyclones
 Hydrometeology
 Marine meteorology
 Meteorological telecommunication
 Seismology

10. Organisation
 IMD is headed by the Director General of Meteorology.
 Dr. Laxman Singh Rathore, renowned agro-meteorologist is
Director General of Meteorology.
 IMD has 6 Regional Meteorological Centres, each under a
Deputy Director General.
 These are located in Chennai, Guwahati, Kolkata, Mumbai,
Nagpur and New Delhi.

11.  There are also Meteorological Centres in every state capital.
 Other IMD units such as Forecasting Offices, Agro meteorological
Advisory Service Centres, Flood Meteorological Offices, Area
Cyclone Warning Centres and Cyclone Warning Centres are usually
co-located with various observatories or meteorological centre.
 IMD operates a network of hundreds of surface and glacial
observatories, Upper Air (high altitude) stations, ozone and radiation
observatories and meteorological radar stations.
 Additional data is received from India's constellation of satellites,
such as Kalpana-1, Megha-Tropiques and instruments on board
the IRS series and the INSAT series of satellites.

12.  Data and observations are also reported into the IMD network from
meteorological instruments on board Indian merchant marine
and Indian Navy ships.
 IMD was the first organisation in India to deploy a message switching
computer for supporting its global data exchange.
 IMD collaborates with other agencies such as the Indian Institute of
Tropical Meteorology, National Centre for Medium Range Weather
Forecasting and the National Institute of Ocean Technology.
 IMD also operates seismic monitoring centres at key locations for
earthquake monitoring and measurements.

13. Tasks
 IMD undertakes observations, communications, forecasting
and weather services.
 In collaboration with the Indian Space Research
Organisation, the IMD also uses the IRS series and
the Indian National Satellite System (INSAT) for weather
monitoring of the Indian subcontinent.
 IMD was the first weather bureau of a developing country
to develop and maintain its own satellite system.

14.  IMD is one of the 6 worldwide Regional Specialised Meteorological
Centres of the Tropical Cyclone Programme of the World Weather
Watch of the World Meteorological Organization.
 It is regional nodal agency for forecasting, naming and disseminating
warnings about tropical cyclone in the Indian Ocean north of
the Equator.

15. New Initiatives
 The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has launched a System
of Aerosol Monitoring and Research (SAMAR).
 It will help the country in studying concentration of black carbon in
atmosphere due to air pollution and its impact on climate.
 The system was launched by the Union science and technology
minister Harsh Vardhan on the IMD’s 141st foundation day.
 Aerosols are a subset of air pollution that contains gases, fumes and
dust in harmful proportion.

16.  Aerosols particles can be both solid and liquid which also affects
environmental visibility
 The SAMAR, equipped with many sophisticated equipments
including 12 sky radiometers, will study aerosols’ different properties
and determine how it impact the climate over a longer period of time.
 At present, country has to depend on other countries’ research for this
purpose

17. Achievements of 2015
 Accurate prediction of SW Monsoon 2015 rainfall
(actual:86%,forecast:88% of long period average)
 Accurate prediction of NE Monsoon 2015 rainfall
(actual:132%,forecast:above 111% of long period average)
 Accurate prediction of extreme weather events like extremely
heavy rains over MP, Gujrat,rajasthan,TN during southwest and
northeast monsoon 2015, severe heat wave in Telangana and
Andra Pradesh in may,2015,Hailstorms in central and adjoining
north peninsular India during march,2015.

18.  Significant improvement in short and long range weather forecasts
(probability of detection and critical success index improved by 37%
and 46% and false alarm rate and missing rate reduced by 77% and
36% respectively in 2013-2015 over 2002-2012 for southwest
monsoon heavy rainfall warnings).
 Accurate prediction of cyclones (forecast error reduced by
13,13,17km for 1,2,3 days respectively in 2015 over 2010-2014).
 Provide city weather forecast for 324 stations, tourism forecast for
106 stations and nowcast for 156 stations.

19.  Increased forecasts and colour code warnings validity from 3 to 5
days over India and introduced sector wise 7- days special forecast
and warning for western Himalayan regions for Indian Army.
provided model based QPF for basin for flood forecasting
 IMD has made rapid strides in modernizing its services by adopting
DIGITAL INDIA initiatives of the prime minister by using latest
technology for information dissemination.
 IMD has upgraded its website to more user friendly and we are now
widely using GIS platform, mobile apps and sms for dissemination of
its alerts advisories.

20.  Under MAKE IN INDIA programme, department has already
deployed 20 Drishti Transmissometers at critical Airport and 222
DTH based Digital Cyclone Warning Dissemination Systems
(CWDS).
 Automatic weather observing system jointly developed by National
Aeronautical Laboratory and IMD is under validation.