Rapid aquifer recharge technology for combined flood and drought mitigation
Groundwater recharge wells in karst/fractured rock dominated aquifers can recharge very high injection rates due to the unique hydro-geology. A network of recharge wells can be employed for rapid aquifer recharge during monsoon, for storage and recovery in the dry months.
Team
Naveen S L, Rajagopal Sadasivam
Example of sustained high recharge rates (several weeks) of a karst well in Ayankulam, Tamil Nadu
Conceptual model of karst aquifer with hydraulically connected and disconnected wells, and well network design for rapid aquifer recharge technology
Testing and monitoring water quality parameters of well injection water for safe standards
Funding agencies
New Faculty startup grant, ICSR, IIT Madras
Tirunelveli district administration, Tamil Nadu
Publications
Crop canopy modeling and experiments
The light environment in plant canopies exhibits high spatio-temporal heteogeneity that requires the use of 3D explicit canopy architecture models coupled with 3D ray rtacing model to accurately estimate whole plant photosynthetic carbon uptake and transpiratory water loss fluxes.
Team
Anurupa Das, Antriksh Srivastava, Tathagata Sinha
Computer simulated 3D architecture of soybean plants over a growing season
Computer simulation of 3D architecure of rice plants at different growth stages
Computer simulation of the dynamic light absorption of a canopy of soybean plants using 3D ray tracing
Plant hydraulics
The passive water movement through plant xylem vessels are driven by gradients in water potential between the leaf and the stem. Measuring and characterising the water potential gradients within a plant will lead to better predictive models for plant water requirements.
Team
Vinod Pathak, Spandan S B
Leaf water potential measurements using psychrometer
Effect of drought on leaf energy balance partitioning measured through thermal imaging
Chlorophyll fluoresence measurement to detect water stress in leaves
Sea water intrusion remediation
Sea water intrusion is a growing problem affecting coastal groundwater aquifers. Computer model simulations, and laboratory experiments guide in developing strategies to mitigate sea water intrusion.
Team
Rajagopal Sadasivam, Prof. Indumathi Nambi, Prof. Prabhakar Clement
Laboratory investigation of receeding and advancing salt wedges due to sea level rise
Experimental simulation of upconing of salt wedge due to groundwater pumping
Numerical simulation of the effect of flow barriers on minimising the saltwater intrusion effect
Funding agencies
DST, Department of Science and Technology
Publications
Screening tools for contaminant transport modelling
Screening tools provide rapid initial estimates of groound water contaminant plume extant and concentrations. They are typically used in monitoring and remediation study of groundwater contaminantion.
Team
Antriksh Srivastava
Mathematical modeling of 3D contaminant plumes emanating from a patch source for different contamination durations
Model simulations quantifying the error of approximations in existing screening models and suggesting improvements for the same
Improved model approximations for 3D groundwater contaminant transport problems