Ministry Of Earth Science Launches Bharat Forecast System with Improved 6 Km-Grid Accuracy | Current Affairs | Vision IAS
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Ministry Of Earth Science Launches Bharat Forecast System with Improved 6 Km-Grid Accuracy

Posted 27 May 2025

2 min read

With the successful integration of the Bharat Forecast System (BFS) into the IMD, India has become the only country operating a global forecast system at such a high resolution in real time.

Key Features 

  • Indigenously Developed: It is a next-generation weather forecasting model developed by women scientists from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune.
    • Installation of the new supercomputer Arka at the IITM with a capacity of 11.77 petaflops & storage capacity of 33 petabytes facilitated the development of BFS.
  • High-Resolution Forecasting: The BFS can provide 6 km resolution forecasts for the tropical region that falls between 30 degrees South and 30 degrees North Latitudes
    • The global forecast models run by the European, British, and US have a resolution between 9 km and 14 km.
  • Local Forecasting: It will deliver operational forecasts down to the panchayat level, significantly enhancing the country’s ability to anticipate extreme rainfall & other localized weather events.
  • Accuracy:  It has shown 30%--64% improvement in extreme rainfall forecasts using real-time modeling based on the ‘Triangular Cubic Octahedral Grid model.’
    • It is a deterministic model that produces a single-model-based output. This means it provides a definitive forecast rather than a range of possibilities.
  • Doppler Weather Radar Network: It will utilize data from a nationwide network of 40 Doppler Weather Radars, ensuring robust, real-time input for accurate forecasting.
    • The number of Doppler radars will gradually increase to 100, enabling nationwide nowcasts, i.e., 2-hour weather forecasts.

Doppler Weather Radar (DWR)         

  • A Doppler Weather Radar is specialized radar that uses the Doppler Effect to track the movement and intensity of weather systems like rain, thunderstorms, and cyclones.
    • The Doppler Effect refers to the change in frequency or wavelength of a wave, such as sound or light, as perceived by an observer moving relative to the source of the wave.
  • It improves weather forecasting accuracy, particularly for severe weather like cyclones.
  • Tags :
  • Bharat Forecast System
  • Doppler Weather Radar (DWR)
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