Weather Information Network and Data System:
An ambitious Weather Information Network and Data System project by an Agriculture Ministry body to install automatic rain gauges and automatic weather stations in States is proceeding at a crawl due to shortage of land.
- Weather Information Network and Data System is a national initiative under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) to strengthen weather data infrastructure across India.
- It is a programme to set up a nationwide network of weather sensors to supply hyper-local weather data.
- It employs Automatic Weather Stations and Automatic Rain Gauges to collect hyperlocal weather data at the Block and Gram Panchayat levels.
- It integrates weather data pooled from IMD, State Governments, and public/private technical organisations into a single, unified national-level WINDS portal.
- This is mainly to aid in computing insurance estimates and payouts under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).
- It is run by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, and executed through the Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre (MNCFC).
- It harness advanced weather data analytics to provide stakeholders with actionable insight to make informed weather decisions on agriculture.
- WINDS will provide farmers with critical weather-related information and data.
- The WINDS initiative prioritizes the establishment of a robust network of meteorological stations.
- The goal of this effort is to create a large network of weather stations that spans the whole nation.
- The goal is to close the knowledge gap and empower decision-makers, farmers, and stakeholders at the grassroots level.
