The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) (, also known as Pakistan Met Office), is an autonomous and independent institution tasked with providing weather forecasts and public warnings concerning weather for protection, safety and general information. Apart from

meteorology Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agricultur ...

, it is also involved in monitoring as well as investigating weather phenomena, astronomical events,

hydrology Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and drainage basin sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is called a hydro ...

and

research Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the ...

, climate change,

aeronautical engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

, and

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

resources across the country. It is headquartered in

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

. Till 1991, PMD was providing aviation weather services to defence forces through regular deputation of meteorologists to the

Pakistan Air Force The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) (; ) is the aerial warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces, tasked primarily with the aerial defence of Pakistan, with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy when re ...

(PAF). However in 1991, PAF formed its own Met branch, and officers are now inducted on a regular basis in PAF to meet aviation requirements. The main training for meteorologists is, however, imparted by PMD at Pakistan Institute of Meteorology and Geo Physics Karachi, through formally recognized courses. PAF Met branch is now providing weather services to PAF,

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

Pakistan Navy The Pakistan Navy (PN) (; ''romanized'': Pākistān Bahrí'a; ) is the naval warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The Chief of the Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy and is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Com ...

, and paramilitary forces. PAF's main Met offices are located in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

Jacobabad Jacobabad, also known as Khanger, is a city in Sindh, Pakistan, serving as both the capital city of Jacobabad District and the administrative centre of Jacobabad Taluka, an administrative subdivision of the district. The city itself is subd ...

Shorkot Shorkot (), (), is a city in Punjab (Pakistan) and serves as the capital of Shorkot Tehsil in Jhang District. The city is renowned for the tombs of several prominent Sufism, Sufi saints, including Sultan Bahoo, Syed Akbar Ali Shah Gilani, Syed ...

Sargodha Sargodha (Punjabi language, Punjabi/; ; ) is a city and capital of Sargodha Division, located in Central Punjab, central Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. It is Pakistan's List of most populous cities in Pakistan, 11th most populous city and ...

Mianwali Mianwali (Saraiki language, Saraiki, ) city in Mianwali Tehsil is the capital city of Mianwali District in Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. The Largest cities of Pakistan, 81st most populous city of Pakistan, it is known for its diverse popu ...

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

, Kamra,

Risalpur Risalpur (Pashto/) is a city in Nowshera District, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, on the Nowshera-Mardan Road. It is nearly 45 km from Peshawar and 18 km from Mardan and is located at 34°4'52N 71°58'21E. In a basin some 316 meters abo ...

and

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

. PMD has offices and research facilities in all provinces and territories of the country.

History

Shortly after

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

in 1947, the Pakistan Meteorological Department was established and inherited 15 meteorological observatories from the Central Meteorological Organization of the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

. In 1948, PMD began providing basic weather forecast to Pakistan's

print media Mass media include the diverse arrays of media that reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit information electronically via media such as films, radio, recorded music, or television. Digital media comprises b ...

. In the 1950s, the meteorological department became one of the leading scientific institutions in Pakistan; concerning itself in the field of research in space and atmospheric sciences, it worked in close coordination with the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

(MoD) and the

Ministry of Environment An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment, ...

(MoEn) for reporting accurate weather information for aviation and hydrography. In the 1960s, the meteorological department was split and the Pakistan Navy Hydrographic Department was established for the

. Some of Pakistan's most notable and reputable scientists have been affiliated with the PMD. It assisted the

federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

in establishing the SUPARCO in 1961, where many of its atmospheric scientists and technical staff joined the new space agency. The PMD has also assisted and lead studies in the Geomagnetic Field Monitoring Program of SUPARCO. Since its establishment, the PMD has become one of the leading governmental scientific institution in guiding the government in environmental and space policy formation. In 1965, the first televised weather forecast was broadcast by PTV. Since 1974, the meteorological department has been collecting data on seismic activity in Pakistan and thus is able to act as a consultant in seismic design of dams, buildings as well as disaster relief schemes. PMD's flood forecasting system has assisted the other government departments as well.

Directorates

The Pakistan Meteorological Department is headed by the Director General. The Department is further divided into several directorates as follows: * Institute of Meteorology & Geophysics, Karachi (IMG) * Tropical Cyclone Warning Center, Karachi (TCWC) * National Seismic Monitoring & Tsunami Early Warning Center, Islamabad (NSMC) * National Seismic Monitoring Center (Backup Station), Karachi (NSMC) * Directorate of Maintenance, Karachi * Meteorological Workshop (MWS), Karachi * National Meteorological Communication Centre, Karachi (NMCC) * Directorate of Forecasting and Climatology, Karachi (F&C) * Climate Data Processing Center, Karachi (CDPC) * Directorate of Forecasting and Climatology (F&C), Karachi * Regional Meteorological Centers of each Province :- **Karachi Regional Meteorological Center (RMC-Karachi) **Lahore Regional Meteorological Center (RMC-Lahore) **Peshawar Regional Meteorological Center (RMC-Peshawar) **Quetta Regional Meteorological Center (RMC-Quetta) **Gilgit Regional Meteorological Center (RMC-GB) * Dept. of Remote Sensing, Islamabad * National Agromet Center, Islamabad (NAMC) * Lai Nullah Flood Early Warning Center, Islamabad * Drought Monitoring & Early Warning Center (NDMC), Islamabad * Flood Forecasting Division, Lahore (FFD) * Geophysical Centre, Quetta * Research & Development, Islamabad (R&D) * National Weather Forecasting Centre, Islamabad (NWFC) * Main Analysis Centre, Karachi (MAC) * Aviation Meteorological Offices (MO) :- **

Jinnah International Airport Jinnah International Airport () , formerly Drigh Road Airport or Karachi International Airport, is Pakistan's busiest international and domestic airport, and handled 7,267,582 passengers in 2017–2018. Located in Karachi, the largest city a ...

, Karachi **

Faisalabad International Airport Faisalabad International Airport is an international airport and standby Pakistan Air Force military base situated on Jhang Road, southwest of the city centre of Faisalabad, in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The airport is home to two flyin ...

Islamabad International Airport Islamabad International Airport () () is an international airport serving Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan and Rawalpindi. It is located south-west of the city, and is directly connected to the Lahore and Peshawar motorways as well to ...

** Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore ** Bacha Khan International Airport, Peshawar ** Quetta International Airport * Chief Administrative Office (CAO)

Observatories

The Pakistan Meteorological Department established and expanded its network of meteorological observatories across Pakistan since 1947. As of 2017, there are 111

meteorological Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agriculture ...

, airborne and

astronomical Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest include ...

observatories: * 47 observatories in

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

Islamabad Capital Territory The Islamabad Capital Territory is a federal territory of Pakistan, centred around Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. It is located on the northern edge of the Pothohar Plateau, at the foot of the Margalla Hills, in the northwest of the ...

. * 13 observatories in

Gilgit Baltistan Gilgit (; Shina: ; ) is a city in Pakistani-administered Gilgit–Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the ...

and

Azad Jammu & Kashmir Azad Jammu and Kashmir (), abbreviated as AJK and colloquially referred to as simply Azad Kashmir ( ), is a region administered by Pakistan as a nominally self-governing entitySee: * * * and constituting the western portion of the larger ...

* 17 observatories in

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

* 18 observatories in

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

* 16 observatories in

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region o ...

Weather stations

Some weather stations have limited reporting times, while other report continuously, mainly

and Army Aviation Corps stations where a staffed meteorological office is provided for military operations. Reports (observations) from weather stations vary considerably and it is because there are different types of weather in different regions. There is list of weather stations below: *

— The meteorological office at

works in close coordination with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Additional weather stations are situated at PAF Base Masroor. *

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

— The meteorological office is located at Allama Iqbal International Airport while several airborne observatories are located in Shahi Qilla, Misri Shah, Upper Mall and Shahdara. *

, Capital Territory — A weather station is situated at

meteorological office and several observatories are located at Zero Point, Saidpur,

Margalla Hills The Margalla Hills () are a hill range within the Margalla Hills National Park on the northern edge of Islamabad Capital Territory, Pakistan, just south of Haripur District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They are part of the Himalayas, Himalayan foothi ...

and Golra Sharif in the west. *

— A weather station is situated at Pakistan Air Force Base Nur Khan Chaklala, while the meteorological office and observatory are located at Dhamial Army Airbase. A complete staffed weather station is also situated at Shamasabad in North Rawalpindi and in Bokra.

Weather surveillance radars & Lightning Detectors 'LDN'

Weather surveillance radars are located in various cities which provide the weather coverage of the entire country. The main weather radars stations are located in Islamabad and Karachi. These radars are equipped with the state-of-the-art technologies.

''Pakistan Journal of Meteorology''

From 2004 to 2018, the Research & Development Division published 28 issues of a peer reviewed scientific journal, the ''Pakistan Journal of Meteorology'' (''PJM''). The semi-annual ''PJM'', which accepted submissions from scientists across the world, was:

References

External links

PMD official website

Pakistan Journal of Meteorology
{{Authority control Governmental meteorological agencies in Asia 1947 establishments in Pakistan Climate of Pakistan Pakistan federal departments and agencies Science and technology in Pakistan Geography of Pakistan Government agencies established in 1947