The complex yearly phenomenon of the monsoon, upon which much of the country’s economy is based, will be the subject of a massive international research project involving the Indian Institute of Science (IISc.) and the Indian Space Research Organisation.
Indian and U.K.-based scientists will sail for a month in the Bay of Bengal as part of the multi-crore project to better forecast the monsoon. The study is funded by UK’s Natural Environment Research Council, and the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
Using ship and air-based observations in the Bay of Bengal, scientists will study the formation of clouds over the ocean and also ocean salinity and temperature. “The first step to be able to better predict the monsoon is to understand the processes taking place over the ocean, where most cloud formations happen,” said P.N. Vinayachandran, Professor at Centre for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, IISc.
Ocean gliders and profiling floats would be used to measure salinity and temperature: the two most important properties of the ocean, he added. The research project will be three to five years long and will begin in 2015.
India receives 80 per cent of its rainfall from the southwest monsoon, and having accurate predictions at least one season in advance is essential, Prof. Vinayachandran said.
