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National Center for Polar & Ocean Research|NCPOR, Goa|Himansh, Maitri, Bharati, Himadri|VVM

Polar & Ocean Studies

EEZ studies

exploration for ocean non-living resources such as the gas hydrates and multi-metal sulphides in mid-ocean ridges

Research in Antarctica & Arctic

  • Implement Annual Indian Expeditions to the Antarctic, Arctic and Southern Ocean.
  • Management and upkeep of the Indian Antarctic Research Bases “Maitri - 1989” and “Bharati-2011” , and the Indian Arctic base “Himadri”
  • Management of the Ministry՚s research vessel ORV Sagar Kanya
  • NCPOR is located at Headland Sada, a location about 4 kms from the Vasco city in the state of Goa. It has a total land area of 33.39 acres, touching its shore, with Arabian sea in the backdrop.
  • Dr. M. Ravichandran has assumed charge as Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) from 11 Oct 2021. He obtained his Ph. D degree in Physics from University of Pune. He was Director at NCPOR, Goa (2016 - 2021) .
  • Mr. M. Javed Beg has assumed charge as Director, NCPOR, Goa on 20 October 2021. He is a geologist by training and holds an MBA degree in e-Business & Information Technology from Maastricht School of Management, The Netherlands.

Polar and Ocean Sciences

Geoscientific surveys

Extended continental shelf

Deep sea drilling in the Arabian Sea

Gas hydrate

Multi-metal sulphide

Annual Scientific Expeditions

Maitri

Bharati

Himadri

ORV Sagar Kanya

  • National Knowledge Network (NKN) Internet connectivity of 1 Gbps and also BSNL Internet connectivity of 10 Mbps
  • Servers: Web, ISAES2015, e-mail, NPDC, DNS, Backup, FTP cum Data, SEP Antivirus and Intranet
  • A High-Definition Tele-Presence (TPX) Room has been established at NCPOR (under the NKN project) facilitating high-resolution face-to-face communication with MoES and all its outlying offices.
  • National Polar Data Centre (NPDC) is an authoritative platform for managing and sharing data of Indian polar science. It has become a characteristic centre of “India՚s Data-sharing Network of Earth System Science” - oceanography, glaciology, resources and environmental science, biology & ecology, atmospheric science,
  • Till now all our previous Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica (ISEA) had successfully conducted studies on glaciers and snow ice chemistry from Antarctic, Arctic and Southern Ocean Expedition (SOE) . NCPOR has the India՚s most comprehensive polar library which holds the largest collection of information regarding Antarctica Arctic and the Southern Ocean; the library has developed high-quality online information resources. Library concerned with the collection, preservation, and dissemination of information dealing with the Antarctic, Arctic and Southern Ocean regions and promotes initiatives leading to improved collections and services.
  • At present library is having total 2025 books, 7 scientific Journals, 9 magazines, 52 CD՚s (related to NCPOR, Indian Ocean, Arctic & Antarctic, etc.) , 1899 Maps etc.

National Polar Data Center

Atmospheric Sciences

  • Theme 1: Climate Dynamics
  • Theme 2: Atmosphere-Cryosphere Interactions
  • Theme 3: Space Weather

Biological Sciences

  • Theme 1: Molecular ecology of Antarctic cryosphere
  • Theme 2: Adaptation strategies in terrestrial and aquatic habitats
  • Theme 3: Sea-ice ecosystems
  • Theme 4: Terrestrial flora and fauna: Physiology and population dynamics
  • Theme 5: Food-web dynamics
  • Theme 6: Search for novel bioactive molecules and processes
  • Theme 7: Genomics

Polar Sciences & Cryosphere

Antarctica

Antarctic climate reconstruction using ice core records

Biogeochemical process studies in Antarctic supraglacial environments

Air-snow interaction of ions and particulates in Antarctica

Arctic

Mass balance and dynamics of selected glaciers in Ny-Alesund, Svalbard

Air-snow interaction of ionic species over Arctic

Himalaya

Integrated glaciological monitoring of benchmark glaciers of Chandra basin, Lahul-Spiti valley, Himachal Himalayas

Earth Sciences & Glaciology

  • Theme 1: Past-climate from Lakes, Coastal deposits and soils
  • Theme 2: Sea-Ice Biogeochemistry
  • Theme 3: Quaternary Paleoclimate reconstruction using biological proxies
  • Theme 4: Comprehensive atlas of lakes of Schirmacher and Larsemann Hills
  • Theme 5: Deglaciation history of Antarctic Oases
  • Theme 6: Gondwana-India-Antarctica
  • Theme 9: Mapping of Jutulstraumen-Penckstraumen Rift Zone
  • Theme 10: Meteorite Search
  • Theme 11: Antarctic Geology and Geophysics
  • Theme 12: Cryosphere Studies – strategic science plan for Antarctica

Met-Data

  • Primary sources of data are meteorological data such as Automatic Weather Station (AWS) and Surface Station data from Indian Antarctic Stations. Metadata and other details are available at Indian National Polar Data Center (NPDC) . Contributors are:
    • Indian Meteorological Department (IMD)
    • Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG)
    • Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE)
    • CSIR - National Physical Laboratory (CSIR-NPL)
  • Surface station and Automatic Weather Station data such as Temperature, Air Pressure, Wind Speed, Wind Direction and Relative Humidity. Temperature are in degrees Celsius, Air Pressure are in hecto-Pascals, Wind Speed is in knots.

Organization Chart

Geoscientific Studies

IODP & Deep Crustal Studies

Extended Continental Shelf Programme

Indian Ocean Geoid Low

Deep Sea Exploration and Mapping

Hydrothermal Studies

Exclusive Economic Zone Mapping

Cobalt Crust

Management and Support Services

Administration

Finance & Accounts

Procurement & Stores

Expeditions and Operations

  • Antarctic Programme
  • Antarctic Logistics
  • Arctic Programme & Logistics
  • Polar Biology
  • Space Weather Sciences
  • Environmental Monitoring
  • Information Technology
  • Vessel Operations & Management
  • Infrastructure & Maintenance

Polar Sciences

  • Polar Micropaleontology
  • Paleoceanography
  • Polar Remote Sensing
  • Himalayan Cryosphere
  • Polar Cryosphere and Ice Core Studies

Ocean Sciences

  • Physical Oceanography
  • Biological Oceanography
  • Atmosphere-Ocean Interaction

Southern Ocean

  • Devoid of land mass – high surface wind speeds
  • High-Nutrient Low Chlorophyll (HN-LC) regime due to lack of bioavailability of Fe to support primary production
  • Dynamics of the formation and distribution of water masses
  • Ocean currents and sea ice
  • Relationship between oceanic and atmospheric circulation systems
  • Vertical structure of temperature, humidity and dynamics of the SO troposphere
  • Aerosol characteristics and long-range transport
  • Physical basis for biological productivity
  • Assessment of the distribution, sources and sinks of carbon
  • Deciphering paleoclimatic records through integrated sedimentological, micropaleontological and geochemical studies.
  • In addition, a weather front located typically in the mid-latitudes separates Antarctic and Polar air masses from Tropical air masses known as Polar front, which acts as a trigger for mid-latitude cyclones.

Atmospheric Sciences

  • Physical Oceanography (Hydrodynamics, Currents, mixing, eddies, fluxes)
  • Biogeochemistry (Carbon fluxes, Organic carbon inventory, Food-web dynamics)
  • Chemical Oceanography (Nutrient dynamics, DIC, pH, total Alkalinity etc)
  • Microbial Oceanography (Diversity, microbial processes)
  • Biological Oceanography (Phytoplankton diversity, Zooplankton diversity, Marine Mammals, Cephalopods)
  • Optical Oceanography (CDOM, Photo physiology)
  • Paleoclimatology (Palaeoclimate studies, Marine isotope studies)
  • Marine Geology

Southern Ocean – Recent Contributions

  • Variability of fronts, fresh water input and chlorophyll in the Indian Ocean sector of the Southern Ocean were studied.
  • Biological response to physical processes in the Indian Ocean sector of the Southern Ocean was studied.
  • The probable cause for photoinhibition of primary productivity (PP) in the surface layers of the Indian Ocean sector of the Southern Ocean (SO) was studied during the austral summer (February) 2010.
  • The influence of air-sea-ice interactions on an anomalous phytoplankton bloom in the Indian Ocean sector of the Antarctic Zone of the Southern Ocean during the austral summer, 2011.
  • Observational evidence of the southward transport of water masses by eddies in the Indian sector of Southern Ocean.

IODP

  • Building Blocks of Life, Atlantis Massif
  • Hellenic Arc Volcanic Field
  • Arctic Ocean Palaeoceanography (ArcOP)
  • Japan Trench Paleoseismology
  • South Atlantic Transect 1 and 2
  • Agulhas Plateau Cretaceous Climate
  • The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) is a global marine research collaboration that explores Earth՚s history and dynamics using ocean-going research platforms to recover data recorded in seafloor sediments and rocks and to monitor sub-seafloor environments.
  • On behalf of Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) , National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) , Goa has been designated as the nodal agency to deal with various facets of the IODP program in India.
  • IODP-Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (2003 – 2013)
  • India joined the Phase I of IODP in 2009 as an Associate Member through an MOU among National Science Foundation (NSF) , USA, Japanese MEXT and Ministry of Earth Science (MoES) .
  • IODP-International Ocean Discovery Program (2013 – 2023)
  • India՚s continued participation in Phase II as a member of the International Ocean Discovery Program came into vogue after signing of another MoU between MoES and NSF in September 2014.

Himalayas

  • To study the dynamics and the rate of change in glaciers to understand its impact on hydrology, ecology and climate
  • To assess the climate change using ice as an archive of information on past climate and its future implications
  • To study the biogeochemical aspects of Himalayan ice and compare it with the polar environment.
  • In July 2012, a team of three scientists from NCAOR visited a few glaciers in Himachal (at ~3800 m altitude) for identifying the most suitable glaciers for long-term mass balance studies that are not being undertaken by other institutions. The identified glaciers are Chhota Shigri and Hamata in Chandra Basin, Patsio in Bhaga Basin and Mamtusa and Miyad in Miyar basin.
  • Subsequently, in September 2012, two other scientists from NCAOR visited two high altitude glaciers of Ladakh (at 5600 m altitude) to sample and study the recent accumulation layers by deep pitting (1 - 1.5 m) . The analysis of these samples will help us to understand the preservation of environmental/climatic signals and will help us to identify possible glaciers for an ice core-based climate reconstruction study
  • Background: As part of the Indian government՚s initiatives for better understanding of glacier – climate inter-relationship and quantify the Himalayan glacier responses towards the climate change, National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR) , Goa, under the Ministry of Earth Sciences has established a high-altitude research station in Himalaya called HIMANSH. HIMANSH is a dedicated Research Station established at Sutri Dhaka, Chandra Basin, Lahaul-Spiti valley of Himachal Pradesh which has an altitude of 4080 m amsl. The station was unveiled on Sunday 9th October 2016 and since then the station has made for functioning round the year however for 2016 it have plan to closed during winter (15th November to April 2017) .

Arctic

  • Indian scientific endeavours in the Arctic realm commenced when a five-member scientific team visited Ny-Alesund on the Svalbard archipelago of Norway during the summer of 2007.
  • India leased a station building at Ny-Alesund from Kings Bay AS which owns and manages the facilities at the International Research Base.
  • Indian station ‘Himadri’ was inaugurated on 1st July, 2008
  • Ny-Alesund in Svalbard region is ideal for the glaciological studies due to the various ongoing atmospheric and cryospheric measurements in this region. Vestre Broggerbreen is a small valley-type glacier, close to the permanent settlement of Ny-Alesund
  • India is the most recent country to commence Arctic research as it established its Arctic research station as recently as 2008. India՚s Arctic program aims to contribute to the development, consolidation and dissemination of the current understanding of climate change, its impacts and adaptations in the Norwegian Arctic, Svalbard. India՚s Arctic research includes atmospheric, biological, marine and earth sciences and glaciological studies.
  • The atmospheric research encompasses investigations into aerosols and precursor gases with respect to their radiative, physical chemical and optical properties and studies of the effects of space weather on the auroral ionosphere. Biological studies include sea-ice microbial communities; and in marine research, phytoplankton pigments, nutrients, pH, DO, sea-water salinity and other ecological parameters have been investigated. Earth sciences and glaciological observations include studies of snow-pack production of carbon monoxide and its diurnal variability.
  • Considering the immense scope for scientific research, NCAOR, as the nodal agency for the Indian Arctic Programme entered into a MoU with the Norwegian Polar Institute for scientific co-operation in Polar Sciences.
  • Major developments of Indian Arctic programme were laid in the year 2013, when India received the permanent observer status in the Arctic Council during the meeting of the Arctic Council in Kiruna, Sweden

IndARC Multisensor Mooring

  • India՚s first multi-sensor mooring was deployed on 23 July 2014 at and in the inner Kongsfjorden where the depth is ~180 m.
  • HIMADRI ‘the abode of snow’ is India՚s first research station located at the International Arctic Research base, Ny Alesund, Svalbard, Norway. It is located at a distance of 1,200 kilometres from the North Pole. This station was opened considering the sustained interest shown by Indian scientists in pursuing scientific studies in the Arctic. Himadri provides extensive field and laboratory support required for pursuing research activities in the Arctic. NCAOR as nodal agency make sure availability of the requisite facilities at the Himadri.
  • Micro Rain Radar was installed at Himadri which collects precipitation characteristics at 1 minute interval and will help to understand the high latitude precipitation characteristics. Combining this information with an accumulation rate will give the information of falling precipitation.
  • Ny-Alesund is a functional base for international research and environmental monitoring settlements situated at Eon the west coast of Spitsbergen in the Svalbard archipelago (Figure 1) . Till now, eleven different institutions from ten different countries have permanent research stations in Ny-Aalesund, three of them are staffed year – around.
  • Svalbard is a group of islands (archipelago) located between the Arctic Ocean, Barents Sea, Greenland Sea, and the Norwegian Sea. Since 1920 these islands are integrated part of Norway. These islands are located directly north of Norway in the Arctic Ocean. Svalbard is the northernmost place in the world with a permanent population
  • The islands cover a total of 62,050 , the largest of which are Spitsbergen, Nordaustlandet and Edge ∅ ya. The combined permanent population is less than 3000, nearly all of which is concentrated in the main settlements of Longyearbyen and Barents burg on Spitsbergen.
  • Seven national parks and twenty-three nature reserves cover two-thirds of the archipelago, protecting the largely untouched, yet fragile, natural environment. Approximately 60% of the archipelago is covered with glaciers, and the islands feature many mountains and fjords.
IndARC Multisensor mooringIndARC Multisensor Mooring
StationInstitutionNationalityEst.Research
Amundsen – NobileNational Research Council of ItalyItaly2009Atmospheric
ArcticUniversity of GroningenNetherlands1995Ecology and others
Arctic Yellow RiverChinese Arctic and Antarctic AdministrationChina2004Environment, glaciology, meteorology, marine ecosystems, meteorology, space – Earth measurements
BritishBritish Antarctic SurveyUnited Kingdom1991Earth and life sciences
CorbelPolar Institute Paul Emile VictorFranceAtmospheric sciences
DasanKorea Polar Research InstituteSouth Korea2002Atmospheric chemistry glacial and periglacial geomorphology and hydrology
Dirigible ItaliaNational Research Council of ItalyItaly1997Environment and climate
HimadriNational Centre for Antarctic and Ocean ResearchIndia2008Atmospheric sciences, marine ecosystems and pollution
JapaneseNational Institute of Polar ResearchJapan1990Atmospheric physics, glaciology, meteorology, oceanography and terrestrial biology
KoldeweyAlfred Wegener InstituteGermany1991Atmospheric physics, biology, chemistry and geology. Part of the Total Carbon Column Observing Network.
Marine LaboratoryKings BayNorway2005Marine biology
RobotPolar Institute Paul Emile VictorFrance1999Atmospheric and life sciences
Rocket RangeAndaya Rocket RangeNorway1997Sounding rockets
SverdrupNorwegian Polar InstituteNorway1999Various
VLBINorwegian Mapping AuthorityNorway1992Very-long-baseline interferometry
ZeppelinNorwegian Polar InstituteNorway1988Atmospheric

Himadri Lab Instruments

Himadri Lab InstrumentsHimadri Lab Instruments
Conductivity-Temperature-Depth
Niskin water samplers
Spectrophotometer
Dosimat
Weighing balance
Scintillation counter
Filtration unit
Zooplankton net
pH meter

Gruvebadet Lab Instruments/Equipments

Microwave Radiometer profiler

Micro Rain Radar

Ceilometer

Photo acoustic soot spectrometer

Nephelometer

Aethelometer

Cryobiology Lab@NCPOR Instruments/Equipments

Refrigerated ultracentrifuge

Real-time PCR

Upright bright field microscope

Gel-doc system

Ultrasonic homogenizer

Microplate reader

Microplate fluorometer

Laminar air flow

Gel electrophoresis system

Nanophotometer

Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis

Svalbard Archipelago

  • Svalbard archipelago in the high Arctic is home to several large bodies of mountain glaciers and tidewater glaciers.
  • These glaciers have significant response to the ongoing atmospheric processes and the climate changes in general. These glaciers also impact the local hydrological cycle and fjord ecosystems.
  • Considering such importance of studying the glaciers in Svalbard, Indian researchers have initiated a project entitled “Integrated Monitoring of Vestre Broggerbreen Glacier, Svalbard, Arctic” since 2012.
  • Substantive chemical changes occur in the Arctic atmospheric boundary layer as a result of photochemical reactions in the atmosphere and heterogeneous reactions of gases with aerosols, snow in the atmosphere and snow on the ground. Recent experiments have demonstrated that surface snow in Polar Regions can act as a photochemical reactor influencing concentrations of a wide variety of important tropospheric trace gases like ozone and nitrogen containing compounds in the atmospheric boundary layer over snow-covered regions.
  • Reactive halogens have important role in the troposphere processes and the sources of reactive halogens could be from sea-salt in surface snow, aerosols, frost flowers and photodegradable halogenated carbons of biological or anthropogenic origin.
  • The chemical composition of snow and aerosols at the atmospheric boundary layer were thus studied in series of campaigns, with a focus on the quantification of the species being scavenged by aerosols, ionic species in surface snow (dry and wet deposition) as well as the factors that lead to the snow-air exchange.

Antarctica

  • Environment and Treaty Obligation
    • to protect the scientific value of the Antarctic
    • to help in the continuous improvement of Antarctic environmental management
    • to meet the legal requirements of the Protocol and national legislation
  • Antarctica Treaty System: Purpose of the Antarctic Treaty is to ensure “in the interests of all mankind that Antarctica shall continue forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not become the scene or object of international discord.” The Treaty applies to the area south of South Latitude.
  • Antarctica “the white continent” is the fifth largest continent in the world with its unique wildlife, extreme coldness, dryness, windiness and unexplored territories. The word Antarctica is derived from the Greek word antarktike, which means “opposite to north” i.e.. , opposite to the Arctic.
  • It is situated within the Antarctic Circle and is surrounded by Southern Ocean. James cook discovered Antarctica when he was crossing the Antarctic Circle. The world՚s largest ocean current, the Antarctic circumpolar current circumvents the Antarctic continent. Of the 14 million-sq. km area, 98% is covered with thick ice sheets that formed ­­­25 million years ago and holds 75% of the earth՚s fresh water.
  • Madrid Protocol - It designates Antarctica as a “natural reserve, devoted to peace and science” (Art. 2) . Until 2048 the Protocol can only be modified by unanimous agreement of all Consultative Parties to the Antarctic Treaty. In addition, the prohibition on mineral resource activities cannot be removed unless a binding legal regime on Antarctic mineral resource activities is in force.

Antarctica Specially Protected Area

Environmental Authorization and Permit

  • India՚s accession to the instrument of Antarctic Treaty was executed in 1983, after that, on signing the Madrid Protocol, also known as Environmental Protocol (Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty) in 1998 (adopted in 1991 and enforced in 1998) , affirmed the comprehensive protection of Antarctic Environment and its dependent and associated ecosystems.
  • Environmental Authorization and Permit is required for commencing activities within the south of 60 degrees south and marine area under the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) .

Specially Protected Area

  • Areas kept inviolate from human interference so that future comparisons may be possible with localities that have been affected by human activities;
  • Representative examples of major terrestrial, including glacial and aquatic, ecosystems and marine ecosystems;
  • Areas with important or unusual assemblages of species, including major colonies of breeding native birds or mammals;
  • The type locality or only known habitat of any species;
  • Areas of particular interest to on-going or planned scientific research;
  • Examples of outstanding geological, glaciological or geomorphological features;
  • Areas of outstanding aesthetic and wilderness value;
  • Sites or monuments of recognized historic value

Cryospheric Projects

  • As part of the Ministry of Earth Science՚s endeavour to better understand the cryosphere, studies have been undertaken in all major cryospheric regimes like the Antarctic, Arctic and the Himalaya. Towards this, an Ice Core Laboratory was established in 2005 at NCAOR, Goa. The Ice Core Laboratory provides a safe and controlled environment to preserve and undertake various types of studies. It also provides a state-of-the-art ice/snow processing and analytical facilities for researchers to conduct various paleo-atmospheric and biogeochemical studies from ice and snow from polar region to understand the its linkage on climatic variations during the past.
  • Rats are one of the most widespread and invasive introduced species worldwide and are present at all departure points for Antarctica. Special care must be taken to avoid their introduction to Antarctica and other rat-free areas in the region.
  • Other than registered assistance, dogs, no live animals should be intentionally carried on any vessel visiting Antarctica. Dogs are not permitted to land within the Antarctic Treaty area.
  • Utilization of Indian satellite RISAT-1 C-band imagery for geospatial mapping of cryospheric surface features in the Antarctic environment (Jawak et al. , 2015d)
  • Geospatial mapping of vegetation in the Antarctic environment using very high-resolution WorldView-2 data (Jawak and Luis, 2013a; Jawakand Luis, 2013d; Jawak and Luis, 2013e; Jawak et al; 2013a) .
  • Employed very high-resolution satellite imagery for object -oriented mapping of supra-glacial debris in the Antarctic environment (Jawak et al. , 2015b; Jawak et al; 2013b) .
  • Assessment of surface melting using scatter meter data
  • Ice calving and deformation from ice margins detected using RISAT-1 data
  • Developed 3 new geospatial methods for geo-information extraction in the cryospheric environment, viz.
    • spectral index ratio method,
    • ensemble classification method,
    • customized normalized difference water index (cNDWI) for lake feature extraction
  • IP based EPABX systems are installed at Maitri, Bharati and NCAOR in the year 2015 - 16 for providing seamless phone connectivity between Antarctic stations and NCAOR.
  • SATCOM facility at Maitri and NCAOR in year 2008 in collaboration with Space Application Centre, Ahmadebad and Electronics Corporation of India Ltd. The facility provides uninterrupted broadband connectivity through satellite link at 4 MHz bandwidth for voice, video and data at Maitri station.
  • Web-based application, Bharati-TIMES was developed and being used for the management and elucidation of technical issues related to the life support systems of the station.
  • The maiden South Pole Expedition- The enigma of South Pole attracted Indian Scientists ever since setting feet on the icy continent. There were several plans made since 1984, soon after first wintering over at Dakshin Gangotri Station, but these had to be given up at the planning stage itself due to lack of logistic capability. To commemorate Amundsen՚s historical expedition to South Pole, as also to mark thirty years of Indian presence in Antarctica, first scientific expedition to South Pole from Indian Station ‘Maitri’ was launched in year 2010.
  • The basic purpose was to establish the capability of penetrating deeper into continent for conducting meaningful science in inland areas of Antarctica beyond the mountain Chain of Dronning Maud land. On a customized version of Toyota Hilux vehicle - Arctic Trucks, an eight-member team covered 2300 km in 9 days with regular halts for collecting snow and ice samples reaching South Pole on 21st November 2010.
  • The return journey was punctuated with frequent break downs, major causalities were suffered by radiators, fuel pumps, axels which were quite expected due to normal wear and tear caused by the massive sastrugis and the extreme cold temperatures touching 57 degrees Celsius below zero. After a short stay at the South Pole, the team returned to Maitri on 1st December 2010 with valuable scientific data, lot of experience and ideas for inland traverses that will guide the future of scientific research in Indian Programme.
  • Identified 8 new genera and 80 new species of bacteria from Antarctica, Arctic, Himalayan glaciers, deep sea and the stratosphere. Most significant being identification of 32 new species of bacteria from Antarctica thus contributing to ~10% of the new species so far discovered in Antarctica
  • Established that two genes aspartae aminotransferase gene and tRNA modification GTPase gene are required for survival of life forms at low temperature
  • Over 30 species of algae and cyanobacteria (dominant flora) were observed in six freshwater streams of the Schirmacher Oasis, Antarctica. Nitrogen fixing species of cyanobacteria contributed > 50% to the count. The physiological processes of the isolated cyanobacteria strains indicated that - fixation, nitrate uptake and its reduction, ammonium uptake and glutamine synthetase transferase activity and photosynthesis continued at low temperature indicating low temperature adaptation for Antarctic cyanobacteria
  • Five new species of nematodes were reported from east Antarctica by Bohra et al. (2010) .
  • A total of 49 species of sea birds and 12 species of marine mammals have been recorded from the area of operation of India in Antarctica and voyage routes of Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica
  • Ecotone, where both warm water of Southern-Indian Ocean and cold Antarctic Sea meets was observed with high species richness of birds but this ecotone region was gradually moving towards Antarctica probably due to climate change and it needs to be scientifically verified with more samplings
  • Metal tolerant bacterial strains of Bacilluscereus, Bacillussp.
  • And Chromohalobacter beijerinckii were isolated from the surface sediments of a solar saltern in Ribandar, Goa
  • Annual recessional pattern of Dakshin Gangotri Glacier snout indicates that major recession follows a peak in every five years. Since 1996, nearly 4800 area has been vacated by the shrinking snout of this glacier.
  • Geophysical data such as airborne gravity and magnetic anomalies over the Schirmacher Oasis region recorded by other researchers have been interpreted for deep subsurface lithology
  • Permanent Seismological Observatory and GPS were established in 1997 at Maitri in Central Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica primarily to monitor the seismicity in and around Antarctica, the space and time distribution of earthquake occurrences and obtain hypocentral parameters, velocity structure, earthquake source mechanism, internal deformation, plate motion and other glacial and climate related processes. In 2013, the observatory has been upgraded with the new generation Geotech KS-2000M Seismometer and Smart 24R digitizer.
  • The glacial diamicts of the Jutulsessen area of East Antarctica show basal transportation in the glacier. These sediments were derived mainly from disintegration of the gneissic country rock.
  • Designed a first-generation accurate digital elevation model (DEMs) for Larsemann Hills and Schirmacher Oasis, East Antarctica, using interferometric and photogrammetric techniques
  • Geospatial mapping of vegetation in the Antarctic environment using very high-resolution WorldView-2 data
  • Developed three new geospatial methods for geo-information extraction in the cryospheric environment, viz.
    • spectral index ratio method
    • ensemble classification method
    • customized normalized difference water index (cNDWI) for lake feature extraction

Mayank