International Monsoons Project Office launched on National Science Day

Feb. 28: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh launched the International Monsoons Project Office (IMPO) through a high-level virtual event today on the occasion of National Science Day 2022.

The International Monsoons Project Office (IMPO) will be hosted at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, an institution under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt of India, initially for five years. Setting up the IMPO reiterates the importance of monsoons for the national economy. It would encompass activities and connections related to international monsoon research that would be identified and fostered under the leadership of the World Climate Research Programme and the World Weather Research Programme. Both the World Climate Research Programme and World Weather Research Programme are international programmes coordinated by the United Nations World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

Setting up the IMPO in India would mean expanding an integrated scientific approach to solve the seasonal variability of monsoons, enhancing the prediction skill of monsoons and cyclones, strengthening monsoon research for better support operations and services, thereby promoting knowledge sharing and capacity building in areas of monsoon research crucial for agriculture, water resources and disaster management, hydropower and climate-sensitive socio-economic sectors.

Speaking at the event, Dr Jitendra Singh said, “the IMPO is a step towards making India a global hub for monsoon research and coordination in a seamless manner for addressing common and region-specific aspects of the monsoons around the world”. He emphasized that setting up the IMPO will give huge impetus to global monsoon research yielding mutual benefits to both the international and Indian research fraternity.

As part of its core responsibilities, the IMPO would support activities of the Monsoons Panel, jointly established by the World Climate Research Programme’s CLIVAR (Climate and Ocean Variability, Predictability, and Change) and GEWEX (Global Energy and Water Exchanges) projects. IMPO will also extend support to the World Weather Research Programme’s working group on tropical meteorology research.

The launch of IMPO is aligned with this year’s theme of the National Science Day – ‘Integrated Approach in Science and Technology for a Sustainable Future’. It also precedes the 7th WMO International Workshop on Monsoons which is being organized in India jointly by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, World Climate Research Programme, and World Weather Research Programme in March 2022. The international workshop would be a huge forum for global researchers and stakeholders to discuss advances and issues involving monsoons as key components of earth system science-related phenomena.