>Run n Fly at 14:04, 16 May 2021

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{{Short description|Meteorological agency of the Government of India}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2013}}
{{Infobox government agency
| name = India Meteorological Department
| seal =
| logo = IMDlogo.png
| logo_size = 200px
| logo_caption =
| formed = 1875
| dissolved =
| jurisdiction = [[Government of India]]
| headquarters = Mausam Bhavan, [[Lodhi Road]], New Delhi
| coordinates =
| employees =
| budget = {{INRConvert|352|c}} (2011)<ref name=oi-budget2011>{{cite news|url=http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=713417|title=Budget 2011: Over 35% Hike for Department of Space|publisher=Outlook India|date=28 February 2011|access-date=2011-11-19|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120614062145/http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=713417|archive-date=14 June 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
| minister1_name = [[Harsh Vardhan (Delhi politician)|Harsh Vardhan]]
| minister1_pfo = Union Minister of Earth Sciences
| minister2_name = Madhavan Nair Rajeevan
| minister2_pfo = Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences
| chief1_name = Dr. Mrutyunjay Mohapatra
| chief1_position = Director General of Meteorology
| chief2_name =
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| parent_department = [[Ministry of Earth Sciences]]
| parent_agency =
| child1_agency =
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| keydocument1 = 
| website = {{URL|mausam.imd.gov.in}}
| map =
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| agency_type = [[Government agency]]
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| logo_width = 80 px
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}}

The '''India Meteorological Department''' ('''IMD''') 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 [[Delhi]] and operates hundreds of observation stations across India and Antarctica. Regional offices are at [[Chennai]], [[Mumbai]], [[Kolkata]], [[Nagpur]], [[Guwahati]] and [[New Delhi]].

IMD is also one of the six [[Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre]]s of the [[World Meteorological Organization|World Meteorological Organisation]]. It has the responsibility for forecasting, naming and distribution of warnings for [[tropical cyclone]]s in the Northern Indian Ocean region, including the [[Malacca Straits]], the [[Bay of Bengal]], the [[Arabian Sea]] and the [[Persian Gulf]].

==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 landmass and the Indian Ocean. The first meteorological observatories were established in India by the [[East India Company|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.

[[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''.<ref name="imd-mm">{{cite web|url=http://www.mausam.gov.in/WEBIMD/modern_meteorology.jsp|title=Modern Meteorology|publisher=Indian Meteorological Department|access-date=2011-11-18}}{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

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 India Meteorology Department was established in 1875. [[Henry Francis Blanford]] was appointed the first Meteorological Reporter of the IMD. In May 1889, [[John Eliot (meteorologist)|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.<ref name="imd-establishment">{{cite web|url=http://www.mausam.gov.in/WEBIMD/establishment.jsp|title=Establishment of the IMD|publisher=Indian Meteorological Department|access-date=2011-11-18}}{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

IMD became a member of the World Meteorological Organisation after [[independence of India|independence]] on 27 April 1949.<ref name="wmo-members">{{cite web|url=http://www.wmo.int/pages/members/membership/index_en.html |title=Members |publisher=World Meteorological Organization |access-date=2011-11-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111010091557/http://www.wmo.int/pages/members/membership/index_en.html |archive-date=10 October 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> 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.<ref name="bs-imd">{{cite news|url=http://www.imd.gov.in/doc/IMD_recent.pdf|title=Indian Meteorological Department (IMD)|publisher=Indian Meteorological Department|access-date=2011-11-19|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120131214604/http://www.imd.gov.in/doc/IMD_recent.pdf|archive-date=31 January 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

==Organisation==
The IMD is headed by the ''Director General of Meteorology'', currently Dr. Mrutyunjay Mohapatra.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.imd.gov.in/pages/about_dgm.php|title=IMD - DGM|website=www.imd.gov.in|access-date=2019-08-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.imd.gov.in/pages/about_dgm.php|title=IMD - Secretary MoES|website=www.imd.gov.in|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref> IMD has six ''Regional Meteorological Centre''s, each under a Deputy Director General. These are located in [[Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai|Chennai]], [[Guwahati]], Kolkata, Mumbai, Nagpur and New Delhi. There is also a ''Meteorological Centre" in each state capital. Other IMD units such as Forecasting Offices, Agrometeorological Advisory Service Centers, Hydro-meteorological Office, Flood Meteorological Offices, Area Cyclone Warning Centers and Cyclone Warning Centers are usually co-located with various observatories or meteorological center.<ref name="imd-org">{{cite web|url=http://www.mausam.gov.in/WEBIMD/organisation.jsp|title=Organisation|publisher=Indian Meteorological Department|access-date=2011-11-18|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721181131/http://www.mausam.gov.in/WEBIMD/organisation.jsp|archive-date=21 July 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

IMD operates a network of hundreds of surface and glacial observatories, Upper Air (high altitude) stations, [[ozone layer|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.<ref name="imd-satellites">{{cite web|url=http://www.mausam.gov.in/WEBIMD/satellitemainpage.jsp|title=Satellite Images & Products|publisher=Indian Meteorological Department|access-date=2011-11-18|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111031235439/http://mausam.gov.in/WEBIMD/satellitemainpage.jsp|archive-date=31 October 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref> 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.
The new public website of IMD is https://mausam.imd.gov.in/

==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 first weather bureau of a developing country to develop and maintain its own satellite system.

IMD is one of the six worldwide [[Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre]]s of the Tropical Cyclone Programme of the World Weather Watch of the [[World Meteorological Organization]].<ref name="wmo-rsmc">{{cite web|url=http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/www/tcp/RSMC-TCWC.html|title=RSMCs and TCWCs|publisher=World Meteorological Organization|access-date=2011-11-19}}</ref> It is regional nodal agency for forecasting, naming and disseminating warnings about [[tropical cyclone]] in the Indian Ocean north of the [[Equator]].

==New initiatives==
The IMD launched System of Aerosol Monitoring and Research (SAMAR) in January 2016 to study the concentration of [[Black carbon]], radiative properties of [[aerosol]]s, environmental visibility and their climatological impacts. It would contain a network of 16 [[aethalometer]]s, 12 sky radiometers and 12 [[nephelometer]]s.<ref>{{cite web|title=Dr. Harsh vardhan dedicates system of aerosol monitoring and research and user-friendly website of India meteorological department|url=http://pib.nic.in/newsite/printrelease.aspx?relid=134521|website=Press Information Bureau|publisher=pib.nic.in|access-date=16 October 2016|date=15 January 2016}}</ref>

==Further reading==
*{{cite book|last=Sikka|first=D. R.|editor=Debi Prasad Chattopadhyaya|title=History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization: pt. 1. Science, technology, imperialism and war|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lrx3wLz4itkC&pg=PA413|year=1999|publisher=Pearson Education India|isbn=978-81-317-2818-5|pages=381–429|chapter=The Role of the India Meteorological Department, 1875-1947}}

==References==
{{commons category}}
{{reflist|2}}

{{National Meteorological Organisations}}
{{authority control}}
[[Category:India Meteorological Department| ]]
[[Category:Ministry of Earth Sciences]]
[[Category:Governmental meteorological agencies in Asia]]
[[Category:1875 establishments in India]]
[[Category:Government agencies established in 1875]]

India Meteorological Department - Revision history

>Run n Fly at 14:04, 16 May 2021