Projects

Massachusetts Gateway Cities CLimate Resilience Center: Powering a Just and Resilient Future, the U.S. Department of Energy, Sep 2024 - present (co-PI; PI: Juliette Rooney-Varga)
  • Funded as a Department of Energy (DOE) Climate Resilience Center to work with the community and use DOE science tools to provide local projections of extreme temperature events and their impacts on energy demand as we navigate through the energy transition.

    • Identifying Disparities and Solutions to Urban Heat Stress and Climate Justice with Multi-satellite Imagery and Modeling Approaches, funded by NASA, Apr 2024 - present (co-PI; PI: Angel Hsu)
  • Funded as a NASA Interdisciplinary Research in Earth Sciences grant to combine machine learning and remote sensing to examine disparities in heat exposure within U.S. cities

    • A Planetary-Scale Data–Model Integration Framework to Resolve Urban Impacts Across Scales and Examine Weather Extremes over Coastal U.S. Cities, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Oct 2023 - present (PI)
  • Funded as an the Early Career Research Program award to improve urban representation in Earth system models

    • Integrated Coastal Modeling (ICoM) , funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Feb 2023 - present (PI: Ian Kraucunas)
    Coastal Observations, Mechanisms, and Predictions Across Systems and Scales: Great Lakes Modeling (COMPASS-GLM) , funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Sep 2021 - present (PI: Robert Hetland)
    Quantifying and comparing surface temperature response to aerosol-induced radiative forcing and Bowen ratio change, funded by Computational & Information Systems Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Apr 2020 - Dec 2022 (PI: Xuhui Lee)
  • Compute grant for carrying out climate model simulations for second chapter of dissertation research

    • The Biophysical Impacts of Aerosols: Long-term Feedback and Urban-Scale Interactions, funded by Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies, Apr 2020 - Aug 2021
  • This is an extension of dissertation research intended to examine long-term and localized feedback between aerosols and surface climate

    • Bias-Correcting Global Surface Radiation Datasets Using Machine Learning, funded by Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies, Mar 2020 - Apr 2021
  • Performed a systematic evaluation of all components of the incoming radiation, including diffuse radiation, in multiple global products for third chapter of dissertation
  • Trained supervised machine learning algorithms to develop a global bias-corrected surface radiation dataset at the hourly scale (1980 - 2019) for research and application purposes
  • Explored the potential use of machine learning to parameterize surface radiation in Earth System Models

    • Monitoring population-weighted urban heat exposure at a global scale, funded by Yale Center for Business and the Environment, Oct 2019 - Aug 2021
  • Given the public health implications of urban heat stress, the aim of this project is to create a web application that combines spatially-explicit measurements of urban heat island and population to monitor the patterns of this population-weighted heat exposure across space and over time.

    • AI for Earth: Bias-Correcting Radiation Parameterizations in Climate Models using Supervised Learning Algorithms, funded by Microsoft, Aug 2019 - Apr 2022
  • Applied different supervised learning techniques to bias-correct radiation fields in current generation climate reanalysis products and thus improved upon existing radiation parameterizations used by the climate science community for third chapter of dissertation

    • Isolating Contribution of Urban Aerosols on the Urban Heat Island at a Global Scale, funded by Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies, Dec 2018 - Apr 2021
  • Designed a test web application to visualize and explore PM 2.5 concentrations (original data source) over urban areas at a global scale (beta version) | Urban PM Explorer |
    • Investigating the impact of different levels of air pollution on the coupling between surface and canopy urban heat islands, funded by Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies, April 2017 - Mar 2021
  • Examined the coupling between surface and canopy urban heat islands within the urban microclimate using crowdsourced micro-meteorological observations and satellite remote sensing
    • Created a global map of urban heat islands, funded by Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies, Aug 2016 - Oct 2018
  • Developed a new automated algorithm to quantify the urban heat island (UHI) effect on the Google Earth Engine platform.
  • Designed an interactive map of surface UHI to help inform policy makers and city planners | Global Surface UHI Explorer |
    Urban Environment and Social Inclusion Index, funded by Samuel Family Foundation, Sep 2017 - May 2019 (PI: Angel Hsu)
  • Designed algorithm to quantify neighborhood-scale urban heat islands of pilot cities
  • Calculated the neighborhood-scale UHI of pilot cities for this project, as well as the temporal variation of UHI and PM2.5
  • Lead author of chapter on climate change
    • Interaction of Convective Organization and Monsoon Precipitation, Atmosphere, Surface, and Sea, jointly funded by Natural Environment Research Council, UK and Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, Jun 2015 - Aug 2016 (PI: Andrew Turner & Sachchidanand Tripathi)
  • Worked as Senior Research Fellow on this project
  • Helped run radiosonde launch campaign at Kanpur supersite
  • Organized first field calibration of Cosmic ray neutron probe in India
  • Performed maintenance, data validation, and data processing of Eddy flux measurements
  • Coordinated installation and operation of Eddy Covariance energy balance station, Ceilometer, Doppler Lidar, and Microwave Radiometer
    • Modelling Relative Impact of Aerosol and LULC Changes on Regional Climate of Ganga Basin, funded by Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, Dec 2013 - Jun 2015 (PI: Sachchidanand Tripathi)
  • Main project under which M.Tech thesis work was realized | M.tech thesis |
  • Quantified temporal and spatial trends of canopy and surface urban heat island effects in greater Kanpur region for different seasons using in-situ measurements, mobile campaigns, and remote sensing
  • Evaluated Noah land-surface model and used model-simulated results and site measurements to determine micrometeorological factors responsible for formation, diurnality, and inter-seasonality of urban heat island
  • Studied differences in radiation components and surface energy partitioning between urban and rural area for different seasons
  • Investigated intra-urban variation in surface energy partitioning using Bowen Ratio Energy Balance method
    Application of grease panels to reduce indoor air pollution in rural households, selected for Honeywell Young Innovator Challenge, Nov 2013 - Dec 2013 (Advisors: Mukesh Sharma & Sachchidanand Tripathi)
  • Conceptualized greased panels as a passive solution to reduce indoor air pollution at low cost
  • Quantified effectiveness of panels on removal of particulate matter of different size ranges in chamber experiments using Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer and Aerodynamic Particle Sizer
  • Determined effectiveness of different orientations of panels on removal efficiency
    Numerical and analytical water quality modelling of a river-tributary system, Jan 2014 - Mar 2014 (Advisor: Saumyen Guha)
  • Formulated and solved analytical model for fate of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), four forms of nitrogen, and dissolved oxygen using MATLAB
  • Determined least square estimates of five rate constants (BOD degradation, reaeration, and three nitrogen conversions) by creating a multi-compartment numerical model
  • Performed sensitivity analysis of numerical model to estimate maxima and minima points for different species
    Ambient air quality characteristics for several metropolitan cities in India and inter-comparison with mangrove ecosystem of Sundarbans, 2012 - 2013 (Advisor: Indranil Mukherjee)
  • Analysed ambient air quality data for Kolkata from 2003-2011
  • Compared air quality characteristics and Air Quality Index of six metropolitan areas, Kolkata, Kanpur, Chennai, Delhi, Vadodara, and Mumbai with PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations previously measured using Respirable Dust Sampler and Fine Particulate Sampler in a sensitive mangrove ecosystem
    Green Building systems and sustainable practices for energy and water conservation in Indian metro cities, 2010 - 2012 (Advisor: Indranil Mukherjee)
  • Reviewed state of Green Building practices in India
  • Analysed economic benefits of wind and solar power for typical residential buildings in Kolkata
  • Evaluated water savings due to rainwater harvesting and greywater reutilization systems in several Indian metro cities