Vol. 5 No.2 -
August 2003 |
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Many
thanks to the several contributors
to this issue. New contributions
are welcome. Please send in yours
by September, 2003 to make it to
the next issue of this newsletter.
Please note the change in email
address from slmon_news@hotmail.com
to slmohn@sltnet.lk
Lareef
Zubair, Editor. |
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Regional
Weather Prediction developed by
National Centre for Medium Range
Weather Forecasting, New Delhi
written by Lareef Zubair based on
conversation with Dr. S.C. Kar of
the NCMRWF on June 9, 2003 at Palisades,
New York and correspondance with
Dr. S.V. Singh and Dr.E. Rajagopal
by email.
For
the last four months, the National
Centre for Medium Range Weather
Forecasting (NCMRWF) has been producing
maps of rainfall and wind fields
at a lead time of 1-3 days for Sri
Lanka. The NCMRWF is the Indian
Government Agency that issues predictions
of weather from a range of seven
days up to a month or perhaps a
season.
It
was initiated as an entity separate
but interlinked with the Indian
Meteorological Department in 1988
so as to promote both within the
Department and outside India and
Internationally. It has now expanded
and shall be moving into a new building
in New Delhi. It has the most powerful
scientific computing resources in
India including a CRAY SV1, a Supercomputer
indigenously developed from DEC
Alpha processors and the fully indigenous
PARAM supercomputer that was developed
when India was denied CRAY computers
from the US. Its predictions are
based on real-time weather information
that is available from the Global
Telecommunication System (GTS) of
the WMO and additional information
from meteorological stations within
India that are not included in the
GTS system. All of this data is
assimilated with two Global Forecast
Models – one, a derivative
from the National Centre for Environmental
Prediction (NCEP) - the weather
prediction centre of the US and
another, which was indigenously
generated.
An
integral part of its operations
is the development of high-resolution
regional climate models - it has
implemented 3 types of regional
models in the Indian region including
the MM5, the NCEP Eta Model and
the RSM. For Sri Lanka, a higher
resolution version is being developed
at a horizontal resolution for 32
km and with 38 vertical layers.
These results are available from
the NCMRWF to all. The work is being
overseen by Dr. E.N. Rajagopal.
This work was initiated as assistance
from Indian under the BIMST-EC (Bangladesh,
India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand
-Economic Cooperation) program.
There has been an exchange of visits
by a delegation from the Sri Lankan
Department of Meteorology to NCMRWF
in March 2003 to New Delhi and in
addition, the Director of NCMRWF
visited the Colombo office of the
Sri Lankan Meteorological Department.
An examination of the NCMRWF forecast
archives for the period of the May
2003 cyclone shows that the NCMRWF
model was able to provide forewarning
of the intense winds and the orographic
precipitation in South-Western Sri
Lanka.
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M.Sc Course
In Atmospheric Physics and Dynamical
Meteorology at the University of
Colombo reported
by Dr. Chandana Jayaratne
The
course coordinator Dr Chandana Jayaratne
reports that the second course on
MSc in Atmospheric Physics and Dynamical
Meteorology of the Department of
Physics, University of Colombo was
commneced on 4th July 2003. The
lecturers for this course have been
drawn from the University of Colombo,
Open University and the Department
of Meteorology. In addition, various
visiting lecturers have been tapped
The course is partially funded by
the ADB Personnel Development Project
of the Ministry of Human Resourse,
Science and Technology. Due to the
heavy demand, 25 graduate students
have been enrolled for the second
course and 14 of them will receive
a partial scolarship from the ADB.
There were 18 graduate students
in the first enrollment. The course
comprises 18 months of lectures
followed by six months of full-time
research.
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M.Sc
Course in Oceanographic Science
at the University of Peradeniya
Three
semesters of lectures have been
completed for the M.Sc course on
Oceanography at the Post-Graduate
Institute of Science at the University
of Peradeniya. The lectures were
conducted with the assistance of
lecturers from the University of
Peradeniya, National Acquatic Resources
Agency and Dr. Sarupria from the
University of Mangalore in India. The
students will be undertaking six
months of research.
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El Nino
has completely dissipated : IRI,
17 July 2003
The
International Research Institute
for Climate Prediction (IRI) issues
monthly summaries about the current
state of ENSO, and the consensus
of models that forecast ENSO developments
for the coming 6 or more months.
ENSO
conditions are currently near-neutral.
Ocean temperatures in the far eastern equatorial
Pacific are below average, while
temperatures in the east-central
and central Pacific are neutral
to above average. The latest
observations and forecasts no longer
indicate a significant preference
for development of La Niña
conditions over the next few months.
A continuation of neutral conditions
appears most likely through the
remainder of 2003.
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Dipole
Mode has Engaged in Indian Ocean:
Suryachandra Rao, FRSGC August 4,
2003
It
is now clear that the Indian Ocean
Dipole event has evolved in the
tropical Indian Ocean; recent definite
events were in 1994 and 1997. We
have been cautious this time not
to release a false alarm. Now
we are sure that it is not an ISO
event but IOD. We invite you
to visit our webpage to see our
discussions during the tracking
of the event.
http://www.jamstec.go.jp/frsgc/research/d1/iod/
According to our perusal of the
reanalysis data sets form ECMWF
and NCEP-NCAR including the ECMWF
Ocean Analysis, the winds are consistently
westward from the eastern to central
tropical Indian Ocean. Also, the
SST anomalies near the Java and
Sumatra coasts are colder by 2/3
deg. centigrade. The central and
western parts of the basin are warming
up now. We also observe a consistent
dipole pattern in the OLR anomalies;
eastern part rains being suppressed.
Those are typical evidences of the
IOD event during this time of the
year.
The teleconnection pattern exactly
fits the current world unusual conditions
(extremely hot southern Europe,
southern China; flood in northern
India and Bangladesh; dry western
Australia, etc.). We are afraid
that tropical eastern Africa will
suffer from flooding this fall.
It is extremely hot over East Asia
(Shanghai, Okinawa etc.) owing to
expected strengthening of the Bonin
High based on our recent analysis.
Interestingly, there is still no
summer in the northern part of Japan
because of the strong Okhotsk High
activity due to the last cold winter
(and the resulting cold SST).The
mass media in Japan are anxiously
following our updates and discussing
the scientific issues with us. We
welcome your discussion on this
Indian Ocean climate event and related
unusual conditions in the world.
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Climate Update
for Asia
The
momentum in the eastern Pacific
to a La Niña has stalled
and indeed even regressed to neutral
El Niño-Southern Oscillation
characteristics. However, there
still remain La Niña type
warm anomalies especially in the
equatorial western Pacific Ocean.
The Arabian Sea particularly towards
the equator remains unseasonably
warmer along with the Red Seas and
the Mediterranean seas. These sea
surface patterns were influential
in the pattern of increased rainfall
in the Central Asian regions, in
the Western Indian Ocean and in
South-Eastern China and rainfall
deficits in the Indian subcontinent
and the Indonesian archipelago.
The preponderantly warm seas also
contributed to the occasional heat
waves in the Indian subcontinent
that caused several deaths.
The
flooding in South-East China affected
100 million people and led to 589
deaths and economic losses estimated
at $5 billion. In the Central Asian
region of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan,
the increased snow melt and enhanced
rainfall led to flooding, landslides
and damage to fruit cultivation.
Drought prevailed in Pakistan, Bangladesh
and the Indian states including
Rajasthan and Karnataka leading
to crop and livestock losses and
outbreaks of disease such as Monkey
fever.
In
Sri Lanka the overall tendency was
towards drier than normal conditions,
however, a severe but localized
flood led to a death toll of 260
and affected 250,000 persons. The
flood was caused by orographic rainfall
due to intense winds caused by a
cyclone that tracked its way 700
km to the east in the Bay of Bengal.
This episode of a flood amidst a
drought seems paradoxical at first.
It illustrates the nuances in spatial
and temporal scale in the relationship
of weather events to seasonal climatic
anomalies that can befuddle users
of climate information.
The
predictions for the remainder of
summer monsoon in the Indian subcontinent
are for a slightly wetter tendency.
Following the record deficit rainfall
last summer in India, this shall
be welcome. On the other hand, Indonesia
shows strong dry tendency for Sumatra
and a wet tendency for the islands
in the West of the archipelago particularly
in Borneo, Irian Jaya and Papua
New Guinea. The predictions for
the upcoming season generally show
a warm tendency except for slight
cooling in the Indonesian islands.
One must take some caution with
these predictions since the Indian
Ocean sea surface predictions (that
are used as boundary conditions
for global climate models) are not
as skillful as that for the Pacific
Ocean.
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Climate
Update for Sri Lanka
Notwithstanding
the heavy flooding in the South-West
corner of Sri Lanka (including parts
of Sabragamuwa and the Southern Province),
the overall tendency during the last
season has been to drier than normal
conditions. The predictions from IRI
for the coming season (October to
December, 2003) point to a slightly
wetter tendency.
The IRI
assessments of precipitation from
October to December for Sri Lankan
region shows a tendency towards slightly
wetter conditions from normal in the
period from October to December. These
predictions are based on poorly estimated
Indian Ocean sea surface temperatures.
It is reported by Frontier Research
Centre for Global Change that the Indian
Ocean Dipole mode is under development.
If this dipole mode persists through
the end of the year, then this is
known to cause a wetter tendency for
the Sri Lankan region. The IRI temperature
predictions show a slight tendency
to cooler conditions from October
to December. Attention is thus warranted
on the developing conditions in the
next months before the next Maha (Rabi
in India) season.
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Popular Book
on Lightning Hazards in Sri Lanka
by K.R. Abhayasingha
Editors
Note: K.R.Abhayasingha, Deputy Director,
Department of Meteorology, Colombo,
Sri Lanka has edited a book on lightning
hazards and is seeking to have it
published. He has already published
two books: one on Static Electricity,
Lightning and Thunder and the other
on Weather in Sri Lanka to his credit.
You can contact Mr. Abhayasingha at
krabey@yahoo.com with your suggestions.
At present,
reading materials on lightning in
the local language (Sinhala) is sparse.
Hence I have edited a book to convey
the public the necessary information
of lightning and precautionary
measures, practical inexpensive
precautionary measures and technical
methods to mitigate and reduce
hazards. The book will comprise answers
to a set of questions frequently asked
by the public particularly during
the periods with considerable lightning
activity. Ignorance of the characteristics
of lightning and its hazards is one
of the main reasons for continuing
increase of death toll and property
damage by lightning.
Lightning
activity over Sri Lanka shows peaks
during two Inter-monsoon seasons,
March-May and October-November. During
these periods convective clouds (Cumulonimbus)
develop over many parts of the island
mostly during the afternoon or evening.
Sri Lanka witnesses over 50 deaths
of human beings and damage to property
of billions of rupees worth every
year. I have participated in studies
of various characteristics, hazards
and vulnerability to lightning in
Sri Lanka in association with the
National Research Council, the National
Science Foundation, University of
Colombo, Uppsala University, Sweden
and my own Department. These completed
projects have resulted in several
reports and papers. Most of the victims
were found to be the poor and the
workers with low income. Living in
unprotected places and not taking
precautions for minimizing lightning
hazards are also common reasons for
lightning disasters. The poor living
conditions and exposure to lightning
at worksites are the causes of most
of the deaths. Books are expensive
in Sri Lanka and it is difficult for
the average person to buy them. Awareness
regarding natural hazards in Sri Lanka
is rather low as the public are reluctant
to buy books. Therefore, it would
be best if the book is sold at a very
low and affordable prize. The book
that I am editing will cost around
Rs.80/= Sri Lankan rupees (SLR) a
copy to print. I expect to print 10,000
copies for distribution at a very
low cost of Rs 10/=. The cost for
all 10,000 copies shall be Rs.800,000
(US$ 8000/=). I am looking for financial
support for the proposed service.
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Update on Meteorological
Department Land Take Over By the
British High Commission
The
action of this network (and in
particular 30 members who signed
the petition) over the take over
of the land still goes on. The
campaign has managed to publicize
the disregard of environmental
data in Sri Lanka and has brought
strong statements by NASTEC, SLAAS,
EFL and several climate scientists
with significant coverage in the
press. In addition, the Ombudsman
has investigated the matter and
inquiries have been requested
by both the President's Office
and Prime Minister's Office as
to the utter disregard of both
government rules and scientific
opinion. At the very least, this
campaign should prevent the further
acquisition of the remaining part
of the Observatory and has sensitized
all concerned regarding the pivotal
nature of environmental data.
The following further action is
planned.
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Article
on the land take over to be
published by TIEMPO from the
University of East Anglia in
September 2003- this is a newsmagazine
that is widely distributed in
the Climate Change Community.
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Followup
article on the campaign has
been submitted to Sri Lankan
newspapers
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We
shall petition the United Nation
Framework Convention on Climate
Change
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Workshop
on Tropical Cyclone and Monsoons,
New Delhi
reported
by Dr. S.V. Singh, Director of the NCMRWF,
New Delhi.
A workshop
on Monitoring, Prediction and Warning
of Tropical cyclones and Monsoon
was held under the aegis of BIMST-EC
forum at New Delhi, during 25-28
March, 2003. It was organised by
National Centre for Medium Range
Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) in
close cooperation with the Department
of Science & Technology(DST)
and Ministry of External affairs, Govt.
of India. The BIMST-EC is a
new sub regional group to create
an enduring environment for rapid
economic development. To move cooperation
forward in a tangible manner,
the member countries have agreed
to focus on six priority sectors.
The above workshop was organised
under the technology sector. The
BIMST countries not only share
the common socio-economic and
geographic conditions but also experience
common weather and climate, particularly
the tropical cyclones and monsoon.
As rapid developments have been
taken place in the recent past in
the capabilities in understanding
and prediction of weather events
in these countries, it was thought
appropriate to take stock of these
developments and share the relevant
experience and knowledge for enhancing
these capabilities further.
The organization of the workshop
was overseen by an International
Organizing Committee chaired by
Prof. V. S. Ramamurthy, Secretary,
DST and the scientific programme
committee was chaired by Dr. S.
V. Singh, Head NCMRWF. Three scientists
each from Bangladesh, Thailand and
Sri Lanka and 45 delegates
from India participated in the workshop.
The Workshop was divided in 5 technical
sessions viz. (i) Tropical Cyclones
: Understanding, Prediction And
Warning, (ii) Monsoon : Understanding
and Prediction, (iii) Prediction
and Impact of Extreme Weather Events
(iv) Meteorological Observations,
Communications, Disaster Management
and Field Experiments and (v) Meteorological
Training and Education. In each
of the sessions presentations were
made by the Indian as well as foreign
delegates. For the purpose of coherent
and focused discussion five subgroups
were formed led by eminent scientists
and the recommendation of these
groups were presented by the group
leaders and considered while making
the final recommendations. Though
the representatives from Myanmar
could not attend the workshop, the
Director General of Meteorology
and Hydrology had sent his comments
on different themes and these were
considered by group leaders while
formulating their recommendations
as well as in the final discussions
in the concluding session.
The programme also included an evening
lecture by Mr. D. R. Sikka, an
eminent scientist on 'Global Perspective
of Monsoon and Tropical Cyclones’
. The workshop provided an opportunity
to share each others experience
and progress in prediction of severe
weather events including tropical
cyclones and monsoon. It was recognized
that both the NCMRWF, India and
TMD in Thailand run global forecast
models on super computers. The Bangladesh
and Sri Lanka used the forecasts
produced by NCMRWF and they have
acknowledge these forecasts to be
highly useful. There was near unanimity
in the participating countries for
move closer collaboration in the
area of numerical weather prediction
related training and data exchange.
Some of the other important recommendations
included the organization of joint
field experiments and exchange visitors
for carrying out collaboration work.
This desire of investigating the
mysteries together by the counties
surrounding the Bay of Bengal augur
well for development of capabilities
for predicting high impact weather
in the region. Just after this workshop,
a team of four scientists from Sri
Lankan Meteorological Department
visited NCMRWF for one week to familiarize
with the modeling activities of
NCMRWF and to discuss about the
future collaboration towards installation
of PC based meso-scale models.
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Was
this Maha’s Bumper Rice Harvest
in Sri Lanka due to El Niño
as hinted by the Department of Agriculture’s
Agro-meteorologist?
The newspapers report that there
was a bumper rice harvest for the
last Maha season. There is celebration
on the one hand, but it has left
farmers with the problem of obtaining
a poor market. Our policy makers
are left to wonder whether this
bumper harvest shall be sustained
or whether it is a one-off phenomenon
so that they can alter their policies.
Indeed in 1988/89, after three decades
of sustained increases in rice production,
there was a bumper harvest in both
Yala and Maha seasons and several
subsidies such as for fertilizer
were reduced.
During the last five decades, the
national rice production has systematically
increased due to factors such as
high-yielding seed varieties, increased
fertilizer application, increases
in land under cultivation and use
of tractors. Along with this trend,
there is also a year to year variation
in harvest primarily due to rainfall
variations. An analysis of these
year to year variations of harvests
shows that by and large during the
global El Niño climatic episodes,
the Yala harvest decreases and the
Maha harvest increases. This may
indeed have been the cause of the
rise in rice production last Maha
as an El Niño persisted through
it.
During El Niño episodes,
there is usually an increase in
rainfall over Sri Lanka from October
to December at the start of the
Maha season and an increase in rice
production. In certain,
the rainfall was so heavy that there
were floods so that production got
disrupted. Factors such as war,
sudden changes in fertilizer policy
and a hike in the previous seasons
harvest can influence the rice production
along with climate. Not every El
Niño results in an increase
in rainfall at the planting season
and it is only the most important
of several global climatic factors
that influences Sri Lanka’s
climate.
During the Yala, the rainfall is
below average during El Niño
episodes. Since Yala is a water-constrained
season and only half the land is
cultivated. So the impact of rainfall
anomalies is brought out more clearly
and there is a slightly stronger
relationship between El Niño.
If the La Niña lasts through
both a Maha and a Yala then the
combined rice production tends to
drop in Sri Lanka as the Maha harvest
is about twice that of Yala.
Last year indeed, an El Niño
started in July 2002 and went on
until May 2003. Indeed, the progressive
agro-meteorologist of the Department
of Agriculture, Dr. Ranjith Punyawardhene,
who has undertaken pioneering research
on this topic, did issue this forecast
to extension officers of the Agriculture
Department in early October 2002.
According to the last update on
the current El Niño conditions
issued by the International Research
Institute for Climate Prediction,
there is nearly 100% chance that
El Niño conditions will continue
for the remainder of 2002 and up
to early 2003. Studies
conducted in Sri Lanka have revealed
that El Niño events are more
likely to cause near or above normal
rains during October and November
of the Maha season. Thus,
it could be safely assumed that
prevailing rainy weather may continue
… during October-November,
2002.
The issuance of this advisory was
a significant development in the
application of climate information
in Sri Lanka.
Given the heavy rains that did transpire
and the relationship between heavy
rainfall and increased rice harvest,
it may be prudent to consider that
this years increase bumper crop
was indeed partially due to the
El Niño event! There is also
an increasing trend in rice production
in the last few years perhaps related
to the peace in the rice growing
areas. However, the El Niño
may have indeed played its part
in the bumper crop. The El Niño
has abated now and it has lapsed
into neutral conditions now.
Thus we cannot be assured of a similar
bumper crop in the coming seasons.
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Flooding in Sri Lanka in May 2003
by Lareef
Zubair.
Heavy
rainfall deluged South-Western Sri
Lanka between the 11th
and 19th of May 2003.
Floods and landslides claimed 260
lives. Schools, homes and other
infrastructure destroyed. The historical
average rainfall in the South-Western
corner comprising parts of Southern
part of Sabragamuwa and Southern
Provinces for May is 275 mm. The
heaviest rainfall on record is 600
mm during 1936; the lowest is 18
mm in 1953. So the regional average
rainfall for 2003 of 450 mm is high
but not extreme. But last May’s
rainfall was concentrated in a few
places and in one week and particular
on the 17th. The
monthly rainfall in Ratnapura was
718 mm with half of that falling
on the 17th of May.
What were the weather conditions
that led to this rainfall? Strangely,
it turns out that it was due to
a cyclonic storm. Strange
because, there has been no record
of such a storm making landfall
in Sri Lanka during May. This is
one reason why people were caught
unawares.
The
2003 cyclonic storm did not make
landfall in Sri Lanka but was far
away in the Bay of Bengal! The storm
started 700 km to the East of Sri
Lanka on the 11th of
May and made its way to the North
and North-East until it reached
Myanmar on the 20th.
As seen in the rainfall estimates
for the Indian Ocean, there was
heavy rainfall along the path of
the cyclone and in a spot far away
in South-Western Sri Lanka.
Why
that corner of Sri Lanka got soaked
when a cyclone traveled so far away
is a freak combination of geography
and wind patterns. In that fateful
week unusual North-Westerly regional
wind patterns stalled the cyclone
in the middle of the Bay of Bengal
for a few days and one of
the octopus like spiral arms of
the cyclone (which draws in expanses
of air to feeds its core) gusted
over Sri Lanka. During May, the
cloud bands that usually deluge
Kerala at the end of month hovers
over Sri Lanka. The cyclonic gusts
from the South-West (which entrained
some of these clouds) were interrupted
by South-Western most mountains
precipitating the deluge on their
south-western slopes. The rainfall
patterns resemble a shadow of Sri
Pada or Adams Peak towards the South-West.
Later, we found out that Kerala
and Tamil Nadu had rainfall deficits
in June.
This
mechanism of mountain-induced rainfall
is the reason why the westward slopes
of the central mountain ridge running
from Kirigalpotta to Hantanna mountains
and Knuckles get such heavy rainfall
during the middle of the year as
strong wind below from the West.
This time however the wind was from
the South-West and the rainfall
pattern for May 2003 is on largely
on the South-Westward slopes. This
is why Deniyaya received heavy rainfall
while Watawala and Matale received
relatively low rainfall last May.
The
major disasters affecting Sri Lanka,
namely floods, landslides, droughts
and cyclones, have hydro-meteorological
antecedents. Last May’s flooding
and landslides and previous hydro-meteorological
disasters such as the cyclones in
1978 and 2000 that affected the
North-East and the recurrent drought
that affects the South-East and
North-West underscores the urgent
need for local computational weather
prediction. Of course, it
is not only the matter of issuing
hazard warnings that shall reduce
damages but also its translation
to hazard warning and the implementation
of appropriate communication of
warnings and disaster preparedness
and mitigation and response systems.
Even with all its shortcomings,
computational weather prediction
has the potential to forewarn of
weather and climate spawned hazards.
Indeed, the National Centre for
Medium Range Weather Forecasting
of India was able to predict high
rainfall in Sri Lanka with useful
accuracy three days in advance last
May 2003 in an experimental mode.
The development of indigenous computational
weather and climate prediction capability
should be a national priority.
Acknowledgement: The
use of rainfall data from the Department
of Meteorology is gratefully acknowledged.
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Cast
of Acclaimed Fluid Dynamicists as
Plenary Lecturers at the 10th Asian
Congress of Fluid Mechanics in Sri
Lanka to be held in May 2004
Venue: University of
Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.
Dates: 17-21 May 2004
Email: acfmx@pdn.ac.lk
Website: http://acfmx.pdn.ac.lk/
Already
Prof. K.R. Sreenivasan, Director
of the International Centre for
Theoretical Physics, Prof. Shigeo
Kida from the National Institute
of Fusion Sciences in Japan, Dr.
He Dexin of the China Aerodynamic
Research and Development Centre,
Prof. Lord Julian Hunt of Cambridge
University, Dr. P.N. Shankar of
the National Aeronautical Laboraties
in India and Prof. Hassan Aref of
Virginia Technological College of
Engineering, USA shall provide plenary
lectures.
The
Asian Fluid Mechanics Committee
(AFMC) was founded in 1980 to advance
research in Fluid Mechanics in Asia
through interaction and exchange
of information between workers in
the field of Fluid Mechanics. It
has been adopted as a member of
the International Union of Theoretical
and Applied Mechanics (IUTAM) soon
after its founding and grown in
scope and range of research activity
during the past 22 years.
The inaugural Asian Congress of
Fluid Mechanics was held in Bangalore
in 1980 and subsequent Congresses
were in Beijing, Tokyo, Hong Kong,
Taejon, Singapore, Chennai, Shenzhen
and Isfahan. Since inception, the
Congress has firmly established
itself as a leading event in the
international calendar of fluid
mechanics.
Papers should be sent
to the relevant country representative:
China:
Professor Erjie Cui, Beijing Institute
of Aerodynamics, P.O. Box 7201,
Beijing 100 074, China E-mail:
ttggs@public.fhnet.cn.net
India:
Dr. T.S. Prahlad (Vice-Chairman),
Chairman, INCOAF, Director, National
Aerospace Laboratories, P B No.
1779, Kodahalli, Bangalore 560 017,
India
E-mail: director@css.nal.res.in
Japan:
Professor Yu Fukunishi, Department
of Machine Intelligence and Systems
Engineering
Graduate School of Engineering,
Tohoku University, Aramaki-Aoba
01, Aoba-ku
Sendai, 980-8579, Japan, E-mail:
fushi@fluid.mech.tohoku.ac.jp
Sri Lanka:
Professor S. Sivasegaram, Faculty
of Engineering, University of Peradeniya,
Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, E-mail: ssivasegaram@pdn.ac.lk
Deadlines:
1 Oct. 2003 Submission of paper
1 Jan. 2004 Notification of acceptance
1 Mar. 2004 Advance registration
& reservation of accommodation
International
Conference on Scale Interaction
and Variabilities of Monsoon (SIVOM)
at
Munnar, Kerala, India
October 6-10, 2003
Objective and Goal:
SiVom aims to begin a dialogue,
and initiate an in-depth discussion
between the group with intimate
knowledge of the tropical dynamics
on one hand and the group with expertise
in areas related to dynamical systems,
modelling and predictability on
the other. SiVoM will also try to
seek a common ground and formulate
an action plan that can lead to
an effective synergy between these
groups.
Deadlines:
Extended Abstract
30.07.2003
Accommodation booking
30.07.2003
Submission of manuscript (optional)
15.08.2003
Travel plan
30.09.2003
Web: http://www.cmmacs.ernet.in/sivom/index1.html
Contact: sivom@cmmacs.ernet.in
Editors Note: The organizers
have agreed to host Sri Lankan students
(and perhaps scientists) at the
rate for Indians.
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Advanced
Institute on Vulnerability to Global
Environmental Change 3-21
May 2004
IIASA, Laxenburg,
Austria
Application Deadline:
15 October 2003
START, in partnership
with the International Institute
for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA),
and with the financial support
of the David and Lucille Packard
Foundation, invites applications
for Institute Fellows to participate
in an Advanced Institute on Vulnerability
to Global Environmental Change.
The Advanced Institute is to have
three components: a three-week
long Seminar to be held 3-21 May
2004 at IIASA in Laxenburg, Austria;
one-year research grants for successful
Institute Fellows; and a culminating
workshop that will follow completion
of the research.
The
Advanced Institute is open to young
scientists and professionals, 40
years of age or younger, from developing
countries. Subject to available
funding, exceptional applicants
from developed countries will be
considered. The Advanced Institute
will be multi-disciplinary and applicants
with backgrounds in social science,
natural science, engineering, management
and public policy are welcome. Applicants
must at a minimum have a masters
degree or equivalent experience
and it is expected that most successful
applicants will have completed a
PhD degree or be enrolled in a PhD
program.
Further details can
be found in the attached Announcement
and Application form. These
documents (in PDF and Word) can
also be found on the START website
(www.start.org) under "What's New."
Questions can be directed to
Ms. Sara Beresford at sberesford@agu.org.
Application materials should be
sent to start-apps@agu.org.
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SUBSCRIPTIONS
Subscriptions
lost with email account - if you
submitted your forms recently please
redsend.
NAME: Dr K P
S C Jayaratne
Address: Department of Physics,
University of colombo, Colombo-03.
Telephone: 0777 309385, 01 583106/7
Ext 283, 01 584777.
FAX: 01 583810
Email: chandana@phys.cmb.ac.lk
Description of my involvement in
the field. Course coordinator and
the founder of the MSc Course in
Atmopheric Physics
and Dynamical Meteorology, University
of Colombo. Lecturer of the fourth
year Atmospheric Physics course
unit(BSc Sprcial degree) and third
year Enviornmental Physics Course
Unit(BSc general degree) at the
Dept. Physcics, University of Colombo.
Conduct research on thunderstorm
electricty, fair-weather atmospheric
electricty and lightning prtection
and presently engage as a member
of the Sri Lanka Standards Institute
committee on preparering the Sri
Lanka Standards for Lightning Protection.
Currently conduct research on Ozone
columnar density measurements in
Sri Lanka and collaborative research
with NBRO on air pollution measrement
and modeling.
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SUBSCRIPTION
FORM
Sri Lanka Meteorology,
Oceanography and Hydrology Network
Name:
Address:
Telephone:
Fax:
Email:
Description of your
involvement in the field: (use additional
space as needed)
Please Send in Your
Forms and contributions for circulation
to
Lareef Zubair
103 Monell Building, Lamont Doherty
Earth Observatory,
P.O.Box 1000, Palisades, NY 10964-8000,
U.S.A
or to
Lareef Zubair,
c/o NRMS, Mahaweli Authority of
Sri Lanka,
Dam Site, Polgolla, Sri Lanka.
Email: slmohn@sltnet.lk
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Sunday, August 24, 2003 11:46 AM
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