In an ambitious move, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) is charting a path to extend air quality early warning services, facilitated by the System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), to an additional 92 cities grappling with heightened pollution levels. SAFAR, pioneered by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorological (IITM) Pune and operationalized by IMD in 2010, serves as India’s inaugural metropolitan air quality offering. While currently furnishing 1-3 day prognostications across 40 cities, SAFAR’s enhanced scope, backed by potent computational resources, seeks to encompass a total of 132 cities burdened by ‘air contamination.’
The blueprint to widen the service’s purview stems from the Indian government’s endeavor to utilize advanced technology to predict pollution surges and safeguard public health. While currently utilizing American prediction models for meteorology and pollution, the impending integration of high computational servers will fortify SAFAR’s predictive capabilities, lending credence to its forecasts through cross-validation with multiple models.
The expansion of IMD’s air quality monitoring infrastructure aligns with its longstanding commitment, initiated by the air pollution prevention Act in 1986, and currently manifested through 1,200 monitoring stations nationwide. Notably, Delhi, a nucleus of air quality concerns, boasts 40 real-time monitoring stations and 6-7 manual stations managed by IMD.
The confluence of computational prowess, advanced prediction models, and an ever-expanding monitoring network underscores India’s dedication to curbing air pollution. With the inceptive release of Standard Operational Procedure (SOP) on air quality monitoring and forecast services, the nation positions itself as a vanguard in the domain of environmental vigilance. However, as the intricacies of pollution sources vary globally, IMD’s relentless pursuit of comprehensive forecasting and monitoring services underscores a commitment to proactively combat environmental degradation.
