Cloud cover photographed by weather satellites during the last five years (1966-70) for the months of July & August, are utilised to study the following aspects: (i) The relation, if any, between the cloudiness in equatorial regions of Northern and Southern Hemisphere over the Indian Ocean.

(ii) The relation between the characteristic monsoon cloud bands over India and the synoptic features.

(iii) Organisation of clouds into oval-shaped structures.

Bands Saddling the equator have been found to generally generate and decay in situ with the average life duration of about 3-4 days. Cloud conjurations associated with the monsoon trough over India have been classified into different cathodes and their synoptic associates attempted. An interesting finding is that whereas the characteristic monsoon cloud band follows small oscillations of the 700 mb trough axis, its large northward shift in association with the displacement of the trough to the foothills is subsequently followed by the regeneration of the cloud band and the trough at about 15°N. The frequency of occurrence of oval-shaped cloud clusters over the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea is about the same and the clusters occur in preferred areas