National Aeronautics and Space Administration, (Nasa), USA would conduct an airborne scientific research on weather, climate and air quality of Bangladesh.
The output of the study would be useful for weather forecast and agricultural research in Bangladesh, according to a press release of the environment ministry.
Nasa would conduct the research as part of its Southeast Asia Composition, Cloud, Climate Coupling Regional Study, (SEACRS) project it has designed recently.
Hal Maring, chief scientist of Earth science division at Nasa, conveyed the message as he called on Environment and Forest Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud at the latter's office yesterday.
Thanking Nasa, the environment minister said the research would help to exchange weather and climatic data with other countries in this region.
Around 250 scientists will take part in the study in the atmosphere from top to bottom at the critical time of year, when strong weather systems and prolific regional air pollution pump chemicals and particles high into the atmosphere, says Nasa website about the project.
Mentioning the meteorology of Southeast Asia as the most complex and most difficult place on the planet to forecast, the website adds the region hosts both severe air pollution episodes and some of the cleanest areas on Earth. "It is an excellent natural laboratory to understand how pollution, weather and climate interact".
There are emissions from big seasonal fires and megacities that are moved around the region by a complex meteorological system. They may also influence how the seasonal monsoon system behaves.
The website further mentions that the study will draw together coordinated observations from Nasa satellites, several research aircrafts, and an array of sites on the ground and at sea.