Science is for Sharing

Our long awaited publication exploring the Descending Cirrus clouds over Gadanki. Int'l. Journal of Remote Sensing It is the story of Cirrus clouds which descends / ascends altitude ..... their characteristic properties ....using NARL's long term Lidar data. Nellore Manoj Kumar, Kannan Venkatramanan, Anish Kumar M. Nair & Shekatam Satheesh Kumar   (2020)   On the characterization of descending nature of cirrus clouds over a tropical site, Gadanki,   International Journal of Remote Sensing,   41:17,   6550-6569,   DOI:  10.1080/01431161.2020.1742942 https://t.co/vpReYZZZsY https://t.co/3zJDq2KNjM https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01431161.2020.1742942 The interesting feature of Cirrus cloud's descending & ascending are well characterized using ~6 years of lidar observations. The study roots back to the inspiration from my earlier work published in J.Geophysicsl Research in 2012 Nair,  A. K. M.   ,  K....

Our latest paper on the "Role of cloud feedback in regulating the “pool of inhibited cloudiness” over the Bay of Bengal" published in Springer Nature's  Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics . https://goo.gl/bNdLFg Read & Share Full Article here: http://rdcu.be/wOmz Anish Kumar M. Nair,  T. N. Rao and  K. Rajeev   Reference .bib   @Article{nair2017,   author   = {Nair, Anish Kumar M. and Rao, T. Narayana and Rajeev, K.},   title    = {Role of cloud feedback in regulating the “pool of inhibited cloudiness” over the Bay of Bengal},   journal  = {Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics},   year     = {2017},   pages    = {1--12},   month    = {10},   issn     = {0177-7971},   abstract = {Cloud-circulation feedback by latent heating (LH) is a major contributor for driving atmospheric circulation. This study exami...

An Equinox is the astronomical event when both the hemispheres have equal duration and amount of sunshine. Sun would be exactly overhead of the equator. It happens twice in a year Spring (Summer) equinox (20 March) and Vernal (Autumnal) equinox (22 September) . Here is the view of the beautiful event from space for 22 September 2016. I have animated it (time series for the day). Watch the day-night solar terminator move through the earth. Observe the equal area of sunshine and night on either hemisphere. The visible imagery is from MeteoSat VISSR (IODC) stationed at 57deg.E longitude above equator in a geostationary orbit. For a typical comparison of Equinoxes with Solistices, you may go through this link http://akmnscience.blogspot.in/2012/07/equinox-solstice-better-view.html Image Courtesy: Dundee Satellite Receiving Station http://www.sat.dundee.ac.uk/

Satellite images are are rich with useful and interesting information. It is not difficult to interpret them... here are some tips and stratergies....    They can show us how much a city has changed, how well our crops are growing, where a fire is burning, or when a storm is coming.  Here is a practical approach as given by Nasa Earth Observatory. Look for a scale Look for patterns, shapes, and textures Define the colors (including shadows) Find north Consider your prior knowledge Read more.... Check this link..... http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/ColorImage/?src=eorss-features Courtesy: Nasa Earth Observatory

Climate model projections that show a greater rise in global temperature are likely to prove more accurate than those showing a lesser rise. The study was published in the journal - Science. National Center for Atmospheric Research scientists John Fasullo and Kevin Trenberth analyzed how well 16 leading sophisticated climate models reproduce observed relative humidity in Earth's tropics and subtropics. They used observations from two NASA satellite instruments - the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on NASA's Aqua spacecraft and the Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) . Climate model projections showing a greater rise in global temperature are likely to prove more accurate than those showing a lesser rise, according to them. Read in detail:  https://www2.ucar.edu/atmosnews/news/8264/future-warming-likely-be-high-side-climate-projections-analysis-finds http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/earth20121108.html

Have a look at these images, captured 2 hrs apart by MODIS of TERRA & AQUA. We can clearly decipher the transition of contrail to contrail cirrus clouds....... Increasing air pollution by planes is definitely pointing towards increase the in Longwave radiative forcing and thereby increasing the global warming potential.... Read more:  http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=78154 Image credit:  Jeff Schmaltz,  LANCE MODIS Rapid Response Team,  Goddard Space Flight Center. Caption by Adam Voiland., NASA earth observatory

La-Nina ended...... in April 2012. Pacific is in Neutral conditions....... See this animation......... Read More: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=77828&src=youtube Animation CLICK HERE Courtesy: Nasa Earth Observatory

COLD PLASMA LAYER DETECTED HIGH ABOVE EARTH The new findings suggest that about two lbs. (1 kilogram) of cold plasma escape from Earth's atmosphere every second. As physicists further map cold plasma around Earth, they could discover more about how it reacts during solar storms and other events, deepening our understanding of space weather. Read more:  http://news.discovery.com/earth/earth-cold-plasma-layer-found-120127.html#mkcpgn=rssnws1

The global average surface temperature in 2011 was the ninth warmest since 1880, according to NASA scientists. Observe an updated analysis that shows temperatures around the globe in 2011 compared to the average global temperature from the mid-20th century. http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2011-temps.html  The average temperature around the globe in 2011 was 0.92 degrees F (0.51 C) warmer than the mid-20th century baseline. "We know the planet is absorbing more energy than it is emitting," said GISS Director James E. Hansen. "So we are continuing to see a trend toward higher temperatures. Even with the cooling effects of a strong La Niña influence and low solar activity for the past several years, 2011 was one of the 10 warmest years on record." Animation can be seen here, http://www.nasa.gov/mp4/616923main_GISStemperature2011_withColorbar.mp4 Understand  More: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2011-temps.html# http://data.giss.nasa.go...

The bright surface of the Greenland Ice Sheet reflected well over half of the sunlight that fell on it. This reflectiveness helped keep the ice sheet stable. In the past decade, however, satellites have observed a decrease in Greenland’s reflectiveness. This darker surface now absorbs more sunlight, which accelerates melting.  difference between the amount of sunlight Greenland reflected in the summer of 2011 versus the average percent it reflected between 2000 to 2006. Warmer, lower-elevation areas of the ice sheet have darkened more than the colder, higher-altitude interior. Each summer, winter snow retreats from the edge of the ice sheet. Dark pools of melt water form on the surface of the ice, and windblown dust and other particles also collect near the surface, making it even less reflective. Jason Box of Ohio State University, who analyzed the reflectiveness data propose that ice itself undergone change in shape and structure... Read more here :  http:/...

A new Project Aims to Predict South Asian Floods Are our Glaciers melting .... faster ....??? How it affects the nearby lakes and rivers flow and will it cause floods...? A new effort, dubbed HIMLA and led by Molly Brown of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, aims to change this by harnessing state-of-the-art, satellite-based monitoring and modeling techniques. Scientists will feed data from satellite instruments such as MODIS and ASTER into a hydrological model that will produce daily snow/water equivalence maps that will feed into other hydrological models to determine how much freshwater flows into the region’s rivers from snow and glaciers.  The ultimate goal: an early warning system for flood prediction.... Read more from NASA's blog:  http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/blog/whatonearth/posts/post_1323195383980.html

Waves created by lightning flashes – here shown in blue, green, and red – circle around Earth, creating something called Schumann resonance. These waves can be used to study the nature of the atmosphere they travel through. (Credit: NASA/Simoes)  At any given moment about 2,000 thunderstorms roll over Earth, producing some 50 flashes of lightning every second. Each lightning burst creates electromagnetic waves that begin to circle around Earth captured between Earth's surface and a boundary about 60 miles up. Some of the waves -- if they have just the right wavelength -- combine, increasing in strength, to create a repeating atmospheric heartbeat known as Schumann resonance. NASA's Vector Electric Field Instrument (VEFI) aboard the U.S. Air Force's Communications/Navigation Outage Forecast System (C/NOFS) satellite has detected Schumann resonance from space. This comes as a surprise. Fernando Simões, Robert Pfaff, Henry Freudenreich. Satellite observations of Schu...

LRO Camera Team Releases High Resolution Global Topographic Map of Moon. click on the image to go to the official website and high resolution image. Source: NASA-LRO http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/lro-topo.html

It's early winter time.... and now look at Himalayan slopes..... Hazy.......    click this link for detailed information.... http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=76343 Image courtesy: Nasa Earth Observatory

Here is the link to see the Mapped mosaics are daily images by NOAA seeries of satellites. The data are from the AVHRR instrument on NOAA/ESA’s polar orbiting satellites (NOAA-16, 17, 18, 19, and METOP-A). Here is the link and descriptions http://www.osdpd.noaa.gov/ml/imagery/mosaics.html

Here is how SOLSTICE and EQUINOX mean in reality. Equinox ==== Sun's rays fall equally in both Hemisphere..... Solstice  ==== Sun's rays falls on more area in summer hemisphere. I have made this Equinox-Solstice matrix for simple and clear understanding. We were all familiar with the cartoon graphics..... now this is the reality... These images are by Meteosat in VIS channel. Image courtesy:Dundee Satellite Receiving station.

A NASA-led study has documented an unprecedented depletion of Earth's protective ozone layer above the Arctic last winter and spring caused by an unusually prolonged period of extremely low temperatures in the stratosphere. Left: Ozone in Earth's stratosphere at an altitude of approximately 12 miles (20 kilometers) in mid-March 2011, near the peak of the 2011 Arctic ozone loss. Red colors represent high levels of ozone, while purple and grey colors (over the north polar region) represent very small ozone amounts. Right: chlorine monoxide – the primary agent of chemical ozone destruction in the cold polar lower stratosphere – for the same day and altitude. Light blue and green colors represent small amounts of chlorine monoxide, while dark blue and black colors represent very large chlorine monoxide amounts. The white line marks the area within which the chemical ozone destruction took place. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech  published online Sunday, Oct. 2, in the journal...

Water Vapour is in Excess of Saturation in the Atmosphere of Mars,  reveals the results from the SPICAM spectrometer on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft. It measured the altitudinal profile of water vapour in the martian atmosphere..... Here is the published paper: "Evidence of Water Vapor in Excess of Saturation in the Atmosphere of Mars", by L. Maltagliati, F. Montmessin, A. Fedorova, O. Korablev, F. Forget, and J.-L. Bertaux, published in the 30 September 2011 issue of Science. http://www.sciencemag.org/content/333/6051/1868.abstract Read a very good report here: http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-09-supersaturation-martian-atmosphere.html

                World Space Week  Resource Material prepared by our Team has been uploaded in the official WEBsite. here is it . http://www.vssc.gov.in:8080/ wsw2011/index.jsp http://www.vssc.gov.in:8080/ wsw2011/wswatschools.html Download PDF http://www.vssc.gov.in:8080/ wsw2011/downloads/WSW_2011_ Resourcematerial.pdf http://www.vssc.gov.in:8080/ wsw2011/downloads/WSW_ Handbook.pdf Materials for Media already sent...  ...... will be published/ relayed soon...! Celebrate the 'Golden jubilee of Human Space Flight'

China is launching a Space module this month.........  to initiate building its own space station...... By 2016 plans to put a laboratory into orbit...!! Space station set up by 2020. Read more: http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-09-china-space-station-module.html