Atmospheric Physics and Convection, NISER

Measuring fluxes of energy and water from permanent forest sites in Uttarakhand, India

One of the exciting activities in our group is the collection of in-situ meteorological and eco-hydrological data from dense forests of the Himalayas. We have permanent forest observation stations in Uttarakhand data from which we utilize to understand evapotranspiration from various forests of the region. Such measurements, relatively rare in the Indian Himalayas, are crucial for regional atmospheric and convection studies and forest conservation policy. These measurements are being used in the group to perform numerical simulations of convection over these regions.

Students Jyoti, Mukesh and Karan along with field staff Devendra and Amit have been instrumental in setting up these field sites over the past few years. The field sites are soon to be upgraded with latest technology to directly measure photosynthesis and evapotranspiration.

Positions are open for both PhD and Post Doctoral studies using data from these sites.

Please contact at jkhanna@niser.ac.in.

To check out our results from these observations, join us for our presentations at -

J. R. Mohanty, et al., AGU Fall Meeting, H160-IV, 1669896 (2024)
M. Kumar, et al., AGU Fall Meeting, H21R, 1683965, (2024)

Hydro-meteorological observations

We currently employ the Bowen ratio (BR) technique to measure evapotranspiration and heat transfer from the forest into the atmosphere. We also invest our time in the testing and bias estimation of latest sensors for their applicability to the BR technique.

The field stations also measure forest meteorology, subsurface hydrology and stream flow.

Direct tree transpiration measurements

Transpiration rates are directly measured through sap fluxes which are measured using lab-fabricated sap-flux probes which work on the principle of conservation of thermal energy and dissipation within the sap.

Former Post Doctoral fellow, Mukesh Kumar, has fabricated and installed almost 80 sensors in two forests sampling over 30 trees. Complementary tree and ecosystem level observations, like allometry, and LAI, are also being collected.

Our First Results - Differences in transpiration strategies between species

Our measurements have provided new perspectives on growth and transpiration strategies of trees across various girth ranges and between species. We find Himalayan broadleaved forests, especially the aged ones, to have a substantially smaller evapotranspiration as compared to needle-leaved trees of the middle Himalayas. These have implications for regional climate, which we are studying through numerical atmospheric modeling. Check out our findings at -

M. Kumar et al., AGU Fall Meeting, vol. 2023, pp. B05-02. (2023).
J. R. Mohanty, et al., AGU Fall Meeting, H160-IV, 1669896 (2024)
M. Kumar, et al., AGU Fall Meeting, H21R, 1683965, (2024)

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