New Delhi: To bolster India’s weather and climate forecasting capabilities, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today inaugurated a state-of-the-art High-Performance Computing (HPC) system, designed to advance research in weather and climate, at two key locations: the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) in Pune and the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) in Noida.
This ₹850 crore project represents a significant leap in India’s computational power, aimed at enhancing the accuracy and reliability of weather predictions, particularly extreme weather events such as tropical cyclones, heavy rainfall, thunderstorms, and heat waves.
The newly acquired systems at IITM and NCMRWF are equipped with groundbreaking capabilities. The IITM system boasts 11.77 PetaFLOPS and 33 petabytes of storage, while the NCMRWF facility features 8.24 PetaFLOPS with 24 petabytes of storage. In addition, a dedicated standalone system for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) applications with a capacity of 1.9 PetaFLOPS has also been established.
With this technological upgrade, the Ministry of Earth Sciences has enhanced its total computing capacity to an impressive 22 PetaFLOPS—more than tripling the previous capability of 6.8 PetaFLOPS. These systems will be instrumental in refining global and regional weather models, with the potential to predict extreme events at a much higher resolution of 1 kilometer or less over critical Indian domains.
In keeping with the Ministry’s tradition of naming HPC systems after celestial bodies associated with the sun, the new systems have been christened ‘Arka’ and ‘Arunika,’ drawing their significance from the solar deity Surya, the ultimate source of energy for the Earth’s climate system. Previous systems had been named Aditya, Bhaskara, Pratyush, and Mihir, all reflecting the same celestial theme.
The HPC system is equipped with the latest technological advancements, including AI and ML applications, which will enable more sophisticated modeling and simulation of weather phenomena. These advanced models will improve last-mile services for stakeholders across various sectors, ranging from agriculture to disaster management.
The increased computing power will enable the Ministry to develop more refined global and regional weather prediction models, significantly improving the lead time and accuracy of forecasts for extreme weather events. Enhanced predictions will provide early warnings for tropical cyclones, heavy precipitation, thunderstorms, hailstorms, heat waves, droughts, and other extreme weather phenomena, allowing authorities and communities to better prepare and respond.
Prime Minister Modi praised the initiative as a vital step towards strengthening India’s resilience against climate variability and extreme weather events. “This high-performance computing system is a testament to India’s commitment to scientific innovation and preparedness in the face of evolving climate challenges,” he stated during the inauguration.