Sunday, August 23, 2009
Are SunSpots Dissapearing?
According to NOAA sunspot counts, the longest stretch of spotless suns during the current solar minimum was 52 days in July, August and Sept. of 2008. The current spate of blank suns is putting that record in jeopardy. The sun is entering its 43rd consecutive day with no sunspots, and there are none in the offing. Deep solar minimum continues.
Sunspots are made of magnetism. The “firmament” of a sunspot is not matter but rather a strong magnetic field that appears dark because it blocks the upflow of heat from the sun’s fiery depths. Without magnetism, there would be no sunspots. According to Bill Livingston and Matt Penn of the National Solar Observatory in Tucson, Arizona, sunspot magnetic fields are waning. The two respected solar astronomers have been measuring solar magnetism since 1992. Their technique is based on Zeeman splitting of infrared spectral lines emitted by iron atoms in the vicinity of sunspots. Extrapolating their data into the future suggests that sunspots could completely disappear within decades.
Don’t count out sunspots just yet, however. While the data of Livingston and Penn are widely thought to be correct, far-reaching extrapolations may be premature. This type of measurement is relatively new, and the data reaches back less than 17 years. “Whether this is an omen of long-term sunspot decline, analogous to the Maunder Minimum, remains to be seen,” they caution in a recent EOS article
Weather collapses roof at Indian airport
An aviation official said Saturday top officials need to explain how heavy winds and rains could collapse a section of the roof at an Indian airport.
An unidentified civil aviation ministry representative told the Indo-Asian News Service that Friday night's collapse of a roof section at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi will be investigated by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
"The government has taken a serious note of the terminal flooding. We have sought a full report from the developers on flooding and the damage caused to a brand new terminal," the aviation official said.
"This is not the first time it has happened. We propose to summon the top officials for an explanation soon. Action may also be taken accordingly."
No injuries were reported, but the incident prompted 10 incoming flights to be diverted.
Delhi International Airport Ltd., which operates the Delhi airport, told news service the roof collapse also prompted 20 outgoing flights to be rescheduled
An unidentified civil aviation ministry representative told the Indo-Asian News Service that Friday night's collapse of a roof section at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi will be investigated by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
"The government has taken a serious note of the terminal flooding. We have sought a full report from the developers on flooding and the damage caused to a brand new terminal," the aviation official said.
"This is not the first time it has happened. We propose to summon the top officials for an explanation soon. Action may also be taken accordingly."
No injuries were reported, but the incident prompted 10 incoming flights to be diverted.
Delhi International Airport Ltd., which operates the Delhi airport, told news service the roof collapse also prompted 20 outgoing flights to be rescheduled
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Rain deficits in India narrows by three percent
The rain deficit in India has narrowed to 26 from 29 percent earlier after a 'significant improvement' in monsoon activity in the past week, the Met Department said Friday.
'There has been a significant improvement in monsoon activity during the Aug 13-19 period compared to the previous week,' a statement from Indian Meterological Department - said.
The cumulative seasonal rainfall from June 1 to Aug 19 for the country was 26 percent below the average, while till Aug 12 it was 29 percent.
The met department has predicted 'fairly widespread rainfall' till Aug 23 along the west coast and a subdued rainfall activity over north India, including Delhi and neighbouring state.
The southwest monsoon rainfall is likely to improve over Orissa, south Chhattisgarh and north Andhra Pradesh from Aug 24.
North Karnataka, Maharashtra and adjoining Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat region will receive heavy rains from Aug 26 onwards, the weather office saidf.
North-east monsoon may be kinder
September, October and November may witness largely "climatological" conditions over India - which means the least possibility of deviation from historically observed weather pattern.
The usual pattern is for monsoon to start retreating from extreme west Rajasthan from September 1. It will progressively retreat from more areas to exit the landmass entirely by the end of September.
Withdrawal would technically mean the end of rains, but the north-west region has been known to receive stray showers from passing western disturbances even during September.
Occasionally, the withdrawal process has even been forced to call a halt due to intervening rains over northwest and even central India.
Given this, the process needs to be watched for any late-season rains that would add to crucial soil moisture for the rabi crop.
The International Research Institute for Climate Prediction at Columbia University sees an enhanced possibility of a reasonably good north-east monsoon, especially from November. But the gains may mostly accrue for the south peninsula.
According to the Busan, South Korea-based Asia-Pacific Climate Centre (APCC), the west coast, south peninsula and the east coast may see below- or near-normal rainfall till October, along with above-normal temperatures.
During October, probability of near-normal rains is indicated for north, northwest and east India. The south peninsula and the southeast coast will sit out of this regime.
But there is a chance that the rainfall signals over India may be near-normal in November, the APCC added.
Normal Winter
Collectively, early signals suggest normal winter precipitation regime varyingly for northwest and east India. This is strikingly in contrast with winter of the previous year when rains failed the region for the most part.
Meanwhile, in a monsoon status update on Friday, the Indian Met Department (IMD) said there has been significant improvement in monsoon activity over the south peninsula, northwest and northeast India during the week ending August 19 (Wednesday).
The Gangetic plains, foothills of the Himalayas, Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and the south peninsula excluding the west coast received excess rainfall from a partial revival of the monsoon. But the rains were subdued over central India while being scanty over Maharashtra, Gujarat and west Rajasthan.
The monsoon trough may remain close to the foothills of the Himalayas till Sunday and return to its normal position thereafter to signal further recovery in rainfall.
Fairly widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy falls is likely along the foothills of the Himalayas and the Northeastern Sates till Sunday and decrease thereafter.
Bay Whirl
A cyclonic circulation is likely to develop over northwest Bay of Bengal around Monday and may move westward across Orissa and Chhattisgarh to signal the revival of monsoon rains over these regions.
The IMD too has since joined the watch for monsoon to improve over Orissa, south Chhattisgarh and north Andhra Pradesh from August 24 (Monday) and north Karnataka, Maharashtra and adjoining Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat two days hence, with fairly widespread rainfall and isolated heavy to very heavy falls.
Gradual strengthening of lower-level westerlies is likely over the south and central Arabian Sea along with likely development of an offshore trough along the west coast.
Considering the large-scale features, the Madden-Julian Oscillation index is likely to be favourable from the second half of the week for enhanced rainfall activity, especially in central and peninsular India, the IMD update added.
south coastal Andhra, Konkan and coastal Karnataka is getting good early morning monsoon showers .. http://ping.fm/DxPyI
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