Effect of COVID-19-induced lockdown on NO pollution using TROPOMI and ground-based CPCB observations in Delhi NCR, India.

The present study investigates the reduction in nitrogen dioxide (NO) levels using satellite-based (Sentinel-5P TROPOMI) and ground-based (Central Pollution Control Board) observations of 2020. The lockdown duration, monthly, seasonal and annual changes in NO were assessed comparing the similar time period in 2019. The study also examines the role of atmospheric parameters like wind speed, air temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation and atmospheric pressure in altering the monthly and annual values of the pollutant.

A novel flood risk mapping approach with machine learning considering geomorphic and socio-economic vulnerability dimensions.

Quantifying flood hazards by employing hydraulic/hydrodynamic models for flood risk mapping is a widely implemented non-structural flood management strategy. However, the unavailability of multi-domain and multi-dimensional input data and expensive computational resources limit its application in resource-constrained regions. The fifth and sixth IPCC assessment reports recommend including vulnerability and exposure components along with hazards for capturing risk on human-environment systems from natural and anthropogenic sources.

Scrub Typhus: A Spatial and Temporal Analysis from South India.

Scrub typhus is a zoonotic rickettsial disease caused by the bacterium Orientia tsutsugamushi. The non-specificity of presentation, low index of suspicion and the poor availability of diagnostic tests often lead to delayed diagnosis and significant morbidity and mortality. Temperature, humidity, rainfall and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) on the spatio-temporal clustering of scrub typhus cases in children in three contiguous administrative districts in South India over 5 years were studied.

Assessment of U and As in groundwater of India: A meta-analysis.

More than 2.5 billion people depend upon groundwater worldwide for drinking, and giving quality water has become one of the great apprehensions of human culture. The contamination of Uranium (U) and Arsenic (As) in the groundwater of India is gaining global attention.

Vegetation health conditions assessment and mapping using AVIRIS-NG hyperspectral and field spectroscopy data for -environmental impact assessment in coal mining sites.

This paper focuses on vegetation health conditions (VHC) assessment and mapping using high resolution airborne hyperspectral AVIRIS-NG imagery and validated with field spectroscopy-based vegetation spectral data. It also quantified the effect of mining on vegetation health for geo-environmental impact assessment at a fine level scale. In this study, we have developed and modified vegetation indices (VIs) based model for VHC assessment and mapping in coal mining sites.

Atmospheric rivers fueling the intensification of fog and haze over Indo-Gangetic Plains.

Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) experiences persistent and widespread rise of fog and haze during the winter season. This has been attributed to the rise in pollution levels and water vapor, but the reason for enhancement in latter is not clear yet. We detect moisture incursion from Arabian Sea, a phenomenon called atmospheric rivers (AR), land-falling intermittently along 12-25° N corridor of the west-coast of India during winter; using satellite and reanalysis data.

Net ecosystem CO exchange from jute crop (Corchorus olitorius L.) and its environmental drivers in tropical Indo-Gangetic plain using open-path eddy covariance technique.

Present study is a maiden attempt to assess net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of carbon dioxide (CO) flux from jute crop (Corchorus olitorius L.) in the Indo-Gangetic plain by using open-path eddy covariance (EC) technique. Diurnal variations of NEE were strongly influenced by growth stages of jute crop.

Determinants, risk factors and spatial analysis of multi-drug resistant pulmonary tuberculosis in Jodhpur, India.

This study was planned to estimate the proportion of confirmed multi-drug resistance pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) cases out of the presumptive cases referred to DTC (District Tuberculosis Center) Jodhpur for diagnosis; to identify clinical and socio-demographic risk factors associated with the multidrug-resistant pulmonary TB and to assess the spatial distribution to find out clustering and pattern in the distribution of pulmonary TB with the help of Geographic Information System (GIS). In the Jodhpur district, 150 confirmed pulmonary multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) cases, diagnosed by probe-based molecular drug susceptibility testing method and categorized as MDR in DTC's register (District Tuberculosis Center), were taken. Simultaneously, 300 control of confirmed non-MDR or drug-sensitive pulmonary TB patients were taken.

Seasonal and annual variations of CO and CH at Shadnagar, a semi-urban site.

Carbon dioxide (CO) and methane (CH) are the most important greenhouse gases (GHGs) due to their significant role in anthropogenic global climate change. The spatio-temporal variations of their concentration are characterized by the terrestrial biosphere, seasonal weather patterns and anthropogenic emissions. Hence, to understand the variability in regional surface GHG fluxes, high precision GHGs measurements were initiated by the National Remote Sensing Center (NRSC) of India.

Planetary albedo decline over Northwest India contributing to near surface warming.

The increase in frequency and severity of heat waves during the pre-monsoon season (March-May) over Northwest India in recent decades is alarming. This study investigates the causative mechanism for warming through the forcing induced by planetary albedo changes over Northwest India, a hotspot for land-cover change. We use satellite-measured planetary albedo (α) and satellite-derived land-use-land-cover (LULC) data to estimate the impact of LULC changes from 2001 to 2018 on α and the associated radiative forcing.

Response of coastal phytoplankton pigment composition to tropical cyclone Fani.

Phytoplankton pigment composition was evaluated during the pre-cyclone phase (PRCP) and post-cyclone phase (POCP) of tropical cyclone Fani in the coastal waters of the northwestern Bay of Bengal. The chromatographic analysis revealed higher pigment diversity and an increase in individual pigment concentration during POCP. Chlorophyll-a (chl-a) was the dominant pigment during PRCP and POCP, followed by fucoxanthin.

Tracking forest loss and fragmentation between 1930 and 2020 in Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) range in Nepal.

Forest cover is the primary determinant of elephant distribution, thus, understanding forest loss and fragmentation is crucial for elephant conservation. We assessed deforestation and patterns of forest fragmentation between 1930 and 2020 in Chure Terai Madhesh Lanscape (CTML) which covers the entire elephant range in Nepal. Forest cover maps and fragmentation matrices were generated using multi-source data (Topographic maps and Landsat satellite images of 1930, 1975, 2000, and 2020) and spatiotemporal change was quantified.

Impact of COVID-19 induced lockdown on land surface temperature, aerosol, and urban heat in Europe and North America.

The outbreak of SARS CoV-2 (COVID-19) has posed a serious threat to human beings, society, and economic activities all over the world. Worldwide rigorous containment measures for limiting the spread of the virus have several beneficial environmental implications due to decreased anthropogenic emissions and air pollutants, which provide a unique opportunity to understand and quantify the human impact on atmospheric environment. In the present study, the associated changes in Land Surface Temperature (LST), aerosol, and atmospheric water vapor content were investigated over highly COVID-19 impacted areas, namely, Europe and North America.

Intra-seasonal contrasting trends in clouds due to warming induced circulation changes.

Quantification of long term changes in cloud distribution and properties is critical for the proper assessment of future climate. We show contrasting trends in cloud properties and cloud radiative effects over Northwest Indian Ocean (NWIO) in south Asian summer monsoon. Cloud top height (CTH) decreases in June (- 69 ± 3 myr) and July (- 44 ± 3 myr), whereas it increases in August (106 ± 2 myr) and September (37 ± 1 myr).

Persistence of marine heat waves for coral bleaching and their spectral characteristics around Andaman coral reef.

Coral reefs are fragile and endangered ecosystems in the tropical marine and coastal environment. Thermal stress due to marine heat waves (MHW) could cause significantly negative impacts on the health conditions, i.e.

Assessing lodging damage of jute crop due to super cyclone Amphan using multi-temporal Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data over parts of West Bengal, India.

The present study is a maiden attempt to assess jute crop lodging due to super cyclone Amphan (20 May 2020) by synergistic use of Sentinel-2 (optical) and Sentinel-1 (SAR) data over part of West Bengal, India. Pre-event Sentinel-2 data (9 April, 14 May) along with the ground information were used to map the jute crop of the affected districts with accuracy of 85%. The cross-polarized backscatter (σ) of Sentinel-1 was found to be sensitive to the sudden change in the canopy structure due to lodging and partial flooding.

Outwelling of total alkalinity and dissolved inorganic carbon from the Hooghly River to the adjacent coastal Bay of Bengal.

The seasonal variability of the lateral flux of total alkalinity (TAlk) and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) of the tropical Hooghly estuary is analyzed in this work. In situ observations of water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, TAlk, and pH were measured in four different stations of the Hooghly estuary. It was measured once every month during 2015-2016, and subsequently, DIC was estimated.

Unravelling tidal effect on zooplankton community structure in a tropical estuary.

The variability in zooplankton density and species composition in response to tidal oscillations were investigated in the lesser saline upper reaches (E1) and higher saline lower reaches (E2) of the Mahanadi Estuary, located at the mouth of the third largest river in Indian Peninsula. This is the first of its kind high frequency observation over the tidal cycle ranging from highest high tide to lowest low tide in this estuary revealing dynamic variability of zooplankton assemblages. Zooplankton abundance was higher during high tide in comparison to low tide, irrespective of salinity regimes.

Deforestation susceptibility assessment and prediction in hilltop mining-affected forest region.

This work mainly focused on deforestation susceptibility (DS) assessment and its prediction based on statistical models (FR, LR & AHP) in the Saranda forest, India. Also, efforts had been made to quantify the effect of mining on deforestation. We had considered twenty-five (twenty present and five predicted) causative variables of deforestation, including climate, natural or geomorphological, forestry, topographical, environmental, and anthropogenic.

Patterns of animal and plant discoveries, distribution and endemism in India-implications on the effectiveness of the protected area network.

The main focus in biodiversity is to conserve species diversity with specific emphasis on endemic species. This study has analysed the distribution of endemic floral and faunal species and their representativeness in protected areas of India. The number of endemic species has been estimated as 29787 (30.

Anthropogenic influence on the physico-chemical parameters of Dhamra estuary and adjoining coastal water of the Bay of Bengal.

Estuaries receive the anthropogenic pollutants of their watershed area. Dhamra estuary, on the east coast of India, is such an estuary that receives a huge amount of pollutants, and it will eventually pose a threat to the ecological sensitive areas in its vicinity. Therefore, a study was carried out on physico-chemical parameters and chlorophyll-a to delineate the sources of variation during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons.

Effects of land use/land cover alterations on regional meteorology over Northwest India.

Irrigation activities, as part of the agricultural green revolution, in Northwest India are aimed at transforming barrenland to agriculturally productive area. The main objective of this study is to determine the effects of these land use land cover (LULC) transformations on regional meteorology over this region. Satellite derived LULC classes in 2003 and 2012 reveal conversion of significantly large areas of barrenland to open shrubland and open shrubland to cropland over Northwest India.

Potential utility of reflectance spectroscopy in understanding the paleoecology and depositional history of different fossils.

The potential of reflectance spectroscopy to infer the paleoecological and depositional evolution of different micro and macro invertebrate fossils has been evaluated by analyzing their reflectance spectra within the spectral domain of 350-2500 nm using the FIELDSPEC3 spectroradiometer. Mineralogical information derived from the rapid and non-destructive spectral analysis has been substantiated using concurrent mineralogical data from conventional geochemical analyses. The diagnostic Fe-crystal field effect induced spectral features are identified on the representative spectra of different benthic foraminifera.

CO effluxes from an urban tidal river flowing through two of the most populated and polluted cities of India.

Urbanized rivers flowing through polluted megacities receive substantial amount of carbon from domestic sewage and industrial effluents which can significantly alter the air-water CO flux rates. In this regard, we quantified the partial pressure of CO in the surface water (pCO(water)), air-water CO fluxes, and associated biogeochemical parameters in the Hooghly River, India, flowing through two of the most polluted cities of the country, Kolkata and Howrah, over a complete annual cycle during spring tidal phase (SP) and neap tidal phase (NP). This urbanized part of Hooghly River was always supersaturated with CO having an annual mean pCO(water) and air-water CO flux of ~ 3800 μatm and ~ 49 mol C m year, respectively.

Advances in terrestrial and ocean dynamics studies in India.

The land, oceans, and atmosphere are tightly linked and form the most dynamic component of the climate system. Studies on terrestrial and ocean science enhance the understanding on the impacts of climate change. Across India and the world over, human-driven land use and climate changes are altering the structure, function, and extent of natural terrestrial ecosystems and in turn regional biogeochemical feedbacks.