Having an advance idea of the weather, especially in a country like India where agriculture is still the main source of economy, is very important. According to Food & Agriculture Organisation, 70 percent of rural households still depend primarily on agriculture for their livelihood. With the emergence of cutting-edge and cost-efficient technology, the climate sector is using new tech to fight climate change, prevent deforestation and even tackle extreme weather events (hurricanes, tsunamis) effectively. Here’s a look how the climate sector in India is using tailored solutions to combat climate change.
1.Measure crop status: GreenSeeker, a crop sensing system, helps to manage the crop system on the go. It measures crop status using a vegetative index called Normalized Difference Vegetative Index (NVDI), ranging from 0.00 to 0.9. By applying the right amount of fertilizer, at the right place and at the right time, it addresses the field variability and also has a micro USB charging port.
Lovely Singh, a farmer from Haryana who has been using the technology said, “I get better weather forecasts so I can plan when to sow seeds or spray plants. Otherwise, I will spend a lot of money and labour on my fields and unexpected rains would just wash everything away.”
It has a sensor that emits bursts of red and infrared light with which the health of the crop is estimated by the device, measuring the amount of light reflected back. The technology is used to understand the amount of nitrogen that the soil needs in different sections of the land.
The technology by GreenSeeker has helped reduce costs significantly by eliminating excess application and the need for application maps or agronomist recommendations. Moreover, it can operate any time of the day and under any weather condition.
2.Tracking air pollution: The Weather Company, now acquired by IBM, uses real time data to track air pollution. Using data analytics, it delivers air quality updates via their Weather Channel app. Their solutions provide newscasters, pilots, energy traders, insurance agents, state employees, retail managers, and more with insight into weather’s impact on their businesses, helping them make smarter decisions to improve safety, reduce costs, and drive revenue.
Recently, The Weather Company inked a pact to provide updated weather information and localised forecasts. “Indians across the peninsula are affected by varying and often extreme weather conditions. Therefore it’s vital for audiences to have access to timely and dependable weather information when and where they need it to help them make more informed decisions for daily planning or to stay safe in severe weather,” said Himanshu Goyal, India Sales & Alliances Leader for The Weather Company.
3.Decarbonizing: The Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project (DDPP), an initiative of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI), aims to demonstrate how countries can transform their energy systems by 2050 in order to achieve a low-carbon economy. The project currently comprises of research teams, composed of leading research institutions.
4.IoT Solutions: A Hyderabad-based startup called Banyan Nation uses IoT solutions to track waste that is occupying free land in the city. It was also chosen for the Intel & DST Innovate for Digital India Challenge 2.0 award in 2017. The startup aims to take cities online and create effective and efficient data around waste.
5.Predictive analysis: Microsoft in collaboration with United Phosphorous developed Pest Risk Protection to help farmers with advance information about pest attacks. With the help of AI and machine learning, farmers can take preventive action to protect their crop yield from pest attacks. Various other machine learning analytical models help farmers to predict the impact of various environment factors on crop yield. Farmers using this app get text or voice message to guide farmers about the right time for sowing of crops.
6.Robots: To understand and monitor how oceanic conditions influence monsoon, India and the UK, under the name of the Bay of Bengal Boundary Layer Experiment (BoBBLE), released underwater robots in the Bay of Bengal. The robots release underwater gliders to measure properties like temperature, salinity and current, all this to predict the rain more accurately, eventually helping in the country’s economy.
7.SaaS Solutions: Cropin, a startup uses big data and machine learning and remote sensing to interpret and collect real time activities on crops. It delivers SaaS solutions to agri-businesses across the globe. The company focuses on digitalisation, yielding, predictability and durability of the agriculture industries.
8.Laser Land Levelling: GreenSeeker again, is also using a technology called laser land levelling, in which laser-controlled devices are mounted on tractors, and these help farmers level the land into a flat surface. This helps them save 25-30% of water during cultivation.
9.Forecasting: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) has teamed up with India to improving the understanding of weather patterns. It is also working on advancing tropical cyclone forecasting and understanding harmful algal blooms, which have become a serious threat to the fisheries in the Indian Ocean.
10.Satellite imaging: We have many satellites especially built for the purpose of climate tracking. These are primarily used to monitor the weather and climate. They can either be polar orbiting, tracking the same swathe of Earth every 12 hours, or geostationary, hovering over the same spot on Earth by orbiting over the equator. These meteorological satellites don’t just track clouds and cloud systems.
HySIS, the most recent satellite by ISRO which is meant for imaging the earth for weather and climate tracking, used in the visible, near IR and short IR region of the visible EM spectrum.
