Respond Projects

Atmosphere and Climate

Regional monitoring, mapping and inventory analysis of Trace and Green house gases

  1. Establishment of trace gases measurements network across the country using cost effective technology.
  2. Creating a consistent and reliable centralized long-term data base on trace gases for various studies.
  3. Ground based trace gases data to improve the satellite retrievals accuracy.
  4. Identification of hotspots of trace gases and their causative factors.

Retrieval of green house gases using satellite data

1. Retrievals of columnar GHGs namely CO2, CH4, CO, O3 and N2O from the satellites over the Indian region. 2. Comparative analysis of satellite retrievals against ground-based retrievals to improve the retrieval accuracy. 3. Precise columnar GHGs to predict and estimate source and sink regions of the Indian sub-continent. 4. Addressing seasonal and intra season variations using satellite retrieved columnar GHGs.

Aerosol characterization and its impact on solar radiation

Absorbing aerosols over Himalayas assume importance not only because of their enhanced radiative impacts when they reside over high albedo surfaces, but also due to their effects on snow whiteness and glacier retreat after deposition. In addition, absorbing aerosols over foot hills of Himalayas and Tibetan plateau are reported to have significant impacts on Indian summer monsoon and associated rainfall. Though several studies have been carried out, aerosol impacts on Indian summer monsoon are not yet clearly understood. In view of these, impacts of aerosols over Himalayan regions are being examined using satellite remote sensing and ground based measurements. Aerosol vertical distribution and contribution of dust in aerosol loading over Himalayas are examined using multi-year satellite observations. Measurements of Black Carbon (BC) concentration in atmosphere; snow and changes in spectral albedo due to BC deposition will be carried out by conducting field experiments over different regions of Himalayas