MCSs of the Indian Summer monsoon (MCSIS): Measurements and Modelling
The Tropical Cloud Systems, widely known as Mesoscale Convective Systems (MCSs), are the building blocks of the Tropical Climate and Weather phenomena of all time scales. MCSs play a significant role in the tropical hydrological cycle and energy budget, and account for a large portion of the precipitation in the tropics. MCS consists of a convective region and an associated stratiform region. Convective region of a MCS is an ensemble of cumulonimbus clouds. Cumulonimbus clouds are the building blocks of a convective region. MCS have regions of both convective and stratiform precipitation. Deep convection within MCS influence moistening and drying of the TTL, a key factor for the Global Climate Change. The precipitating Cumulonimbus clouds of the convective region over a location cause abrupt changes in the surface layer structure of the MCS.
There were several national (MONTBLEX-90, LASPEX, BOBMEX, ARMEX, CAIPEX and PRWONAM and international field programmes (JASMINE) carried out in the past to study surface layer variations, air-sea coupling, land-atmosphere coupling during convective conditions in the monsoon seasons.
Here the main objective is to address the issues related to the life cycle of MCSs and to observe the MCSs over the land and oceans with high density network of instrumentation for full fledge comprehensive measurements from sub-surface to lower stratospheric heights. The plan is to include Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for measurements of Atmospheric turbulence and species concentration.
