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Dr. Vishnu Nandan

Assistant Professor, Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, School of Engineering, Bengaluru

Qualification: B. Tech., MSc, Ph.D
Research Interest: Radar Remote Sensing, SAR Polarimetry and Interferometry, Snow, Sea Ice, Himalayan Glaciers, Snow and Sea Ice Geophysics, Climatology

Bio Publications Education Professional Appointments Research Grants Received Invited Talks Courses taught Student Guidance
Bio

Dr. Vishnu Nandan is currently serving as Assistant Professor (RT) in the Department of ECE at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Bengaluru Campus. He is a radar remote sensing scientist specializing in the study of Himalayan glaciers and Arctic and Antarctic sea ice. With over 10 years of research experience, Dr. Nandan has developed expertise in deploying radar, meteorological, and geophysical sensor systems on sea ice. He has led more than 15 polar expeditions to both the North and South Poles, spending over 1,000 days conducting fieldwork in these extreme environments.

His primary research interests focus on surface- to satellite-scale remote sensing, polarimetric and interferometric radar, climatology, and cryosphere geophysics. Dr. Nandan’s extensive field experience and innovative research contribute to a deeper understanding of polar and cryospheric systems, which are crucial for studying the impacts of climate change on global environments.

Publications
Education
Degree Year Field of Study Institution
Ph.D. 2018 Physical Geography Cryosphere Climate Research Group, Department of Geography, University of Calgary, Canada
M.Sc. 2012 Earth Observation Sciences ITC, University of Twente, The Netherlands
B.Tech 2008 Electronics and Communication Engineering University of Kerala
Professional Appointments
Year  Affiliation
August 2024- present Assistant Professor (Research Track), School of Engineering, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Bengaluru
2023-2024 MITACS Post-Doctoral Fellow,Department of Geography, University of Calgary, Canada and H2O Geomatics Inc. Canada
2022-2024 Research Associate,Centre for Earth Observation Science, University of Manitoba, Canada
2019-2022 Post-Doctoral Fellow, Centre for Earth Observation Science, University of Manitoba, Canada
2018-2019 Post-Doctoral Fellow,Department of Geography, University of Victoria, Canada

Research & Management Experience

  • Associate Editor: European Geosciences Union’s ‘The Cryosphere’ Journal (July 2022-Present) (https://www.the-cryosphere.net/editorial_board.html)
  • Journal Reviewer: Remote Sensing of Environment, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, The Cryosphere, Geophysical Research Letters, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, Advances in Space Research, Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene (July 2017 – Present)
  • Co-Chair: ‘Snow on sea ice (I): Observations and modelling’ session at the 2019 International Glaciological Society (IGS)- Sea Ice Symposium, Winnipeg, Canada (19-23 August 2019).
  • Graduate Student Representative: Faculty of Arts Equity and Diversity Committee, University of Calgary (Jan 2017-Jan 2018).
  • Awards Reviewer: University of Calgary Graduate Students Association (GSA) Awards Committee, University of Calgary (2017 and 2018).
  • Vice President (Thesis): Geography Graduate Student Association (GeoGSA), University of Calgary (2014-2018).
  • Chair and Moderator: 52nd and 54th Annual Department of Geography Conference, University of Calgary (March 2015 and 2017).
  • Administrator: Facebook group page on ‘Research Careers in Remote Sensing and GIS’ (July 2017 – Present) (9000+ subscribers).
  • Chair (Program Committee): 11th Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies (ACUNS) International Student Conference Due North: Next Generation Arctic Research & Leadership, Arctic Institute of North America, Calgary, Canada (November 2015).
  • Research Camp Manager: Hudson Bay (2021), Central Arctic (2019-2020), Cambridge Bay (2016-2018).
Research Grants Received
Year Funding Agency Title of the Project  Investigators Status
2024 Department of Science and Technology Remote Sensing and Field-Based Hazard Monitoring of Transboundary Himalayan Glacial Lakes in Arunachal Pradesh PI In Review
2024 Indian Space Research Organization Assessing rock glacier deformation and permafrost Thaw Processes in the Western Himalaya: A Dual Sensor, Multi-Frequency SAR Approach Co-PI Conditionally Accepted
2023-24 MITACS, Canada Improved Monitoring of Arctic Sea Ice from Multi-Frequency Radar Remote Sensing PI Completed
2022-24 European Space Agency PoSARA: Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar Altimeter: New Earth Observation Mission Ideas (NEOMI) Co-PI Completed
2021-22 Danish Meteorological Institute Arctic Sea Ice – Improvement of snow depth and sea ice thickness from active and passive microwave satellite data Co-PI Completed
2021-22 EUMETSAT, France What happened to sea ice concentration uncertainties and CDR stability when multiyear ice in the Arctic Ocean was replaced by first-year ice in winter? PI Completed
2018-20 MEOPAR, Canada Improved Canadian Arctic Sea Ice Thickness Estimates from Synthetic Aperture Radar Altimetry PI Completed
Invited Talks

Keynote Addresses/Invited Talks/Panel Memberships

  • British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK
  • NORDITA, University of Stockholm, Sweden
  • DTU Space, Technical University of Denmark
  • Sea Ice Physics Group, Alfred Wegener Institute, Germany
  • Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, UK
  • Danish Meteorological Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark
  • LEGOS, Toulouse, France.
  • College on Polar and Extreme Environments, University of Lisbon, Portugal
  • Department of Geosciences, University of Calgary, Canada
  • Department of Geography, University of Victoria, Canada
  • Centre for Earth Observation Science, University of Manitoba, Canada
  • CSRE, Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, India
  • Amrita University, Kerala, India
  • Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, India
  • Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur
  • National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Goa, India
  • Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, New Delhi
Courses taught
Term/Year Course Number of Students (n) Department/Institution
Jan 2025 Signal Processing I 60 Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Amrita University, Bengaluru Campus, India
May-Dec 2024 Digital Signal Processing Lab 80 Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Amrita University, Bengaluru Campus, India
Winter 2022 Earth Observation from Space: The Cryosphere 16 Teaching in Imperative MOOC, Imperative Space, UK
Winter 2021 Ocean Physics and Climate Change (GEOL3039) 12 Department of Earth Sciences, University College London (UCL)
Fall 2018 Polar Regions (GEOG 388) 44 Department of Geography, University of Victoria, Canada
Winter 2017 Writing and Reviewing Scientific Reports (SCIENCE 311) 160 Faculty of Science, University of Calgary, Canada
Student Guidance

Postgraduate students 

Sl.No.  Name of the Student(s)  Topic Status –Ongoing/Completed Year of Completion
1 Advaith Pillai Quantifying Rock Glacier Dynamics in the Indian Himalaya using SAR Interferometry Completed 2024
2 Syeda Shahida Maknun Arctic Sea Ice Melt Pond Onset Detection from SAR and Scatterometer Data Completed 2023
3 Monojit Saha Arctic Sea Ice Thickness Retrieval from CryoSat-2 and ICESAT-2) Completed 2023
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