{ IITM'S WINTER FOG EXPERIMENT } LAUNCH OF SECOND PHASE WiFEX II to reach out to more airports

After a decade of successful operations at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in the national capital, the Pune-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) on Tuesday launched the second phase of the ‘winter fog experiment’ (WiFEX II) to offer localised, runway-specific fog forecasts to many more airports in north and northeast India, including the upcoming Noida International Airport, Hisar Airport and Guwahati Airport.

- Gayatri Vajpeyee

M Ravichandran, secretary, ministry of earth sciences (MoES), who launched WiFEX II in Pune on Tuesday, said, “This has not only improved flight safety but also significantly reduced diversions and delays, saving time and money while minimising inconvenience to passengers.”

Over the past 10 years since its launch in 2015, WiFEX, has gone beyond forecasting to deepen the scientific understanding of fog formation; revealing the influence of urban heat islands, land-use changes, pollution levels, and airborne particles on fog density and persistence.