The venue of the workshop is the Varahamihira Conference Hall, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, India, a premier institute devoted to research on the tropical atmosphere and the monsoons. With major offices of the India Meteorological Department located here, Pune is home to the largest meteorological community in India. Located about 170 km from Mumbai, Pune is a historic city with a rich cultural heritage, and has a pleasant weather all through the year. January is relatively cool and dry in Pune. Pune can be reached by road, rail and air.