RAINFALL IN INDIA

• MONSOON • MONSOON IN INDIA• MECHANISM OF MONSOON• FEATURES OF MONSOON• SIGNIFICANCE

MONSOON

• Monsoon, derived from the Arabic word "Mawsim" meaning "season", although generally defined as a system of winds characterized by a seasonal reversal of its direction,[4] lacks a consistent detailed definition.

MONSOON IN INDIA• A Monsoon of the Indian subcontinent is

among several geographically distributed observations of global monsoon taking place in the Indian subcontinent.

• In the subcontinent, it is one of oldest weather observations, an economically important weather pattern and the most anticipated weather event and unique weather phenomenon

MECHANISM OF MONSOON• Monsoon is a tropical phenomenon. Indian subcontinent,

lies northwards of the equator up to the Himalayas and Hindukush, primarily in the tropical zone of the Northern Hemisphere.

• Weather pattern involves winds blowing from the south-west direction (known as South-West Monsoon) from the Indian Ocean onto the Indian landmass during the months of June through September.

• These are generally rain-bearing winds, blowing from sea to land, and bring rains to most parts of the subcontinent.

• They split into two branches, the Arabian Sea Branch and the Bay of Bengal Branch near the southernmost end of the Indian Peninsula. They are eagerly awaited in most parts of India for their agricultural and economic importance.

FEATURES OF MONSOON

• "Bursting" of Monsoon Rains Bursting of Monsoon implies the onset of the sudden

change in weather conditions in India (typically from hot and dry weather to wet and humid weather during the SW Monsoon) due to abrupt rise in the mean daily rainfall. Similarly the burst of NE monsoon marks an abrupt increase in the mean daily rainfall over the affected regions.

• Monsoon Rain Variability ("Vagaries") One of the most commonly used phrases to describe the

erratic nature of the Monsoon of the Indian subcontinent is "vagaries of monsoon", used in newspapers, magazines, books, web-portals to insurance plans and India's budget discussions.

SIGNIFICANCE

• Indian Monsoon is the primary delivery mechanism for fresh water in the Indian subcontinent.

• As such it impacts the environment (and associated flora, fauna and ecosystems), agriculture, society, hydro-power production and geography of the subcontinent (like availability of fresh water in water bodies, underground water table) with all these factors cumulatively contributing towards the health of the economy of affected countries.

• The Indian Monsoon turns large parts of India from a kind of semi-desert into green grasslands.