The woman who decoded Indian Monsoon: Prof Sulochana Gadgil passes away at 81

Bengaluru: Professor Sulochana Gadgil, a pioneering meteorologist celebrated for her groundbreaking work on the Indian monsoon, passed away on Thursday evening in Bengaluru after a prolonged illness. She was 81.

Born in Pune in 1944, Sulochana was the third of four daughters and completed both her schooling and undergraduate studies in her hometown. An alumna of Ferguson College, she met her future husband, acclaimed ecologist Prof Madhav Gadgil, during her academic journey.

She pursued Applied Mathematics at the University of Pune and, around the same time, got engaged to Madhav. The couple later earned scholarships to study at Harvard University. It was after completing her PhD that her deep interest in India’s complex monsoon system truly took root. She went on to undertake a postdoctoral stint at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), working under legendary meteorologist Prof Jules Charney.

In 1971, the Gadgils returned to India, and Prof Sulochana briefly worked at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune. Her scientific career flourished further at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, where she was associated with the Centre for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. Over time, her research extended into ecology and evolutionary biology as well.

A globally recognised authority on monsoons, Prof Sulochana Gadgil’s work helped demystify the Indian summer monsoon. She was instrumental in showing that it is a result of seasonal planetary-scale system migrations and that variability in rainfall is tied to cloud dynamics over the equatorial Indian Ocean.

She was elected a fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore, and mentored generations of students and researchers who now carry forward her legacy.

Prof Gadgil is survived by her husband, son, daughter and their families. Her mortal remains will be kept at the residence of her son, Prof Siddharth Gadgil, at IISc. The funeral will be held later in the afternoon.