SYSTEM OF AIR QUALITY AND WEATHER FORECAST AND RESEARCH

Recently, SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecast and Research) has studied post Diwali Air Pollution in the four Indian Cities (Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Pune).
Air pollution during the Diwali period in 2021 was higher compared to 2020 in the three metropolitan cities of Delhi, Ahmedabad and Mumbai, whereas Pune was the only city among the four which had lower pollution levels.
High PM in Delhi during the Diwali period is due to high local emissions, combined with the biomass burning effect.

Important points:

SAFAR is a national initiative introduced by the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) to measure the air quality of a metropolitan city, by measuring the overall pollution level and the location-specific air quality of the city.
It is an integral part of India’s first Air Quality Early Warning System operational in Delhi.
It monitors all weather parameters like temperature, rainfall, humidity, wind speed, and wind direction, UV radiation, and solar radiation.
The World Meteorological Organization has recognized SAFAR as a prototype activity on the basis of the high-quality control and standards maintained in its implementation.
PM2.5, PM10, Ozone, Carbon Monoxide (CO), Nitrogen Oxides (NOx), Sulfur Dioxide (SO2), Benzene, Toluene, Xylene, and Mercury.
The system is indigenously developed by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune and is operationalized by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
IITM has a giant true color LED (Light Emitting Diode) display that gives out a real-time Air Quality Index (AQI) on a 24×7 basis with color-coding (along with 72 hours advance forecast).

Significance:

It will benefit cost savings to several other sectors like agriculture, aviation, infrastructure, disaster management, tourism, etc. which directly or indirectly gets affected by air quality and weather.

SOURCE: THE HINDU,THE ECONOMIC TIMES,MINT

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