HYDERABAD: To be able to accurately predict rainfall and other weather fluctuations, professor Archana Bhattacharya, former director of Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG), Mumbai, said that it is important to monitor space weather. The sun’s energetic particles particularly affect the changes on earth and can affect its satellites, she said while addressing a gathering at the National Geological Research Institute on the occasion of its Foundation Day celebration, at Habsiguda on Wednesday.
During the lecture on ‘Prediction of Weather in the near Earth Space Environment’, the professor said that the sunspot, which appears as dark spots on the sun’s surface, are strong magnetic fields with varying effects on Earth during day and night. “Usually the charged particles get deflected by Earth’s magnetic field. Those that reach the Earth, cause changes in its Inosphere. One such manifestation are the Auroras that we see,” she said.
Dr Bhattacharya explained about the importance of space weather studies for reliable predictions which, she said, is imperative in today’s world of technology. Retirees and the staff who completed 25 years of service in the organisation were honoured on this occasion.