VIRTUAL MEETING | Seasonal Forecasting Of Indian Monsoon and Indian Ocean Tropical Cyclones of 2020
LOCATION
UPDATE: Registration has now closed.
SPEAKER: Arathy Menon of NCAS, University of Reading
ABSTRACT: The Indian monsoon is one of the most important aspects of Earth’s water cycle, its rains affecting the lives of more than a billion people by supplying the water needed for agriculture, industry, and sustenance. India receives more than 80% of its annual rainfall during the monsoon between June and September. Any variability in timing, duration and intensity of the monsoon rains have a significant impact on rain-fed agriculture that contributes a major portion of India’s economy. Variability of rainfall on shorter time scales has the biggest impact- breaks within the monsoon season with reduced rainfall can lead to droughts and famine, whereas intense heavy rains can lead to floods. Understanding and forecasting the monsoon is therefore vital for agricultural planning and disaster management.
The talk gave a brief overview of the Indian monsoon forecasting system and how the forecasts compared to reality during the 2020 monsoon. The Indian Ocean also witnessed some severe cyclones during summer 2020 that led to tremendous damage over South Asia. These cyclones and their forecasts were discussed in the talk.
VIRTUAL MEETING | Seasonal Forecasting Of Indian Monsoon and Indian Ocean Tropical Cyclones Of 2020 | Recording
UPDATE: Registration has now closed.
SPEAKER: Arathy Menon of NCAS, University of Reading
ABSTRACT: The Indian monsoon is one of the most important aspects of Earth’s water cycle, its rains affecting the lives of more than a billion people by supplying the water needed for agriculture, industry, and sustenance. India receives more than 80% of its annual rainfall during the monsoon between June and September. Any variability in timing, duration and intensity of the monsoon rains have a significant impact on rain-fed agriculture that contributes a major portion of India’s economy. Variability of rainfall on shorter time scales has the biggest impact- breaks within the monsoon season with reduced rainfall can lead to droughts and famine, whereas intense heavy rains can lead to floods. Understanding and forecasting the monsoon is therefore vital for agricultural planning and disaster management.
The talk gave a brief overview of the Indian monsoon forecasting system and how the forecasts compared to reality during the 2020 monsoon. The Indian Ocean also witnessed some severe cyclones during summer 2020 that led to tremendous damage over South Asia. These cyclones and their forecasts were discussed in the talk.