Annual Report 2009-2010 - Ministry Of Earth Sciences

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An Overview of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES)
The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) was
established in the year 2006 by bringing the
meteorological agencies and ocean development
department under one umbrella considering
the importance of coupled ocean-atmosphere
processes for understanding the variability of
weather, climate and hazards. The MoES aims
at looking at the planet in a holistic way so as
to develop a comprehensive understanding
of interplay of earth processes. The vision of
the Ministry is to emerge as a knowledge and
information technology enterprise for the earth
system science (atmosphere, hydrosphere,
cryosphere and geosphere) realm for the
Indian subcontinent and Ocean. This planet
offers immense opportunities and challenges
through its varying nature manifested through
weather and more evidently in the ever-dynamic
oceanic and atmospheric conditions.
The earth system science is a science of national
importance. We need to develop scientific
understanding of the earth system and earth
processes as well as their response to the natural
and human-induced changes. We need to record
various environmental variables which record
the vital signs of change and their causes. It is
essential to distinguish between the variability
and changes of the earth system. This is vital to
improve prediction of the climate, weather and
natural hazards.
India has a coastline of about 7500 km, and Exclusive
Economic Zone (EEZ) of about 2.02 million sq km
(our landmass area being about 3.27 million sq km)
which also forms a key multi-disciplinary research
which is again closely linked to societal benefit.
Thus a wide range of activities are covered
contributing to various societal benefits in the areas
of Weather (General), Weather advisories specific to
agriculture, aviation, shipping, sports, etc, Monsoon,
Disasters (cyclone, earthquake, tsunami, sea level
rise), Living and non-living resources (fishery
advisory, poly-metallic nodules, gas hydrates, etc),
Coastal and Marine Ecosystems and Climate Change.
The programmes of the ministry have been recast
broadly into various categories viz., (i) Atmospheric
Science & Services; (ii) Ocean Science & Services;
(iii) Cryosphere/Polar Science; (iv) Ocean Resources;
(v) Ocean Technology; (vi) Coastal Marine Ecology;
(vii) Climate Change Science; (viii) Disaster Support;
(ix) Vessel Management; (x) R&D in Earth Sciences;
and (xi) Outreach.
In view of this mandate, the Ministry supports
focused process studies, development of earth
system models, information system for societal,
environmental and economic benefits. The
major agenda is to promote discovery of a new
perspective on earth system science, better
understanding of earth processes and apply
knowledge for sustainable use of earth resources.
Ministry of Earth Sciences : Annual Report 2009-10
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