India is set to deploy drones to gather atmospheric data that is currently collated by sending sensors through weather balloons released from at least 55 locations across the country twice every day.

The sensors embedded in a radiosonde, which is a telemetry instrument carried by a weather balloon, record atmospheric pressure, temperature, wind direction and speed as the hydrogen-filled weather balloon soars up to 12 km height and transmit data to the ground receiver through radio sign. [1]

Figure 1. The India Replace Weather Balloons Sensors with Drones to Collect Atmospheric Data

Figure 1 shows however, weather balloons and radiosondes are unretrievable as they drift afar from weather stations that release them in the atmosphere.

“We are now exploring the possibility of using drones to gather this atmospheric data which is crucial for weather forecasting,” M Ravichandran, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, told PTI. [2]

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) gathers weather data from 550 locations across the country through weather stations and uses radiosonde observations which are then fed into forecasting models to issue weather forecasts.

The drones have a key advantage over weather balloons as they can be controlled and guided to fly at low as well as high altitudes. The IMD plans to use drones to gather data from up to five km altitude and compare it with data gathered using the traditional weather balloons. [3]

Whereas the flight of a climate balloon often lasts for as much as two hours, the IMD expects to collect knowledge utilizing drones throughout a 40-minute flight.

If profitable, a key profit could be lowering the wastage of radiosondes because the IMD loses greater than 100 such devices on daily basis as climate balloons can’t be retrieved after their flight.

References:

1. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/drones-may-replace-weather-balloons-soon/articleshow/92078485.cms
2. https://gadgets360.com/cameras/news/india-replace-weather-balloons-sensors-drones-collect-atmospheric-data-3048568
3. https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/india-set-to-replace-weather-balloons-with-drones-3048994
4. https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/india-set-to-replace-weather-balloons-with-drones-3048994

Cite this article:

Thanusri swetha J (2022), India Replace Weather Balloons Sensors with Drones to Collect Atmospheric Data, Anatechmaz, pp.45