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ID: 63427
Title: Placements, internal ‘brain drain’ and academic life of undergraduates at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay
Author: Namit Agrawal, Sailakshmi Sreenath, Shishir K. Jha and Anurag Mehra
Editor: S.K.Satheesh
Year: 2023
Publisher: Current Science Association and Indian Academy of Sciences.
Source: ENVIS, CES & EWRG, CES
Reference: Current Science Vol. 124 (2) 155 -168 (2023)
Subject: Placements, internal ‘brain drain’ and academic life of undergraduates at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay
Keywords: Academic life, core versus non-core jobs, placements, technical education, undergraduate students.
Abstract: The nature of jobs that undergraduate students at IIT Bombay opt for is analysed in this study. We examine the factors that affect student choices, especially what makes them opt for core (related to branch of study) or non-core jobs. We factor in the effect of their branch of study (or department), the remuneration offered, extracurricular activities pursued and the dominant aspirational narratives. Except for Computer Science and Engineering, there is a preponderance of students taking up non-core jobs. This ‘realization’ amongst students often promotes a disconnect with academic studies, especially of core subjects. We conclude that placement data need to be recorded and analysed every year so that rational decisions about the number of seats on offer in a given branch, the nature and extent of curricular changes, establishing multidisciplinary ‘branches' and improvements in the placement process can be made in a reasoned manner.
Location: T E 15 New Biology building
Literature cited 1: Development of higher technical institutions of India. Report of Sarkar Committee, 1948; https://kgpchronicle.iitkgp.ac.in/wp-content/ uploads/2020/02/Sarkar-Committee-Report.pdf (accessed on 25 August 2022). 2. Singh, A., IITs Yesterday and Tomorrow. Econ. Polit. Weekly, 1995, 30(38).
Literature cited 2: 1995, 30(38). 3. Mehrotra, S. P. and Sah, P. P., How the IITs were born and their philosophies determined, Scroll.in, 10 January 2016. 4. Leslie, S. W. and Kargon, R., Exporting MIT: Science, technology, and nation‐building in India and Iran. Osiris, 2006, 21(1)

ID: 63426
Title: Estimation of change in forest avoveground carbon in Bhimbandh wildlife Sanctuary, Bihar, India between 2007 and 2016
Author: Suman Sinha
Editor: S.K.Satheesh
Year: 2019
Publisher: Current Science Association and Indian Academy of Sciences.
Source: ENVIS, CES & EWRG, CES
Reference: Current Science Vol. 117 (6) 1090-1094 (2019)
Subject: Estimation of change in forest avoveground carbon in Bhimbandh wildlife Sanctuary, Bihar, India between 2007 and 2016
Keywords: Carbon, forest aboveground biomass, regression, synthetic aperture radar
Abstract: This study analyses the status and temporal dynamics of the tropical forest aboveground carbon (AGC) stocks. We used an integrated geospatial approach incorporating satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data with a continuous forest inventory over a ten year period utilizing statistical up-scaling procedure over a tropical deciduous forest of India as a case study. Logarithmic regression relationship was observed as the best fit model to derive the aboveground biomass from SAR backscatter coefficients with an absolute model accuracy of 80.61 %. This was further employed to model the change in forest AFGC stock from 2007 to 2016.Results show a significant decrease in carbon stock and the release of 918.5 Gg of carbon in the atmosphere from deforestation and forest degradation in the study area within the ten-year period.
Location: T E 15 New Biology Building
Literature cited 1: Bala. G., Digesting 400 ppm for global mean CO2 concentration .Curr.Sci., 2013, 104 (11), 1471-1472. Sinha, S. et al., Accounting tropical forest carbon stock with synergestic use of space-borne ALOS PALSAR and COSMO-Skymed SAR sensors .Trop. Ecol., 2019; doi: 10.1007/s42965-019-00011-6.
Literature cited 2: Gunlu, A. And Ercanlt, I., Artificial neural network models by ALOS PALSAR data for aboveground stand carbon predictions of pure beech stands: a case study from northern of Turkey.Geocarto.Int., 2018; doi:10.1080/10106049.2018.1499817. Ganeshamurthy,A.N., Ravindra ,V., Rupa,T.R., and Bhat,P.M., Carbon sequestration potential of mango orchards in tropical hot and humid climate of Konkat region of India.Curr.Sci., 2019; https://www.currentscience.ac.in/cs/php/forthcoming/2019/29978.pdf (accessed on 18 March 2019).

ID: 63425
Title: Exploring the modulatory effect of albumin on calcium phosphate crystallization
Author: Priyadarshini, Devesh Raizada, Pragya Kumar, Tanya Singh, Trisha Pruthi, Abhishek Negi, Lokesh Nigam and Naidu Subbarao
Editor: S.K.Satheesh
Year: 2019
Publisher: Current Science Association and Indian Academy of Sciences.
Source: ENVIS, CES & EWRG, CES
Reference: Current Science Vol. 117 (6) 1083-1089 (2019)
Subject: Exploring the modulatory effect of albumin on calcium phosphate crystallization
Keywords: Albumin, calcium phosphate, crystallization, nucleation, urolithiasis
Abstract: Urolitiasis, also known as renal lithiasis, is a commonly occurring disease in humans. Calculi are formed in the urinary tract, including the tubular region of the Kidney. Calcium phosphate crystals, especially hydroxyapatite, are responsible for nidus formation in the more commonly occurring calcium oxalate kidney stones. In the present study, effect of different concentrations of human serum albumin on nucleation, growth and demineralization of calcium phosphate crystallization using growth assay system and its confirmation with in silico study have been analysed. Human serum albumin shows inhibitory effect on nucleation, while it shows both simulatory as well as inhibitory activity on the growth of calcium phosphate crystals. The results suggest that albumin plays a role in both inhibition as well as promotion of calcium phosphate crystallization .The in silico study indicates involvement of Tyr-161, Arg-222 and Lys-195 and Lys-199 residues of albumin with calcium phosphate crystal.
Location: T E 15 New Biology building
Literature cited 1: Lopez, M.and Hoppe, B., History, epidemiology and regional diversities of urolithiasis.Pediatr.Nephrol. 2010, 25 (1) , 49-59. Coe, F.L., Parks, J.H., and Asplin, J.R., The pathogenesis and treatment of kidney stones.N.Engl.JMed, 1992, 327 (16), 1141-1152.
Literature cited 2: Yuvarani, T., Manjula, K.and Gopu, P., Growth characterization of calcium, hydrogen phosphate dehydrate crystals influenced by Costus igneus aqueous extract .Int.J.Pharm.Pharm.Sci., 2017, 9 (5) , 173-178. Aduayi, O.S.and Famurewa, O.C., Cystolithiasis with coexisting nephrolithiasis: aradiodiagnostic discovery in an adult Nigerian male with lower urinary tract sysmptoms.JK.Med.Invest.Pract, 2015, 10, 30-32.

ID: 63424
Title: Potential spreading risk of an invasive snail species (Pomacea canaliculata) in freshwater habitats of Asia
Author: Wasana de Silva, Te Cao, Zihao Wen, Xialon Zhang and Leyi Ni
Editor: S.K.Satheesh
Year: 2019
Publisher: Current Science Association and Indian Academy of Sciences.
Source: ENVIS, CES & EWRG, CES
Reference: Current Science Vol. 117 (6) 1071-1078 (2019)
Subject: Potential spreading risk of an invasive snail species (Pomacea canaliculata) in freshwater habitats of Asia
Keywords: Freshwater macrophytes, invasive species, Pomacea canaliculata, spreading risk
Abstract: The invasive success of the freshwater snail species (Pomacea canaliculata) continues to wreak havoc around the world. The present study was initiated to analyse spatial trend and associated environmental conditions elated to the invasive success of P.canaliculata in Asia. Systematic searches were performed to identify relevant studies through different databases, and appropriate statistical methods like spatial autocorrelation, standard deviational ellipse method and PCA were used to generate new knowledge on this species. The potential invasive range of this species is between 40ºN and 40ºS lat. The present study reveals that the spatial distribution of P.canaliculata is most significantly correlated with human population density, followed by humidity, temperature and precipitation. Moreover, the grazing rates are dramatically affected by nutrient content of freshwater macrophytes. Spatial autocorrelation analysis result indicates clustered dispersion pattern of this snail, and standard deviational ellipse depicts the invasion trend of P.canaliculata moving from East Asia to potential areas in South and West Asia. We therefore conclude that P.canaliculata is likely to be the next harmful visitor to South and West Asian countries.
Location: T E 15 New Biology building
Literature cited 1: Lowe, S., Browne, M., Boudjelas, S. and Poorter De, M., 100 of the World’s Worst Invasive Alien Species: A Selection from the Global Invasive Species Database, IUCN, 2000; http://www.issg.org/pdf/publications/worst_100/english_100_worst (accessed on 18 August 2016) Cabi.org, Pomacea canaliculata (golden apple); http: //www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/68490 (accessed on 3 October 2016).
Literature cited 2: Arfan,A.G.,Muhamad,R., Omar,D., Azwady,A.A.and Manjeri,G., Comparative life cycle studies of Pomaceae maculate and Pomaceae canaliculata on rice (Oryza sativa) .Pak .J. Agric.Sci., 2015, 52 (4) , 1075-1079. Wu,J.Y., Wu,Y.T.,Li., M.C., Chiu,Y.W., Liu,M.Y and Liu,L.L., Reproduction and juvenile growth of the invasive apple snails Pomacea canaliculata and P.Scalaris (Gastropoda: Ampullariidae) in Taiwan .Zool.Stud., 2011, 50 (1) , 61-68.

ID: 63423
Title: Development of an efficient hierarchical clustering analysis using an agglomerative clustering algorithm
Author: Arshia Naeem, Mariam Rehman, Maria Anjum and Muhammad Asif
Editor: S.K.Satheesh
Year: 2019
Publisher: Current Science Association and Indian Academy of Sciences.
Source: ENVIS, CES & EWRG, CES
Reference: Current Science Vol. 117 (6) 1045-1053 (2019)
Subject: Development of an efficient hierarchical clustering analysis using an agglomerative clustering algorithm
Keywords: Cosine similarity measure, document clustering, F-measure, hierarchical agglomerative clustering, pre-processing, TF-IDF.
Abstract: Clustering algorithms are used to generate clusters of elements having similar characteristics. Among the different groups of clustering algorithms, agglomerative algorithm is widely used in the document clustering domain. This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of agglomerative clustering algorithm in document clustering by enhancing its efficiency and evaluating it through implementations. The resulting values, precision =0.8571, recall =0.8571 and F-measure=0.857076 indicate the highest level of accuracy and efficiency compared to existing algorithm.
Location: T E 15 New Biology building
Literature cited 1: : Mishra, R.K., Saini, K. And Bagri, S., Text Document Clustering on the basis of Inter passage approach by using K-means. In International Conference on Computing, Communication and Automation (ICCCA), Greater Noida,India, 2015, pp110-113. Sathiyakumari, K., Manimekalai, G., Preamsudha, V. And Scholar, M.P., A survey on various approaches in document clustering.Int.J.Comput.Technol.Appl. 2011, 2 (5), 1534-1539.
Literature cited 2: Sunanda, P. and Vineela, A., An agglomerative hierarchical clustering for hybrid recommender systems. In International Conference on Power, Control, Communication and Computational Technologies for Sustainable Growth 9PCCCTSG) ,Karnool, India, 11-12 December 2015, pp.283-288. Halkidi, M., Batistakis, Y. and Vazirgiannis,M., Clustering algorithms and validity measures .In Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Conference on Scientific and Statistical Database Management (SSDBM) ,Fairfax, USA, 18-20 July 2001, pp.3-22.

ID: 63422
Title: Crop phenology and soil moisture applications of SCATSAT-1
Author: Nilima R.Chaube, Sasmita Chaurasia, Rojalin Tripathy, Daharmendra Kumar Pandey, Arundhati Misra, B.K.Bhattacharya, Prakash Chauhan, Kiran Yarakulla, G.D. Bairagi, Prashant Kumar Srivastava, Preeti Teheliani and S.S. Ray
Editor: S.K.Satheesh
Year: 2019
Publisher: Current Science Association and Indian Academy of Sciences.
Source: ENVIS, CES & EWRG, CES
Reference: Current Science Vol. 117 (6) 1022-1031 (2019)
Subject: Crop phenology and soil moisture applications of SCATSAT-1
Keywords: Crop phenology, gamma-0, rice, sigma-0, soil moisture, vegetation dynamics
Abstract: SCATSAT-1 measures the backscattering coefficient over land surfaces, which is a function of vegetation structure, surface roughness, soil moisture content, incidence angle and dielectric properties of vegetation. Scatterometer image reconstruction techniques provide fine resolution data to explore the emerging applications over land by using ambiguous backscatter from land. In this paper, 2 km resolution products of ISRO’s scatterometer SCATSAT-1 are exploited for land target detection, rice crop phenology stages detection for kharif and rabi seasons and estimation of relative soil moisture over parts of India. Temporal and spatial backscatter changes are due to seasonal and changes in Land Use Land Cover. Crop phenology stages such as transplanting, maximum tillering, panicle emergence and physiological maturity stages are identified by analysing SCATSAT-1 time series along with NDVI and findings are supported by appropriate ground truth observations and crop cutting experiment (CCE) data. The relative soil moisture change detection is validated with in situ ground truth measurements using Hydraprobe, carried for SCATSAT-1 ascending and descending passes.
Location: T E 15 New Biology building
Literature cited 1: Attema, E.P.W., The active microwave instrument on-board the ERS-1 satellite .Proc. IEEE, 19991, 79 (6), 791-799. Schanda, E., Physical Fundamentals of Remote Sensing, Springer Verlag, Berlin Heidel berg, etc., 1986, p.187.
Literature cited 2: Kennett, R.G. and Li, F.K., Seasat over-land scatterometer data, part 1: global overview of the Ku-band backscatter coefficients.IEEE.Trans.Geosci.Remote Sensing, 1989, 27, 92-605. Messech, M.A., and Quegan, S., Variability in ERS scatterometer measurements over land.IEEE.Trans.Geosci.Remote Sensing, 2000, 38, 1767-1776.

ID: 63421
Title: Scatterometry for land hydrology science and its applications
Author: P.K.Gupta, R.Pradhan, R.P.Singh and A.Misra
Editor: S.K.Satheesh
Year: 2019
Publisher: Current Science Association and Indian Academy of Sciences.
Source: ENVIS, CES & EWRG, CES
Reference: Current Science Vol. 117 (6) 1014-1021 (2019)
Subject: Scatterometry for land hydrology science and its applications
Keywords: Backscattering coefficient, brightness temperature, river water level, scatterometers, soil wetness.
Abstract: This study reports the potential of SCATSAT-1 scaterometer data for catchment- scale hydrological applications related with river water level estimation and flood detection. New approaches have been developed for estimation of river water levels and detection of surface flooding using Oceansat-II scatterometer (OSCAT) and SCATSAT-1 scatterometer-based high-resolution backscatter and brightness temperature (BT) datasets respectively. Ku-band sigma-0 and BT data, Shuttle Radar Topography Mission Digital Elevation Model and observed hydrometric data have been used in this study. Catchments of gauging sites and their influencing area were delineated using the topography, wetness conditions and land-cover variations. OSCAT time series of scatterometer image reconstruction data were used to develop model function between basin water index and ground-observed river-state datasets. Subsequently, inverting these functions on SCATSAT-1 observations, river water levels for 2017 were estimated at different gauging sites. A study on the magnitude of each flooding event in terms of intensity, duration and extent of area affected was also carried out using the scatterometer based BT data analysis. The study demonstrated that high temporal resolution scatterometer data has the potential to fill the gap of coarser temporal resolutions alters ( 10-35 days) for river heights and synthetic Aperture Radar Data ( 7-25 days) for surface flooding with the advantage of capturing extreme events.
Location: T E 15 New Biology building
Literature cited 1: Kumar, R. et al., Evaluation of Oceansat-2-derived Ocean surface winds using observations from global buoys and other scatterometer. IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sensing, 2013, 51 (5), 2571-2576. Naeimi,V., Leinenkugel,P., Sabel,D., Wagner,W., Apel,H.and Kuenzer,C., Evaluation of soil moisture retrieval from the ERS and MetOp scatterometers in the Lower Mekong basin. Remote Sensing, 2013, 5, 1603-1623.
Literature cited 2: Cui, Y. et al., Estimating snow water equivalent with backscattering at X and Ku band based on absorption los. Remote Sensing, 2016, 8, doi: 10.3390/rs8060505. Turk, F.J., Sikhakolli, R., Kirstetter, P. and Durden, S.L., Exploiting over-land Oceansat-II scatterometer observations to capture short-period time integrated precipitations.J. Hydrometeorol. 2015, 16, 2519-2535.

ID: 63420
Title: Assessment of cryospeheric parameters over the Himalaya and Antarctic regions using SCATSAT-1 enhanced resolution data.
Author: Sandip R.Oza, Rajashree V. Bothale, D. Ram Rajak, P. Jayaprasad, Saroj Maity, Praveen K.Thakur, Naveen Tropathi, Arpit Chouksey and I.M. Bahuguna
Editor: S.K.Satheesh
Year: 2019
Publisher: Current Science Association and Indian Academy of Sciences.
Source: ENVIS, CES & EWRG, CES
Reference: Current Science Vol. 117 (6) 1002-1013 (2019)
Subject: Assessment of cryospeheric parameters over the Himalaya and Antarctic regions using SCATSAT-1 enhanced resolution data.
Keywords: Calving, Scatterometer, Sea-ice, snow water equivalent, surface melt.
Abstract: Antarctica is the focus of scientific studies considering the largest reservoir of terrestrial water in the form of ice and doubling of ice area during winter due to sea-ice growth. The third pole-Himalaya is equally important due to the large extent of snow and ice cover outside the Polar Regions, which is a major source of water for the Asian countries. At present, the Ku-band scaterometer observing global cryosphere is the SCATSAT-1 launched by India. This article describes the study carried out on different crysopheric parameters using high-resolution ( ~2.2 km) scatterometer data in the Antarctica and Himalaya. Impact of seasonal variations in snow/ice and ice calving on the backscatter over Antarctica is discussed in detail. A procedure developed for the estimation of sea-ice extent, which yielded over all accuracy of 89 % , has been presented and successfully applied for daily monitoring of the Antarctic i.e. extent for 2017.Surface melting using backscatter and brightness temperature data has been discussed and the contrast between large-sized and small-sized Antarctic ice shelves during the natural summer period of summer 2017-18 is highlighted. The higher average surface melt observed around majority of eat Antarctic ice helves, particularly near the Indian station ‘Maitri’ is of particular interest. Typical surface melting patterns observed over the third largest Antarctic ice shelf, Amery, are discussed in detail. Over northwest Himalaya, derived changes in snow water equivalent (ΔSWE) shows a good correlation between observed and calculated SWE variations. The present study demonstrates that simultaneous availability of high-resolution brightness temperature and backscatter data from SCATSAT-1 provides a unique opportunity to study the polar and mountain cryosphere.
Location: T E 15 New Biology building
Literature cited 1: Vaughan, D.G. et al. Observations: cryosphere. In Climate Change 2013.The Physical Science Basis .Contribution of Working Group 1 to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( eds Stocker, T.F. et al.) , Cambridge University Press, Cambridge , UK, 2013, pp. 317-382. Lieser,J.L. eta l., Position analysis: Antarctic Sea Ice and Climate Change 2014, Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, 2013, ISBN 978-0-646-91260-8
Literature cited 2: Rivas, M.B., and Stoffelen, A., New Bayesian algorithm for sea-ice detection with QuikScat. IEEE Tans. Geosci. Remote Sensing, 2011, 49 (6), 1894-1901l;doi:10.1109/TGRS.2010.210160. Comiso,J.C., Gersten,R.A., Stock,L.V., Turner,J., Perez,G.J. and Cho,K., Positive trend in the Antarctic sea-ice cover and associated changes in surface temperature .J. Climate, 2017, 30, 2251-2267; doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-16-0408.1.

ID: 63419
Title: Role of ocean dynamics on mesoscale and sub-mesoscale variability of Ekman pumping for the Bay of Bengal using SCATSAT-1 forced ocean model simulations
Author: Smitha Ratheesh, Aditya Chaudhary, Neeraj Agarwal and Rashmi Sharma
Editor: S.K.Satheesh
Year: 2019
Publisher: Current Science Association and Indian Academy of Sciences.
Source: ENVIS, CES & EWRG, CES
Reference: Current Science Vol. 117 (6) 993-1001 (2019)
Subject: Role of ocean dynamics on mesoscale and sub-mesoscale variability of Ekman pumping for the Bay of Bengal using SCATSAT-1 forced ocean model simulations
Keywords: Ekman pumping, ocean dynamics, scatterometrs, vertical velocity, wind field
Abstract: Role of ocean dynamics on vertical velocity of Ekman pumping (VVE) is a analysed using simulations from very high resolution Ocean General Circulation Model (OGCM) configured for the Bay of Bengal (BoB) .For this purpose ,OGCM is forced with SCATSAT-1 scatterometer wind fields for 2017.Three mechanisms which modify VVE in the ocean are addressed in this study; the first results from the influence of sea surface temperature (SST) on wind field, and the other two arise from the influence of ocean surface currents (OSCs) on the wind field. Analysis for different length scales ranging from mesoscale to sub-mesoscale is also carried out. The results suggest a significant role of ocean dynamics on VVE, especially over submesoscale range (spatial scales of the order of 2-10 km) .Relative vorticity of OSC-induced Ekman pumping is found to be quite high ( ~m/day) at 2 km length scale, especially along the periphery of mesoscale eddies and along the filament structures. Impact of SST on VVE is least amongst the three factors and is observed to be significant only up to the length scales of 30 km. For length scales less than 10 km, relative vorticity-induced Ekman pumping increases drastically and the total Ekaman pumping vertical velocity are predominantly controlled by the relative vorticity of OSC-induced Ekamn pumping only.
Location: T E 15 New Biology building
Literature cited 1: Klein, P. and Lapeyre, G., The Oceanic vertical pump induced by mesoscale and submesoscale turbulence.Annu.Rev.Mar. Sci., 2009, 1, 351-375. Brannigan, L., Intense submesoscale upwelling in anticyclonic eddies.Geophys.Res.Lett., 2016, 43, 3360-3369; doi: 10.1002/2016GL067926.
Literature cited 2: Pickett,M.H. and Paduan, J.D., Ekman transport and pumping in the California current based on the US Navy’s high resolution atmospheric model (COAMPS) .J.Geophys.Res., 2003, 108 (C10) , 3327; doi: 10.1029/2003JC001902. Pickett, M.H. and Paduan, J.D., Ekman transport and pumping in the California current based on the US Navy;s high resolution atmospheric model (COAMPS) .J. Geophys.Res.Oceans, 2016, 121, 8535-8550; doi: 10.1002/2016JC011987.

ID: 63418
Title: SCATSAT-1 wind products for tropical cyclone monitoring prediction and surface wind structure analysis
Author: Neeru Jaiswal, Prashant Kumarand C.M.Kishtawal
Editor: S.K.Satheesh
Year: 2019
Publisher: Current Science Association and Indian Academy of Sciences.
Source: ENVIS, CES & EWRG, CES
Reference: Current Science Vol. 117 (6) 983-992 (2019)
Subject: SCATSAT-1 wind products for tropical cyclone monitoring prediction and surface wind structure analysis
Keywords: Cyclogeneis, scatterometer, tropical cyclone, wind structure
Abstract: The present study discusses the application of near real-time ocean surface wind vectors retrieved from scatterometer instrument, on-board Indian polar satellite SCATSAT-1, for tropical cyclone (TC) analysis and prediction. The real-time tropical cyclogenesis prediction f cyclonic activities in the North Indian Ocean basin has been presented using SCATSAT-1 wind data. The study also demonstrates the utility of high-resolution surface wind products of the scatterometer in monitoring mesoscale-level features of TCs for centre determination, size estimation and analysis and asymmetric wind radii. Impact of SCATSAT-1 winds for TC prediction using numerical weather prediction model has also been discussed. The short –comings of ocean surface wind observations from space-based scatterometers are addressed, in addition to the sensor requirements for future satellite missions.
Location: T E 15 New Biology building
Literature cited 1: Gray, W.M., Global view of the origin of tropical disturbances and storms. Mon. Weather Rev., 1968, 96 (10) , 669-700. Mohapatra, M., Mandal, G.S., Bandopadhyay, B.K. Tyagi, A. And Mohanty, U.C., Classification of cyclone hazard prone districts of India.Nat.Hazards, 2012, 63, 1601-1620.
Literature cited 2: Mohapatra, M., Bandopadhyay, B.K. and Tyagi, A., Best Track parameters of tropical cyclones over the North Indian Ocean: a review .Nat. Hazards, 2012, 63, 1285-1317. Chourasia, M., Asrit, R.G., and George, J.P., Impact of cyclone bogussing and regional assimilation on tropical cyclone track and intensity prediction.Mausam, 2013, 64, 135-148

ID: 63417
Title: Post-launch calibration-Validation and data quality evaluation of SCATSAT-1
Author: Raj Kumar, Suchandra . Bhowmick,Abhisek Chakraborty,Anuja Sharma,Shweta Sharma, M.Seemanth,Maneesha Gupta,rantik Chakraborty,Jalpa Modi and Tapan Misra
Editor: S.K.Satheesh
Year: 2019
Publisher: Current Science Association and Indian Academy of Sciences.
Source: ENVIS, CES & EWRG, CES
Reference: Current Science Vol. 117 (6) 973-982 (2019)
Subject: Post-launch calibration-Validation and data quality evaluation of SCATSAT-1
Keywords: Calibration, data quality evaluation, scatteometers, validation, wind vectors
Abstract: Here we provide a brief description of the post-launch data quality evaluation and calibration-validation chain of the SCATSAT-1, the second scatterometers mission of Indian Space Research Organisation. This chain is of absolute importance to monitor the satellite health and its impact on its measurements. It also provides us overview of the suitability of the data for various applications. The results show that the SCATSAT instrument is having nominal behaviour; the measurements are of very high quality and are comparable to the reference mission QuikSCAT. The ocean surface winds derived using SCATSAT-1 are having errors less than 1 m/s and hence it is suitable for all operational meteorological and oceanographic applications.
Location: T E 15 New Biology building
Literature cited 1: Kumar,R., Bhowmick,S.A., Babu, K.N., Nigam,R. and Sarkar,A., Relative calibration of scatterometer backscattering coefficient using natural land targets-a preparatory study for OCEANSAT-2 scatterometer.IEEE Trans.Geosci.Remote Sensing, 2011, 49 (6) , 2268-2273. Bhowmick, S.A., Kumar, R. And Kiran Kumar, A.S.Cross-calibration of the OCEANSAT-2 scatterometer with QUIKSCAT scatterometer using natural terrestrial targets.IEEE Trans.Geosci.Remote Sensing., 2014, 52 (6) , 3393-3398.
Literature cited 2: Kumar,R., Chakraborty,A., Parekh,A., Sikhakolli,R., Gohil,B.S.and Kiran Kumar,A.S.,Evaluation of Oceansat-2 derived ocean surface winds using observations from global buoys and other scatterometers.IEEE Trans.Geosci.Remote Sensing , 2013, 51 (5) , 2571-2576. Chakraborty, A., Deb., S.K., Sikhakolli, R., Gohil, B.S., and Kumar, R., Intercomparison of OSCAT winds with numerical–model–generated winds.IEEE Geosci.Remote Sensing Lett. 2013, 10 (2), 260-262.

ID: 63416
Title: An assessment of the performance of ISRO’s SCATSAT-1 Scatterometer
Author: Suchandra A.Bhowmick, James Cotton, Alexander Fore, Raj Kumar, Christophe Payan, Ernesto Rodriguez, Anuja Sharma, Bryan Stiles, Ad Stoffelen and Anton Verhoef.
Editor: S.K.Satheesh
Year: 2019
Publisher: Current Science Association and Indian Academy of Sciences.
Source: ENVIS, CES & EWRG, CES
Reference: Current Science Vol. 117 (6) 959-972 (2019)
Subject: An assessment of the performance of ISRO’s SCATSAT-1 Scatterometer
Keywords: Calibration, OSCAT-1, QuikSCAT, weather prediction
Abstract: SCATSAT-1 is a continuity mission for the Oceansat-2 scatterometer , OSCAT-1, which rovided useful ocean vector wind observations used in, among others, oceanography, numerical weather prediction (NWP) and nowcasting. The purpose of this paper is to review the findings of the SCATSAT-1 CalVal team regarding the stability and performance of version 1.1.3 of the SCATSAT-1 data. The international CalVal team organized by ISRO included participants from various institutions in India, ISRO’s Space Applications Centre, KNMI from the Netherlands, and from the USA, NOAA, and NASA’s JPL. To perform the evaluation, different centres processed the data independently using heritage processors and made comparisons against NASA’s Ku-band QuikSCAT mission, in situ data, and NWP models. We also provide a preliminary assessment of the impact of the SCATSAT-1 data on operational forecasts in India and Europe. We conclude that the SCATSAT-1 data shows significantly improved performance relative to ISRO’s OSCAT-1 on Oceansat-2, and that the instrument seems to be stable, given the limited period of observation. The CalVal team has also identified features in the data that could benefit from calibration and processing changes, potentially leading to further improvements on data quality.
Location: T E 15 New Biology building
Literature cited 1: Fore, A.G., Neumann, G., Freedman, A.P., Chaubell, M.J., Tang, W., Hayashi, A.K.and Yueh, S.H., Aquarious scatterometer calibration.IEEE.J.STARS, 2015, 8 (12) , 5424-5432.
Literature cited 2: Shimada, M, Isoguchi, O.and Isono, K., PALSAR radiometrics and geometric calibration.IEEE Trans.Geosci.Remote Sens., 2009, 47 (12), 915-3932. Madsen, N.M, and Long, D.G., Calibration and validation of the RapidScat scatterometer using tropical rainforests .IEEE Trans.Geosci.Remote Sens., 2016, 54 (5), 2486-2854.

ID: 63415
Title: SCATSAT-1 Scattererometer data processing
Author: Devang Mankad, Rajesh Sikhakolli, Puja Kakkar, Qamer Saquib, Krishna Murari Agarwal, Suresh Gurjar, Dinesh Kumar Jain, V.M.Ramanujam and Pradeep Thapliyal
Editor: S.K.Satheesh
Year: 2019
Publisher: Current Science Association and Indian Academy of Sciences.
Source: ENVIS, CES & EWRG, CES
Reference: Current Science Vol. 117 (6) 950-958 (2019)
Subject: SCATSAT-1 Scattererometer data processing
Keywords: Data products, footprint, scatterometer, slices, wind vector
Abstract: SCATSAT-1 carries a Ku-band scatterometer with a scanning pencil beam configuration. It deploys two beams, a vertically polarized outer beam and a horizontally polarized inner beam, to cover a swath of 1800 km. The mission mainly caters to oceanographic applications and weather forecasting, with the data being extensively used for forecasting, with the data being extensively used for cyclogenesis predictions across the globe and specifically, the tropical region. Since the launch of SCATSAT-1 in September 2016, the satellite and payload performances as well as mission and ground segment operations have been found to be nominal and satisfactory .This article highlights various levels of operational data products as well as algorithms used for deriving radar backscatter and retrieving windvector data from scatterometer measurements.
Location: T E 15 New Biology building
Literature cited 1: Misra, T. Et al., Oceansat-II scatterometer: sensor performance evaluation, ᵟo analyses and estimation of biases.IEEE Trans.Geosci.Remote Sensing, 2014, 52, 3310-3315. Bhowmick,S.A., Kumar,R and Kiran Kumar,A.S., Cross calibration of the OceanSAT-2 scatterometer with QuikSCAT scatterometer using natural terrestrial targets.IEEE Trans.Geosci.Remote Sensing, 2014, 52, 3393-3398.
Literature cited 2: Kumar, R., Chakraborty,A., Parekh,A., Sikhakolli,R., Gohil,B.S. and Kiran Kumar,A.S., Evaluation of Oceansat-2-derived Ocean surface winds using observations from global buoys and other scatterometers.IEEE Trans.Geosci.Remote Sensing, 2013, 51, 2571-2576. Chakraborty, A.Deb, S.K., Shikakolli, R., Gohil, B.S., and Kumar, R., Intercomparison of OSCAT winds with numerical model-generated winds.IEEE Geosci.Remote Sensing, 2013, 51, 2571-2576.

ID: 63414
Title: When Scientists turn against science: exceptionally flawed analysis of plant breeding technologies
Author: Deepak Pental
Editor: S.K.Satheesh
Year: 2019
Publisher: Current Science Association and Indian Academy of Sciences.
Source: ENVIS, CES & EWRG, CES
Reference: Current Science Vol. 117 (6) 932-939 (2019)
Subject: When Scientists turn against science: exceptionally flawed analysis of plant breeding technologies
Keywords: Agriculture, anti-science disposition, climate change, genetic engineering, plant breeding
Abstract: Kesavan and Swaminathan have written three articles in 2018 dealing with the issues of food and nutritional security, sustainable agriculture and climate change, and provided in their own words a ‘proactive analysis’ of the available breeding technologies to meet these challenges. Almost every important issue related to agriculture has been touched upon. However, these reviews neither accurately state the history of plant breeding nor make any evidence-based analysis of the new developments in the area of genomics and genetic engineering to meet some of the critical challenges in crop breeding. The authors’ averments on genetically engineered (GE) crops completely align them with the position of overzealous environmentalists and ideologues, who have been campaigning against the use of GE technologies in crop breeding. The authors have distorted the history of plant breeding, rejected emerging consensus on the safety of GE crops, and suggested solutions that are grossly inadequate to meet the challenge of low-input, high-output agriculture. I analyse her most of the themes that the above mentioned two authors for a complete rejection of their analysis.
Location: T E 15 New Biology building
Literature cited 1: Swaminathan, M.S. and Kesavan, P.C., Science for sustainable agriculture to achieve UN SDG Goal 2.Curr.Sci., 2018, 114, 1585-1586. Kesavan, P.C., and Swaminathan, M.S., Three decades of experience with genetically engineered crops: way forward in the Indian context. Sci. Cult., 2018, 84, 92-97.
Literature cited 2: Kesavan, P.C., and Swaminathan, M.S., Modern technologies for sustainable food and nutrition security.Curr.Sci., 2018, 115, 1876-1883. http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#home.

ID: 63413
Title: Shifting paradigms: Why history matters in geological sciences
Author: C.P.Rajendran
Editor: S.K.Satheesh
Year: 2019
Publisher: Current Science Association and Indian Academy of Sciences.
Source: ENVIS, CES & EWRG, CES
Reference: Current Science Vol. 117 (6) 927-931 (2019)
Subject: Shifting paradigms: Why history matters in geological sciences
Keywords: Shifting paradigms, geological sciences
Abstract: Geology as a scientific enterprise emerged in the 18th century, both at intellectual and commercial levels, as a n explosive tool in the hands of imperial powers to locate and assess natural resources, and it eventually evolved into a post-modernistic manifestation of an all-embracing science of sustainability, called Earth-system science. Following the timeline of geology , which began as a classical scientific discipline , we see a prime example of socially embedded science that goes through various cycles of growth pangs and transitions during its evolution concomitant with epochal changes in social perspectives. This article explores how geology as a scientific discipline evolved to its present status.
Location: T E 15 New Biology building
Literature cited 1: Kuhn, T.S., The Structure of Scientific Revolution, University of Chicago Press, Chicago , USA, 50th Anniversary Edition, 2012, p.288. Longino, H., Sciene as Social Knowledge: Values and objectivity in Scientific Inquiry, Princeton University Press, NJ, USA, 1990, p.280
Literature cited 2: Popper, K., The Logic of Scientific Discovery, Routledge, Oxford-shire, UK, 2002, p.544. Frodeman, R., Geological reasoning: geology as an interpretive and historical science .Geol.Soc.Am Bull., 2010, 107, 960-968.