Cloud chamber : India Ready To Establish
India is establishing a first-of-its-kind cloud chamber at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune.
- A cloud chamber is a scientific apparatus that mimics the conditions required for cloud formation.
- It resembles a closed cylindrical or tubular drum, inside which water vapour, aerosols, etc. are injected.
- Under the desired humidity and temperature inside this chamber, a cloud can develop.
- India is building a cloud chamber with convection properties, as required to study Indian monsoon clouds. Globally, there are only a handful of convective cloud chambers.
- The objective of establishing a convective cloud chamber is to gain a better understanding of cloud physics under conditions commonly affecting Indian weather systems. Thereafter, this knowledge can be used for strategic planning of weather modification.
- The Pune facility will allow scientists to study the seed particles that form cloud droplets or ice particles in a sustained manner.
- Cloud physics basically involves the study of cloud behaviour during normal and extreme conditions; intra-particle interactions inside a cloud; the formation of rain droplets and ice particles; the influence of moisture added into the atmosphere due to cyclones or low pressure systems; and interactions between different cloud layers, among others.
- Scientists will have the flexibility to tailor physical and atmospheric parameters to suit environmental requirements that influence the Indian weather and climate.
