Megha Tropiques

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MEGHATROPIQUES SCIENCE AND APPLICATIONS The conference is scheduled to be held on January 21-23, 2009 at Ahmadabad ,India to discuss MEGHA-TROPIQUES , the first dedicated satellite devoted to the atmospheric and climate research in the tropics.Scientists working on global climate studies all over the world have expressed interest in the project. MEGHA-TROPIQUES ( ‘MEGHA’ in Sanskrit means clouds and ‘TROPIQUES’ is French word for tropics) is a joint ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) and CNES (French space agency) science collaboration project. About MEGHA-TROPIQUES (MT) , it will . ISRO and CNES are jointly discussing the payload configuration for the Proteus satellite buss. The satellite is to carry a Multi-frequency Microwave Scanning Radiometer (MADRAS); A high resolution multi-channel microwave humidity profiler(SAPHIR) and an optical IR radiometer for Radiation budget(ScaRaB). MADRAS will provide information on rain above oceans, integrated water vapour content in the atmosphere, liquid water in clouds and convective rain above the oceans ,sea. SAPHIR will provide data on vertical humidity profile in the atmosphere. ScaRaB will transmit data on the earth’s radiation environment. MADRAS will be jointly developed by CNES and ISRO , while the other two will be contributed by CNES. ISRO has planned to launch the satellite in the late 2008, on its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), from Sriharikota, India. The satellite will be launched into a 867 km orbit with an inclination of 20 degrees, so as to cover maximum range in the tropic region of interest. The satellite will be controlled in orbit by CNES and scientific data will be received and distributed by ISRO from Bangalore, India. The exchange of energy in the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ICTZ) influences the global climate. The ICTZ interacts with the atmosphere in ways that are yet to be fully understood, reducing the reliability on weather forecasting.

The primary goal of the conference will be to discuss how satellite data can be used to understand the variations in water vapour , clouds, liquid water, ice and radiation budget that occur in the tropics. International team of scientists,invited speakers as well as interested participants will be seen in the conference discussing their research. The organizing committee has announced arrangements to avail discounted rates for the foreign delegates in reputed star hotels. The satellite mission is a milestone in the long standing relationship between Indian and French space agencies.The ISRO and CNES have collaborated on several joint research projects. ARJUN VIJAYANARAYANAN