Prof. Rajagopalan Balaji, Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder gave a talk on The Once and Future Variability of Indian Monsoon – Signatures on

Societies on 7 December. 

Here is a summary of the talk as explained by Prof. Rajagopalan Balaji: Indian monsoon exhibits significant variability at temporal (daily, seasonal, interannual, decadal and millennial) and spatial scales. This variability and vagaries ride a distinct and often debilitating signature on the landscape, ecology, public health and more importantly the socio-economy of societies of the Indian subcontinent.  

 This impacts a fifth of the global population. In this talk I will present an overview of this variability and their drivers in the past and into future. Besides their influence on various aspects of society – water, infrastructure, and public health. I will offer interesting insights into the future variability of monsoon and societal impacts informed and shaped by past variability. This understanding will be of immense help in enabling a resilient and sustainable future. 

Prof. Rajagopalan Balaji pursues research in diverse interdisciplinary areas spanning – hydro-climatology; water resources management, Indian summer monsoon, paleoclimate and stochastic hydrology. In addition, large scale statistical analysis and modeling for applications to water and wastewater quality, construction safety, building energy efficiency and others. For his research contributing to improved operations, management and planning of water resources in the semi-arid river basins of Western USA, especially the Colorado River System, he was a co-recipient of the Partners in Conservation Award from the Department of Interior in 2009. His joint work on unraveling the mystery of Indian summer monsoon droughts that appeared in Science in 2006 was awarded the prestigious Norber Gerbier Mumm Award from the World Meteorological Organization in 2009. He has over 210 peer-reviewed journal articles, including in prestigious journals such as, Science, Nature Geoscience and Geophysical Research Letters. He served as associate editor of ASCE Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management and Geophysical Research Letters and currently serves as an associate editor of Water Resources Research and Climate Research. He was elected Fellow, American Geophysical Union, in 2018, of American Society of Civil Engineers, and awarded the Fulbright-Kalam Climate Fellowship in 2023, all prestigious honors.

December 2023