Research Projects

This research work will develop a novel approach to define flash drought (FD) in a uniform way across diverse climatic regions. The study will examine its occurrence mechanism, distribution, drivers, trends, hotspots, and demarcate homogenous FD regions over major 25 river basins across India. Due to the sudden onset and rapid intensification characteristics of flash drought, it is crucial to predict the early warning signs, as it creates a significant impact on the ecosystem. Therefore, the present research will delve deep into developing early warning signs using land-atmospheric coupling techniques, identification of plant fluorescence phenomena, and climatic variables. Compound events which occur alongside FD (e.g. heatwaves, wildfires, etc.) will further be studied with a special focus on socio-economic as well as ecological impacts, crop production and irrigation demand for the present and future scenario. As multi-sensor remote sensing observations have the potential to provide the required high spatial-temporal resolutions as compared to single sensors, therefore, we will take advantage of the advanced multi-sensor remote sensing along with meteorology records to characterize flash droughts and evaluate their impacts. Building on the novel flash drought definition and characterizations, we will use the state-of-the arts climate output to predict future flash drought impacts on crop production and irrigation demand, ultimately improving early warning systems for impending events. Besides the scientific novelty, this research will facilitate the policymakers to formulate effective drought mitigation strategies.