Ponmudi Campus

The Ponmudi Campus of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) is a satellite campus located on the hilltop of Ponmudi in the Western Ghats. It houses the Ponmudi Climate Observatory (PCO), a facility equipped with state-of-the-art instruments for studying aerosol and cloud microphysics. The high-altitude location of the PCO provides a natural laboratory for research on aerosol-cloud processes.

Campus Map

This campus of IIST is located at Ponmudi Hills, about 60 km from Thiruvananthapuram city and 35 km from IIST main campus. This campus is spread over an area of 20 Acres, split into two plots.

Ponmudi Climate Observatory

The IIST Ponmudi Climate Observatory (IIST-PCO) situated on the Ponmudi hilltop of the Western Ghats (PCO, 8.76°N, 77.12°E, 1.0 km AMSL) in India, is equipped with state-of-the-art field instrumentation for studying aerosol and cloud microphysics. The high-altitude siting of the IIST-PCO on the windward side of the western ghats during the summer monsoon season and often within or beneath the cloud layer, offers a natural laboratory for an improved understanding of aerosol-cloud processes in the atmosphere and their accurate representation in climate models using ground-based measurements.

Furthermore, in-house design and development of instrumentation for aerosol studies is a stronghold of IIST-PCO. The observatory is one of its kind in the country, with provisions for balloon-borne experiments in the frontiers of atmospheric science, astrobiology, and space technology development.

Research activities

The Ponmudi Climate Observatory is developed to provide quality-assured aerosol and cloud measurements for their accurate representation in climate models. Our primary research areas encompass:

Monitoring and characterization of atmospheric aerosols.
Source apportionment of aerosols
Model development for assessing aerosol mixing state
Aerosol's mixing state and its impact on aerosol-cloud interaction
Impact on the boundary layer processes by aerosols
Role of elevated aerosol layers on radiation budget
Aerosol-cloud interaction

Research facilities

Aerosol instrumentation

In-house designed common aerosol sampling inlet system with flow rate up to 38 LPM
6-stage high volume sampler
16-channel Optical Particle Sizer (OPS)
Condensation particle counter
7-channel Aethalometer
3-channel Polar Integrating Nephelometer
LIDAR ceilometer with polarization capability
Sun photometer

Facilities

Cloud microphysics

Cloud Condensation Nuclei (CCN) Counter
Micro Rain Radar (MRR)
Disdrometer
All sky imager

Meteorological instrumentation

Surface radiation monitoring station
Automatic weather station

Trace gas measurements

Open Path CO2/H2O Gas Analyzer
Closed Path CO2 Probe
CO Analyzer

Balloon launch facility

Rubber balloon of size 1200-3000 gm with payload carrying capacity of 6 kg up to an altitude of 35 km
Tethered balloons of volume 9 m² capable of carrying 3 kg payload weight up to an altitude of about
1 km.

How to Reach

Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology is located in Valiamala, Thiruvananthapuram on the way to the famous Ponmudi Hills. IIST campus is adjacent to the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) of ISRO.

Nearest Railway Station
Thiruvananthapuram Central Railway Station – about 60 km.
Nearest Airport
Thiruvananthapuram International Airport – about 65 km.
Nearest Town
Vithura – about 20 km (base town before Ponmudi hill station).
Nearest Bus Stop
Ponmudi Bus Stand (Hill Top) – about 2 km from the observator.