History

The Centre for Atmospheric Sciences was established in 1982 under the chairmanship of Prof. Roddam Narasimha. This became the Centre for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences in 1996. Owing to its interdisciplinary nature, over the years, the Centre has attracted faculty and students from different branches of science and engineering. In addition to its intellectual character, research in atmospheric and oceanic science addresses issues relevant to our society and our future. Through its history, the Centre has received generous support from the Department of Ocean Development, the Department of Space, the Department of Science and Technology, the University Grants Commission and the Ministry of Human Resources Development.

A distinguishing feature of CAOS is the lead our faculty have taken in the design and implementation of national and international field campaigns. Notable missions include, Monsoon Trough Boundary Layer Experiment (MONTBLEX, 1990) followed by the Bay of Bengal Monsoon Experiment (BOBMEX, 1999), Arabian Sea Monsoon Experiment (ARMEX, 2002-05) and the Continental Tropical Convergence Zone experiment (CTCZ, 2009-2015) as part of the Indian Climate Research Program (ICRP). More recently, faculty from the Centre have helped in defining the scientific objectives of the Indo-French Megha-Tropiques satellite and participated in the Cloud Aerosol Interaction and Precipitation Enhancement Experiment (CAIPEEX, 2009-2012). Ongoing international missions that we are participating in include, Ocean Mixing and Monsoon (OMM), The Bay of Bengal Boundary Layer Experiment (BoBBLE) and Interaction of Convective Organization with Monsoon Precipitation, Atmosphere, Surface and Sea (INCOMPASS), which are Indo-US and Indo-UK collaborations, respectively.