Kerala: Symposium on Meteorology inaugurated

Kochi, May 21: A National Symposium on 'Emerging Trends in Meteorology and Oceanography', organised by the School of Naval Oceanology and Meteorology under the aegis of the Southern Naval Command and Centre for Monsoon Studies at CUSAT, was inaugurated here today.

Delivering the presidential address, Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) Vice-Chancellor Dr Abdul Aziz said the scientific fraternity had a long way to go in understanding the intricacies of meteorology and oceanography.

''It is important to collect data on an hourly basis to study the interplay of atmosphere and ocean in meteorology to predict weather accurately,'' he added.

He said data should be repetitively collected from as many points as possible to unravel the mysteries of meteorology and oceanography.

In his keynote address, Southern Naval Command Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Vice Admiral J S Bedi said weather prediction was on the threshold with the advent of satellite and remote sensing.

He said weather prediction was important for mankind in general and armed forces in particular to chalk out strategies to face the challenges.

''We have to preserve the environment and battle the climatic changes like greenhouse effect, depletion of ozone layer and destruction of rainforest,'' he noted.

The symposium, in which about 100 papers would be presented, aimed at providing a common platform to the research community, academia and the operational users to exchange their views and bring them under one umbrella towards better understanding of the atmosphere and the ocean.

A number of scientists and experts from various organisations like Indian Meteorological Department, National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting, National Remote Sensing Agency, Space Applications Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation, and academia like IIT-Delhi and Indian Institute of Science would participate in the symposium.

UNI