SkyCast System, Ministry, Key Features, Latest News

SkyCast System Latest News

Recently, the Union Minister of Earth Sciences inaugurated India’s first SkyCast system at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi.

About SkyCast System

• It is an advanced integrated aviation weather monitoring system.
• It is developed under “Mission Mausam”.
• The scientific foundation of SkyCast comes from the Winter Fog Experiment (WiFEX), jointly initiated by IITM and IMD under the Ministry of Earth Sciences at IGI Airport in 2015. 
• India becomes 19th in the world to deploy advanced integrated aviation weather monitoring systems.

Key Features of SkyCast System

• The system integrates state-of-the-art atmospheric remote sensing technologies which includes
  • Radar Wind Profiler: It forms the core of the system and measures wind speed, wind direction, turbulence, vertical velocity and boundary-layer dynamics.
  • Ground-based Fog Aerosol Spectrometer (GFAS): It is an advanced fog monitoring instrument which provides detailed information on fog droplets, aerosols and aerosol-fog interactions. 
  • CL61 Lidar-based Ceilometer: It monitors the vertical structure of fog and visibility conditions in real time,
  • It improves understanding of fog formation and atmospheric behaviour affecting aviation operations.
• It brings together real-time measurements of fog, aerosols, turbulence, moisture, visibility and atmospheric conditions into a single advanced aviation weather intelligence framework.
• It can assess atmospheric conditions from the surface up to nearly 10 km altitude and generate aviation meteorological parameters (wind shear, turbulence, fog formation indicators and icing potential).

Significance of SkyCast System

• It will provide real-time weather intelligence to Pilots, reducing flight delays, diversions and cancellations caused by fog and turbulence.
• It will support advanced forecasting models, artificial intelligence-enabled decision support systems, urban weather forecasting, pollution management, transport advisories and disaster preparedness initiatives.

Source: PIB