IITM finds 25% monsoon rain evaporates over north western Ghats
Surprising but true, about 25% of the monsoon rain over the north Western Ghats disappears into thin air before it even hits the ground.
Researchers at IITM Pune figured this out by tracking rainfall during the 2019 monsoon, finding that daily evaporation rates swung from 4% all the way up to 61%.
Their work could help make India's weather forecasts and climate predictions a lot more accurate.
Isotope analysis shows evaporation alters clouds
The team used isotope analysis (basically, checking tiny differences in raindrop molecules) to measure how much rain vanishes midair.
Turns out, this evaporation cools things down and changes how clouds behave: something most weather models don't really capture well yet.
Next up, IITM plans to expand its study across India using portable analyzers, which could seriously level up our understanding of how monsoons work and improve future forecasts.