The Union Minister for Earth Science, Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan has urged scientists and researchers to strengthen fundamental science and move towards solution science while inaugurating the High Performance Computer (HPC) System named ‘Mihir’ at the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) at Noida.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan said, “With this facility, India’s capacity in weather forecasting will improve. The HPC facility will be India’s largest HPC facility in terms of peak capacity and performance and will propel India’s ranking from the 368th position to around the top 30 in the Top 500 list of HPC facilities in the world.”
India will now also be ranked 4th, after Japan, UK and USA for dedicated HPC resources for weather/climate community. The ministry, in collaboration with Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is providing district-level agro meteorological advisories to farmers through 130 agromet field units.
Presently about 24 million farmers receive these advisories with information of weather forecasts on district level. These services will now be extended to block level (for about 6,500 blocks) by establishing district centres (630 centres) with the help of ICAR Krishi Vigyan Kendras. It is planned to reach out to about 45 million farmers by July 2018.
Speaking on the occasion, Secretary, MoES, Dr M. Rajeevan said that at present, forecasts are being made for the district level, but efforts are being made to take it down to the block level.
New HPC facility is expected to improve:
- Weather forecasts at block level over India which can predict extreme weather events
- High resolution seasonal/extended range forecasts of active/break spells of Monsoon
- Very high resolution coupled models for prediction of cyclones with more accuracy and lead time
- Ocean state forecasts including marine water quality forecasts at very high resolution
- Tsunami forecasts with greater lead time
- Air quality forecasts for various cities
- Climate projections at very high resolution
This new HPC facility will not only help in meeting the operational requirements of the MoES but also support the research and development activities in MoES and other academic institutions working on various problems related to Earth Science.
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