A group of researchers including Prof. Amit Tandon have unveiled an innovative approach to studying rainfall patterns in a recent article published in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. By harnessing the power of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and acoustic data using hydrophones, scientists are pushing the boundaries of detecting precipitation. Traditional methods of tracking rainfall rely on weather radar and satellite imagery, which can be limited in remote or heavily vegetated areas. Given that more than 75% of the Earth’s precipitation occurs over the ocean and satellite measurements have large uncertainties, meteorologists and climatologists seek alternate rain detection methods to further improve weather prediction models.

This paper uses data from a weather station, located in the SMAST pier in New Bedford as a reference and simultaneously listened to the rainfall from the hydrophones on the pier to develop a new PCA based rain detection algorithm which exploits broadband acoustic data.

More information about this article can be found here. Congratulations Dr Mallary and team!

Siddhant (Sid) Kerhalkar, a PhD candidate in Tandon labs, presented a seminar on his research on Diurnal Warm Layers (DWLs) at Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology Pune on July 11, 2023.  Attended by many distinguished scientists there, Sid was able to convince the audience about the importance of DWLs in monsoon representation and present observational evidence of the lateral variability over O(30 km) in these layers, arguably due to the spatial gradients in the wind speed patterns and background stratification over similar length scales in the Bay of Bengal.

Sid also utilized this time to understand the work various research various groups do at IITM Pune as well as understand how observational oceanographers like him could help the modeling community in developing a better understanding of monsoons.

Dive into the captivating journey of the computational oceanographer and PhD candidate from our lab, Iury Simoes-Sousa, who traveled from Brazil to UMass Dartmouth to delve deeper into the intriguing world of ocean vortices and their impact on climate change. He recently collaborated with conservationists in a mission to relocate a lost manatee named Tico, who strayed over 2,000 miles away from home. From understanding the dance of ocean vortices to aiding in marine conservation, Iury’s tale is a testament to the power of international collaboration and the intersection of science, environment, and society. Explore the full interview for an inspiring insight into his life and work.