UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurates India’s first 'SkyCast' System at IGI Airport New Delhi; says India enters a new era of fog-free, weather-smart aviation

Q1. Consider the following institutions named as the primary implementing agencies of Mission Mausam. Which of the above is/are NOT correctly identified?

  1. India Meteorological Department (IMD)
  2. Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM)
  3. National Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF)
  4. Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS)
  • A. 1 and 3
  • B. 2 and 4
  • C. 1, 2 and 4
  • D. 4 only

Q2. The scientific foundation of the SkyCast system is credited to which experiment, jointly initiated by IITM and IMD at IGI Airport in 2015?

  • A. Winter Fog Experiment (WiFEX)
  • B. System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting (SAFAR)
  • C. Monsoon Mission
  • D. High Altitude Terrestrial Experiment (HIMANSH)

Q3. Consider the following instruments described as being integrated into the SkyCast system. Which of the above is/are NOT correctly identified?

  1. Radar Wind Profiler
  2. SODAR (Sonic Detection and Ranging)
  3. CL61 Lidar-based Ceilometer
  4. Scatterometer
  • A. 1 and 2
  • B. 3 and 4
  • C. 4 only
  • D. 2 and 4

Q4. Which airport in India is the first to host the SkyCast integrated aviation weather-intelligence system?

  • A. Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi
  • B. Noida International Airport (Jewar)
  • C. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai
  • D. Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru

Q5. Before the launch of SkyCast, how many countries worldwide had already installed such an integrated atmospheric remote-sensing system for aviation weather monitoring?

  • A. 16
  • B. 18
  • C. 19
  • D. 21

Q6. SkyCast and its parent Mission Mausam are operationalised through institutes functioning under which Union Ministry?

  • A. Ministry of Earth Sciences
  • B. Ministry of Civil Aviation
  • C. Ministry of Science and Technology
  • D. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

Q7. As of its inauguration, at how many airports in India was the SkyCast system operational?

  • A. One
  • B. Two
  • C. Three
  • D. Nineteen

Q8. Consider the following statements about the planned rollout of the SkyCast system. Which of the above is/are NOT correct?

  1. IGI Airport, New Delhi is the first site of SkyCast.
  2. Jewar (Noida International Airport) is announced as the next SkyCast facility.
  3. After Jewar, SkyCast is to be expanded to other airports across India.
  4. SkyCast will remain exclusively confined to IGI Airport with no further expansion.
  • A. 1 and 2
  • B. 2 and 3
  • C. 3 and 4
  • D. 4 only

Q9. Using instruments such as the Radar Wind Profiler, the SkyCast system continuously monitors atmospheric conditions up to nearly how many kilometres above the airport?

  • A. 1 km
  • B. 3 km
  • C. 5 km
  • D. 10 km

Q10. Dense-fog warnings and low-visibility nowcasts (such as those preceding CAT-III operations at IGI Airport) are issued by which agency?

  • A. India Meteorological Department (IMD)
  • B. Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)
  • C. Airports Authority of India (AAI)
  • D. Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM)