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{{short description|Indian meteorologist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2018}}
{{Citations missing|article|date=January 2008}}
[[File:Pisharoty.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Prof. P. R. Pisharoty]]

'''Pisharoth Rama Pisharoty''' ({{lang-ml|പിഷാരത്ത് രാമ പിഷാരടി}};10 February 1909 – 24 September 2002) was an [[India]]n [[physicist]] and [[meteorology|meteorologist]], and is considered to be the father of [[remote sensing]] in India.

==Early life and education==
P. R. Pisharoty was born on 10 February 1909 in the town of [[Kollengode (gram panchayat)|Kollengode]] in the Indian state of [[Kerala]]. His parents were Sivaramakrishnan alias Gopala Vadhyar and Lakshmi Pisharassiar. He had three brothers: Chakrapani, Balakrishnan and Rajagopal, and three half brothers: Vaidyanathan, Rose Vadhyar and Gopalakrishnan. He completed his early education in Kerala. Having done his Physics BA honours from [[St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirapalli|St. Joseph's College]], [[Trichinopoly]], [[Madras state]], he went on to do his MA (Physics) from [[Madras University]]. He then worked as a college lecturer in Physics at Loyola College at Chennai during 1932-1941. During the summer vacations he used to work under Prof. [[C. V. Raman]] at the [[Indian Institute of Science]], [[Bangalore]]. On the recommendation of Raman, Pisharoty joined the [[India Meteorological Department]] in 1942, where he carried out research on thunderstorms, western disturbances, movement of monsoon depressions, orographic rain, etc. He then joined the [[University of California]] for further studies where he worked under meteorologist [[Jacob Bjerknes]]. His published two reports titled ''Some aspects of geostrophic poleward sensible heat'' and ''The kinetic energy of the atmosphere''. He obtained his MS (in Meteorology) and PhD degrees by 1954.

==Work in Indian remote sensing programme==
On returning to India, Pisharoty became the Director of Colaba and Alibag Magnetic Observatories in 1959 and Founder Director of the [[Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology]], [[Pune]] in 1962. In 1967 he retired as Director of the Institute of Tropical Meteorology and joined the [[Physical Research Laboratory]], [[Ahmedabad]] as a senior professor at the invitation of [[Vikram Sarabhai]]. At this point he was entrusted with the job of introducing remote sensing technology to India. He accepted the job. His pioneering experiment of detection of [[coconut]] wilt-root disease using Soviet aircraft and US equipment was considered to be the first success in remote sensing in India.

==Positions held==
Pisharoty served as the Director, Remote Sensing and Satellite Meteorology, at [[ISRO]] [[Space Applications Centre]], Ahmedabad during 1972-75. He was a Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of [[World Meteorological Organization]] from 1963 to 1968 and later its Chairman. He also served as the Vice-President of the [[International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences]], and as a member of Joint Organising Committee for [[Global Atmospheric Research Programme]] from 1969 to 1977. He worked at PRL until the early nineties when he retired for health reasons.

==Awards==
*1957 Fellow of the [[Indian Academy of Sciences]]
*1978 Fellow of the [[Indian National Science Academy]]
*1970 Awarded the prestigious [[Padma Shri]] national civilian award of the Indian government in recognition of his contributions.
*1988 First recipient of the Raman Centenary Medal.
*1989 Awarded the [[IMO Prize]] by the WMO.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wmo.int/pages/about/awards/winners_imo_en.html|title=Winners of the IMO Prize|publisher=World Meteorological Organization|access-date=8 December 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151122014635/http://www.wmo.int/pages/about/awards/winners_imo_en.html|archive-date=22 November 2015}}</ref>
*1990 Received the [[K. R. Ramanathan]] Medal established by Indian National Science Academy.<ref>[http://www.insaindia.org/recipients.htm Indian National Science Academy] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.is/20120910110751/http://www.insaindia.org/recipients.htm |date=2012-09-10 }}</ref>

==Death and legacy==
Pisharoty died on the morning of 24 September 2002 at [[Pune]], at the age of 93. The [[Indian Society of Remote Sensing]] renamed the Indian National Remote Sensing Award to 'P. R. Pisharoty Memorial Award' in his memory.
The GPS [[Radiosonde]] of ISRO's VSSC is named after Pisharoty.<ref>[http://cloud-computing.tmcnet.com/news/2014/10/17/8073133.htm An Advanced Radiosonde System for Aerospace Applications ]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}
* [http://www.isro.org/pressrelease/Sep24_2002.htm Press release by Department of Space, ISRO on his death]
* [http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/feb102003/466.pdf Short bio by B. L. K. Somayajulu, PRL (PDF format)]
* [http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=30522 Pune newsline article]
* [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/23300580.cms Times of India article]

{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Science & Engineering}}
{{Scientific Research in Kerala |state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pisharoty, Pisharoth Rama}}
[[Category:Indian meteorologists]]
[[Category:Scientists from Kerala]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in science & engineering]]
[[Category:People from Palakkad district]]
[[Category:1909 births]]
[[Category:2002 deaths]]
[[Category:Malayali people]]
[[Category:Government Victoria College, Palakkad alumni]]
[[Category:Loyola College, Chennai faculty]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian physicists]]
[[Category:Indian Institute of Science alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian earth scientists]]

P. R. Pisharoty - Revision history

imported>Ira Leviton: Fixed a typo found with Wikipedia:Typo Team/moss.