Shillong — Two meteorologists from the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) Meteorological Centre in Shillong are set to join the 46th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica (46-ISEA), officials confirmed on Wednesday. The polar mission is scheduled to officially commence in November 2026.
Scientific Assistants Partik Kumar and Dheeraj Chaudhary will represent the Shillong centre during the long-duration polar mission. They will be stationed at India’s year-round research bases, Maitri and Bharati, to operate and maintain critical polar meteorological observatories.
A formal farewell ceremony was hosted at the Shillong centre on October 27, 2026, ahead of their departure. Speaking at the event, Thangjalal Lhouvum, Head of the Meteorological Centre in Shillong, emphasized the global weight of their assignment. "The data gathered in Antarctica remains critical to understanding global climate change," Lhouvum stated, while urging the team to strictly adhere to standard safety protocols in the extreme environment.
Managed by the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) in Goa, the expedition continues IMD's continuous scientific footprint in the Antarctic since India’s first polar venture in 1982.
The data collected by Kumar and Chaudhary will feed directly into international models tracking climate variability and global weather patterns.