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Dr Lakshmi Bharathan

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Dr Lakshmi Bharathan

School/Department: Physics and Astronomy, Department of

Email: lnb5@leicester.ac.uk

Profile

My research background is in the field of satellite remote sensing, specializing in atmospheric aerosols and greenhouse gases. My journey in climate science began with a Ph.D. from ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) in physics, where I focused on multi-satellite investigation on aerosol radiative effects over South Asia, followed by postdoctoral research on lidar-based remote sensing of air quality over India under Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India.

My doctoral research mainly pertained to characterization of aerosols over the Indian region and their radiative impacts based on observations from space-borne, airborne and ground based platforms, atmospheric chemistry transport models and radiative transfer model calculations. It has contributed in improving our understanding of spatio-temporal variability of dust transport across Indian mainland to the adjoining oceans and in also delineating the recent shift in long term trend in dust loading over the Indian region, based on multi-satellite observations of aerosol optical depth and polarization resolved lidar aerosol backscatter observations. Over the course of my career, I have transitioned to exploring the remote sensing of greenhouse gases and currently I work as an NCEO Research Associate focusing on the retrieval, evaluation and analysis of Greenhouse Gases from satellite data with an aim to provide high-resolution climate datasets for a better understanding of climate change.

Research

I am interested in 

  • Satellite Remote Sensing of Greenhouse Gases: Investigating the distribution, trends, and sources of key greenhouse gases, mainly methane using data from Earth-observing satellites.
  • Atmospheric Aerosol Characterization from Space: Utilizing satellite measurements to study the properties, transport, and radiative effects of atmospheric aerosols.
  • Climate Change Impacts on the Earth's Atmosphere: Analyzing satellite data to understand how climate change is affecting atmospheric composition, temperature profiles, and circulation patterns.
  • Optimization Algorithms for Satellite Data Enhancement: Developing and applying advanced optimization techniques to improve the accuracy, resolution, and reliability of satellite-derived atmospheric and climate data.
  • Satellite Data Retrieval and Generation: Researching and implementing innovative methods for retrieving geophysical parameters from satellite radiances and generating new climate-relevant datasets.

    • Publications

     

     
    Selected Publications
     
    Lakshmi, N. B., Babu, S. S., & Nair, V. S. (2023). Mineral dust aerosols over the Himalayas from polarization-resolved satellite lidar observations. Atmospheric Environment, 296, 119584.
     
    Lakshmi, N. B., Resmi, E. A., & Padmalal, D. (2022). Assessment of PM2.5 using satellite lidar observations: Effect of bio-mass burning emissions over India. Science of The Total Environment, 155215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155215
     
    Lakshmi, N. B., Nair, V. S., & Babu, S. S. (2021). Assessment of the vertical distribution of speciated aerosol absorption over South Asia using spaceborne LIDAR and ground-based observations. Remote Sensing of Environment, 253, 112164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2020.112164

    Lakshmi, N. B., Babu, S. S., & Nair, V. S. (2019). Recent Regime Shifts in Mineral Dust Trends over South Asia from Long-Term CALIPSO Observations. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 57(7), 4485–4489. https://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2019.2891338

    Lakshmi, N. B., Nair, V. S., & Suresh Babu, S. (2017). Vertical structure of aerosols and mineral dust over the Bay of Bengal from multisatellite observations. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 122(23), 12,845-12,861. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JD027643

    Awards

    Chief Minister’s NavaKerala post-doctoral award (2022) to carry out research at the National Centre for Earth Science Studies, Akkulam, Trivandrum on Aerosol-cloud interaction in the changing patterns of rainfall events over Kerala.

    Young Scientist Award (2020) for Scientific work presented at Â鶹APP Union of Radio Science General Assembly and Scientific Symposium (URSI GASS), Rome, Italy, August 2020

    Best Paper Award (2014) for the scientific paper presentation at Conference of Indian Aerosol Science and Technology Association, 2014 (IASTA2014), Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, November 2014 

    Conferences

    1. Lakshmi, N. B, Resmi, E. A., and Padmalal, D. ‘Spatio-temporal variability of PM2.5 over India using multi-year spaceborne lidar observations and its implications’. 34th Kerala Science Congress, 10 - 12 February 2022, Thiruvananthapuram.

    2. Lakshmi, N. B. ‘Retrieval of near-surface PM2.5 over India using satellite lidar observations’. 21st National Space Science Symposium, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata, 31 January - 4 February 2022.

    3. Lakshmi, N. B., Babu, S. S., and Nair, V. S. ‘Mineral dust characterization over the Himalayan cryosphere using spaceborne lidar depolarization observations’. XXXIIIrd General Assembly and Scientific Symposium of the Â鶹APP Union of Radio Science (pp. 1–4), Rome, Italy, 29 August – 5 September 2020. https://doi.org/10.23919/URSIGASS 49373.2020.9232015 (YOUNG SCIENTIST AWARD).

    4. Lakshmi. N. B, S. S. Babu and V. S. Nair,' Characterization of mineral dust aerosols over the Himalayas using spaceborne observations', Future Earth Conference, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 24 -27 September 2019.

    5. Lakshmi. N. B, V. S. Nair and S. S. Babu,' Vertical structure of heating rate due to absorbing aerosols over the Indian region', AS19-A010, 16th Annual Meeting of the Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS-2019), Singapore, 28 July-2 August 2019.

    6. Lakshmi, N. B, S. S. Babu, Prijith. S, V. S. Nair, K. K. Moorthy, 'Seasonal and spatial variation of vertical structure of mineral dust transport over the Bay of Bengal using multi-satellite observations ', National Space Science Symposium, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Trivandrum, 9 - 12 Feb 2016. 

    7. Lakshmi, N. B, S. S. Babu, S. S. Prijith, V. S. Nair and K. K. Moorthy,' Vertical structure of aerosols and mineral dust transport over Bay of Bengal from multi-year space borne observations', National Climate Science Conference, Indian Institute of Science, Banglore, 2– 3 July 2015.

    8. Lakshmi. N. B, S. S. Babu, S. S. Prijith, K. K. Moorthy and V. S. Nair, 'Vertical structure of aerosols over Bay of Bengal from airborne and space borne observations', Conference of Indian Aerosol Science and Technology Association, 2014 (IASTA2014), Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, 11th - 13th November, 2014 (BEST PAPER AWARD)

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