JAMMU: Hon’ble Vice Chancellor, Central University of Jammu, Prof. Sanjeev Jain, inaugurated the Ceilometer Lidar Observatory in the university campus today. This state-of-the-art facility has been established in collaboration with Physical Research Laboratory, Department of Space, Government of India, Ahmedabad (PRL) as a part of PRL's ambitious Indian Lidar Network (ILIN) Program. While inaugurating the observatory, Prof. Jain congratulated the Atmospheric Science Research Group of Department of Environmental Sciences, CU Jammu and Space and Atmospheric Sciences Division, of PRL for setting up this unique facility which is first of its kind in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir.
He emphasized upon the importance of atmospheric and climate science research particularly for the Jammu & Kashmir region and encouraged the stakeholders to conduct research for societal good and sustainable Himalayan environment. He also extended full support for strengthening this collaboration for further augmenting the already existing advanced instrumentation facilities for Atmospheric Science Research in Central University of Jammu.
Prof. Som Kumar Sharma, Deputy Head, Space and Atmospheric Sciences Division, PRL, Ahmedabad led the delegation from PRL. He apprised that under this ILIN program, several Lidar laboratories are being set-up, covering different regions of India. These Lidar laboratories will focus on the investigation of the Atmospheric Cloud Characteristics, Atmospheric Boundary Layer Dynamics, and other Atmospheric Processes. Dr. Ankit Tandon, Nodal Faculty for Ceilometer Lidar Observatory at CU Jammu shared that the primary objectives of this observatory includes Long-Term Real-Time Monitoring of Cloud Layers Height and Cloud Vertical Structure, Understanding Atmospheric Boundary Layer Dynamics, Studying Rain Droplets Size Distribution and other Rain Characteristics and Real-Time Monitoring of major Weather Parameters, covering the Jammu Region of North-Western Himalayas.
Dr. Shweta Yadav, Coordinator, Himalayan Aerosol Research Instrumentation Facility expressed gratitude to Prof. Sanjeev Jain, HVC, CU Jammu and Prof. Anil Bhardwaj, Director PRL for their encouragement and kind support for the establishment of this observatory, a crucial facility to generate rich atmospheric datasets for better understanding of climate processes over this region.
Prof. Som Kumar Sharma also delivered a talk on the topic, “Atmospheric Investigations using Ground-based Lidar and Satellites: Science and Societal Perspectives.” Prof. Richa Kothari, Head, Department of Environmental Sciences thanked Prof. Sharma for giving deep insights on how Lidar based technologies are helping in strengthening the scientific knowledge on Atmospheric Sciences and serving the society at large.Prof. Sunil Dhar, Dean, School of Life Sciences shared his views on the importance of such studies. Prof. Vinay Kumar, Dean, School of Basic and Applied Sciences mentioned that the establishment of this observatory will complement the ongoing Radiosonde measurements at Satish Dhawan Centre for Space Science in CU Jammu. Faculty members, research scholars and students took part in open house discussions with the PRL team for exploring future research possibilities under the Indian Lidar Network (ILIN) Program.
