**2. Application of GIS in agrometeorology**

to crops and soil erosion. The provision of need-based climate information to farmers can support the management of agricultural resources (land, water and genetic resources). India Meteorological Department (IMD), Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), is operating Gramin Krishi Mausam Seva (GKMS) project at the district level in India, which represents a small step towards agriculture management in rhythm with weather and climate variability, leading to weather proofing for farm production. In order to minimise the adverse impact of malevolent weather, GKMS project provides a very special kind of inputs to the farmer as advisories that can make a tremendous difference to the agriculture production. The primary role of combating the negative impact of extreme events under the Agromet Advisory Services (AAS) is to find out the basic requirement to generate ways and means of adjusting crop cultivation plans/practices depending on the time of occurrence of the extreme events. Farmers are using these advisories for sowing and transplantation of crops, fertiliser application, predictions regarding pests and diseases and measures to control them, weeding/thinning, irrigation

Under the GKMS project, a number of activities were carried out during the last couple of years particularly in the generation of weather forecast, agromet advisories and its dissemination, capacity building, awareness, outreach, and so on in collaboration with 130 Agromet Field Units (AMFUs) located at State Agricultural Universities, Institutes of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) and also other collaborating organisations. At present, quantitative weather forecast in medium-range scale is being used in the preparation of agromet advisories at the district level for the farmers in the country. In addition to that, state composite and national level Agromet Advisory Service advisories are also prepared for state and national levels for planners and other users in macro-level planning and particularly under contingent plan. Efforts have also been made for the preparation of accurate medium-range weather forecast by value addition from Regional Meteorological Centres (RMCs)/Meteorological Centres (MCs). To help the farmers to cope with climate risks and uncertainties and also effectively use seasonal to inter-annual climate forecasts, IMD in collaboration with Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad, also issued AAS Bulletins based on Extended Range Weather Forecast and Monthly Weather Forecast during southwest monsoon 2017 to fulfil the needs of different users including planners at state and national

Among others, the generation and use of different agromet information and products are important initiatives to deliver crop- and location-specific agromet advisories to the farmers in the country. Here, GIS has an important role to play. Agrometeorological products are derived parameters from meteorological/agrometeorological or other interdisciplinary information. It deals with the application of weather- and climate-derived information in agricultural management. Timely availability and appropriate use of this information are vital for successful farming operations. These products serve as an important step for improving the agromet advisories and ultimately in the quality of bulletin. The first and foremost consideration is user requirements. Thus, agromet products are crop and location specific. At present, integrated approaches are being adopted by combining ground data, satellite data along with the high-resolution models and GIS technology to provide crop and location specific even at

(quantities and timing) and harvest of crops.

194 Multi-purposeful Application of Geospatial Data

levels and farmers.

GIS is extensively used in modern science of operational agrometeorology. Under GIS platform, diverse data sources like real-time weather data including climatological data, land surface data and satellite data are fed into advanced system along with the algorithms for the visualisation of information and also products.

A GIS provides an organised method of storing spatial data. It stores the characteristics of features (the attribute component) in a database and then links the attributes to features (the spatial component) that it displays on a map. According to Refs. [1, 2], technology is an expansion of Cartographic Science, which takes advantage of computer science technologies, enhancing the efficiency and analytic power of traditional methodologies.

In a GIS, all the information can be linked and processed simultaneously, thus creating a syntactical expression of the changes induced in the system by the variation of a parameter. Using GIS improves data integration and usability, spatial analysis, and increases potential for broader applications. GIS could also make weather and climate information more usable in different allied fields of meteorological community. GIS is an essential tool to understand complex processes at different scales: local, regional and global. It is being extensively used in the science of agrometeorology. In GIS, the information coming from different disciplines and sources, that is, from traditional or digital maps, databases and remote-sensing, can be combined in models that simulate the behaviour of complex systems. Some common applications are relative to the control of industrial cycles, the simulation of urban and natural systems, the evaluation of specific procedures and the analysis of environmental impact (Refs. [3–5]).

Under the climate service programme, GIS is used extensively using the long period data. It also helps in the development of climate service tools for different sectors like agriculture, health, disaster risk reduction, and so on. These days, GIS is also used in the visualisation of weather pattern and other areas of interests of the common man. Most of the feature of GIS mentioned earlier is being considered in improving the operational agrometeorological advisory services across the world.
