eChapters

Abstract

Three villages were selected randomly representing the flood affected areas of Dhemaji district of Assam. Analysed data on climatic parameters like rainfall(mm), temperature(oC), potential evapotranspiration (mm), relative humidity (%) of last 10 years collected authentic sources and depth of ground water table  was collected from the well water depth from the three villages for twelve months showed that the length of growing period was more than 300 days and during July to September the ground water table is above the soil surface i.e. there is flood in this period, but during January to March, it is very low and water becomes inadequate for growing crops. Other climatic parameters are most suitable for both Kharif and Rabi crops, but annual flooding affects the crop during July to September. From the study it was concluded that short duration varieties of different crops like that of paddy, pulses, oilseeds etc. may be grown at pre and post flood condition.

Abstract

Mushroom has a great potential in India. Its production is gradually increasing at the annual rate of 7%. The total mushroom production in India is 1.13 million tones and on the other hand, mushroom production annually in china is 18.2 million tones. There are a no. 07 wild mushroom available in the world and medicinal properties much as anti Candida, anti tumor (including cervical, uterine, stomach cancer) and antis viral are rotally present. Of the entire wild mushroom tested, T. glolulum has the highest amount of protein, ask, Calcium, phosphorus and iron. A total of 172 wild mushrooms have been reported home NE India and majority of the wild mushroom is of the order Agaricales. There is a need to make a concerted study of the mushroom biodiversity and its use for economic activity.

Abstarct

The Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) measure of radiant power is important in evaluating the effect of light on plant growth. The photosynthetic response correlates better with the number of photons than with energy. This is expected because photosynthesis is a photochemical conversion where each molecule is activated by the absorption of one photon in the primary photochemical process. PAR is defined in terms of photon (quantum) flux, specifically, the number of moles of photons in the radiant energy between 400 nm and 700nm. One mole of photons is 6.0222 x 1023 photons ( 6.0222 x 1023 is Avagadro’s Number). The Phtotssynthetic Photon Flux Density (PPFD), i.e. the photon irridiance, is expressed in moles per squre meter and per second (formerly, Einsteins per squre meter and per second). The absorption of PAR by wheat varieties increased from 7.30 h to 11.30 h followed by a decline at 13.30 h at CRI, tillering and milking stages.

Abstract

In order to estimate the irrigation need of the crop, stress degree day index computers from canopy and air temperature could be used. During rabi manon, two varieties (Seeta, Brassica Juncea) and (Benoy, Brassica Camperteris) were grown. The canopy temperature of the crop was measured on 45th, 60th  and 75th  days after sowing and stress degree day (SDDI) was also measured. About 67, 70 and 51 per cent activation between SDDI and dry matter production could be explained at 45, 60 and 75 DAS of the crop growth period. Reflectance by mustard canopy was 940 measured. Late sown crop reflected less radiation with the advancement of growth. Extinction coefficient was also measured and the increase in the value of extinction coefficient upon irrigation showed canopy development and better utilization of increasing radiation by the crop. 

Abstract

Infertility in Livestock is a matter of great concern Anoestrous and repeat breeding in buffalo and bovines are two of the most serious reproductive problems affecting 30-40% of the total cattles and buffalo population on a conservative estimate our country is loosing 20-30 million tonnes of milk due to anestrus and repeat breading in cattle and buffaloes translating to a loss of Rs 40-50,000 crores annually. The used weak symptoms of estrus in the normal breeding season (September to February) become ever weaker during the hot month of summer. The incidences of silent heat is the lowest in December while the break is seen in the hot summer month of April. Summer infertility is also noticedin goat. During summer farmer experience a variety of reproductive problems such as an estrus extended weaning to eastern interiors, poor conception rates, higher unbryo mortality rates and low barrowing rates. There are strategies to ameliorate heat stress induced fertility problems and gonadotropin treatment can prevent seasonal infertility. There is a need to implement several techniques at the field level combining the glance of any detrimental impact on health and environment

Abstract

Climate change and variability can adversely affect the poultry production in India, because birds can only tolerate narrow temperature ranges. Thermal stress on poultry is major concern. Heat and clod stress can cause immunosuppression and make birds more prone to infectious diseases. Climate change affects the occurrence, distribution and prevalence of poultry diseases.  Nutritional strategies aimed to alleviate the negative effects of heat stress by maintaining feed intake, electrolyte and water balance or supplementation of micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals to satisfy the special needs during heat stress have been proven advantageous. Ventilation and cooling methods are essential for birds to survive high summertime temperatures. Tunnel ventilation coupled with evaporative cooling is very effective in keeping birds cool during hot weather. The increasing proportion of poultry production in tropic and subtropical region makes it necessary to reconsider the selection strategy and potential use of naked neck and frizzle genes for improving heat tolerance in chicken.

Abstract

Climate change is a change in the distribution of weather over periods of time that range. The effect of climate change is now visible every where including animal farm industry. Projected temperature rise around 2-5oC by 2100 due to climate change is likely estrus, start estrus and decline in reproduction efficiency of livestock species Climate change may have a significant effect on livestock and other animals through is impact on diseases Zoonotic diseases which can be transmitted between vertebrate animals and humans are a matter of great concerns. There is an urgent need for adoption of integrated approaches towards mitigation of advance effects of climate change in animal production. There are nutritional strategies to reduce enteric methane production. Surveillance and monitoring with various adaption strategies are to be brought under purvision to reduce adverse impact of climatic variability in livestock 

Abstract

The breeding potential of Ompok bimaculatus is declining day by day due to decrease of rainfall and increase of atmospheric temperature. As a result, the population of Ompok bimaculatus is significantly reducing in the fresh water bodies of Tripura.
 
The results of reproductive biology of O. bimaculatus were based on the fish samples collected from different locations of some rivers and Hurijala wetland of Tripura. Total weight of the sampled fish varied from 22 g to 171.50 g and the females had a greater weight and length than males. Total length of the males varied from 16.50 cm to 29.50 cm, while the females ranged from 17.0 cm to 33.0 cm. Female dominance over male was observed in the species. The ratio of males to females was 1:1.58. Significant correlation exists between fish length and weight in both males (R² = 0.943) and females (R² = 0.827).

Abstract

Climate change is a matter of great concern considering aquatic resources and the productivity. The likely impact of Climate Change is noted in the domain both in marine as well as estuarine capture fisheries, fresh water capture fisheries and freshwater aquaculture. Climate change is having a linkage with spread of fish diseases as increasing water temperature will shift the balance in favor of either the host or pathogen changing the frequency and distribution of diseases. There are a no of adaptation and mitigation measures in aquaculture in order to increase the productivity and properly maintain the survivability of many aquaculture species.

Abstract

Aquaculture is facing the serious effects of climate change in the form of scarcity of water and shift in dissolved oxygen level leading to outbreak of diseases. In a study conducted in Farm facilities of ICAR, Tripura it was seen that rise in temperature do have significant effect on hematological and biochemical parameters of fish which are basic index of good health of any organism. Many different diseases occur in the farmers’ pond and which can be controlled. So some basic diseases and their controlling strategies have been pointed out that can lead to better management of fish diseases in pond condition.

Abstract

Gastrointestinal parasitic infections particularly Haemonchus contortus infection in goats is very common and found as major nematode infections in farm condition. To chalk out the control programme and to prevent the initiation of anthelmintic resistant parasites, it is essential to know well in advance the prevalence of H. contortus infection. During the year 2009, a study was undertaken on H. contortus infection in the goat farm of ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Umiam, Meghalaya, which is a subtropical hill area and bioclimatograph was prepared to predict the prevalence of H. contortus infection in goats of this area. Meteorological data of this area was collected to visualize the effect of temperature, rainfall and humidity. Bioclimatographs were prepared in which total rainfall (TRF) or relative humidity (RH) is plotted against the maximum temperature (T-max) or minimum temperature (T-min) for the months and the resultant points are joined by a closed curve. The lines constituted the windows on these bioclimatographs, indicating the limit of the climatic conditions most suitable for development and survival of exogenous stages of gastrointestinal nematodes.

Abstract

The disease is an output of the interaction among host, pathogen, and the environment over a period of time. Given that a susceptible host and an aggressive pathogen are available, weather determines the intensity of the disease over time. To capture the dynamics of the interactions among these biophysical variables, efforts have been made in the past to understand the variables per se and their interactions through modeling approaches.  The important weather parameters are temperature; rainfall/dew; leaf wetness period, wind, bright sunshine hours all of which are in turn influenced by soil properties. The important parameters of host that can influence disease development are susceptibility; growth stage and form; structure and density of the plant population and overall health. For pathogen, to cause disease, it should be present in the vicinity, pathogenic, adaptable with reproductive fitness and possess efficiency of survival and dispersal. 

Abstract

Rice blast disease (Pyricularia grisea cavara) which is very much weather sensitive, continues to be an enigmatic problem of West Siang District of Arunachal Pradesh, owing to its geographical location and climate. There is an urgent need of a forewarning system which can provide advance information for outbreak of the diseases attack so that protection measures can be implemented before the actual economic damage of the crop occurs. Two most important statistical techniques for disease forecasting viz. regression analysis and artificial neural network were chosen and forecasting models has been developed for the area and analyzed with local weather data to find best fit for the area and also compared with the Support Vector Machine (SVM) based model RB-Pred developed by Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh. The model based on artificial neural network was found to be best with accuracy of 75-80%, with the present data and algorithm. The accuracy can be improved with long archive records and proper implementation and algorithm selection of the hidden layer, of both ANN and SVM based (being special case of ANN) models, for site-specific forecasting.

Abstract

Climate change is today’s major concern throughout the world. All sectors have been influenced with the impact of climate change. Similarly, agriculture sector has also been affected with the worse climatic changes. All components of agricultural production system like water, soil, vegetation, organism and microorganism etc. affected greatly due to climatic abruptions. And thus, the productivity is hampering day by day. Today, we requires to predict the trend of changes in climatic parameters like maximum and minimum temperature, humidity, wind speed, sunshine hours etc, to project future change in these climatic parameters, to assess the effect of theses climatic parameters on agricultural components like water resources, soil, vegetation, organism and microorganism and, also to find the adaptation and mitigation strategies.  All these works have beenmainly done by manual methods earlier. Developed country like USA, Japan, UK etc adopted the computer modelling to climate change research. Computer modelling and software assistance have been adopted slowly in developed countries. Since, climatic changes requires processing of very large number of data, they needs computer and software assistance. Without computer assistance climate change research seems to be impossible.

Abstract

Climate change is a long-term change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods of time that range from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in the average weather conditions or a change in the distribution of weather events with respect to an average. Climate change may be limited to a specific region, or may occur across the whole Earth.Since, time immemorial human beings have attempted to predict the disease occurrence informally by mere observing the changes in pattern of weather parameters. But the present scenario has been very much altered with the incessant and irrational use of natural resources exposing the atmosphere to the enormous encumbrance. Excessive CO₂ emissions, deforestation and injudicious use of chemicals in agricultural fields have ultimately led to the climate change, which needs an absolute engrossment. Climate change has also invited the emergence and resurgence of many of the pest and diseases posing a grave challenge to manage them. So there is a need for immediate action through Government policies and scientific community to combat the situation. Disease forecasting models may be one of the rescuing options to mitigate the problems of agriculture.

Introduction

Today we are part of a highly complex and dynamic society. The complexity and dynamism are primarily due to the chain of changes induced by the scientific and industrial developments. The impetus provided by the information explosion coupled with scientific and technological developments to human life has triggered several unimaginable developments in the number, structure and functions of formal organizations. Realization of the supremacy of human mind over the tangible and exhaustible organizational resources like money, material and machine has led to the concept of ‘human capital’, which is now being considered as the most critical organizational resource to ensure organizational effectiveness and efficiency. Analogously huge investments are going in towards servicing and developing this critical resource of human capital in organizations. In this context, the concepts of human resource development (HRD) and training assume greater significance. In fact, training has been considered as a potential tool for HRD since ages. However, as a distinct profession, and also as a critical management tool, training is still in its early years. At the same time, there have been significant changes in the way training is conceived, understood and practiced.

Training helps people to become qualified and proficient in doing some jobs (Dahama, 1979). Usually an organization facilitates the employees’ learning through training so that their modified behaviour contributes to the attainment of the organization’s goals and objectives.
 
Training needs refer to the gaps between desired and expected levels of performance. Needs may be numerous. Besides they also need group, affection, recognition and fulfilment of their talents.

Training need may be defined as difference between existing and desired performance of person(s). In other words it is a gap between job requirement and job performance. That means it is gap between the existing and desired level of competency. Thus, the attitude, knowledge and skills of a person are lower than desired if the gap is significant there is a need for training.

In India’s National Extension Programme, professional workers constitute the link between the people and the institute created to advance economic and social change upon the character philosophy, technical knowledge and compliance of these workers largely rests for the success of the programme. Hence the quality of these workers and their training is the important element to be dealt with properly and guided wisely.

In early fifties, the Gramsevak / Village Level Workers (VLW’s) served as a key-man in Community Development Programme and therefore, the Government of India aimed at imparting him by better training and supervisory assistance. As a step in this direction, Gramsevak Training Centers were started to impart training to GramSevaks / VLW’s and Extension Officers were appointed in block for better supervisory assistance.

Agricultural colleges and universities were first formed in the belief that farm production could be increased as a result of the systematic application of current technology and agricultural research findings. The mission of these early educational institutions was to scientifically study agriculture with the participation of the farming community; to carry the results to a broad range of farmers who could use them; and to train farmers, extension workers, agricultural teachers and researchers so that agricultural production could continue to be increased on a sustained basis. In many of the developing countries, agricultural education and training have failed to adapt and respond to the realities of rural societies. In response to the urgent need to review and adjust teaching and training in agriculture at all levels. The training is an important tool to overcome the problem faced by the rural people all over the world. The availability of the resource is the crucial determining factors to strengthen the training Programme for the needy people.

1. Introduction

With the advent of globalization and subsequent economic liberalization, the focus of Indian agriculture is shifting from “subsistence” to “commercial” mode, where farming is viewed as a “business” rather than “life-support” system of poor farmers. Enabling farmers “decision-making” capacity is a primary driver of success in the market-oriented agriculture. This “commercial focus” has brought tremendous changes in the “nature” and “mode” of extension work. On the other hand, extension work organizations in developing countries like India, are being impacted by sharp decline in public sector funding, rapid technological innovations especially in the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), and the shift to a knowledge-based workforce. These developments created new opportunities for the extension workers to perform the information dissemination, capacity building and technology application more effectively. 

Improving the skill set of individuals is an important agenda of any development organization. The individuals may be anyone in the system who is directly or indirectly connected to the system.  Agriculture System is a complex and multi-stakeholder system with farmers as the axis of the wheel with other stakeholders’ forms part of spokes of the wheel. The scope for capacity building or training of every stakeholder has been peaking tremendously given the ever changing nature of the profession. The public and private training Institutions are vying with each other for conducting trainings in order to sustain the existence of the Institutions. Though a few institutions are really trying hard to take the technologies in real terms to the farming community, the following observations are very difficult to be masked.

Introduction

Training is the crucial and expensive component of HRD, intended to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of performance of the members of organization through planned learning efforts, transfer of such learning at work place and in turn improvement of the organizational performance. Given such objectives, most of the training programmes fail to inculcate the transfer component in trainees (Subedi 2004). Hence, there is an increasing concern over training transfer at work place and the resultant improved organizational performance in terms of productivity, efficiency, effectiveness and turn over etc (Howard 1995, Huselid 1995, Martocchio and Baldwin 1997 and Salas et al.. 2000, Thayer1997).

Abstract

Training is essential but expensive. Hence, training impact is a crucial measure. National Agricultural Research System (NARS), India employs about 30000 scientists. To effectively manage such huge scientific-capital, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) establishedCentres for Advanced Faculty Training (CAFT) and National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (NAARM). CAFT train faculty of State Agricultural Universities (SAUs), while NAARM trains scientists of ICAR institutes and SAUs. Assessing impact of these training programmes becomes essential. Application of knowledge, skills and attitude (KSA) acquired during training back at job environment is training-transfer that addresses learning, behaviour and results levels of training impact. This chapter critically analyses training-transfer of NAARM and CAFT programmes, suggests empirical framework to enhance impact of NAARM and CAFT programmes and thus contributes to literature. Policy strategies suggested in this paper hold wider applicability.

Abstract

Human Resource Management (HRM) is an essential function of every organization. Information Technology (IT) application has made such ‘human resource management’ function easy, to a great extent. Now a day, IT has been used widely across the organizations to perform different functions like, Recruitment, training, maintenance and development etc. Human Resource Information System (HRIS) is one of the latest contributions of IT to the area of human resource management, which is going to revolutionise management in 21st Century. Technology has brought changes in the existing working styles of organisations. By the introduction of HRIS, it enhances the efficiency of the organisation by changing the traditional way of working. In Human Resource Information Systems, many organizations use employee data in traditional ways. These can create conflict with the rights and interests of employees, with external stakeholders, and with society at large. The present paper discusses such issues. Other soft issues like, challenges and possible solutions are also discussed.

Abiotic Factors : These are physical, chemical and other non-living components of the environment such as light, temperature, moisture, nutrients and other edaphic factors.
 
Absolute Drought : It is defined as a period of consecutive days none of which had rainfall of 2.5 mm or more OR when actual rainfall is less than twice the mean deviation OR actual rainfall is less than half the normal weekly rainfall.
 
Absolute Growth Rate : The rate of increase in size of a growing plant (or part of it) in a given time under specific growing conditions.

Absolute Humidity : Absolute humidity is defined as the actual mass of water vapour present in the given volume of air. It is measured in grams per cubic meter or in terms of partial pressure of water vapour in air in mb or mm.

Back-Door Cold Front : A front moving south or southwest along the Atlantic seaboard of the United States.

Backing : A change in wind direction in a counterclockwise manner in the Northern Hemisphere and a clockwise manner in the Southern Hemisphere.
 
Ball Lightning : A rare form of lightning that may consist of a reddish, luminous ball of electricity or charged air.
 
Banner Cloud : A cloud extending downwind from an isolated mountain peak, often on an otherwise cloud-free day.
 
Bar : A unit of pressure, (usually the atmospheric pressure on) one is equivalent to a pressure of one million dynes per centimeter square one hundred kilopascals; 29.53 inches or 750 millimeters of mercury at zero degree Celsius.

C3 Plant : A plant in which the first product of CO₂ fixation is the 3-carbon compound; phosphoglyceric acid and is comparatively photosynthetically less efficient than C4 plants e.g. wheat, rice, barley etc. 
C4 Plant : A plant in which the first product of CO₂ fixation is the 4-carbon compound oxalo acetic acid (OAA) and is photosynthetically more efficient than C3 plants e.g. sugarcane, maize etc.
Calibration : Calibration with respect to models refers to the adjustments made to model parameters so as to give the most accurate comparison between simulated results and results obtained from field measurements. 
Calm : Absence of appreciable wind : On the Beaufort Scale of wind force calm is accorded the figure 0 and has a wind speed equivalent or less than 1 knot.

Daily Maximum Temperature : As per the IMD guidelines, the maximum temperature recorded in a 24 hour period at any given place or location.

Daily Mean Temperature : The average of the values observed during a day (at any regular intervals or maximum and minimum) of temperature.

Daily Minimum Temperature : As per the IMD guidelines, the minimum temperature recorded in a 24 hour period at any given place or location.

Daily Range of Temperature : The range of temperature (between maximum and minimum) recorded as per IMD guidelines in 24 hour period.

Earthquake : A sudden, transient motion or trembling of the earth’s crust, resulting from the waves in the earth caused by faulting of the rocks or by volcanic activity.
    
Easterlies : Usually applied to the broad patterns of persistent winds with an easterly component, such as the easterly trade winds.

Easterly Wave : A wave like disturbance, of the tropospheric easterlies of low latitude. These are synoptic scale and occur in the region of intertropical convergence zone.

Ecoclimate : Climate under crop canopy is called eco-climate. 

Edaphic : A term pertaining to the influence or relationship of soil or other similar media to plant growth in contrast to atmospheric influences. 

Fahrenheit Temperature Scale : A temperature scale having freezing point of water as 32 degrees and the boiling point equal to 212 degrees at standard atmospheric pressure. 
    Degree F = (Degree C x 1.8) + 32
    Degree C = (Degree F - 32)/1.8

Fair Weather : Fine sky. Appearance of cirrus or cumulus cover is in fair amount but not covering the sky totally.

Fetch : The distance over which a wind of nearly constant direction has blown, usually over a consistent surface such as water or a forest or a field. Most often the fetch is applied to a distance over water and used to determine the height of wind-generated waves.
 
Fine Weather : A blue and cloudless sky. Even if a few cirrus clouds are noticed, they do not express any vertical development.

Gale : Wind of force 8 or above blowing continuously and damaging trees, houses etc.

General Circulation : The average general distribution of wind in motion on the Earth. This general circulation includes the scientific description of atmospheric dynamics not only statistically but also from the point of view of physics. The global wind systems like westerlies, trades, etc., are the examples of general circulation.

General Circulation Model : At present, there are different models in vogue, to explain the general circulation of the atmosphere. If the general circulation is modelled in a three dimensional procedure, then it is known as a general circulation model.

Geopotential : The potential energy per unit mass of a body due to the earth’s gravitational field referred to an arbitrary zero.

Haboob : Sudanese name for duststorm or sandstorm with strong winds that carry small particles of dirt or sand into the air, particularly severe in areas of drought.
 
Habitat : A place where a plant or a community of plants or a crop is existing.

Hadley Cell : A mean thermally driven atmospheric circulation in which warm air rises and flows away from the equator at upper level and descends at the tropics. Wind moves from the tropics back to equator poleward. In many cases this term is also referred to as ‘Hadley circulation’.

Hail : Solid precipitation in the form of balls or pieces if ice (hailstones) with diameter ranging from 5 mm to 50 mm or even more. 
Hailstorm : A storm, often too long and severe, consisting largely of hail or frozen rain drops ranging in diameter from 5 mm to 10 mm or more. 

Ice Caps : A perennial ice/snow cover over an extensive area of land or sea, found only around the two geographic poles.

Ice Columns : Ice crystals resembling stubby pencils rather than the delicate branched snowflake shape. Columns typically form in the temperature ranges -5° C to -8° C (23° F to 18° F) and below -25° C ( -13° F). They are long in comparison to their hexagonal cross-section.

Ice Crystals : 1) Hexagonal (6-sided) crystals that form upon freezing of water, may be in one of several shapes : stars, needles, plates, columns or combinations of these forms. 2) Precipitation in the form of slowly falling, singular or unbranched ice needles, columns, or plates, may be called diamond dust.

Ice Fog : Fog composed of minute ice particles that occur in very low temperatures (typically - 30°C or - 22°F & below) under clear, calm conditions in the polar latitudes. 

January Thaw : A period of mild weather, usually following a cold spell, which often occurs in late January in the eastern regions of North America, particularly around the Great Lakes region, New England and the Canadian Maritime Provinces. The thaw is associated with a strong flow of warm air northward from the Gulf of Mexico on southerly winds on the back of a high pressure system.

Jet Stream : A relatively narrow band of high-speed winds, generally greater than 50 knots (57 mph or 93 kmph), found in the upper troposphere above regions of strong horizontal temperature contrasts such as fronts. The major jet streams are the subtropical jet and the polar jet stream.

Joule : The unit of work or energy. In mechanical systems, this is the work done when a force of one Newton displaces the point of application by a distance of one metre in the direction of force. In electrical systems, a joule is the equivalent of moving one coulomb through a potential difference of one volt. One joule is equal to one watt per second

Katabatic Wind : Downslope gravitational flow of the colder, denser air beneath the warmer, lighter air results and comprises the katabatic wind. It is also known as the drainage wind or mountain wind.

Kelvin Temperature Scale : An absolute temperature scale in which the zero point is absolute zero. The scale is based upon the triple point of pure water and the size of the degree is same as on the celsius scale. So the 273.16 K = 0°C. That means the freezing point of water is 273.16 K and boiling point of water is 373.16 K, etc. This is more commonly called as the absolute.

Lake Effect : The effect of any lake in modifying the weather and climate along its shore and inland which depends on the size of the lake. In some areas such as the North American Great Lakes, lake effect refers to snowfall generated by the lake on the downwind shore.

Lake Effect Snowfall : Snowfalls along the lee shore of a lake or downwind some distance from the shore caused by the modification of cold, subfreezing air by the relatively warmer lake water. The intensity of the lake-effect snowfall depends upon several factors : the temperature contrast between the lake surface and the air passing over it, the over-water distance the air has traversed (the fetch), and the regional weather situation. 

Macroclimate : It deals with the study of atmosphere over large areas of the earth and with the large scale atmospheric motions that cause weather. It helps in forecasting weather. OR Climate of a continent or over the complete globe.
 
Macrometeorology : A branch of meteorology concerned with the study of large scale meteorological phenomena over a continent or the entire globe.

Macroscale : The meteorological scale covering an area ranging from the size of a continent to the entire globe.
 
Marine climate : Almost similar and on many occasions used as a synonym to maritime climate. The climate is basically influenced by adjacent seas and oceans.
 
Maritime Climate : The climate experienced in areas and regions near the oceans and seas. It is characterised by hot dry summers and mild wet winters. The diurnal variations of temperature are small and air is with high relative humidity.

Nanometre : The unit of length specifically applied to wavelengths of radiation. This is equal to ten Angstrom units or 10-9 meters.

Net Assimilation Rate (NAR) : It is increase in dry weight of plant per unit leaf area per unit time. NAR is calculated from the following equation : 

Oasis effect : Vertical energy transfer from the air to the crop. It is the exchange of heat between a growing crop and hot air whereby air over the crop is cooled.
 
Observation : In meteorology, the evaluation of one or more meteorological elements, such as temperature, pressure, or wind, that describe the state of the atmosphere, either at the earth’s surface or aloft. An observer is one who records the evaluations of the meteorological elements.
 
Occluded Front : Also known as an occlusion, it is a complex front formed when a cold front overtakes a warm front. It develops when three thermally different air masses conflict. The type of frontal boundary they create depends on the manner in which they meet.

Pan Coefficient (Kp) : It is the ratio between reference evapotranspiration (ET_o ) and water loss by evaporation from an open water surface of a pan (E_pan ).
    K_p = ET_o / E_pan

Peat soil : An organic soil containing more than 50 per cent organic matter.

Pan Evaporation : is the value of evaporation from an open pan evaporimeter (usually from standard USWB, class ‘A’ pan evaporimeter) during a day or specified period at a place.

Parcel : A volume of air small enough to contain uniform distribution of its meteorological properties and large enough to remain relatively self-contained and respond to all meteorological processes.

Q₁₀ : The number of times the rate of a process (physical, chemical or physiological) increases with a 10^ºC increase in temperature. If the rate of the process is doubled Q₁₀ is 2. Q₁₀ for respiration is 2 to 3.

Quantum : Unit of energy emitted by a photon.

Quantum Flux Density : The number of quanta from a source, incident on a unit area of a small surface situated in a perpendicular direction.

Quantum Irradiance : The number of quanta from a source incident on a unit area of a surface. This differs from the ‘quantum flux density’ as far as direction is concerned.

Rabi : The winter crop season in India from November to April. Main crops grown in rabi comprise wheat, mustard, etc.

Rad : The ‘rad’ is the unit of radiation dose and is defined as the total absorbed dose of 100 ergs of energy per gram of tissue in a unit time.

Radar : An electronic instrument used to detect objects (such as falling precipitation) by their ability to reflect and scatter microwaves back to a receiver. The radar is used for detecting tropical cyclones and monitoring their course as they approach the coast.
 
Radar sonde : A system in which both meteorological and wind data may be obtained, as in radiosonde.

Radiance : Radiant flux per unit area per unit solid angle. Radiance has unit of watts per meter per meter per steradian. The radiance of a perfectly diffuse surface (Lambertian) is independent of the viewing angle.

Saffir-Simpson Scale : A scale relating a hurricane’s central pressure and winds to the possible damage it is capable of inflicting.
 
Sand Storm : An ensemble of particles of dust or sand energetically lifted to great heights by a strong and turbulent wind.
 
Santa Ana Wind : A warm, dry wind that blows into southern California from the east off the elevated desert plateau. Its warmth is derived from compressional heating.
 
Satellite Imagery : Images formed from data collected by a weather satellite that reveal visual information on the nature of the atmosphere such as the flow of water vapour, the development and movement of weather systems, or the distribution of the temperatures of cloud tops or the earth’s surface.

Saturated Adiabat : Any statistically valid thermodynamic diagram on a graph related to adiabatic change under saturated conditions of an air parcel. 

Taiga (Boreal Forest) : The open northern part of the coniferous forest. Taiga also refers to sub-polar climate.
 
Tail Wind : The wind that assists the further movement of an object by blowing in the same direction in which the object is actually moving.
 
Tangent Arc : An arc of light tangent to a halo. It forms by refraction of light through ice crystals.
 
Tcu : An abbreviation sometimes used to denote a towering cumulus cloud (cumulus congestus).
 
Teleconnections : A linkage between weather changes occurring in widely separated regions of the world. 

Ultraviolet Radiation : Ultraviolet radiation (UV) is one form of radiant energy coming from the sun. The sun emits a range of energy known as the electromagnetic spectrum. The various forms of energy, or radiation, are classified according to wavelength (measured in nanometers (nm) where one nm is a millionth of a millimeter). The shorter the wavelength, the more energetic is the radiation. In order of decreasing energy, the principal forms of radiation are gamma rays, X-rays, UV (ultraviolet radiation), visible light, infrared radiation, microwaves, and radio waves. Ultraviolet, which is invisible, is so named because it occurs next to violet in the visible light spectrum. Ultraviolet radiation contains the wavelengths between 30 and 400 nm. The UV band is divided into three sub-bands in regard to its biological impacts :

Vacuum : A space in which there is no air or gas. This is more an imaginary situation. This term indicate the air or any other gases at the minimum possible pressure in a space.
 
Validation : Model validation in its simplest form is a comparison between simulated and observed values. Validation is determining whether the model works with totally independent data sets or not and whether it accurately predicts growth, yield and processes by comparing the values predicted by the model with those obtained from the real experiment.

Walker Circulation : A thermally driven longitudinal cellular circulation over equatorial oceans, particularly Pacific Ocean, Peruvian coast, etc. These circulations rise in the West and sink in the East.
 
Warm Air : If the temperature of air is relatively warm as compared to an underlying surface or another adjacent air column or within itself, then the air is said to be warm air.

Warm Front : A front whose movement is such that the warmer air mass is replacing colder air mass.
 
Warm Sector : The state of lower troposphere in between a warm front and the following cold front. 

Xlokk : The name of a hot, dry wind that blows regularly in Malta.
X-rays : The electromagnetic radiation in the wave length region below 100 angstroms.

Year : The time taken by the earth to revolve once in its orbit round the sun.

Yellow Snow : Snow which has a yellow or golden colour due to the presence of pine or cypress pollen in it.

Zenith : The point directly overhead on the celestial sphere.
 
Zenith Angle : The angle formed by the local line perpendicular to the surface on which the radiation falls, and the position of the Sun in the sky from which the incident ray falls.