‘Torpedo robots’ to swim in India’s Bay of Bengal for new monsoon study
In an effort to better understand and predict South Asia’s seasonal monsoon, British scientists are getting ready to release robots into the Bay of Bengal in a study of how ocean conditions might affect rainfall patterns.
The seasonal monsoon, which hits the region between June and September, delivers more than 70 per cent of India’s annual rainfall. Its arrival is eagerly awaited by hundreds of millions of subsistence farmers across the country, and delays can ruin crops or exacerbate drought.
Ultimately, the goal is to improve the prediction of monsoon rainfall over India
Yet, the rains are hard to predict, and depend on a complex interplay between global atmospheric and oceanic movements that is not yet fully understood. They can be affected by weather phenomena such as El Nino. And scientists say they may also become even more erratic with increasing climate change and even air pollution.
“We are aiming for a better understanding of the actual physical processes,” said lead researcher Adrian Matthews of the University of East Anglia’s School of Environmental Sciences, in a statement released on Tuesday.
“Ultimately, the goal is to improve the prediction of monsoon rainfall over India.”
As part of the newly launched US$11 million study, scientists from British university will spend a month at sea releasing seven underwater robots from an Indian research ship across a 400km stretch of water.
