About us – 11th WMO Scientific Conference on Weather Modification

About us

About the conference

The 11th Conference on Weather Modification Research and Cloud and Precipitation Physics themes is organized by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The conference will consider weather modification with special emphasis on advances in the subject and prospects. The main themes of the Conference are observational studies and field campaigns, laboratory facilities and studies relevant to the different weather modification topics; numerical modeling, model intercomparisons, verification and assessment studies, new technological developments in seeding platforms, seeding material and methods of delivery, Data-driven models, AI/ML, and statistical methods as applied to current and previous experiments and projects. Weather modification and the physical and socio-economic environment aspects include environmental issues, user requirements, cost-benefit studies, inadvertent weather modification, and climate change and geoengineering. The presentations are solicited for research, development, operational aspects, and new scientific results.

About IITM

Situated in the north-west neighbourhood of Pune City and partially surrounded by small hills, IITM is a scenic campus of more than 200 acres of land with extensive lawns and walking areas within the campus and a variety of species of trees, birds and butterflies. IITM is well-connected to various parts of Pune City. Several other academic institutions such as National Chemical Laboratory and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) are also located near to IITM. IITM campus comprises of office buildings that include workplaces of scientists, administrators and supporting staff, laboratories, library and information services, high-performance computing facilities, research centres etc. in addition to the adjoining residential area for scientists and staff.

Excellence in ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE

IITM is the place to be for atmospheric science research in India. IITM is the center of excellence in monsoon meteorology. IITM research covers climate research, observational meteorology of clouds and precipitation, and laboratory studies. IITM currently has 150 Scientists and over 50 support staff in different research areas of monsoon.
Research on clouds and precipitation was started in the early years by the founder Director, Prof. Pisharoty, with a quest to understand the monsoon clouds. Later, Director Prof. Sikka took it forward in the 70s to investigate the cloud seeding prospects in India. The monsoon is heterogeneous in space and time. The thrust area of IITM is to understand different types of monsoon variability and increase the predictability/ reduce the uncertainty of weather and climate prediction. IITM has over 50 students and young research fellows working on various monsoon-related research topics.

OUR RESEARCH... meteorology from monsoon to droplets...

There is ongoing work in the development of an earth system model, which is projected for IPCC. The prediction of seasonal and extended range (20 days) and short range (3 days) forecasting systems of monsoon are established. The research was carried out with numerical models for large scale to smallest scale, i.e., covering clouds from several hundreds of kilometers to a small cloud droplet, supporting the fundamental research in this area. Clouds are the largest uncertainty in the numerical models, and the institute has a flourishing program on aerosol and cloud physics involving field campaigns, an observatory for long-term monitoring, and a laboratory for fluid dynamics and cloud physics.
IITM has conducted the airborne observational program on clouds and precipitation during the Cloud Aerosol Interaction and Precipitation Enhancement Experiment (CAIPEEX) for over 10 years. It has India’s first High Altitude Cloud Physics Laboratory, set up for long-term observations of cloud, aerosol, radiation, atmospheric dynamics, etc. IITM has also gained a significant understanding of electrification in thunderstorms. IITM also has a well-established WMO-recognized chemistry program for urban air pollution monitoring and prediction. There is a Fluxnet (for surface-atmosphere exchange) observational program with a network of surface and atmospheric carbon flux sites.

IITM Facilities

IITM is well equipped with facilities to handle international conferences having parallel sessions. The institute has one state-of-the-art auditorium, Meghdoot (named after the monsoon poetry masterpiece by the renowned ancient Indian poet Kalidas), that can comfortably accommodate around 500 participants for inaugural sessions, plenary talks, keynote addresses, valedictory and panel discussions, etc.
Two well-equipped halls -Aaryabhatta and Varahamihir (named after the legendary ancient Indian mathematician and astronomer) can accommodate up to 80 and 120 participants, respectively, for parallel sessions. Meghdoot Auditorium houses two more halls with flat floors where parallel sessions of about 60 participants each can be accommodated. In addition, smaller/informal sessions (about 20 participants) may be organized in the state-of-the-art training rooms in the HPC building. All the above auditorium/halls are equipped with high-quality audio-visual equipment and arrangements for poster sessions and exhibitions.
There are three types of accommodation options available. Accommodation in resorts, hotels, guest houses, student homes, etc., is available. IITM has a new 10-story house, Prithvi, which has 215 single occupancy rooms for students and researchers and 12 guest rooms and has all in-house facilities such as a Canteen, WiFi, Gymnasium, Outdoor area, etc.