To understand the weather better and to conduct weather related experiments, India is all geared up to buy its very own aircraft.
Weather Balloons will definitely be a thing of passé when this aircraft come into play. The aircraft is likely to cost around Rs.150 crore. Indian Institute of Tropical and Meteorology, Pune will purchase this aircraft.
A tender is expected to be on the floor by next month and the aircraft could be in action within the next 2 years. Union Minister for Earth Sciences Harsh Vardhan said, "The aircraft will have all the necessary equipment for carrying out experiments and can accommodate 2-3 people. We are ready with the Request for Proposal document and a global tender should be floated by next month."
India will be one of the few countries to have such aircraft in the world, and definitely the only country in south and Southeast Asia.
At present, the study of atmosphere can be conducted by Radio-sonde (Upper air sounding). In this system a weather balloon is released in the atmosphere with few instruments attached to it. This is done to study wind direction, wind speed, temperature, humidity, dew point and many weather parameters at different heights.
There are around 40 fixed observatories in India where these weather balloons are released. The data is collected with the help of these observations are very limited.
With the help of such aircraft such study, can be done anywhere wherever it is required. The study can be done over ocean and inaccessible terrains.
Originally Published in Economic Times
Image Credit: Indian Express