Automatic Weather Station inaugurated at Panjab University

Chandigarh, July 27, 2026: Marking another significant step towards strengthening scientific research, weather monitoring and climate studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh Vice Chancellor Prof. Renu Vig today inaugurated an Automatic Weather Station (AWS) in the presence of Director and Head of IMD Chandigarh, Surender Paul, at the PU campus.
The Automatic Weather Station has been set up in collaboration with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) at the PU Rose Garden. The station is the fourth Automatic Weather Station to be established in Chandigarh.
The AWS facility is an unmanned meteorological observation system that will continuously measure and automatically record atmospheric parameters such as air temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric pressure, rainfall, wind speed and wind direction. The observations will be automatically archived and transmitted, enabling round-the-clock monitoring without continuous human intervention.
The station will generate high-quality weather data that are vital for academic studies, weather forecasting, early warning systems, climate monitoring, agriculture, hydrology, aviation and disaster management. Continuous observations will improve the accuracy of numerical weather prediction models and support forecasting of rainfall, thunderstorms, heatwaves and other extreme weather events.
The AWS will also serve as an important research and teaching facility at Panjab University. Long-term weather records generated by the station will support studies on climate variability, urban heat islands, rainfall patterns and the impacts of climate change. The data will benefit researchers from diverse disciplines including environmental science, meteorology, agriculture, geography, hydrology, civil engineering, public health, architecture, computer science and geology, where the data can also be used for artificial intelligence and machine learning applications.
PU Vice Chancellor Prof. Renu Vig, in her presidential address, highlighted the growing importance of scientific infrastructure in higher education. She said the installation of the AWS would strengthen the University’s research ecosystem by providing reliable, real-time weather data for teaching, research and innovation. The facility would encourage interdisciplinary collaboration and help students and researchers address emerging challenges related to weather, climate and sustainable development, she added.
On this occasion, Surender Paul delivered a presentation explaining the technical features, operational framework and applications of the Automatic Weather Station.
The event was attended by PU’s Director, Research and Development Cell, Prof. Savita Gupta, Registrar Prof. Y. P. Verma, Prof. Gaurav Verma, Prof. Rohit Sharma, faculty members, researchers, students and officials from the University and IMD.