Researchers from Florida State University have created a tool for objectively defining the onset and demise of the Indian Summer Monsoon — a colossal weather system that affects billions of people annually.
Researchers from Florida State University have created a tool for objectively defining the onset and demise of the Indian Summer Monsoon — a colossal weather system that affects billions of people annually.
In a study published in the journal Climate Dynamics, a team of FSU scientists outline a methodology that uses rainfall rates to mark the span of the ISM at any given location throughout the affected region.
For generations, scientists have struggled to produce a model for reliably defining the duration of the monsoon. No existing system has allowed researchers to define the parameters of the season at this fine a scale.
“Current weather forecasting and monitoring protocols focus attention on monsoon onset at one location — specifically the state of Kerala in the southwest corner of the country — and extrapolate for the rest of the region,” said FSU Associate Professor of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science Vasu Misra, the study’s lead investigator. “We have gone down to specific locations, we’ve covered the whole country, and we’ve objectively defined the onset and demise dates for any given year.”
Read more at Florida State University
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