CUSTOMER SPEAK
IMD is primarily tasked with weather forecasting and associated services across multiple sectors, including power, insurance, and transportation. Over time, the demand for highly localized and time specific weather data has propelled the adoption and evolution of GIS technologies within the department.
Rahul Saxena, Head of the Hydrology Division at the India Meteorological Department (IMD), provides an insightful overview of how Geographic Information Systems (GIS), particularly ArcGIS, have become integral to modern weather forecasting and hydrological services in India.
The India Meteorological Department is one of the organizations under the Ministry of Earth Sciences. It is the principal government agency for all weather and climate related services in India. The core mandate of IMD is weather forecasting and all activities related to it. IMD offers services to various sectors, such as power, insurance, and transportation.
GIS is inherent to the work that we do on a day-to-day basis. We generate a huge amount of geospatial data, whether it is radar data, satellite data, or model observations. Lately, people have been demanding very location-specific forecasts, and once we say location-specific, it has to be nothing but GIS. Earlier, a very generic type of weather forecasting was given, but now, with the application of GIS, weather forecasting has become very location and time-specific. GIS enables the integration of different weather - related data layers. By analysing this spatial data, meteorologists can identify areas at higher risk of extreme weather events, allowing for targeted early warnings and response plans.
The hydrology division uses both enterprise and desktop versions of Esri’s tools. Esri India has developed many applications for us. For instance, our customized Rainfall Information System is based on Esri’s technology. As we evolve, we are exploring new capabilities of the technology to achieve more effective outcomes.
The working experience has been excellent. The association is almost fifteen years old. I know almost half of Esri India’s technical team, and I absolutely love the support that they provide. I can call them anytime; it’s not a typical Monday- to-Friday sort of support system. It goes beyond that. We are also happy with the capacity-building support that Esri India provides.
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