IDPCS faculty are working on models and decision frameworks that address the climatic and socioeconomic diversity of Indian landscapes. Their research has been carried out at various spatial scales, ranging from all-India to plot scale studies, with a balance between urban and rural regions. IDPCS researchers have led research to enable the use of climate information for disaster management, quantification of risk related to climate extremes, and climate-resilient infrastructure. They have been involved in national-level initiatives, such as the development of an early warning flood forecasting system for Chennai that required interdisciplinary efforts across meteorology, hydrology, and ocean engineering. Another interdisciplinary initiative has been to enable climate-smart irrigation water management, addressing the challenge of a scale mismatch between farm decisions and remotely sensed soil moisture data. Researchers at IDPCS have contributed towards improving model representativeness for Indian conditions by developing novel process routines considering India-based datasets. The study on the Gangetic Plains highlighted the non-crucial role of irrigation in the attenuation of hot extremes by irrigation activities during pre-monsoon season. Another example is the development of a novel wind drag method for storm wave and surge modeling for intensified cyclones. An in-house physics-based glacial model has been developed and used to identify potential sites for glacial lake formation. Other research themes include quantification of coastal hazards and vulnerability to sea level rise, country-wide drought risk assessment, and copula-based drought risk projection under a changing climate. IDPCS faculty are also working on novel water distribution systems that balance resilience and sustainability, hybrid wastewater treatment systems, desalination technology, and advanced materials for carbon fixation to achieve resilience and sustainability of urban water infrastructure. An Earth Lab is being set up with the overarching goal of making the IITB campus net zero in energy by 2030.
Sub-Research Areas
- Disaster risk management
- Coastal risk maps,
- Drought risk quantification
- Climate-resilient urban infrastructure
- Climate-smart irrigation water management
- Early warning flood forecast systems
- Human-natural systems