India Meteorological Department: A journey of 40-Year of polar meteorology

The multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional scientific expedition to Antarctica of national and global relevance was initiated by India for the first time in 1981. India Meteorological Department (IMD) started meteorological observations since the very first expedition. The extensive meteorological observations collected from Dakshin Gangotri (70.75oS 11.58oE), Maitri (70.76oS 11.73oE) and Bharati (69.4oS 75.18oE) stations provide a comprehensive overview of the Antarctic climate over the past four decades. The paper highlights the significance of polar meteorology within the broader context of climate science. It provides an overview of IMD's involvement in setting up and maintaining meteorological infrastructure at the aforementioned polar stations, emphasizing the challenges and achievements associated with continuous data collection in these extreme environments. The analysis includes a range of meteorological variables, including temperature, precipitation, wind patterns, solar radiation and atmospheric ozone.