Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology

The need to study the fundamental atmospheric problems and understand the mechanism of monsoon, weather systems and climate related processes in the tropical region, particularly over the monsoon region, became acute for India in 1950’s when the country’s post Independence economic development program was launched. The Institute was founded as the Institute of Tropical Meteorology (ITM) on 17 November, 1962 at Pune, as a distinct unit of the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Consequent upon the recommendation of the Committee for Organization of Scientific Research (COSR) appointed by the Government of India, the Institute was transformed into an autonomous organization on 1st April 1971 under the name Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM). In the initial years, along with the IMD, the Institute functioned under the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, but later in 1985, it was brought under the Department of Science and Technology (DST) of the Ministry of Science & Technology and now, with effect from 12 July 2006 the IITM has been under the administrative control of the specially formed Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).

About IITM
Established in 1962
Founding Director Prof. P.R. Pisharoty
Current Director R Krishnan
Location Pune, Maharashtra, India
Research Type Meteorology
Website Visit Official Website

Computational Facility

  1. Adithya HPC, one of the largest computational capacities of India, is located at IITM. It is a common facility for all MoES institutions.

  2. Pratyush is a supercomputer designed and developed by IITM, Pune. As of January 2018, Pratyush is the fastest supercomputer in India, with a maximum speed of 6.8 petaflops. Pratyush consists of two High-Performance Computing (HPC) units. They are located at two government institutes: 4.0 petaflops unit at IITM, Pune; and 2.8 petaflops unit at the National Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), Noida. Pratyush uses both units and provides a combined output of 6.8 PetaFlops. Pratyush is used in the fields of weather forecasting and climate monitoring in India. It helps the country to make better forecasts in terms of monsoon; fishing; air quality; extreme events like a tsunami, cyclones, earthquakes, and lightning; and other natural calamities such as floods and droughts.

  3. India is the fourth country in the world to have a High-Performance Computing facility dedicated to weather and climate research, after Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Research Achievments/Recognitions

  1. National Award for Atmospheric Science, 2021 :- Dr. R. Krishnan

  2. Anna Mani Award for Woman Scientist, 2021 :- Dr. Thara Prabhakaran

  3. Best Student Research Paper Award, 2020 :- Sujith K.

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