M A Atmanand
IIT, Chennai
M A Atmanand is a Visiting Professor at IIT Madras, Chennai. With 38 years of experience in the field of ocean technology, he retired as the Director of the National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai. He is nominated as Chair, Marine Systems Panel, Naval Research Board, DRDO, Govt of India, and is the Governor's nominee to the planning board ofBharathidasan University. He is also an elected member of the Society for Underwater Technology Council and a former member of the Executive Planning Group and the Interim Decade Advisory Board for preparation of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO. He was elected as Chair of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission Regional Committee for the Central Indian Ocean ofIOC, UNESCO (2016-2021 ). He is the recipient ofmany prestigious awards, including the Ministry of Earth Sciences National Award of Excellence in Ocean Technology, and the International Society for Ocean and Polar Engineers Award (2020).
Session 2B - Symposium on "Landscape and Seascape of Western India and Beyond"
Binod Sreenivasan, IISc, Bengaluru
Indian Ocean observations
The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021 to 2030) to mobilise ocean stakeholders worldwide behind a common framework ensuring that ocean science can fully support countries in achieving the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. More coordinated and consolidated observations and research will contribute to the UN processes protecting the ocean and its resources, such as the Aichi Biodiversity targets, the SAMOA Pathway, the United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. As per the latest IPCC report, global warming, reaching 1.5°C in the near term, would cause unavoidable increases in multiple climate hazards and present multiple risks to ecosystems and humans (very high confidence). To assess the planet's health, measuring the condition of the oceans is a particular necessity. The number of ocean observations is far below the requirement by modellers to assimilate and predict climate change globally. Among the world's oceans, the Indian Ocean is warming faster due to its landlocked nature. It is, hence, all the more important to enhance ocean observations in this region. There are two types of observation platforms: the Lagrangian, which moves along with the current and waves in the ocean, and the Eulerian, which is moored and hence stationary in the ocean. The measurements from the moored observatories for underwater, surface and above water are essential for understanding the heat transfer characteristics and, hence, cyclone prediction and studies. There are multiple types of floats working on the principle of variable buoyancy, called Argo floats, gliders, etc. There is another class-Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV)--on which various types of sensors could be integrated. All the measurements are transmitted online through satellite to the mainland for dissemination to the Indian Meteorological Department, researchers and international agencies. Details of these platforms will be covered during the presentation.