The reader will find here an account of how the genesis of the monsoon was traced with constant level balloons during the Monsoon Experiment of 1979: how weather satellites are used to locate cyclonic storms over the Indian ocean, and, finally, how the climate of the Rajasthan desert may be made more friendly. This book, which has now been updated for the fourth time, raises quite a few topical concerns related to atmosphere too and should be of interest to all who would like to know more about the monsoon, which is so much a part of our national life and heritage.
About The Author
Dr P K Das was the Director General of the National Meteorological Service of the Government of India. He is the author of several research publications concerned with the Indian monsoon. He is a recipient of the third IJMG Award, a prize given biennially to the author of the best paper published in the Indian Journal of Meteorology and Geophysics (now named Mausam). Or Das was closely associated with many international scientific societies and organizations dealing with meteorology. He was the first Indian to be invited to deliver the prestigious IMO Lecture on monsoons by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) at its Fifth Congress in Geneva in 1983. After retiring from the Meteorological Department in India, Dr. Das was a Senior UNDP Expert in the Department of Meteorology at the University of Nairobi, Kenya. After his return to India, he was Professor of Meteorology at the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, and later a CSIR Emeritus Scientist attached to the Department of Ocean Development, New Delhi. •