Scientists of the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) in Chennai under the Ministry of Earth Sciences have achieved a major technological breakthrough by developing the country’s first Polar Remotely Operated Vehicle (PROVe) which could be deployed in hitherto unreached and unexplored regions in Antarctica.
This breakthrough is being described as a great leap forward in forecasting with precision the ever elusive Monsoon, a weather phenomenon which determines India’s economy. This remotely operable vehicle developed exclusively by the scientists and engineers of NIOT will help unravel the mysteries behind the ever elusive Monsoon, according to a senior scientist in the team .
Union Minister for Science and Technology Dr Harsh Vardhan, who made the formal announcement about the achievement of the NIOT scientists said here on Wednesday that the results of the findings of this vehicle would contribute vastly to mankind’s understanding of climate.”This will also enhance our capability to predict Monsoon,” he said.
Dr MA Atmanand, director, NIOT, said though NIOT had developed a vehicle capable of probing the sea bed under normal temperature, the new vehicle is capable of exploring up to 200 meters in inhospitable and tough regions like the ice clad Antarctica. “We can study and find out details about dissolved oxygen in sea bottom, salinity and the quantity of sunlight hitting the bottom of the sea. The results will help us in understanding the biological activities taking place inside the sea,” Atmanand told The Pioneer. The measurement of ocean currents, temperature , salinity and irradiants are factors playing a major role in the behaviour of Monsoon.
The PROVe is being deployed at India’s base camp at Antarctica for collecting the parameters required in forecasting Monsoon. As on date scientists depend on Mathematical models for forecasting the Monsoon which many times vary from initial forecasts.