Under DST sponsored project of "Big Data Analytics - HSRS Data (BDA-HSRS)", Dr L. N Sharma, Associate Professor, Department of Applied Sciences, PEC University of Technology has been awarded a project as Co-PI with research grant of Rs 21 Lakh to study snow and glaciers. It is a cluster of multi-institutional national networked project. Dr Sharma happens to be among top researchers who have been selected from prestigious organisations of national repute like IIT- Bombay, Kanpur, Chennai, Kharagpur, IIST-ISRO, DTRL, DRDO, IARI and Central Universities etc it said.
It will involve 4 Region-wise central laboratory facilities which will also maintain data acquired. The IIT- Bombay has been identified as national nodal agency to coordinate and maintain data portal of the project through setting up a coordination cell. Total duration of the project is 3 years. The project involves characterization of physical and optical properties of different forms of snow and glaciers using ground truth data collection and remote sensing techniques, he pointed out. The physical process analysis of snow features will provide crucial information to understand and model the snow physical parameters. This will help in creating a data base of such processes from field input and up scaling them on satellite data and thus will help in better understanding of snow and glacier formation. The major beneficiaries of the output of the project will be Army, BRO, DRDO, Deptt of Space Labs, MoEF, MoES, Hydroelectric Energy Producers, Agriculture operators etc.
Having second project on glaciers to his credit, Dr Sharma is involved in paleoclimatic studies of glaciers (Hamtah and Siachin) for more than a decade is opined that west Himalayan glaciers are definitely retreating due to global warming. Right from its origin i.e 4600 million years earth had five ice ages. The variations in the Earth's orbit and shifting plate tectonics spur the waxing and waning of these periods. At present we are living in the interglacial warmer period, hence geologically speaking there is nothing abnormal about global warming. However, anthropogenic forcing from increased greenhouse gases and intensive use of fossil fuels have alarmed the situation to such an extent that human beings own existence is at stake.
