About Us
The controls on the cloud formation, organization, decay in the monsoon convection is a multi-scale problem and needs multi-faceted approach from the satellite, ground based, in situ airborne observational efforts and laboratory and numerical studiesto understand themultiscale physics and dynamics of clouds. Cloud Aerosol Interaction and Precipitation Enhancement Experiment (CAIPEEX), program addresses these aspects from in situ airborne and collocated ground based observations. Further insight on the aerosol-cloud interaction is brought out from explicit simulation of clouds numerically and in the laboratory.
CAIPEEX as an Indian national campaign is designedspecifically to make progress in the aerosol and cloud microphysics observations over Indian region and to propose guidelines for cloud seeding.CAIPEEX focus on the aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions in the premonsoon and monsoon environment and to derive useful guidelines for cloud seeding purpose.
Aerosol-Cloud-Precipitation interactions and their linkages with dynamics is a key topic that require attention in the weather and climate systems. Rainfall changes and impact of climate change due to anthropogenic emissions are closely related, however linkages are nonlinear. Although a wide variety of ground based and satellite datasets are available, in situ observations of aerosol and cloud and rain are required to investigate the aerosol-cloud interaction. These observations could be instrumental to improve representation of cloud processes in weather and climate models for the understanding of weather modification and its effective implementation.
The program address the impact of aerosols on the hydrological cycle by coordinated integrated observations of aerosol, cloud micro scale and macro scale characteristics, thermodynamic state of the atmosphere and numerical simulations. CAIPEEX has started in 2009 and have finished three phases and overall, 820 hours of airborne observations were collected.The observations in 2009 (Phase I) mainly focussed on the aerosol, cloud microphysical observations at different parts of India. The main focus was to document continental clouds and their microphysical properties in different locations.