New Delhi, July 21.- The Indian Meteorological Institute (IMD) is studying the possibilities of using drones to collect atmospheric data instead of weather balloons, Minister of State Jitendra Singh announced.
dr Singh said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament) that the IMD had set up an inter-ministerial committee to conduct studies on the issue, All India Radio reported.
The official explained that the Department of Earth Sciences invited industry and academia to conduct experimental demonstrations of radio soundings using drones, without cost or obligation, to study the technical feasibility of collecting data in this way.
Singh reported that the Ministry of Earth Sciences is setting up a thunderstorm test site across East India for in-depth study of thunderstorms.
As part of the project, the portfolio proposes the purchase of two drones to monitor the meteorological parameters of the atmospheric boundary layer before storms occur and also to monitor damage after the event.
Currently, radiosonding is the method in practice to measure the vertical profile of the physical properties of the upper air atmosphere by launching a transmitter attached to sensors onto a weather balloon.
Weather balloons have been used for a long time, but they present a limitation to a successful sensor search while limiting the use of more sophisticated and widely used sensors due to the costs involved.
With the advent and advancement of unmanned aerial systems, commonly known as drones, IMD is investigating the possibility of replacing balloons with drones to collect observations of the upper atmosphere.
The sensors are expected to be recoverable and reusable with this new technology.
If proven technically feasible, this new technology will benefit the field of weather forecasting by providing high-resolution aerial data from unexplored and remote areas alongside results from existing observatory networks. (LP)
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