UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh announces major expansion of Automatic Weather Stations; India Meteorological Department (IMD) to install 50 AWS each in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Pune in 2026
Q1. In the context of IMD's observation network, which one of the following best describes an Automatic Weather Station (AWS)?
- A. An unmanned, sensor-based ground station that automatically records surface meteorological parameters at sub-hourly intervals and transmits them to IMD in near real-time
- B. A manned observatory where trained observers take readings solely at the synoptic hours of 0000 and 1200 UTC and relay them by post
- C. A balloon-borne radiosonde package that measures upper-air parameters exclusively during the passage of tropical cyclones
- D. A ground installation whose only function is to detect precipitation intensity and wind velocity using microwave pulses
Q2. As announced at IMD's 151st Foundation Day, how many new Automatic Weather Stations in total is IMD to install across Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Pune in 2026?
Q3. With the inauguration of the new centre at Jammu, how many Regional Meteorological Centres (RMCs) does India now have?
Q4. The India Meteorological Department (IMD), which is executing the Automatic Weather Station expansion, functions under which one of the following Union ministries?
- A. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
- B. Ministry of Earth Sciences
- C. Ministry of Science and Technology
- D. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
Q5. With reference to Mission Mausam, consider the following:
1. Deployment of next-generation radars and satellite systems with advanced sensors
2. Installation of high-performance supercomputers for Earth-system modelling
3. A GIS-based automated Decision Support System for real-time data dissemination
4. Nationwide distribution of subsidised crop-insurance premiums to farmers
Which of the above is/are correctly identified as component(s) of Mission Mausam?
- Deployment of next-generation radars and satellite systems with advanced sensors
- Installation of high-performance supercomputers for Earth-system modelling
- A GIS-based automated Decision Support System for real-time data dissemination
- Nationwide distribution of subsidised crop-insurance premiums to farmers
- A. 1, 2 and 3
- B. 2, 3 and 4
- C. 1 and 4 only
- D. 1, 2, 3 and 4
Q6. Under the Ministry of Earth Sciences' Mission Mausam push, a dedicated Virtual Centre has been set up to develop AI/ML/DL-based application tools for weather forecasting. This Virtual Centre is located at which single institute?
- A. Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune
- B. National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), Noida
- C. Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad
- D. National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Goa
Q7. Coinciding with the AWS expansion announcement, Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurated a new Regional Meteorological Centre serving Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh. This centre is notable as which one of the following?
- A. India's seventh Regional Meteorological Centre, at Jammu
- B. India's first Regional Meteorological Centre, at Srinagar
- C. A Centennial Meteorological Centre, at Leh
- D. The lone High-Altitude Regional Meteorological Centre, at Shimla
Q8. Of the 53 additional Doppler Weather Radars planned under Mission Mausam, which single frequency band accounts for the largest number of units?
- A. S-Band
- B. C-Band
- C. X-Band
- D. All three bands are planned in exactly equal numbers
Q9. In the context of IMD's AI-enabled weather services, what is 'MausamGPT'?
- A. An AI-based generative pre-trained transformer chatbot developed as a climate-service advisor for farmers and stakeholders
- B. A high-performance supercomputer commissioned by MoES for high-resolution numerical weather prediction
- C. A constellation of geostationary satellites dedicated to real-time cyclone tracking
- D. A next-generation Doppler radar variant purpose-built for hyper-local urban nowcasting
Q10. How many autonomous institutes of the Ministry of Earth Sciences have been merged into a single Society of the Ministry?