Career in Meteorology

The depression formed over the Arabian Sea on August 30 has recently turned into Cyclone Asna. This is the first cyclone to hit the Arabian Sea in August since 1976. The cyclone has been named Asna by Pakistan. According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), between 1891 and 2023, only three (in 1976, 1964 and 1944) cyclones have formed in the Arabian Sea during August. The deep depression formed over the Kutch coast and adjoining areas of Pakistan and the northeast Arabian Sea moved westward at a speed of six km per hour and turned into cyclonic storm 'Asna'. Fani, considered to be the most dangerous storm after the super cyclone in 1999, hit the Puri coast of Odisha, India on May 3, 2019. ODRR, the United Nations (UN) agency dealing with disaster risks, has praised India for its preparations before Cyclone Fani and said that due to India's zero casualty policy and accurate forecasting by the Indian Meteorological Department, 11 lakh people were evacuated to safe places in time and the number of deaths due to Cyclone Fani was very low. This shows how important accurate weather forecasting is.

It is worth noting that in a world that is shrinking due to the information revolution, studying meteorology can take you forward on the path of a great career. In today's fast-paced life, knowing about the weather is very beneficial. This is the reason why not only has the media made separate arrangements to provide this information, but many internet websites also provide information related to the weather. Obviously, the source of all this is meteorology. Under meteorology, various activities of the atmosphere and their functions are studied, including weather forecasting. These days, accurate weather forecast is made with the help of latest computers and supercomputers.

There is no doubt that the Indian Meteorological Department, with the help of its large network of more than 600 centers spread across the country, collects and analyzes weather related data and makes us aware of the changing mood of the weather. Under this, the changes taking place in nature are studied and assessed. The Meteorological Department provides weather related information for transport, telecommunication, defense and aviation sectors through forecasts. Actually, the importance of this information increases further when we face natural disasters like Cyclone Fani, Tsunami. It is from the Meteorological Department that we get important information related to winter, rain, heat, humidity, storm, cyclone and wind direction. Complete information about the weather is very important for flight planning and implementation of aircraft, therefore there are weather rooms at all airports, which inform the people, fishermen and ships etc. about the condition of the sea.

It is worth mentioning that there are many branches of meteorology, by studying any of which one can make a good and bright career - Climatology, Synoptic Meteorology, Dynamic Meteorology, Physical Meteorology, Agricultural Meteorology and Applied Meteorology. Those youth who want to do diploma-postgraduate course in meteorology, they must have a graduate degree with Physics and Mathematics subjects. Selection of candidates in meteorology courses is generally done through entrance examination. This examination is of All India level in which students are given admission in colleges-universities of different states on the basis of merit. The format of the entrance examination is objective. In this, questions related to Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, General Studies, History, Current Affairs, Indian Polity etc. are asked. The medium of this entrance exam is English. Meteorology courses are available at postgraduate level in various universities of the country. Apart from this, IITs also conduct PhD and other high level courses in Meteorology. Many universities conduct one-year diploma courses in Meteorology for Science (Mathematics) graduates.

Union Public Service Commission conducts entrance examination for the recruitment of Grade-2 (Meteorologist) in Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). For this, the minimum educational qualification required is Master's degree in Physics, Mathematics- Computer Application. Candidates having Master's degree in Physics or Mathematics with Astrology subject and Master's degree in Science with Astrophysics subject can also apply for this. Selected students have to undergo a one-year advanced course at IMD, Pune and New Delhi.

Agroclimatology Division was established in 1932 as a division of Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Pune, under the aegis of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) for the study of agricultural meteorology in the country. It was given the status of a permanent department of the Indian Meteorological Department in 1943. As per the recommendation of the National Agricultural Commission, separate departments of agricultural climatology have been established in all state agricultural universities and ICAR research institutes to strengthen teaching, research and extension activities in agricultural climatology and to train technical personnel. Employment-oriented agricultural meteorology courses can be done from here.

At present, there are unlimited employment opportunities in the field of agricultural meteorology. Agricultural meteorology is a branch of applied meteorology, which includes crop husbandry and animal husbandry.