Winter Fog Experiment (WIFEX 2016-17)

•  To better understand the science of fog formation over New Delhi, the Ministry of Earth Sciences inaugurated the Winter Fog Campaign at the New Delhi Airport.
• Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has taken up a multi-institutional initiative during winter 2016-17 to conduct an intensive ground-based measurement campaign in Delhi to understand different physical and chemical features of fog and factors responsible for its genesis, intensity and duration.
• The goal of the Winter Fog Experiment (WIFEX) is to develop methods for forecasting winter fog on various temporal and spatial scales, and help reduce its adverse impact on aviation, transportation and economy, and loss of human life due to accidents.

Analysis:

• Fog is a visible mass consisting of cloud water droplets suspended in the air or near the Earth’s surface.
• The presence of heavy and extended period fog in the northern regions of India is one of the major weather hazards, impacting aviation, road transportation, economy and public life in the world’s most densely populated region.
• Maximum fog occurrence over the Northwest India is about 48 days (visibility < 1000m) per year, and occurs mostly during the December-February time period.
• All India annual morning poor visibility days (PVD <4 km) has increased from 6.7 to 27.3 % days. Recent studies on fog in India during the past 10-15 years have prompted significant socio-economic concern due to increase in frequency, persistence and intensity of fog occurrence over the northern parts of the country.
• Land use changes and increasing pollution in the region are responsible for growing Fog occurrence.
• The objectives of the Winter Fog Experiment (WIFEX) are to develop better now-casting (next 6 hours) and forecasting of winter fog on various time and spatial scales, and help reduce its adverse impact on aviation, transportation and economy, and loss of human life due to accidents.

By: Vishal