Facts for Prelims (FFP)
Source: IE
Context: India inaugurated an atmospheric testbed facility near Bhopal and a Coastal Research Laboratory (CRL) in Visakhapatnam.
What is Atmospheric Testbed Facility?
| About Atmospheric Research Testbed | Description |
| Establishment | Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), MoES at Silkheda to study cloud systems and monsoon patterns, aiding in climate forecasts |
| Instrumentation | An extensive set of remote-sensing and in-situ instruments providing continuous observations of convection, clouds, precipitation, soil moisture, radiation, and microphysics. |
| A Ka-band cloud radar and a C-band Doppler weather radar will aid in tracking the movement of rain-bearing systems in the area. | |
| Phases | First phase: Set up in central India to study convection, land-atmosphere interactions, and precipitation processes. |
| Second phase: Planned for the northeast/eastern part of the country to study severe thunderstorm processes. | |
| Objectives | Better understanding of processes governing monsoon convection and land-atmosphere interactions. |
| Organizing intense observational campaigns and model runs to improve physical parameterizations related to convection and land surface processes | |
| Outreach, Training, and Dissemination of ART-CI data sets. | |
| Instruments | Approximately 25 high-end instruments were installed for aerosol studies, cloud measurements, rain radar, and weather radar to track rain-bearing systems. |
