The Indian drought of 2002 - a sub-seasonal phenomenon?

Bhat, GS (2006) The Indian drought of 2002 - a sub-seasonal phenomenon? In: Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 132 (621). pp. 2583-2602.

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Abstract

A major drought occurred over India in the year 2002 with a seasonal rainfall deficit of 21.5%, a result of 56% below normal rainfall in the month of July. The largest anomalies occurred in the western parts of India, when an Indian monsoon field experiment was in progress there. The present study is based primarily on data collected from a research ship that was deployed 100–250 km off the west coast of India for the experiment. Surface and upper air observations made over the eastern Arabian Sea during July 2002 are presented. Sea-surface conditions were favourable for supporting deep convection over the study area. Strong atmospheric inversions around 800 hPa prevented the growth of cumulonimbus during the first half and towards the end of July. A second inversion above the melting level was also prominently present. The strength and persistence of the inversions are unusual. Backtrajectory analysis reveals a major change in the low-level circulation during July 2002 with frequent advection of dry air from over the deserts around the eastern Arabian Sea instead of marine air from across the equator.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society
Publisher:	John Wiley & Sons
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to John Wiley & Sons.
Keywords:	Atmospheric inversion;Field experiment;Monsoon break;Tropical convection
Department/Centre:	Division of Mechanical Sciences > Centre for Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
Date Deposited:	23 Jun 2007
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2010 04:36
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/10382

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