SAFAR

• The System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) is a national initiative introduced by the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES)to measure the air quality of a metropolitan city, by measuring the overall pollution level and the location-specific air quality of the city.

• The system is indigenouslydeveloped by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune and is operationalized by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
  • It has a giant true color LED display that gives out real-time air quality indexon a 24×7 basis with color-coding (along with 72 hours’ advance forecast).

• The ultimate objective of the project is to increase awarenessamong the general public regarding the air quality in their city so that appropriate mitigation measures and systematic action can be taken up.
  • It organizes awareness driveby educating the public (prompting self-mitigation), and
  • It also helps the policy-makers to develop mitigation strategieskeeping in mind the nation’s economic development.

• SAFAR is an integral part of India’s first Air Quality Early Warning Systemoperational in Delhi.
  • It monitors all weather parameterslike temperature, rainfall, humidity, wind speed, and wind direction, UV radiation, and solar radiation.
  • Pollutants monitored:5, PM10, Ozone, Carbon Monoxide (CO), Nitrogen Oxides (NOx), Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), Benzene, Toluene, Xylene, and Mercury.

• The World Meteorological Organizationhas recognized SAFAR as a prototype activity on the basis of the high-quality control and standards maintained in its implementation.

• SAFAR system would benefit cost savingsto several other sectors like agriculture, aviation, infrastructure, disaster management, tourism, etc. which directly or indirectly gets affected by air quality and weather.

For more info: http://safar.tropmet.res.in/