New Delhi, May 15: Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee have developed and released an open-access high-resolution climate projection dataset for India. Named ‘Indra-CMIP6’, this dataset aims to enhance regional climate adaptation, disaster preparedness, and climate risk assessment across the country.
Published in the journal ‘Scientific Data’ by Nature Portfolio, this dataset provides daily estimates of rainfall and temperature at a spatial resolution of approximately 10 kilometers for the Indian subcontinent.
This initiative addresses a significant challenge associated with global climate models, which often provide broad estimates. Such models fail to accurately assess India’s complex geographical conditions, monsoon systems, and regional weather extremes.
In recent years, the impacts of climate change in India have intensified, including rising temperatures, erratic monsoons, urban flooding, heat stress, and increasing pressure on water resources.
Researchers emphasize that climate estimates at the district and river basin levels are essential for urban drainage planning, strengthening embankments, flood preparedness, and climate-resilient agriculture. Continental average data alone is insufficient.
The Indra-CMIP6 dataset is based on outputs from 14 CMIP6 global climate models and employs a statistical downscaling technique known as ‘Double Bias-Corrected Constructed Analog (DBCCA)’.
According to the researchers, this technique better represents daily weather variations, regional rainfall distribution, and temperature extremes in the Indian subcontinent.
The dataset includes estimates of daily rainfall, minimum temperature, and maximum temperature at a resolution of 0.1° × 0.1°.
The research team has also provided outputs from various climate models, along with a multi-model ensemble, allowing users to compare different estimates and assess uncertainties rather than relying on a single climate prediction.
Technical tests conducted by the research team indicate that Indra-CMIP6 significantly reduces many common errors found in global climate models.
This dataset also enhances the assessment of extreme rainfall and temperature events, which is particularly crucial for areas where local geography, monsoon patterns, and mountainous structures influence climate risks.
Ankit Agarwal from IIT Roorkee’s Department of Water Resources said, “Climate risks in India are largely localized, especially in monsoon and hilly regions. Micro-level climate estimates like Indra-CMIP6 are vital for converting global climate science into useful information for planners, researchers, and policymakers. Making such datasets open-access strengthens scientific collaboration and supports better climate adaptation strategies.”
Kamal Kishore Pant added, “Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time. Scientific institutions have a responsibility to create reliable and accessible knowledge resources for society. Indra-CMIP6 reflects IIT Roorkee’s commitment to advancing impactful research for climate resilience, sustainable development, and evidence-based policy-making.”
Arpit Soni has had a passion for journalism since the beginning. Now he has turned this hobby into his profession. Arpit, who is a resident of Udaipur, enjoys editing and writing news related to journalism. He has worked as a Senior Content Producer in several important roles at Bhaskar, Patrika, Pratahkal, Punjab Kesari, and Times. Arpit completed his schooling in Udaipur and Jaipur. He has been working in the media industry for more than 10 years, and his journey is still continuing. ✍️📚
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