IMD releases weather apps Mausam, Meghdoot for public, farmers to track forecasts, warnings, imagery in real-time

The Union Ministry of Earth Sciences launched on Monday two mobiles apps ‘Mausam’ and ‘Meghdoot’ to propagate data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) for public users and those involved in agriculture to track weather updates and other features. The data being fed to the app comes from the state- and district-based IMD weather stations across the country. The Meghdoot app was developed jointly by the Digital Agriculture & Youth (DAY) team at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology.

Ministry of Earth Sciences has developed #MAUSAM mobile app for @Indiametdept to help enhance dissemination activity of weather forecast and warning services. Hon’ble Union Minister for Earth Sciences @drharshvardhan Ji launched the app today on foundation day. pic.twitter.com/KwaKOhYAvZ

— MoES GoI (@moesgoi) July 27, 2020

Mausam and Meghdoot will allow smartphone users on Android and iOS to access real-time weather updates, forecasts, radar images and be proactively warned of impending weather events, the ministry revealed at the time of launch. The mobile app was developed for the public to “communicate weather information and forecasts in a lucid manner without technical jargon,” it added. Mausam carries features like current weather, forecast, warnings and Radar images, and doesn’t require its users to register. [caption id=“attachment_8652261” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] Mausam app layout and features. Image: Screengrab from Mausam/Tech2[/caption] The Today tab, which is updated eight times daily, gives users information on current temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction. Sunrise, sunset, moonrise and moonset times are also displayed. In case of severe weather that the IMD is tracking, the likely impact will also be included in Warnings. The forecast shows 24-hour and 7-day forecasts of weather conditions in 450 India cities. The Warnings tab shows alerts issued by the IMD, updated twice daily, for all districts over the next five days in IMD’s colour code scheme (Red, Orange and Yellow) to alert citizens to any dangerous weather phenomena that may have been forecasted. While Red is the most severe category, which urges authorities to take action, Orange prompts authorities and public to stay alert, and Yellow prompts authorities and public to keep themselves updated periodically. Possibly the most exciting of the lot, the Radar products tab, shows region-specific images from radar weather-monitoring satellites and is updated every 10 minutes. The Meghdoot app is still under construction, with many of its features still to be updated with feeds or data. [caption id=“attachment_8652391” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] Meghdoot layout and features. Image: Screengrab from Meghdoot app/Tech2[/caption] For now, the app gives weather feeds from the past ten days, forecasts for the next seven days. Some features still awaiting data include crop-specific advisories, a live ‘Nowcast’ tab for warnings of localized weather phenomena and intensities updated every 3 hours, and a The app is a joint initiative by IMD and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), and does require a registration process to use the app’s features. Both apps are available on the Google Play Store ( Mausam/ Meghdoot) and App store ( Mausam/ Meghdoot).