pib releases 17-03-2021

Paper	Topics	Subject
PT Pickups	Indian Collaborative Research in Antarctica	Biodiversity & Environment

SHARE ARTICLE PRINT Download PDF

It is an Indo-Japanese project that was initiated during 2019 to reconstruct the past climate.
In 2019 India-Japan under the aegis of the National Center for Polar and Ocean Research and the National Institute of Polar Research signed an MoU to share and carry out R & D in Antarctica

Objective of SONIC

To understand the ice sheet variability at the Schirmacher Oasis to examine East Antarctic Ice Sheet sensitivity and its response to glacial-interglacial cycles
To assess the variability of biological community through the study of pigments and DNA

Similar expeditions in Antarctica by India

As it collaborated with Japan, India also collaborated with Norway in Antarctic Research
A major Indo-Norweigian collaborative field campaign, near Indian Maitri station, was undertaken during 2016–2019 to understand the ice shelf dynamics, mass balance and reconstruct past changes in atmospheric and sea ice dynamics under the joint project “Mass balance, dynamics, and climate of the central Dronning Maud Land coast, East Antarctica (MADICE)”.
Ice core drilling, ice-sheet modelling and satellite remote sensing-based studies were conducted to understand the future Antarctic contribution to the global sea-level rise.

National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR)

It is India’s premier R&D institution responsible for the country’s research activities in the Polar and Southern Ocean realms.
It was established as an autonomous R&D Institution of the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
Mandate: Management and upkeep of the Indian Antarctic Research Bases “Maitri” and “Bharati”, and the Indian Arctic base “Himadri”