Sources and factors influencing microplastic concentration during monsoon season in the Ganga River, Bihar, India Varsha, Avinash Dass, Rajeev Ranjan, Sushil Kumar Singh Discover Environment, 2025 The aquatic ecology is becoming more vulnerable to the harmful effects of microplastics (MPs) pollution. One of India’s longest rivers, the Ganga, is home to an enormous variety of wildlife. The Ganga River receives untreated residential and industrial waste from major Indian cities situated on its banks, in addition to traffic trash that is mostly responsible for the occurrence of MPs. The purpose of this study is to clarify the distribution of MPs in the Ganga at different sampling sites in the Patna area during the monsoon season based on their size, shape, color, concentration and polymer types. MPs occurred at all sites and were dominated by fibres and fragments. Mean concentration across sites was 858.5 ± 224.3 items/1000 L, with the highest level in upstream rural region Doriganj near Chhapra (1025.5 ± 94.73 items/1000 L). Further, MPs abundance were correlated strongly with population density (R = 0.92, p < 0.05), urbanization (R = 0.90, p < 0.05) and number of drains (R = 0.70, p < 0.05), and moderately with rainfall (R = 0.40, p < 0.05) within 2 km buffers, while showing a negative association with runoff. Principal component analysis confirmed anthropogenic pressures as the primary driver, with rainfall as a secondary seasonal influence. These results indicate that dense settlements and drainage connectivity, amplified by monsoon precipitation, control MP inputs. The findings provide baseline evidence for Bihar’s urban reaches and support targeted actions on solid-waste management, drainage outfall upgrades, and pre monsoon monitoring to identify hotspots and track progress. Graphical Abstract
Initial glaciological investigations on a large Himalayan glacier: Drang Drung (Zanskar, Ladakh, India) Mohd. Farooq Azam, Md. Arif Hussain, Himanshu Kaushik, Smriti Srivastava, Manoj Kumar Munda, Arindan Mandal, Ishmohan Bahuguna, Sushil Kumar Singh, Mohd Jawad Journal of Glaciology, 2025 In situ glaciological observations in the Himalaya–Karakoram (HK) region mostly come from small glaciers. Drang Drung (69.6 km2, Zanskar, Ladakh) is the largest glacier in the HK monitored for in situ glacier-wide mass balances applying the traditional glaciological method. During 2021–23, point ablation varies from –1.8 to –8.3 meter water equivalent (m w.e. a–1) in the ablation area, and from 0.15 to 1.70 m w.e. a–1 in the accumulation area. The mean glacier-wide mass balance is −0.74 ± 0.43 m w.e. a−1 over 2021‒2023, corresponding to a mean equilibrium line altitude of 5134 m a.s.l. and accumulation area ratio of 0.53. The mean annual vertical mass-balance gradient of 0.62 m w.e. (100 m)–1 on Drang Drung Glacier resembles that observed on other Himalayan glaciers. These initial investigations on Drang Drung Glacier address the gap for glacier monitoring in the Zanskar Range and will be continued in the long term.
Remote Sensing Assessment of Accumulation Area Ratio in Glacier Monitoring Deva A. R. Jefflin, M. Geetha Priya, Sushil Kumar Singh Remote Sensing for Geophysicists, 2025 Glaciers are integral components of the Earth’s hydrological system, crucial for freshwater resources. Evaluating their accumulation areas using the Accumulation Area Ratio (AAR) is vital for assessing glacier health and understanding climate impacts. This chapter compares various remote sensing methods for estimating the AAR in a case study of the Mulkila Glacier, India including transient snow line (TSL) and Digital Elevation Model (DEM)-based, TSL and glacier boundary-based, and snow cover pixel-based approaches for the hydrological year 2019-2020 utilizing Resourcesat-2 satellite data. Variations in AAR estimates among methods are observed, with TSL and DEM-based and TSL and Glacier boundary-based approaches showing consistent results. However, snow cover pixel-based methods exhibit discrepancies due to challenges in accurately delineating the accumulation area. Comparisons with field weather data-based AAR underscore methodological limitations, emphasizing the need for enhanced classification techniques and contributing to advancements in remote sensing-based glacier monitoring methodologies. This technology not only reduces risks and costs associated with cryogeophysical field surveys in challenging terrains but also enhances the practicality of glacier monitoring. This chapter highlights the pivotal role of remote sensing techniques in monitoring glacier dynamics.
Polarimetric Analysis of Glacier Surface Features using RADARSAT-2 and Sentinel-2 Data in Part of Chandra Basin, Northwest India Indian Journal of Environmental Protection, 2024
Recent glacier area changes in Himalaya–Karakoram and the impact of latitudinal variation Ishmohan Bahuguna, Bhanu Prakash Rathore, Avtar Singh Jasrotia, Surjeet Singh Randhawa, Santosh Kumar Singh Yadav, Sadiq Ali, Nishtha Gautam, Joyeeta Poddar, Madhukar Srigyan, Abhishek Dhanade, Purvee Joshi, Sushil Kumar Singh, Dhani Ram Rajak, Shashikant Sharma Current Science, 2021
TRISHNA: An Indo-French Space Mission to Study the Thermography of the Earth at Fine Spatio-Temporal Resolution J.-L. Roujean, B. Bhattacharya, P. Gamet, M. R. Pandya, G. Boulet, A. Olioso, S. K. Singh, M. V. Shukla, M. Mishra, S. Babu, P. V. Raju, C. S. Murthy, X. Briottet, A. Rodler, E. Autret, I. Dadou, D. Adlakha, M. Sarkar, G. Picard, A. Kouraev, C. Ferrari, M. Irvine, E. Delogu, T. Vidal, O. Hagolle, P. Maisongrande, M. Sekhar, K. Mallick 2021 IEEE India Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium Ingarss 2021 Proceedings, 2021
Indo-French high-resolution thermal infrared space mission for earth natural resources assessment and monitoring - Concept and definition of TRISHNA J.-P. Lagouarde, B. K. Bhattacharya, P. Crébassol, P. Gamet, D. Adlakha, C. S. Murthy, S. K. Singh, M. Mishra, R. Nigam, P. V. Raju, S. S. Babu, M. V. Shukla, M. R. Pandya, G. Boulet, X. Briottet, I. Dadou, G. Dedieu, M. Gouhier, O. Hagolle, M. Irvine, F. Jacob, K. K Kumar, B. Laignel, P. Maisongrande, K. Mallick, A. Olioso, C. Ottlé, J.-L. Roujean, J. Sobrino, R. Ramakrishnan, M. Sekhar, S. S. Sarkar International Archives of the Photogrammetry Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences ISPRS Archives, 2019
The Indian-French Trishna mission: Earth observation in the thermal infrared with high spatio-temporal resolution J.-P. Lagouarde, B.K. Bhattacharya, P. Crebassol, P. Gamet, S. S. Babu, G. Boulet, X Briottet, K.M. Buddhiraju, S. Cherchali, I. Dadou, G. Dedieu, M. Gouhier, O. Hagolle, M. Irvine, F. Jacob, A. Kumar, K. K. Kumar, B. Laignel, K. Mallick, C.S. Murthy, A. Olioso, C. Ottle, M. R. Pandya, P. V. Raju, J.-L. Roujean, M. Sekhar, M. V. Shukla, S. K. Singh, J. Sobrino, R. Ramakrishnan International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium IGARSS, 2018
Observation of biological manifestation of physical forces with synergistic use of IRS P4 OCM & MSMR International Archives of the Photogrammetry Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences ISPRS Archives, 2004
