Space Sciences

Under DOS, research in space sciences is mainly carried out at Physical Research
Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad, Space Physics Laboratory (SPL), Thiruvananthapuram, Space Astronomy and Instrumentation Division (SAID) of ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore and National Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NARL), Gadanki. Balloons, sounding rockets and satellite platforms as well as ground based facilities are used for conducting the research activities. DOS also supports space science research in universities and research institutions outside ISRO/DOS on the recommendations of the Advisory Committee for Space Science (ADCOS). At national level DOS/ISRO sponsors as well as actively participates in internationally coordinated scientific campaigns such as IGBP, CAWSES, IHY, etc.

Space Science Missions

Chandrayaan-1
Chandrayaan-1, scheduled during 2007-2008, is India’s first unmanned scientific mission to moon. The main objective is the investigation of the distribution of various minerals and chemical elements and high-resolution three-dimensional mapping of the entire lunar surface. ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV, will launch Chandrayaan-1 into a 240 km X 24,000 km earth orbit. Subsequently, the spacecraft’s own propulsion system would be used to place it in a 100 km polar orbit around the moon.

The Indian payloads on board Chandrayaan-1 include: a Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC), a Hyper Spectral Imager, a High-Energy X-ray spectrometer (HEX), a Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument (LLRI) and a Moon Impact Probe (MIP).

Terrain Mapping Camera and Hyper Spectral Imager payload models for Chandrayaan-1

ISRO and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of USA have signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) during the year on inclusion of two US scientific instruments on board India’s first mission to Moon, Chandrayaan-1. These instruments are - Mini Synthetic Aperture Radar (Mini SAR) developed by Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University and funded by NASA and Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), jointly built by Brown University and Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA. The two US instruments, Mini SAR and M3, were selected on the basis of merit out of 16 firm proposals from all over the world received in response to ISRO’s announcement of opportunity. The main objective of Mini SAR is to detect water in the permanently shadowed areas of lunar polar regions. The objective of M3 is the characterisation and mapping of minerals on the lunar surface.

The scientific instruments selected from ESA are: Chandrayaan-1 Imaging X-Ray Spectrometer (CIXS) from Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, UK, developed with contribution from ISRO Satellite Centre; Near Infra-Red Spectrometer (SIR-2) from Max Planck Institute, Germany; and Sub keV Atom Reflecting Analyser (SARA) from Swedish Institute of Space Physics developed in collaboration with ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre. A RAdiation DOse Monitor (RADOM) from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences has also been included.

During the year, spacecraft emulators developed by ISRO have been delivered to NASA and ESA for interface simulation with the scientific instruments. The interface test with electrical models of M3 , miniSAR, SIR-2 and SARA Data Processing Units have been completed and electrical equivalent models of M3 miniSAR, RADOM and SARA have been received.

18 m diameter antenna set up for Chandrayaan-1 at IDSN

Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN): Land has been acquired at Byalalu village near Bangalore for the establishment of IDSN, which will have an 18 m diameter antenna for tracking Chandrayaan-1, a 32 m diameter antenna for supporting India’s deep space missions and an 11 m antenna for supporting the tracking requirements of ASTROSAT mission.

32 m diameter antenna in its final stages of fabrication for IDSN

During the year installation of 18 m diameter antenna has been completed and installation of 32 m diameter antenna is in progress. Augmentation of 64 m antenna at Bearslake, Russia for supporting Chandrayaan-1 mission is also under progress.

Indian Space Science Data Centre is being established by ISTRAC at the IDSN and at SCC complexes, which will facilitate scientists to access the science data received from the scientific satellite missions.

ASTROSAT
ASTROSAT project is aimed at design, development, fabrication and launch of an astronomical observatory for studies of cosmic sources. Scientific Objectives of ASTROSAT are:
• Broad-band spectroscopic studies of X-ray binaries, supernova remnants, active galactic nuclei, galaxy clusters etc.
• Time variability studies of galactic and extra galactic sources including period sources such as pulsars across optical/UV/X-ray wavelengths.
• Highest angular resolution UV sky survey and study of UV sources.
• Monitoring of the X-ray sky to study long-term behavior and for rapid detection of transient sources.

ASTROSAT will carry the following complement of instruments:
• Soft X-Ray Telescope (SXT) in the energy range of 0.3-10 keV
• Cadmium Zinc Telluride imager for Hard
X-rays in the energy range of 10-100 keV
• Large Area Xenon Proportional Counter (LAXPC) for X-rays in the energy range of 3-100 keV
• Scanning Sky Monitor (SSM) for survey of sky in the energy range of 2-10 keV
• Ultra Violet Imaging Telescope (UVIT) consisting of two telescopes – one covering Far UV band and the second sensitive in Near UV band and the
Visible band wavelengths.
• Charge Particle Monitor (CPM) as a part of the payload to control the operation of the LAXPC, SXT and SSM.

ASTROSAT will be a national space observatory which will be available for astronomical observations to researchers and to international astronomical community. All the data from ASTROSAT will be received by a dedicated data reception station located at Bangalore. The science data, after processing, will be made available to the different observers.

During the year, Mechanical configuration of ASTROSAT meeting the Field Of View (FOV) requirements of all the payloads and bus elements has been completed. The preliminary structural analyses of all the payloads have also been completed. The preliminary thermal analysis of the payloads has been completed. Electronic Design and Mechanical Design Reviews of all the payload elements have been completed. The Preliminary Design Review of UVIT Detectors was completed. Preliminary design reviews for major payloads LAXPC, CZT, SXT, UVIT were completed.

ASTROSAT is planned to be launched by PSLV into an orbit of 650 km altitude in the year 2008-09.

Megha-Tropiques
Megha-Tropiques (Megha meaning cloud in Sanskrit and Tropiques meaning tropics in French) is aimed at understanding the life cycle of convective systems and to understand their role in the associated energy and moisture budget of the atmosphere in the tropical regions. ISRO and French National Space Centre (CNES) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in 2004-05 to proceed with the development and implementation of Megha-Tropiques. The satellite will carry the following scientific instruments:

• Microwave Analysis and Detection of Rain and Atmospheric Structures (MADRAS), an Imaging Radiometer to be developed jointly with ISRO.
• SAPHIR, a six channel Humidity Sounder.
• SCARAB, a four channel Scanner for Radiation Budget Measurement.
• GPS-ROS - GPS Radio Occultation System to provide vertical profiles of temperatures and humidity of the earth’s atmosphere.

ISRO will build the Megha-Tropiques spacecraft using IRS platform and launch it using PSLV into 867 km high orbit at an inclination of 20 degrees with respect to the equatorial plane. ISRO will control the satellite in orbit and also receive, process and distribute the scientific data obtained from the satellite.

The launch of Megha-Tropiques is planned by 2009-2010.

During the year preliminary design review of SAPHIR and SCARAB, have been completed at CNES, France and MADRAS has been completed. ISRO-CNES technical interface meeting was also held during the year.

Space Science Activities at Physical Research Laboratory (PRL)
PRL at Ahmedabad carries out research programmes in astronomy and astrophysics, earth, planetary and space sciences and basic sciences including high energy physics, nuclear physics, atomic and molecular physics, quantum optics and quantum information.

Astronomy and Astrophysics: The outburst of the eruptive variable V838 Monocerotis (V838 Mon) in early 2002 was unusual and displayed an expanding spectacular light echo resulting from the scattering of the outward-propagating radiation. The origin of light echo material is a subject of intense debate with two competing models attributing it to circum-stellar material and alternatively to inter-stellar molecular clouds. Observations from space telescope have been used to study far-infrared wavelengths. A striking infrared echo has been seen around V838 Mon. The comparison of far IR extended emission with optical light echo pictures obtained by Hubble Space Telescope (HST) shows strong spatial correlation. It is inferred that the diffuse nebulosity seen in telescope images arises from the reprocessed thermal emission from the dust heated by the radiation from the 2002 outburst of V838 Mon.

Gamma Ray Bursts (GRB) are intense flashes of high energy photons that occur randomly in the sky and release high energy. Most of the energy is emitted in the photon energy range of 100 KeV to 1 MeV. The visible and IR emission from GRBs results when the relativistically expanding fireball interacts with the circum-burst medium giving rise to an afterglow. Most of the afterglows are faint and fade rapidly within a day following a power law decay. On March 19, 2005 a bright near infrared flash was detected from the afterglow of GRB 050319. The observations were made from 1.2 m Mt. Abu Infrared telescope and the flash was found to fade rapidly in a very short time of four minutes. Presence of angular structure in the GRB ejection or in the circumburst material or dust echoes around the progenitor have been suggested as possibilities for the infrared flash.

V 1647 Orionis is a low mass young stellar object that had undergone an outburst in January 2004 releasing a large reflection nebular matter named as Mc Neil’s nebula. Near-infrared photometric behavior since February 2004 shows clearly that the object had faded away reaching nearly its pre-eruptive luminosities.

A comprehensive multi-wavelength study of a large field in the disk of the Milky Way has been carried out and a 12 band catalog of stars towards a direction tangential to the spiral arms towards the inner Milky Way generated. Distance and extinction have been estimated for a large fraction of the sources detected. Number density as a function of distance has been derived and compared with existing CO spectral information. Good correspondence is found between the spectrum and the stellar number density as a function of distance.

Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) is a large outburst of magnetised plasma from solar corona. CME event of November 4, 2001 from its solar origin to terrestrial effects has been investigated. CME was associated with a strong X-ray flare and a prominence eruption.

Udaipur Solar Observatory: The first vector magnetograms measured with the prototype vector magnetograph instrument have been used to find sensitivity of acoustic power to the inclination of the magnetic vector to the line-of-sight. A study of the interplanetary properties of CME shows that the magnitude of a geomagnetic storm is strongly influenced by the time for which the interplanetary-magnetopsheric coupling parameter is active and the magnetic orientation of the cloud on the sun.

Polarization maps of the emission line corona during the total solar eclipse on March 29, 2006 from Southern Turkey have been obtained.

Solar X-ray Astronomy: Investigation of unusual solar flares showing remote brightenings that occurred during August 2004 in a very complex active region has revealed that interaction of loops is a possible mechanism for triggering of such flares. Study of a large number of micro-flares has revealed Fe line feature at 6.7 keV. The X-ray spectra show both thermal and non-thermal hybrid nature indicating micro-flares as potential candidates for coronal heating.

Space and Atmospheric Sciences: Observations of plasma depletions in 557.7 nm nightglow were made during solar maximum year (2002). This was a new observation since 557.7 nm emission comes from the mesosphere and is not expected to show plasma depletions which exist in the F-region. Numerical simulation shows that during the solar maximum period, the thermospheric contribution to the integrated intensity of 557.7 nm at ground far exceeds the mesospheric contribution after midnight.

An Equatorial Spread-F (ESF) event was observed on January 7, 2005 from Gadanki. It is found that the ESF event got triggered during the pre-midnight hours by the rapid ascent of the equatorial F-layer brought forth by the southward turning of the Z-component (Bz) of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field. The role of the penetration of interplanetary electric field into the low latitude ionosphere during the space weather event and its connection with this ESF event are being investigated.

Peak electron density and peak altitude at different east longitudes in the dayside ionosphere of Mars have been calculated.

Planetary and Geosciences: Li-Be isotope studies indicate that a stellar origin remains the most probable source of the now-extinct short-lived nuclides present in the early solar system. It has been shown that isotopic composition of N in chondrules is different from their host meteorites for Ordinary Chondrites (OC) and Carbonaceous Chondrites (CC), but similar for Enstatite Chondrites (EC). This result implies that precursors of chondrules and host chondrite are different for OC and CC, while they are similar for EC. It also implies that nebular process is more probable for the formation mechanism of OC and CC chondrules, while parent body process will be more consistant for EC chondrules.

Chondrules that constitute 50-80 percent of chondrites

Trapped noble gas components have been delineated in carbonatites from Ambadongar, Sung Valley, Hogenekal, Khambamettu and Sivattur. They reveal a mixture of mantle and enriched lithosphere, the later introduced during melting by uprising magma and subsequent entrapment. Detailed tectonogeomorphic evolution of the Kachchh region, Gujarat, has been established using field studies, remote sensing, digital elevation models and luminescence dating. The study suggests an eastwards propagation of the Kachchh mainland fault. In dry lands and deserts, Gypsum is a climate event marker that indicates the phases of extreme desiccation. A method has been developed to date these deposits using electron spin resonance of Gypsum and optically stimulated luminescence of quartz grains trapped in these deposits.

Physical erosion rates over the Himalayan drainage of the Ganga have been determined and they range between 1 to 6 mm per year. Highest erosion of 6 mm per year is in the Gandak basin resulting from high stream power. High erosion in this drainage seems to be responsible for the high peaks situated on either side of the gorge.

Studies of dissolved strontium in samples of Deccan and the Brahmaputra has been completed which show that Deccan basalts can be an important contributor to the decline of strontium.

A gravity core from the equatorial Arabian Sea has been analysed for paleo-monsoon proxies such as stable oxygen, carbon and nitrogen isotopes, organic and inorganic carbon content. Results reveal that whenever the north polar regions were cool, as seen in the Greenland ice cores, the Indian south west monsoon was weak, and vice versa. It has been shown that the north-east monsoon did not intensify during the last glacial maximum (21,000 years ago) as believed earlier but it intensified during the early deglacial period (17,000-19,000 years ago).
Concentrations of water-soluble inorganic constituents, organic compounds and black carbon were determined in bulk-aerosol samples collected on daily basis during wintertime from urban sites in north India which has provided quantitative information on the physical and chemical state of dust and pollution aerosols. This has implications on present-day understanding of the direct and indirect effects of aerosol radiative forcing.

Theoretical Physics and Complex Systems: Oscillations of atmospheric neutrinos have proved that the muon and tau neutrinos mix strongly with each other. This implies that the basic interaction could be invariant under the mu and tau interchange symmetry. The implications of this symmetry have been studied and it is proposed that this symmetry can be realised in the case of quasi-degenerate neutrinos.

Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe measures variations in the temperature of the cosmic background radiation across the sky. Temperature variations in the sky can be deduced from the quantum fluctuations during inflation in the early universe. The connection between inflation and the cosmic background radiation has been explored and shown that inflation must have lasted 10 percent longer than what was earlier believed.

A novel mechanism to explain the origin of the observed baryon asymmetry in nature has been proposed. It is pointed out that background gravitational field provides a medium which when coupled with the lepton number violation can generate the baryon asymmetry in the universe.

An embedded random matrix ensembles has been developed for spinless fermion systems, that model ‘many-body chaos in nuclei’. This forms the basis for statistical nuclear spectroscopy and also helps us in the study of the structure of nuclei near the proton drip line.

Ro-vibrational fractional revival of a hydrogen molecular wave packet

Quantum Optics and Quantum Information: Nonlinear equations with variable coefficients describe a variety of physical systems. A general procedure to solve them has been developed and applied to study the behavior of solitons in Bose-Einstein condensates in the presence of time-dependent coupling and oscillator traps. General solutions of nonlinear Schrödinger equation with source have been obtained. A wavelet based method is formulated and applied to random matrix and atomic energy level data to find and characterise their multi-fractal behavior.

When rotational and vibrational motions are considered simultaneously, the revival dynamics of diatomic molecular wave packets become more involved. It has been shown that for heavy molecules the ro-vibrational coupling can be ignored and the two types of motion can be decoupled whereas for a light molecule they are strongly coupled.

A polychromatic vortex has an added advantage over its monochromatic counterpart in optical communication as it has more capacity to carry information. A vortex in the laboratory has been generated by using a spatially coherent light from a Quartz Tungsten Halogen lamp and diffracting it through a forked holographic grating. The vortex was made to interfere with a tilted plane wave obtained from the same source. The recorded fringes in the figure show a vortex of charge one. The visibility of fringes reveals that it has a high degree of coherence for all the colors.

Space Science Activities at National Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NARL)
A recent study using seven years of disdrometer data at NARL, Gadanki has shown significant differences in microphysical characteristics of precipitation during southwest and northeast monsoon season. The number of smaller (medium to bigger) drops is larger (smaller) in NE monsoon than in SW monsoon. This result has an important implication on rainfall estimation of scanning weather radars and space-borne radar.

A large dust storm occurred over the Indus Valley on June 2006. Using ARIES-NARL lidar, an aerosol analysis was conducted over the Manora peak, Nainital. This analysis found that 500 nm daily average Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) values as high as 1.6 AOD consisted primarily of fine mode particles during the dry monsoon phase, while the wet monsoon phase produced much lower 500 nm daily average values near 0.1 AOD with coarse mode.

Recent studies with MST radar has revealed that during convection, in addition to the direct intrusion of mass and other trace constituents across the tropopause, gravity wave activity would enhance the fluxes of mass, energy and other trace constituents. The phase profiles of convectively generated gravity waves obtained from three case studies show a constant phase in the middle troposphere indicating the possibility of source in that region.

The vertical wind data obtained with MST radar have been used to retrieve the horizontal divergence profile, which in turn is used to identify the convective outflow level. The level of convective outflows has been compared with the lapse rate tropopause height, cold point tropopause height and the level of minimum potential temperature gradient on a day-to-day basis to better understand the tropical tropopause characteristics.

Long-term MST radar observations have been used to study the variation of Hadley circulation in normal years from that of in El-Nino year. It is evident that during 1997-98 El Nino event, anomalous pattern of winds was seen and the Hadley circulation seemed to have weakened.
Sporadic Sodium layers (SSL) have been observed over NARL, Gadanki. Most of the SSLs at Gadanki were seen in the height range of 91-98 Km with a maximum occurrence at 93 Km.
Continuous measurements of temperature at 50 km altitude, taken using Rayleigh Scatter Lidar during November 1998 to March 1999, show substantial cooling in the upper stratosphere on December 23, 1998 and February 28, 1999. Correspondingly, it has been observed that during this period, a strong midwinter warming occurred in the northern high latitude (65-90 N) stratosphere.

Using co-ordinated experimental observations during November 2002- June 2005, under ISRO’s Middle Atmospheric Dynamics (MIDAS) programme, an extensive study has been carried out to quantify the role of gravity waves in driving the tropical Stratospheric Semiannual Oscillation (SSAO). Rayleigh Lidar observations of middle atmospheric temperature over Gadanki is used for gravity wave studies and rocket sonde wind measurements over Thiruvananthapuram is used for deriving the mean flow acceleration in the 30-60 km altitude region. Semi annual variation with maximum around equinoxes and minimum around solstices is observed in the momentum fluxes of gravity waves. It is also seen that the gravity wave forcing towards the mean flow acceleration varies significantly from cycle to cycle, which is attributed to the seasonal variations in the strength of gravity wave sources.

Coordinated measurement of mesospheric electron density fluctuations on board sounding rocket from Sriharikota and radar observations of mesospheric echoes from Gadanki have been made. The rocket-borne Longmuir probe detected a spectrum of electron density irregularities over Sriharikota while MST radar detected the presence of strong scattering layer. It is inferred that the observed irregularities were produced through the neutral turbulence mechanism.

Vertical velocities of the 150 km echoes are found to be similar to the daytime F-region plasma drifts, suggesting the potential of these echoes to estimate zonal electric field.

Quasi-Periodic (QP) echoes with periods less than five minutes continue to be a subject of intense investigation worldwide due to the inherent problems explaining the periods in terms of their source. Recent observations from NARL has revealed several important new aspects.
Space Science Activities at Space Astronomy and Instrumentation Division, ISAC, Bangalore
During the year, inputs were provided for a solar astronomy mission, Aditya-1, in conjunction with inputs from scientists at Indian Institute of Astrophysics and Udaipur Solar Observatory. Development of a spectro-polarimeter that can be used to study solar magnetic fields, has been undertaken.

Research activities using archived X-ray data from observatories around the world is continuing with focus on using data from RXTE satellite to study spectral variability of X-ray source SWIFT J1753.5-0127. A large data set containing the source outburst was analysed from RXTE satellite to address spectral variability and come to conclusions on the nature of the compact object in this binary.

Under Naini Tal Cape Survey, a joint research activity between ISAC, State Observatory, Naini Tal and the South African Observatory, identification of new rapidly oscillating Ap (roAp) stars in the northern hemisphere is continuing. Optical observations for new roAp candidates have been made during September and November at Kavalur and Naini Tal respectively.

ISRO Geosphere Biosphere Programme (ISRO-GBP)
Several new projects have been evolved in the last five years as part of phase-II activities under ISRO-GBP. These projects involve large scale experimental campaigns to study the regional scale phenomena. During the year, two major land aerosol campaigns (March and May) have been carried out. These are some of the world’s largest Integrated Campaign for Aerosols, gases and Radiation Budget (ICARB) covering both land and oceans. ICARB, conducted using the Sagar Kanya Research Vessel (ORV-SK) of Department of Earth Sciences, for a period of 55 days covering 25,000 km, involved about 130 scientists from 30 national institutions. This experiment was supported by multi-platform studies involving 100 hrs of observations using NRSA’s aircraft at various altitudes from 500 m to 5 km synchronising with the ship-based observations. The ship carried about 30 instruments for studying the atmospheric composition with respect to physical and optical properties of atmospheric aerosols, chemical properties and composition of aerosols, atmospheric trace gases composition and transport, vertical distribution of ozone, atmospheric composition of black carbon and boundary layer distribution.

Ozone high in northern Bay of Bengal

The preliminary results from the studies indicate a specific region of atmospheric aerosol high in the northern Bay of Bengal predominantly of accumulation mode aerosol particles. This region, termed as “Bay of Bengal High”, indicates a specific region being formed through atmospheric processes and transport from the marine and continental sources of atmospheric aerosols. The persistence of such Bay of Bengal High region is also confirmed from the satellite based observations. The region is also found to be high in respect of surface ozone.Further investigations are continuing.

In the coming years, it is proposed to converge the presently ongoing 85 projects under ISRO-GBP into 12 specific major project themes, namely, aerosol radiative forcing over India; atmospheric trace gases and transport over India; atmospheric dust, composition and transport modeling; atmospheric boundary layer characterisation; energy and mass exchange in vegetative systems; vegetation and soil flux measurements; land use land cover dynamics and impact of human dimensions in the Indian river basins; multi proxy quantitative paleo monsoon reconstruction for past 21,000 years bp; regional climate modeling and impact on agriculture and hydrology; vegetation carbon pool assessment; soil carbon pool assessment and; small satellite mission proposal and utilisation.

Atmospheric Science Programme
Atmospheric Science Programme has been initiated to use the potential of space systems to provide observations of the atmospheric system. The objective is to maximise use of satellite data in projects related to atmospheric sciences leading to operational applications and generation of products and services.

In order to meet the requirement of reliable and accurate weather predictions in time scales of few hours to few days for supporting satellite launches from SDSC SHAR, a project, Prediction of Regional Weather using Observational Network and Modelling (PRWONOM) has been initiated. A mesoscale network for region covering SHAR-Kalpakkam-Bangalore is being established using Automatic Weather Stations (AWS), Met Towers and Doppler Weather Radars (DWR) at Chennai and SDSC SHAR. Mesoscale data assimilation on real time basis using conventional and non-conventional data has been undertaken at SDSC SHAR, Kalpakkam, Bangalore and SAC. Two campaigns have been carried out and forecast issued.
Indigenous development of AWS with sensors for pressure, temperature, humidity, wind, radiation and rainfall is progressing well. Over 100 AWS have been installed so far under ISRO Geosphere Biosphere Programme, Disaster Management Support, PRWONAM, Radar calibration, etc. Indigenous development of GPS Sonde has progressed well with a few demonstrative flights along with low cost receiver showing encouraging results. A prototype version of indigenous Agromet tower has been made through industry interface and the same is undergoing tests. Algorithms and software package have been developed for retrieval of various parameters from INSAT/Kalpana-1 data such as cloud top temperature, cloud motion vectors, outgoing long wave radiation, rainfall, etc, and the package has been installed at IMD for operational use. Work has been initiated for geophysical parameter retrieval from INSAT 3D imager and sounder payload. Several application projects are in progress using data from INSAT/Kalpana-1 and other satellites. Multi-agency Application Projects has been initiated for improved forecast of severe weather events, atmospheric correction models, GPS retrieval of atmospheric parameters, weather, Ocean-land-atmosphere interactions.
DWR development has been streamlined with a full-fledged calibration exercise jointly with IMD. GPS Occultation activities, which have wide applications in climate, space weather and atmospheric modeling, have been taken up in a project mode.

Space Science Programme
In addition to space science research activities being pursued at PRL, SPL, NARL and SAID/ISAC, specific individual, nationally coordinated, multi-institutional, science payload instrumentation and science mission development projects in atmospheric and space science areas are supported and implemented by ISRO through the recommendations of ISRO’s Advisory Committee for Space Sciences (ADCOS). Some of the main activities carried out in space science research projects/programmes through ADCOS are summarised below:

Planetary Science and Exploration (PLANEX) Programme: The Planetary Science and Exploration (PLANEX) programme was initiated during October 2001 with PRL as nodal institution, to catalyse and nucleate research groups in planetary sciences in universities and research institutions in the country to develop human resources in the area of planetary research particularly towards the realization of the scientific goals of Chandrayaan-1 and future planetary missions/exploration. The main elements of PLANEX include: (a) Selection and financial support to research projects in national institutes/universities: fifteen research projects are at various stages of completion at IITs, national laboratories and universities; (b) Analysis of soil samples from moon, comets, meteorites, etc, State-of-the-art instruments for preparation of the samples and their characterization are being established at PRL in a phased manner. X-ray fluorescence spectrometer, plasma mass spectrometer, electron probe micro-analyser, noble gas mass spectrometer will be ready for use by 2007; (c) Conduct of national training workshops including hands on experience in data processing and analysis.

ASTROSAT: Multiwavelength Observations of Stellar Sources
TAUVEX Data Processing: Tel Aviv University Ultrviolet Experiment (TAUVEX) payload developed by the Israel Space Agency (ISA) will be carried on board GSAT-4. The payload will provide an opportunity to survey the sky in 3 bands in the UV wavelength as part of scientific mission for the observation of stellar and galactic objects. The Indian scientific group at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore has developed the “TAUVEX data processing pipeline system” for generating high level data products, associated software development, short term/long term data storage and data dissemination activities.
Indian RT-2 Experiment on-board Russian CORONOS-PHOTON satellite: The technology/engineering model of phoswich/CZT detector payload system developed jointly at TIFR, Mumbai, Centre for Space Physics (CSP), Kolkata and ISRO for the Russian Satellite mission was delivered to the Russian side. The Indian team participated and successfully completed the satellite interface test and evaluation activities in Russia.

The fabrication of qualification model of RT-2 payload is in an advanced stage of completion. A science utilisation meeting was held by a committee constituted by Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.

CAWSES – INDIA Programme: Climate and Weather of Sun-Earth System (CAWSES) is an ongoing international scientific programme launched by Scientific Committee on Solar-Terrestrial Physics (SCOSTEP) during 2004-2008 with a view to link the world’s scientists in a cooperative effort to study the Sun-Earth interactive phenomena covering all salient aspects. ISRO has approved the CAWSES-India programme for the participation of Indian scientific community in the field of solar-terrestrial science.

A total of 23 individual projects have been selected from large number of participating institutions/universities and supported under the Indian CAWSES programme. In addition two multi-institutional and multi-technique campaign experiments on (a) short term variability of Mesosphere-Lower Thermosphere (MLT) system and (b) characterisation of tidal and gravity waves have been completed and data analysis workshops held. The overall coordination of the nation wide programme is being carried out by the Steering Committee and four Working Groups headed by leading scientists in the fields.

Microgravity Science/Experiment: A Programme Office for coordinating the National Microgravity Research Programme (NMRP) is functioning at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore under the directions of the National Coordinator from IISc identified by ISRO. The elements of the coordinated programme include identification of long term requirements for specialised laboratory facilities to undertake simulation studies and space payload instrumentation development to conduct experiment in microgravity environment, organisation of awareness programme including training workshops, short term schools etc., organize brain storming sessions for generating novel proposals for mocrogravity experiments. With NMRP initiatives, two experiments from National Metallurgical Laboratory (NML), Jamshedpur and Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore were selected and supported for development. Both the experiment/payloads have been successfully launched and operated on board SRE-1. Under another project the levitation facility is being set up at IIT, Chennai which would be operated as a national facility under NMRP.

Middle and Upper Atmospheric Studies(MIDAS): MIDAS programme was initiated during November 2002 with SPL as the nodal institution and with the participation of PRL, IMD, NARL, Cochin University, etc. The programme involves launching of fortnightly RH-200 meteorological rockets from TERLS for a period of five years (2002-2007) along with ground-based observations using LIDAR, MST radar and Partial Reflection Radar facilities. So far, 139 RH-200 rockets and high altitude balloons have been launched and ground based observations carried out from different locations over the equatorial region.

A 15 day long campaign mode of coordinated observations was carried out for the first time from various Indian stations during January 20 to February 8, 2006, to understand the tropical response of Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW) phenomenon and associated evolution of the temperature and circulation changes in the middle atmosphere over the Indian region. After four days of peak of SSW an increase in temperature has been observed using Lidar in the 50-55km height region over Gadanki. Analysis of data collected from various experiments and detailed study on this topic is in progress.

Coherent Radio Beacon Experiment (CRABEX): CRABEX is a national project initiated during 2001-2002, with the involvement of various National Institutes and Universities, for the study of low latitude ionosphere through the technique of tomography. CRABEX network for tomography is operational at six ground stations covering the latitudinal range
8.5 degree N to 29 degree N along the 77 degree E to 79 degree E meridian. This chain constitutes tomographic network of stations covering the trough region and going well beyond the crest of Equatorial Ionisation Anomaly (EIA). Another ground station has also been made operational at Waltair in Andhra Pradesh. The data obtained using the low earth orbit satellites so far have been used to study the seasonal variability in the strength as well as latitudinal asymmetry of EIA over India.

Measurements using the new receiver system developed for receiving the 150 MHz, 149 MHz, 400MHz and 399 MHz beacon transmissions on board GSAT-2 has been used to determine the temporal variation of TEC and Faraday rotation.

Space Science Research in Universities:
S.K. Mitra Centre for Research in Space Environment: The first phase of ISRO sponsored four research projects at S.K. Mitra Centre for Research in Space Environment have been completed at Calcutta University. The topics of study covered emission of greenhouse gases from agricultural fields, aerosol and other trace gases from urban and remote areas of West Bengal, Radio Remote Sensing of Tropical Atmosphere, Atmospheric Electricity, and Space Weather. In all 16 papers have been published and 47 papers presented at various conferences and symposia.

Study of air space pollutants at S.K. University, Anantpur: The specialised chemical analysis laboratory, established with state-of-the-art equipments like Gas analysers, Quartz Crystal Microbalance for air particle analysis, High Volume Sampler for measuring suspended particulates and with field instruments such as Automatic Weather Station, Multi-wavelength Radiometer has been carrying out observations on various atmospheric pollutants, aerosol etc, along with measurement of meteorological parameter at S.K. University, Anantapur. The study results have been presented in conferences and a few scientific papers have been published in journals.

M.N. Saha Centre for Space Studies, Allahabad University: Four research projects are supported at the Centre for carrying out research in space science, technology and applications. Studies using Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF) spectra have been shown as good indicators for early detection of different kinds of stress exhibited by vegetation. Utilising MST radar observations for the estimation of flux through the tropopause using vertical velocity profiles and estimation of the momentum flux between Stratosphere-Troposphere estimated with the atmospheric waves of different periods have a lot of importance to middle atmosphere studies. Several quantum mechanical properties of the radiation have been investigated and scientific results were presented in conferences and published in journals.
Astronomy Olympiad: As part of space science popularisation programme, the Eleventh International Astronomy Olympiad was organised jointly with DAE for the first time in India at Mumbai during November 2006. On a regular basis, the National Astronomy Olympiad for senior school children was supported by ISRO and DAE and conducted through Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, Mumbai.

National Space Science Symposium (NSSS-06): The XIV NSSS-06 was organised at Andhra University in February, 2006.