We Develop Technologies for Monitoring and Mitigating Natural Hazards

  • Research Areas: Water Resources Engg, Hydrometeorology, Climate Change Impacts
  • Hazards: Floods, Landslide, Erosion.
  • Tools and Methods: Land Surface and Hydrodynamic Modeling, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Remote Sensing, Data Assimilation, High-Performance Computing.
 
 
 
 
  

Dr. Manabendra Saharia

Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering

Associate Faculty, Yardi School of Artificial Intelligence

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

Dr. Manabendra Saharia is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi and an associate faculty in the Yardi School of Artificial Intelligence. Prior to joining IIT Delhi, Dr. Saharia held positions in the hydrology labs of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). He received his PhD in Water Resources Engineering from the University of Oklahoma. At IIT Delhi, his HydroSense research lab focuses on developing physics and data-driven techniques to monitor and mitigate natural hazards such as floods and landslides. He has been recognized for his scientific contributions, having received Young Scientist awards from both the National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI) and the International Society for Energy, Environment and Sustainability (ISEES), as well as the Indian National Geospatial Award (ISRS).

Fulbright Kalam Climate Fellow (USA, 24-25), NASI Platinum Jubilee Young Scientist Award (India), Indian National Geospatial Award (ISRS, 2024), Sir CV Raman Young Scientist Award (India), National Geospatial Emerging Faculty Fellow Award (2024), Visiting Scientist (NCAR, USA), Global Guest Professor (Keio University, Japan), CDRI Fellowship (Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure).

Monitoring and Mitigating Natural Hazards

Our mission is to develop technologies for monitoring and mitigating natural hazards, with the aim of reducing their impact on life, the environment, and the economy. For this, we combine physics-based modeling and cutting-edge AI/ML techniques to simulate and investigate the terrestrial water cycle. We focus on developing actionable early warning systems for floods, droughts, and landslides as well as strategies for sustainable water management that can aid the most vulnerable regions of the world. 

Hydrologic Modeling and Forecasting

Water resources modeling and forecasting at local to global scales using land surface and hydrodynamic models. Focus on supercomputing, data assimilation, and hybrid physics-AI approaches for developing early warning systems (EWS).

Geospatial Artificial Intelligence

Application of AI techniques for extracting knowledge from structured and unstructured earth observation (EO) data. Focus on satellite and radar precipitation, damage detection, flood inundation mapping, gravimetry etc.

Climate Impacts

Assessing the impact of climate change on water resources, natural hazards, and built infrastructure. Developing techniques for advanced physical risk assessment and adaptation strategies.

HydroSense Lab Infrastructure

We provide the following computational research facilities for all Masters, PhD, and Postdoctoral scholars from Day 1 of joining our lab.

  • CPU computing: Majority of our modeling work happens on the IIT Delhi Supercomputer. All lab members have access to generous supercomputing credits to work on their research without any constraints. These credits are purchased using our research grants.

  • GPU Workstations: As of Dec 2024, we have 10 high-end Workstations with RTX-4090 NVIDIA GPU. For students conducting rsearch on Deep Learning applications.
  • Macs: iMac (1), Mac mini (1), iPad Pro (1), 1 iPad Air (1)
  • Storage: We have a 12-bay Network Attached Storage (NAS) with 120 TB storage for backup of your research data.
  • Accessories: We provide high-end mechanical keyboards, wide monitors, Logitech MX Master mouse, and other accessories.
  • Soon to be added: GPU Cluster.

Research Datasets Freely Available

As researchers, we stand on the shoulders of the community. We are ardent supporters of open-science and release our datasets and code into public domain, except when restricted by source. No co-authorship is expected for using any of our published data. However, you are welcome to share your research by E-mail. We love hearing about interesting applications!