Vol-1, Issue-4, July 15-31, 2015

Geography and You

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geography
andyou.com

A fortnightly online magazine on weather, WATER AND hazards

Landslides
An update

Disaster Preparedness
Monsoon Worries
Landslides
Monsoon and Music-Megh Malahar
G'nY

CLIMATE

July 15-31, 2015 Volume 1 Issue 4

Be a Weather

Climate

A fortnightly online magazine on

weather, water and hazards
Volume 1 Issue 4 July 2015
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Dr. Ajit Tyagi

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Sulagna Chattopadhyay
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Calling all,
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Advisor's Desk
Dear readers,

Contents

Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter,

Youtube have revolutionized the ways in which
we communicate with each other and or with
larger audience. Events taking place in any
part of the world is on social media almost
instantly. On top of this we have a large number of 24X7
news channels competing with each other for breaking news
almost every minute. This has done good that no important
event which affects society goes unreported. Pitfall of instant
news is that its shelf life is very limited. News remains in
focus if it is able to generate TRP and in the process many
important events get relegated to background. Even panel
discussions generate more heat than lights as each channel
is to provide instant solution to complex problems. Many a
times,experts are cornered by anchors to express their views
without having access to full details. What we require is a
balance of latest news related to weather and serious analysis
of its impact on safety and well being of the people and the
economy.

India : Feature

Disaster Preparedness

4 Monsoon Worries

GnY Climate plans to make full use of social media

to collect weather, water, climate and hazards related
news from the remotest part of the country, which is not
normally available from existing network of observation
and communication. We are enthused with overwhelming
response from readers and support from experts. To keep
GnY Climate readers updated with the latest weather events
and forecasts we have started a section on daily Weather
Updates. We also are encouraging weather enthusiasts and
nature lovers to become Weather Journalist and report
weather events of their area. In due course, we will have a
short online learning programme for Weather Journalists, so
that they could better comprehend the nuances of weather
reporting.
Since Weather and Climate Sciences have immense socioeconomic value, it is equally important that Weather and
Climate Scientists understand importance and relevance
of their work and develop services and products for the
benefit of society. GnY Climate will have analysis of the
impact of weather and climate on Agriculture, Water,
Health, Energy, Transportation,and Disasters. Scientists
also need to promote weather and climate sciences by
sharing the findings of their research work in simple
language with students and general public. GnY plans to
have a panel of experts to provide guidance to students and
young researchers. We seek support of experts to make this
endevour success.

Landslides

News Round-up

Indian Ocean Dipole

Kharif Crop and Rainfall

 onsoon and Music-Megh

M
Malahar

G
hanana Ghanana Ghan

Baag Laga Dun Sajani

Garjo Re

Kahan Se Aaya Badre

ukh Bhare Din Beta Re

 D

Bhaiya

Lapak Jhapak

10 Corona : An Optical Marvel

10 Conference Alert

Six Storms in Pacific: 12th July 2015

Air Vice Marshal (Retd) Dr. Ajit Tyagi,

Former Director General,
India Meteorological Department, New Delhi.

G'nY

CLIMATE

July 15-31, 2015 Volume 1 Issue 4

India
Disaster Preparedness

Issues

loods in Mumbai, Uttrakhand, Gujarat, Kashmir, Assam

and Meghalaya in the month of June this year are grim
reminders of the major disasters of the recent past; Jammu
and Kashmir (September, 2014), Gujarat (September, 2014),
Assam and Meghalaya (2014), Uttarakhand (June, 2014) and
Mumbai (July 2005), and trailer of many more to come in future.
Natural hazards are very much a part of the earth system and
cannot be wished away. The worry is about the frequency and
severity with which natural hazards are turning into disasters.
Disasters claim a large number of lives and cause huge economic
loss. There is a worldwide consensus that climate change is going
to increase the severity and frequency of natural hazards and if not
managed will affect the safety and wellbeing of a large section of
the population.
This brings disaster preparedness as a major mechanism for
Disaster Risk Reduction. It calls for a paradigm shift in the
planning process of disaster management; from rescue, relief and
rehabilitation to preparedness.
Early Warning System (EWS) has emerged as a core
component of Disaster Risk Reduction and Preparedness. It needs
to be understood that EWS is much more than just forecasts
and warnings of hazards. There are many examples wherein the
absence of effective EWS, accurate forecasts and warnings did not
lead to mitigation and preparedness on ground. A EWS should
have the following four operational components to be effective:
Observation, detection, monitoring, analysis, forecasting and
development of hazard warning messages;
A ssessing potential risks and integrating risk information into
warning messages;

Dissemination of timely, reliable and understandable warning

messages to authorities and public at-risk;

Community-based emergency planning, preparedness and

training programmes focused on eliciting an effective response

to warnings to reduce potential impact on lives and livelihoods.
Over the period of time, a lot has been achieved in certain
aspects of EWS but much more still needs to be done in many
areas. Meteorological services have graduated from general
forecasts and warnings to hazard specific warnings. In case of
Cyclone warnings, associated impacts with severity of cyclones are
also mentioned. Cyclone warnings have become more reliable and
have a longer lead time of five days.
Same cannot be said about other weather hazards. Warnings
of intense rainfall/cloud bursts arestill not satisfactory. One of
the reasons for this is lack of radar coverage over many parts of
the country, especially over the Himalayas. Similarly, absence of
location and hazard specific risk mapping also act as a deterrent
to effective EWS.
While each component of EWS is important, success of
EWS lies in political will, budgetary allocation and capacity
development at grass root level, as can be seen from the success of
cyclone EWSs in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. Otherwise, many
good EWS plans have remained on paper because of bureaucratic
red tapism and for the want of funds even after knowing the fact
that every one rupee spent on EWS saves ten rupees by DRR.
It is sad that despite of approved plan schemes, many cities
in the country and in the Himalayan region do not have radar
coverage for want of administrative approvals and allocation
of funds.

Monsoon Worries

onsoon in India always comes along surprises. Be its

onset, advance or intra seasonal variability, monsoon
rainfall is known to exhibit variability in space and time.
As a result, many a times we have some parts of the country
reeling under floods while some other parts face drought like
situation. The last two weeks werent any different. After sound
rainfall in June 2015 associated with two depressions, one over
Bay of Bengal and the other over Arabian Sea, and early advance
of monsoon over North India, a general weakening of monsoon
from June 26 to July 9 over most parts of the country except east
and northeast India was observed. (Figs. 1 and 2).
Fig. 1:

Fig. 2:

The monsoon strengthened after 9th June. This can be attributed

to the formation of low pressure over north Bay of Bengal on June 8
and its inland movement and intensification into a depression, over
Jharkhand and East Madhya Pradesh. The system did cause good
rainfall over east and north India between July 10 and July 13, 2015.
Signs of Worry
After a well distributed and good rainfall in the month of June,
the weakening of overall monsoon and its uneven distribution
of rainfall are alarming signs about the health of the monsoon.
Weekly progress of all India and regional cumulative rainfall from
June 1, 2015 shows a steady decline. (Table A)

July 15-31, 2015 Volume 1 Issue 4

G'nY

CLIMATE

Table A.

MME Rainfall Anomaly (mm/day)

As on
All
East and NW
Central Southern
Date
India NE India India India
Peninsula
30th June +16%
+1%
+31% +23%
+19%
6th July
00% -4%
+12% -2%
-1%
13th July
-3%
-7%
+26% -8%
-12%
Rainfall deficiency is startling from July 1 - July 14. All India
deficiency was 33%, East and Northeast India - 23 %, Northwest
India +12%, Central India -51% and Southern Peninsula 67%.

Deficient Rain fall in the first half of July (1st to 14th July)
All India
:
- 33%
East and Northeast India
:
- 23%
Northwest India
:
+ 12%
Central India
:
- 51%
South Peninsula
:
- 67 %
Forecasts for Second half of July
:
Gloomy
IRI Multi-Model Probability Forecast for Precipitation for
July-August-Setember 2015, issued June 2015

Bihar, Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur and Tripura reported

deficient rainfall on June 30, along with many states in Peninsula
and western India including Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka,
Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala. Real cause of worry is the forecast
of sub normal rainfall in the coming days, which is bound to
adversely impact crops and economy.
Mid-June IRI/CPC Plume-Based Probabilistic ENSO Forecast

G'nY

Extended Range Forecast

Numerical Weather Prediction Models of MoES (NCMRWF,
IITM and IMD) and Multi Model Ensembles indicate below
normal rainfall over most parts of the country, except northeast
India and along the foothills of Himalayas for the month of July.
El Nino and Seasonal Forecast
The ongoing El Nio in the east-central Pacific continues at
moderate strength. There is a greater than 90% chance that El
Nio will continue through the Northern Hemisphere winter of
2015-16, and there is an an 80% chance that it will last onto early
spring 2016.
For the July-September period, the climate forecast issued by
IRI and NOAA continues to show a strong likelihood of drierthan-normal conditions over Indonesia, northeastern Russia,
northeastern South America and parts of Central America and the
Caribbean, among other areas.
The model over India shows probability of below normal rainfall
over the peninsula and the western parts of the country. El Ninos
adverse impact on Indian rainfall in the absence of a positive IOD
continues to be one of the major cause of worry this year.

CLIMATE

July 15-31, 2015 Volume 1 Issue 4

Issues

Source: MoES IITM ERPS

India
Landslides

FEATURE

andslides are one of frequent natural hazards that affect about

15 per cent of the land area of our country. Landslides of
different types are frequent in geodynamically active domains
in the Himalayan and Arakan-Yoma belt of the North-Eastern
partsof the country as well as in the relatively stable domains of the
Meghalaya Plateau, Western Ghats and Nilgiri Hills. In all, 22 states
and parts of the Union Territory of Pudducherry and Andaman &
Nicobar Islands are affected by this hazard. The phenomenon of
landslides is pronounced during the monsoon period..
Landslides often havedisastrous consequences causing enormous
economic losses and affecting the social fabric. The year 2015
witnessed many landslides throughout the country. These include
landslides in Kerala, Maharashtra, Sikkim, North Bengal,
Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir. Landslides have already
claimed about 54 lives this year. In 2005 alone, more than 500 lives
were lost due to landslides. Some of the recent major landslides of
the country are listed below:
1. July 30, 2014 - Pune, Maharashtra- A landslide occurred in
the village of Malin in the Ambegoan taluka of the Pune district
of Maharashtra. The landslide occurred early morning when the
residents were still asleep. It was caused by a burst of heavy rainfall
and claimed at least 134 lives. In addition to the dead, it is an
estimated 200 people in 44 houses got buried during the landslide.
Rain continued after the landslide which made rescue operations
difficult.

Photo courtesy: Deccan Chronicle

Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Border Roads Organization

(BRO).
4. July 26, 2005- Raigad, Maharashtra- Landslide caused by
torrential rains occurred in Dasgoan, 150 km from Mumbai. It
claimed an estimated 56 lives in the Raigad district of Maharashtra. Of these, 32 people were killed in the landslide while 24 others
drowned.
5. November 2001-Amboori, Kerala- In one of the worst
natural disasters the state has ever witnessed, 40 people were killed
and four others were injured in a landslide that took place in the
village of Amboori. The village is 35km away from Trivandram,
the capital city of Kerala.
6. August 1998- Malpa, Uttarakhand- Malpa landslide was
one of the worst landslides in India. 380 people were killed when
a massive landslide washed away the entire village of Malpa. The
dead included 60 pilgrims who were on their way to the KailashMansarovar Lake in Tibet.
What is Landslide?
A landslide, also known as a landslip, is a geographical occurrence
that includes a wide range of ground movements. Although the
action of gravity is the primary force behind a landslide, there
are other factors that affect the stability of a slope. Usually, preconditional factors build up specific sub-surface conditions that
make the area/slope prone to landslips. Generally, landslides require
a trigger before being released.

Source: www.ndma.gov.in

2. June 16, 2013- Kedarnath, Uttarakhand- A multi-day cloud

burst centered on the northern state of Uttarakhand caused disastrous floods and landslides, becoming the countrys worst natural
disaster since the tsunami of 2004. The large scale floods were a
result the debris of the building of the dam upstream. The debris
blocked the river causing major overflow. The main day of the
flood was 16 June 2013. As of 16 July 2013, according to figures
provided by the Uttarakhand government, more than 5700 people
are presumed to be dead, including 934 local residents.
3. September 24, 2012- Northern Sikkim- At least 27 people
died after flash floods and landslides that occurred in the northern
region of Sikkim. The victims included personnel from the Indo-

July 15-31, 2015 Volume 1 Issue 4

G'nY

Causes of Landslides
A landslide occurs when the stability of a slope changes from stable
to unstable. A change in the stability of a slope can be caused by
many factors, acting together or alone. Natural causes of landslide
are as follows:
Groundwater pressure acting to destabilize the slope.
Erosion of the toe of a slope by river or ocean waves.
Weakening of a slope because of saturation by melting glaciers
and snow or by heavy rains.
Earthquakes adding loads to hardly stable slopes.
Volcanic eruptions.
Landslides are also caused by human activities such as:
Deforestation, cultivation and construction which destabilizes
the already fragile slopes.
Vibration from machinery or traffic.
Blasting
Earthwork that alters the shape of a slope or which imposes new
loads on an existing slope.

CLIMATE

 In shallow soils, the removal of deep-rooted vegetation that binds

colluviums to bedrock.
Construction, agricultural or forestry activities like logging which
changes the amount of water that infiltrates the soil.

On public platforms,through both digital and print media, no

information regarding collaboration for work has been provided.

News round-up: landslides 2015

June 20, 2015: Landslides, reported from different places in

Meghalaya, claimed 12 lives.

June 24, 2015: The Mumbai-Pune expressway witnessed
landslides triggered by heavy rainfall. No casualties
were reported but chaotic traffic situations prevailed for
hours.
July 2, 2015: Landslides in Darjeeling took a death toll of 38

people. Reportedly, 23 were missing and many injured.

July 3, 2015: Rudraprayag witnessed landslides that caused

damage to the major Haldwani- Ramganar highway. No

casualties were reported.
July 7, 2015: Two persons were killed in Uttarakhand due to
heavy rainfall. One was reported dead after a landslide hit the
area and one more person died while crossing a river.

Indian Ocean Dipole

\What is IOD
The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) is a coupled ocean-atmosphere
phenomenon in the equatorial Indian Ocean that affects the climate
of South Asia, Australia and other countries that surround the
Indian Ocean basin. It is normally characterized by anomalous
cooling of Sea Surface Temperature (SST) in the eastern equatorial
Indian Ocean (EEIO) and anomalous warming of SST in the
western equatorial Indian Ocean (WEIO). The IOD is commonly
measured by an index that is the difference between the sea surface
temperature (SST) anomalies in the western (50E to 70E and 10S
to 10N) and eastern (90E to 110E and 10S to 0S) equatorial
Indian Ocean. The index is called the Dipole Mode Index (DMI).
Phases of IOD
The tropical Indian Ocean varies between "positive", "neutral" and
"negative" phases of the IOD. A positive IOD period is characterised
by cooler than normal water in the tropical eastern Indian Ocean
and warmer than normal water in the tropical western Indian Ocean.
Conversely, a negative IOD period is characterised by warmer than
normal water in the tropical eastern Indian Ocean and cooler than
normal water in the tropical western Indian Ocean.

wet conditions over East Africa and with a decrease in rainfall over
parts of central and southern Australia and Indonesia. A negative
IOD SST pattern is associated with an increase in rainfall over parts
of Indonesia and Australia and lesser rainfall over East Africa.
Impact over India
Recent studies have depict how conditions in the Indian Ocean
can explain a recent weakening in the El Nio-Indian monsoon
relationship where positive IOD events cancel out the droughtinducing effect of El Nio.
In particular, when an El Nio event occurs in the absence of a
positive IOD, the Indian monsoon tends to break down. Conversely,
when a positive IOD occurs in the absence of an El Nio, monsoon
rainfall is significantly higher than average. However, when an El
Nio event and a positive IOD coincide, normal levels of monsoonal

Impact
A positive IOD SST pattern has been observed to be associated with

rainfall tend to occur as it happened in 1997, a year of strong El

Nino and positive IOD. A positive IOD therefore disengages
the relationship between an El Nio pattern in the Pacific and
monsoonal rainfall over India.
The figure below shows the east and west poles of the IOD for
November 1997; a positive IOD year.

G'nY

CLIMATE

July 15-31, 2015 Volume 1 Issue 4

FEATURE

Landslide preparedness and planning

In India, the preparedness, monitoring and planning of landslide
mitigation is the responsibility of complete governmental setup,
out of which National Disaster Management Authority is of
major concern. NDMA guidelines on landslides state that Indian
Meteorological Department and Geological Survey of India have
to work together towards planning and preparedness of landslides.

NDMA-National Disaster Management Authority provides

guidelines for landslide management and awareness among
people. NDMA guidelines enumerates the landslide education,
awareness and capacity building measures. Some of the major
issues are enumerated below An effort in landslide education involves the development of selftraining software and self-certification CD- ROMS.
The GSI training institute conducts training programmes and
sessions on landslide investigation.
Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (Dehradun), conducts
courses in use of remote sensing data for geological hazards.

Kharif crop and rainfall

With the graph (in the figure above) depicting change in kharif
crop area, it is clearly visible that not all the crops have shown positive
results. Area under Rice and Jute & Mesta seems to decrease; the
area under rice shows a 5 % decrease while area under Jute and
Mesta shows 3% reduction.

Increase in area under Kharif crop

Kharif crop is grown extensively in our country; especially in rainfed areas. The crop, popularly called monsoon crop, is grown in the
month of June in line with the onset of monsoon. The kharif season
accounts for a large load of production in the country and hence
the GDP. The major crops produced in our country in this season
are Rice, Pulses, Cereals, Oilseeds, Sugarcane, Jute & Mesta and
Cotton. The production of the crops is directly proportional to the
amount of rains pouring in.
The kharif season in India starts in April and ends in October
with harvesting of crops. The sowing initiates with the onset of
monsoon and ends by the month of July. The area sown under
kharif crops can be estimated only by the end of July. Considering
cumulative kharif sowing for the past three seasons, i.e., 2011-12,
2012-13, 2013-14, the average area under kharif crop accounts to
7.39 Million Hectares. The present season, 2015-2016, has witnessed
sowing of 4.45 Million Hectares, till now.
The data from the Ministry of Agriculture shows the change
in area under kharif crops in respect to last season (2014-2015). It
reveals that the area under oilseeds and cotton has tremendously
increases. Production of rice and jute has not achieved the desired
outcome.(Figure below)

Rainfall and the Kharif crop

The states growing cotton, coarse cereals and oilseeds received good
amount of rainfall in the month of June, resulting in the increase in
the sowing area under these crops.

FEATURE

he early onset of Monsoon proved to be a boon for the country.

With significant rains pouring in, the hope for a good produce
increased notably. Observing 16% above normal rainfall in
the month of June as compared to 42% below normal last year, the
area under kharif crop increased substantially, this year.

Daily Rainfall (mm) for South Peninsula - Monsoon 2015

The rainfall over Maharashtraand Southern Peninsula seem

to have taken a halt. After witnessing an early onset of monsoon,
the region is now experiencing a comparatively dry spell. The daily
rainfall graph from IMD (India Meteorological Department) shows
states of the southern peninsula suffering deficient rainfall on most

Area sown under Kharif crop (Lakh Hectares)

The previous seasons (2014-2015) cumulative area under kharif

crops till July 10 was recorded to be 275.10 Lakh hectares. This year,
the area has increased to 445.11 Lakh hectares, which accounts to a
61.80 % increase. The change in area for each crop is also analysed.
(Figure below)
Change in area under Kharif crop (%)

July 15-31, 2015 Volume 1 Issue 4

G'nY

of the days in the month of July.Aridity outlook from the period

July 1-July 15, 2015 shows severe aridity developing over Gujarat,
Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Deficient rainfall and
severe aridity in the states of Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh from
June 26 onwards is creating stress to nascent crops and may affect
yield.
Since most of rice cultivation takes place in the states having
good irrigation facility, not much of change is seen the area of rice
cultivation this year as compared to last year. Shortfall of about 5%
was due to lesser rainfall over West Bengal, Bihar and Eastern Uttar
Pradesh in the month of June. Area under rice crop is expected to
increase with good rains in North, East and Northeastern India in
the month of July.

CLIMATE

Understanding Weather Phenomenon

Monsoon and music-Megh Malahar

Ghanana Ghanana Ghan Garjo Re

Singer: Ustad Amir Khan
Movie: BaijuBawara
Year: 1952
Baiju Bawara was a music centric film. The story centres ona musicians son who ends up
challenging the great Tansen to a duel. The song was an instant hit. It was sung by Ustad
Amir Khan who was also acted as a music consultant for the film. The movie was also a
critical and commercial success and launched the carriers of legendary Indian actress Meena
Kumari and Bharat Bhushan. The films bagged music director Naushad only Filmfare Best
Music Director award.
Barso Re
Singer: Khurshid Bano
Movie: Tansen
Year: 1943
The movie was a biopic on the life of the legendary Indian musician Tansen. The music
director of the film was Khemchand Prakash and the lyrics were penned by Pandit Indira.
Both the leads of the film, Kundanlal Saigal and Khurshid Bano, provided playbacks for ll
the songs.
Baag Laga Dun Sajani
Singer: KundanlalSaigal
Movie: Tansen
Year: 1943
This song has been sung by Kundanlal Saigal in the meghmalahar raag. The movie is
based on the life of Tansen, a musician in King Akbars court. Both the leads sung all their
own songs. The movie was a big hit. The music director of the film was Khemchand Prakash
and the lyrics were done by Pandit Indira.
Kahan Se AayaBadre
Singer: K. J. Yesudas and Haimanti Shukla
Movie: Chashme Buddoor
Year: 1981
Classic movie that spawned this gem of a song. Sung by K.J. Yesudas and Haimanti
Shukla, the song became an instant hit. Lyrics of this evergreen track was penned
byIndu Jain and the music composed by Raj Kamal. The film attained cult status over
the years.
Dukh Bhare Din Beta Re Bhaiya
Singer: Shamshad Begum, Mohammed Rafi, Manna Dey and Asha Bhosle.
Movie: Mother India
Year: 1957
The song was not so well received when it was released but later on became a big hit. The
song was composed by Naushad and the lyrics were penned by Shakeel Badayuin. Mother
India is regarded as one of the greatest Hindi films of all time.
Lapak Jhapak
Singer: Manna Dey
Movie: Boot Polish
Year: 1954
The song was composed by Shankar and Jaikishan and the lyrics penned by Shailendra
Singh. Considered to be among the best social dramas of Indian cinema, the film reveals the
sufferings of down trodden children suffer in struggle for living.

G'nY

CLIMATE

(Source: bombaymann2.blogspot.com)

(Source: dailymotion.com)

(Source: youtubemaza.com)

(Source:parallelcinema.blogspot.com)

(Source: dailymotion.com)

(Source: youtube.com)

July 15-31, 2015 Volume 1 Issue 4

FEATURE

eghMalahar is a Hindustani classical raga. The name derives from the Sanskrit word Megh, meaning cloud. It is believed that
this raga has the power to bring about rains in the area where it is sung. Legend has it that when Tansen, a prominent Hindustani
classical music composer, musician and vocalist from the 16th century,could bring rain by singing this raga.
Meghmalahar has been found to increase numerous Bollywood songs over the years. Improvised forms of the raga are prominent in the
following Bollywood tracks:

CORONA : AN OPTICAL MARVEL

FEATURE

n meteorology, a corona is produced by the diffraction of

light from either the Sun or the Moon by individual small
water droplets and sometimes tiny ice crystals of a cloud (or
on a foggy glass surface). A corona consists small numbers of
concentric colored rings around a celestial object and a central
bright aureole. The angular size of the corona depends on the
diameters of the cloud droplets - small droplets produce large
coronae. For the same reason, the corona is clearest when the
size of the droplets is most uniform. Coronae differ from haloes;
the latter are formed by refraction (rather than diffraction) from
comparatively large rather than small ice crystals.
The corona is the result of scattering of light by particles
ranging in size from about 10 m to 100 m. In nature, these
particles can be ice needles or cloud droplets. Corona appears as
rings of colored light surrounding the luminous source, usually
the moon or the sun. These rings are not as large as the rings of
the halo, and are usually more strikingly colored.
The classic corona consists of a bright aureole, bluish in the
center and brownish on the periphery, surrounded by one or more
rings of lesser intensity that are bluish on the inside and red on
the outside, passing through green and sometimes yellow on the
way. Usually only one ring is visible, but up to three rings have
been observed.
Although Corona occurs around the sun often, Corona is

usually observed around the moon, since the moon is easy to

look at. Since looking at the sun is uncomfortable, it is necessary
to screen off its brilliance when looking for the corona. Welder's
goggles can be used. The problem here is the same as in viewing
eclipses, and the same cautions are necessary.
Compared to the rainbow and the halo, the corona is a
relatively neglected part of meteorological optics. However, it
is one of the most frequently observed phenomena of this type,
and can furnish intellectual challenge, useful information and
visual pleasure.

Conference alert
6th Annual Conference on Climate Change and Sustainable Development
Date: July 30 - August 1, 2015
Location: Mumbai, India
Lead organization(s): Tata Institute of Social Sciences
Link: www.tiss.edu/
Training Programme on Agrometeorological Techniques for Risk Assessment and Management of
Extreme Events
Date: Sep 1 Sep 21, 2015
Last date of Application: July 30, 2015
Location: Hyderabad
Lead Organisations; Central Research Institute for Dryland
Agriculture, Hyderabad and Department ofScience and
Technology
Contact: Dr Bapuji Rao.
Email: bpujiraob2002@yahoo.com

10

July 15-31, 2015 Volume 1 Issue 4

G'nY

World Symposium on Climate Change Adaptation

Date: September 2-September 4, 2015
Location: Manchester, UK
Lead organization(s): Manchester Metropolitan
Link: www.haw-hamburg.de/en/wscca-2015.html
Third WMO/WWRP Monsoon Heavy Rainfall Workshop
Date: September 22-September 24, 2015
Location: India Meteorological Department, New Delhi
Lead Organisations : World Meteorological Organisation and
India Meteorological Department.
Link:http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/arep/wwrp/new/
tropical_meteorology.html
International Conference on Renewable Energy and
Sustainable Environment (RESE 2015)
Date- August 3 August 5, 2015
Location: Pollachi, Tamilnadu, India
Link: http://mcet.in/conference/index.html
Enquiries:rese2015@mcet.in

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