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  • 2:49 PM, Tuesday, 19 Mar 2024

Department of Earth and Space Sciences

The faculty members of the department are involved in the following broad areas of research

 

 

 

 

Astronomy & Astrophysics

The Astronomy & Astrophysics group is comprised of six faculty members interested in a wide spectrum of research areas. The group is engaged in both observational and theoretical research work. Current research programs include infrared and radio observations of Galactic massive star forming regions, the ISM, physics of Accretion around compact objects, astrophysical masers, multiwavelength observations of pulsating variable stars, and UV spectroscopic observations of the intergalactic medium and galaxy halos.

In addition to the individual thrust areas such as (i) star formation, (ii) intergalactic medium, and (iii) compact objects, the Astronomy group plans to join national and international projects like the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), and the South African Large Telescope (SALT). The group is already involved with the ASTROSAT project. In addition, the faculty members plan to make full use of new/upgraded telescope facilities such as the Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA) and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA).

Faculty: Anandmayee Tej, Anand Narayanan, Jagadheep D, Resmi Lekshmi, Samir Mandal, Sarita Vig)

 

 

Atmospheric Science
  • Vision
  • To be a leading center of teaching, learning, and research in atmospheric science

  • Mission
    • Provide conceptual understanding of the Earth climate system.
    • Nurture future space scientists, engineers, academicians, and entrepreneurs in the country.

The Atmospheric Science group has three faculty members. The faculty of the group works on the numerical modelling of the atmosphere and measurement and analysis of atmospheric data. The group primarily works on ingesting and assimilating non-conventional data (including satellite data) to improve the mesoscale model performance using sophisticated data assimilation methods. The group members also have experience handling atmospheric boundary layer tower-based instruments and data to realize science objectives. One of the faculty members works on the measurements of aerosols and their role in cloud microphysics and radiation budget in a changing climate. The thrust areas are monsoon climate studies, climate modelling, mesoscale modelling, data assimilation, aerosols and climate change, radiation and climate change, atmospheric boundary layer, unmanned aircraft vehicle (UAV) as a research platform, and development of miniaturized instrumentation for space research. The group has also introduced Machine-Learning (ML) as an important technique in the research areas described above.

(Faculty: Chandrasekar, A., GovindanKutty M., P. R. Sinha)

 

 

Solid Earth

The department has one geologist who is actively pursuing multitudes of research projects on planetary geosciences. Solid Earth group concerns itself with the study of processes associated with the origin and evolution of various rocks and minerals on Earth and nearby solar system bodies, particularly the Moon and Mars. The specific research themes include the study of evolution of Earth’s mantle and lower crust, behaviour of trace and rare-earth elements in igneous and metamorphic systems, chromite genesis in ultramafic-mafic rocks, mineral deposits associated with various rok types and significance of fluid inclusions in economic mineral deposits, stable and radioactive isotopes in igneous petrogenesis and genesis of anorthosites in earth and moon.

The Geology group is planning to develop an active research base in Planetary Geoscience studies at the institute. The faculty has started collaboration with SAC, Ahmadabad and PRL, Ahmadabad on future Planetary Science exploration programmes such as PLANEX and Chandrayaan-2. The group has started working on identifying and studying terrestrial sites that are lunar and Martian analogues. Geological fieldwork will be carried out at these sites in addition to mock in-situ experiments for the proposed space planetary missions.

(Faculty: V. J. Rajesh)

 

 

Remote Sensing

The remote sensing group has five faculty members pursuing research on diverse areas in this field. The group is involved in the development of advanced research and laboratory facilities in the field of Remote Sensing. Projects on the anvil include remote sensing and GIS applications for mangrove wetland management, automated hyperspectral data classification and a joint project with solid earth science group on understanding the origin of Anorthosites in the Earth and Moon using geological and remote sensing approach.

The Remote Sensing group plans to carry out research in (i) SAR image processing for retrieval of geophysical parameters, (ii) Geospatial technologies for coastal zone management with special emphasis on integration of Optical, Hyperspectral and LIDAR data, (iii) Development of image classification algorithms, (iv) Image fusion techniques for biophysical characterization, and (v) Near real time data acquisition of satellite data and pre-processing.

(Faculty: Gnanappazham, L., Rama Rao Nidamanuri, A.M. Ramiya )