Students to be trained on glaciers, remote sensing at IISc Bengaluru

The Divecha Centre for Climate Change (DCCC) will conduct a training programme on Glacier Studies and Remote Sensing at the centre in IISc, Bengaluru, from June 6 to 16.

The training is part of ongoing programmes on glaciology designed by DCCC and aimed at enhancing India’s manpower resources in the field. DCCC will conduct the training in partnership with the Department of Science and Technology’s Centre for Excellence in Climate Change.

The programme, designed for MSc, MTech, ME and PhD students, will cover topics including applications of remote sensing in glaciology, climate change and variability, and methods of estimating glacier mass balance.

Anil V Kulkarni, distinguished scientist at DCCC, said similar programmes have been conducted over the years as part of efforts to develop a trained workforce equipped to analyse features, including glacier retreat rates. “There is a lot of interest in the field and with the kind of research being taken up, the time appeared right for a new group,” he told DH.

DCCC underscores the studies on glaciers and seasonal snow in the Himalayan region that employ remote sensing technologies in improving the assessment of water security of people living in the mountains and the Indo-Gangetic plains.

Kulkarni said the centre received around 450 applications. A total of 50 applicants from IITs, universities and institutions from different parts of the country, including the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology and Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, have been selected.