Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurates India's first 'SkyCast' System at IGI Airport; says India enters a new era of fog-free, weather-smart aviation

📌 Summary:

• Dr. Jitendra Singh (MoS Earth Sciences/S&T) inaugurated India's first SkyCast System at IGI Airport, Delhi; India becomes 19th country worldwide with such integrated aviation weather monitoring
• Developed under "Mission Mausam" (PM Modi's flagship weather modernisation programme); next SkyCast at Jewar Airport, then expansion across other airports
• Purpose: real-time atmospheric intelligence for safer take-offs/landings; reduces fog/turbulence-induced delays, diversions, cancellations
• Provides advance alerts to pilots within short ~3-hour windows — enabling safe landing-time decisions and avoiding unnecessary diversions
• Core technologies integrated: (1) Radar Wind Profiler — measures wind speed, direction, turbulence, vertical velocity, boundary-layer dynamics up to ~3 km altitude (2) SODAR + Microwave Radiometer (3) Ground-based Fog Aerosol Spectrometer (GFAS) — details fog droplets, aerosols, aerosol-fog interactions (especially critical for Delhi where pollution interacts with fog) (4) CL61 Lidar-based Ceilometer — monitors vertical structure of fog, fog formation, visibility reduction
• Scientific foundation: Winter Fog Experiment (WiFEX), launched jointly by IITM + IMD under MoES at IGI Airport in 2015
• Implementing institutions: IMD (forecast), IITM Pune (R&D), MoES (umbrella); operated at IGI in collaboration with GMR
• Broader Mission Mausam goal: expanding Doppler Weather Radars and similar advanced observational networks across India

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS3 — Science & Technology (atmospheric remote sensing); Disaster Management (low-visibility hazards); Infrastructure modernisation in civil aviation; demonstrates indigenous R&D translating into operational services.

📝 Prelims Facts:

• SkyCast = first integrated aviation weather monitoring system in India; deployed at IGI Delhi (T3) Glide Path 10
• Mission Mausam — PM Modi's weather services modernisation mission under MoES
• IITM Pune (Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology) led the technical development
• WiFEX (Winter Fog Experiment) — IITM + IMD project at IGI Airport since 2015
• Boundary layer monitored up to 3 km altitude
• Components: Radar Wind Profiler, SODAR, Microwave Radiometer, GFAS, CL61 Lidar Ceilometer

🔑 Key Term: Mission Mausam — National mission launched by PM Modi (2024) for transforming India's weather forecasting capabilities through dense Doppler radar networks, advanced atmospheric observatories, and supercomputing.