I was selected as part of the NSF funded International Polar Year project titled "International Polar Year - Research Opportunities in Antarctica for Minorities". As part of the project, twenty six students and teachers were selected in a nationwide contest to participate in a one semester long online course and then in an expedition to the Antarctic Peninsula in the winter semester of 2007. I was part of the terrestrial ecology research group in the expedition. Before the actual trip to the Antarctica, we Our research group was in a tourist ship named M/V Orlova. It was an interesting experience to do field research in one of the harshest environments of the planet at the same time trying to act like as a tourist. We had a different life while in and out of the ship and was always busy ith our work. Another challenge was to go into an unknown island, choose a site to collect data, complete the measurement within three to four hours time and then come back to the ship. It was a fun experience overall. I am hoping that I will be able to go back to Antarctic again to do field research for longer duration. In the picture to the leftt hand side, I am in one of the fun cruises taken out from the ship. Following is a map of our expedition route.

Arctic Experiences

I spend a major part of the year in the high lattitude of Barrow, Alaska because of my doctoral research. My Ph.D research is part of a multi million dollar National Science Funded Large scale experimental manipulation experiment in a drying Arctic Lake bed bnear Barro. Barrow is like a second home for me as I spend about three months every summer for my field research there. This place is most unique both geographically and culturally. Geographically it is located at 71°18'1?N 156°44'9?W ? ? and is the northernmost settlement of the North American mainland. After the Russian town of Tiksi , it is the second northernmost town of more than 4000 residents in the world. The population of Barrow is just above 4000. More than half of the population is native Inupiat people who are still dependent on their traditional life of hunting and gathering. The culture is awesome and it is really amazing to see the dance and songs of the local people.

My doctoral research focuses on studying the impacts of changing soil moisture on the optical properties of the arctic tundra using a robotic cart system. This project has significant implications for interpreting satellite imagery and monitoring the health of arctic ecosystems as they respond to climate change. The cart system being operated there is now the largest ground-based satellite validation infrastructure of its type in the world. To facilitate my field research, I am also working on the engineering development of the cart system and am also developing a database for intelligent archiving and access of the field data. In addition ot this, I am also developing a visualization tool for spectral data and also a spectral library for different landcover and vegetation types of the Arctic, Antarctic and the Chihhuahua desert ecosystem. This library has the potential of meeting the needs of ground truthing data for different landcover types for remote sensing community in the field of ecological research.