Summer at CREST,IIA

A classical style Architecture with Grey handsome building blocks; The Campus harboring exotic and indigenous Floral types; An island of snakes and jackfruit trees; Silent yet vibrant labs - This is where I spent my summer 2011. It’s dear to me for two reasons – partly because the ambience was very much alluring and partly because I could meet a few interesting people without whom my stay and also my research could not have been as rewarding as they were. I would count them to be a purple patch of my undergraduate life as I got to live my dreams of being at IIA.



Mesmering beauty!

The weather yarely turns from mild sunny afternoons to darkened evening. Congenial research Atmosphere with pleasantly mottled trees adds to the pulchritude of CREST. G2, My room in the ground floor - I would call it a heaven! I was even wondering if someone designed the room with the prior knowledge about my ‘Dream-lab’. Huh! Yeah, I had always yearned to work at a place where I would relish the beauty of gardens as soon as I open the curtains of the room!



Gestures not to scale!

Sonam, Peppu, Mrunalinee and Anusha – my chat buddies at CREST. ‘Impacted and elliptically transformed Spherical Balls’ – That was the Bonda which was made in the canteen!!! This is a sample of our lunch time scientific chats… The prey was Mrunalinee – A dimension problem in our description, finally concluded it saying, the gestures were not to scale!!

Census of our activities

Nothing could really substitute the dinner time chats, mid night star gazing, Open Air theatre dance classes, Cooking at pantry, CRESTFEST 2011 which made our final rocking days of dance performances at IIA auditorium. Another member of our group was my sweet ‘Taffie’ …Poor creature, I have scared it a couple of times by my shrieks.




Clean-Room world

I could still remember that our laughter would have torn the roofs apart when we renamed CREST as ‘Culinary Research and Education for Students and Trainees’  we had another Handsel of visiting the clean rooms of Astrosat’s telescope. Special credits to Raj for his vivid demos….We went crazy when we wore the clean room suits and more animated when we were given the masks and gloves as take home gifts 


Normalization of deviance – My research on 2m telescopic IR data

Venus Image captured through IIA 2m telescope on 3rd December 2010:



Waiting and wondering how much CREST enthralled me, my mind alerts me not to lecture my readers to boredom. So, I’m leaving my research thesis to find a place in my website. For all those intrigued by the Planet Venus and yearning to trace its Cloud Physics, please find my technical Report in my website.

Watch out for Mars, Hellas!

Hellas, Next stop for Water in Mars!
“You bloom quickly, you do what you need to do, and you go dormant” – Ms.Pratt, Bio-Geochemist, Indiana University.
This holds good not only for Martian Microbes but also for transient water locked up inside the Polygonal cracks in Mars. The Martian Water Exploratory program got more moxie when the recent NASA’s images from MRO mission revealed dark shifting streaks in Hellas Impact Basin.


What’s not in Morsels of Hellas!

The discovery points out to flow of liquid brine in Hellas in summer. It was highly surprising when I superficially read the history of this region. SHARAD radar in MRO previously discovered 250m thick water-Ice on upper crater and 300-450m on middle and lower crater in Hellas. Mars Express HRSC images located 3.5-4km massif and Glaciers with viscous material running down from the rim of the crater. Starting from VIKING’s temperature measurements, Hellas has been much enticing due to its low altitude, favorably high temperature (-18C in late afternoon to -46C at nights- from VIKING), and high Atmospheric vapor pressure of over10mb.the below image shows some gullies identified by MGS, Mars Orbital Camera


Pretty Evidences for Perplexing questions:

Question 1: Why the streaks vanish each winter?
Question 2: What darkens the soil?

The dark streaks point to events caused by Liquid water albeit absence of Spectroscopic signatures of pure water. The albedo variations and sharpness of streaks calls for the younger ages of the streaks. The small ridges shown in the image explain the deformed ice. This provides the key for liquid water beneath the Martian Regolith. The deformed sub surface ice may break through the Crust in short lived outbursts enabling the downhill transport of debris. Fluids migrate through these fractures which are caused by rupture of subsurface liquid reservoirs. The below image shows the Marstian glaciers in Hellas captured by the HRSC camera in Mars Express (ESA)



Numerous Martian Gullies detected in the same basin hypothesizes the flow of Underground fluid either pure water/brine/acidic/Alkaline. The dark deposits in the rim of the basin are caused by internal erosion. The Atmospheric pressure of 11mb at the bottom of the basin (subsurface) and temperature above triple point of water beneath the Martian Soil in Hellas reinforce the striking presence of Ground Ice which melts in summer causing the dark streaks. Thus the morphological features in the image presumably suggest carving by Ground water/Ice, perhaps through capillary action rather than flowing brine on the surface of Mars.

P.S: The aforementioned points complement the research evidence submitted by UA team.
This link can make the reading further interesting :http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/126800063.html

Looking Back.. Days at CEG...

11.33am on May 12th 2011- the countdown began! Hang on! That was not a countdown for launch. Rather that was for departing my CEG officially as a student after surrendering my Smart Card. The countdown paused as I walked through my tantalizing campus and its evergreen spots. Reminiscing my blissful days, I was heading out towards the CEG parking lot (where my vehicle often assumed special place as locking my vehicle had escaped my memory plenty of times in CEG). The walk allowed me to pick up tell-tale signatures of nostalgic moments which CEG has given me since 2007 August. Every spot tied me to some specific occurrence of my student days – CPDE, Physics Lab, HOD office, CEG Canteen, our surveying field, and the most cherishable place –Our IRS (Institute of Remote Sensing) – whose walls will re-emit the memoir of 2007 batch in future years.



I vividly remember entering the ‘CEG campus’ way back in 2006, when I was in my 11th standard. I now feel proud to be an alumnus of the same College. My freshman years in college gave me lasting experiences. My First SQC meet was unforgettable! Believe me, this was the place I realised It was high time that I had an active ‘Email id’! Archana, Aarthi, Abhi – friends who made my initial months at CEG and from whom I learnt a lot. Neeraja (my senior) – My Engineering graphics tutor , but for her, my internal tests would have degenerated into a farce. Red Cross camp at a village near Kanchipuram was a giant pooper-scooper that scooped waves of self-confidence from me.



Sensor Design, Microprocessors, RS, and GIS– Everything paraded my mind....Despite listening to plenty of talks – the Million dollar question lingered – What’s GI? To me, it was a deep magnetization effect – Satellites and Remote Sensing, Yup that was my fantasy world! The Pandora box was finally opened when we arrived at 2nd semester and started probing the subjects of Geo-informatics. Then, GI appeared much mottled with farraginous topics than I had expected. Although the sign on the door was then unveiled, we had to really puzzle over the pieces to comprehend the close connection between different subjects.



Speaking of second year brings the most intriguing bird in its flock – Work on ‘Pollution’. My research got gravitated towards Pollution, Climate Change and Global warming. Conferences/Symposiums kept me occupied! I was then able to patch up the titbits of GI.

For every student there would be a Prof of his/her choice and so it was for me. I loved attending Remote Sensing and DIP classes by Vidhya Mam (Asst.Prof at IRS). Lost the opportunity of presenting her a nice greeting card on the last day...Yet, holding it to gift her next week... :)

My Internships –Experiences which gave much Momentum for my undergraduate life! They gave me opportunities to amplify my abstract ideas, think farther yet deeper into my research. My days at RRSC – B’lore, IISC, SAC, and PRL really made a striking difference!

Pre-final year and Final year – Halcyon days in College Life. Every day boasted a special significance. September 22nd 2010– an exceptional day for everyone in 2007 batch – The most precious terrace was opened and the Theodolites decorated IRS’ terrace on a darkening evening even after 8pm in the night! Oh friends! Neither that was an extra class of survey nor we had changed our usual location of survey (playground)...It was a moment when Earthlings enjoyed a rare honor of sighting JUPITER! ‘Jo’ (HW I call Jupiter) was just 3.51 AU away from our home planet. I would humbly direct my readers to my friend’s blog to know more on JOMAP (Jovian Measurement and Positioning) - http://archana4890.blogspot.com/. Thanks to my friend for the great piece of writing!My project helped me to live my passionate days for a planet which is a smorgasbord of volcanoes - Yes, My FYP was on Surface-Atmospheric interaction in Planet Venus!



Times of Geohorizon, Techofes, Kurukshetra 2010 and 2011 radiated much knowledge on team management and leadership. Looking back, they were heady stuffs! We had to make ambitious plans on a broad suite of issues within the stipulated amount of time. Hats off to everyone who made it to reality! Chill-outs with friends, Survey camp, IVs shared the inimitable moments of my life.

These Elysian days ended when I finally surrendered my Identity card. I signed the alumni form and marched my way down the ‘Red Building’. A mild smile occupied my face and I paused to mull it over. I wondered at the long way I have travelled from 13th Aug 2007 to May 12th 2011- From the day, when I ignorantly asked one of my friends, “Face book! Yeah, I have heard. Can you describe me how to use it?” To the day when I narrate the same experience in my blog space. Bye Bye CEG - With deep gratitude to this place and humble bow to many inspirational personas.

CRATER : HOW IT HAD ITS COMING?

I have always wondered why many lovers of Planetary Science are raring to get off to the surface and ponder on the Craters with great alacrity. But, I myself was agog at the processes of Crater formation after a deep reading on plethora of controversial answers given to this question of ‘Crater formation’ in our Solar System. Thanks to Prof.P.Devadas for his book on ‘Igneous and Volcanic Origin of Lunar and Planetary Craters’.

While the telescopic and Spacecraft observations have provided treasure trove of information on the Surface features and Atmospheres of Planets and Satellites, the geophysical processes involved in the formation of craters, crater lets and ridges are still remaining a tangential question. The two most important processes of Crater Formation that are debated are – 1) Igneous and Volcanic Origin 2) Exogenous Impact.




A dogmatic assertion towards Impact Craters exists despite the irrefutable morphological evidences to the contrary. Many Lunar Craters have volcanic fumaroles and vents. The bright rays from these Craters are gas blown deposits from these vents and crater lets. Further, the forces attributed to Impact cannot act so extensively and so uniformly as to cause these circular structures on a large spherical surface with differential crustal hardness. The Lunar craters show the lava flooding on its surface. Such flooding events seem to arise from the central peak. It is evident from the Lunar Orbiter 2 photographs that the bottom most layers have spread farther distances with successive layers progressively on smaller areas. This causes folding of the upper layers.

On examining the Earth-Moon geometry, it is ratified that any exogenous body must first overcome the Gravity of Earth before impacting the surface of the satellite. This is the case in most of the Planet-Facing Satellites. There is a high probability that the exogenous body is pulled towards Earth’s Gravity and burnt in its Atmosphere. It has also been suggested that the primordial Atmospheres of Planets and Satellites were very dense and hence any object entering the satellite would be obliterated by its Atmosphere. This would either cause a soft landing or less impact due to negligible mass of the impacting material. Earth’s moon had a dense Atmosphere in its past. But it lost its Atmosphere to space due to less Gravity.

The surface topography of Mars (Hellas Basin), Venus (Franklin Crater), Callisto (Valhalla Basin), Galileo crater in Ganymede, Tyco crater in Lunar Surface and many other calderas are also attributed to Igneous and Geophysical origin rather than Impact processes.

Thus, the Author concludes that the impact events do occur in Solar System. But, a preconceived idea of Impact craters for all circular basins cannot be accepted. Also, no morphological impact evidences like impact splashes or regolith melting have been found in the surrounding areas. All these factors drive home the message that most of the Planetary Craters are endogenous in Nature.

I would be happy to find some debatable and controversial theories from my Readers in the comments page.

ASTRONOMY AND PLANETARY SCIENCE CLUB OF ANNA UNIVERSITY

The Astronomy and Planetary Science club will act as a base for amateur astronomy and Planetary Science related activities. The exchange of information and spreading of general awareness about various astronomical events will find a common platform in the club. The club will also give exposure to various paraphernalia used by Astronomers and Planetary Scientists.

We plan to meet monthly or fortnightly (mostly during weekends) to hold sky watching Sessions, lectures, telescope making sessions and astrophotography sessions. The team members are a part of Tanastroclub of Tamil Nadu Science and technology centre. So, we also hope to have some joint observation and Telescope design sessions with Tanastroclub. Further, we also aim to have joint sessions for special Observations with IIT-Madras Astronomy Club.

Apart from observation sessions, we also plan to focus on Astronomical Image processing and Planetary Atmospheric correction analyses which are the primary requirements of planetary datasets.

ACTIVITIES

Observation sessions
Lectures by eminent Astronomers and Video Conferencing sessions.
Astrophotography
Planetary Remote Sensing
Astronomical Image Processing.
Theory sessions on Astrophysics.

RESOURCES

The initial sessions will be commenced with Amateur observations and HUBBLE telescopic data analyses. The data from Hubble is available online in the archive. The club activities can then be extended in plethora of Astronomical Arenas. We are likely to approach domain experts in Indian Institute of Astrophysics - Bangalore, Astronomy and Space Science Club, Ahmedabad, PLANEX Building-Physical Research Laboratory, ISRO, Ahmedabad for our initial lecture sessions.

I sincerely thank the team leaders Indhu ( B.E Geoinformatics ) and Gopi (M.E Geomatics) for their extraordinary zeal in motivating the club.

MY IMAGE PROCESSING TEAM IN K! 2011

“It was a day with my Image processing team” This is how I wish to start my Blog post. Though many things come to my mind when I think of our workshop, I would put them all aside; my team made my day! This complete blogpost is dedicated to them.

There were people whom I have known for 8 months, two months, two days and even two hours. Still, everyone surprised me by their immense team coordination. They just blew me away by their sincerity, extraordinary zeal and complete dedication with heart and soul put into the work. I was astounded by their tenacity! Although my heart yearns to list their names, I’m afraid if I would unknowingly leave someone.

I only listed the tasks for them. They gave it a form, worked on it and brought my dreams right in front of my eyes. They were real strategic thinkers. For instance, I only gave them a digital camera. They finally gave me 9.7 Mb data with complete documentation of the entire workshop! It was a pleasant experience with them. Right from the second years to my peers, everyone steered the ship amazingly well. I only showed them the door; they walked or rather fought through it! Honestly, I take inspiration in their success!

Hats off to them! Well, even from the number of exclamatory marks in my post, I’m certain my readers would understand the efforts of my dynamic team whose scintillating activities would inspire anyone. Last but not least, I would express my sincere thanks to Sivani and Archana – my 3d evolution team in k! 2010. Their comments were of immense help to correct the pitfalls and make a coherent framework this year. This day would stay in my heart forever. Thank you all, I wish we meet again and work together.

PRL CONFERENCE ON PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES DURING JULY 12,13th 2010

“The diversity of the phenomena of nature is so great, and the treasures hidden in the heavens so rich, precisely in order that the human mind shall never be lacking in fresh nourishment."
(Johannes Kepler)

One of the most wondrous and noble questions in this world is whether we are alone in this Universe or we are just one example of a much vaster and more varied tapestry. It seems desirable for us to inquire about exoplanets and civilisations outside our solar system. The thirst for planetary Observation and astronomy started with refracting telescopes when scientists pointed their telescopes to the sky and said “O telescope! Instrument of knowledge, more precious than any sceptre!”. Such dearest illusions took a dynamic form when men first set foot on Moon and enjoyed the Magnificent Desolation. From the days of Apollo to the current Mars science Laboratory and Kepler mission, we have studied and identified planets of many masses, varied atmospheres and extremely different Climatic conditions. Though we couldn’t conclude on life outside our Planet Earth or anywhere in our solar system, the data from these missions have made a big difference in how we look for evidence to answer the question of life. Thanks to Kepler team which has archived its data for the researchers around the world.

I had been enduring to write about a conference which I attended on ‘Planetary Atmospheres’ in Physical Research Laboratory, India during July 2010. It’s been very long, still, worth preserving the ideas. It was a wonderful and constructive meet which triggered the dream charge of many young researches to work in ‘Planetary science’. I have discussed here the crux of some striking lectures which engaged my interests during this conference.

First day of the conference was focussed on Terrestrial Planets, their evolution, present state of Knowledge, Atmospheric Escape and Magnetic field in those planets. The discussion on Colonization of Mars by Prof.U.R.Rao by melting the Polar Ice was my favourite lecture during this session. Martian Ionosphere was the most spoken topic. MARSIS sounding techniques revealed the peak electron density variations in Martian Upper Atmosphere due to dust storms in the neutral Atmosphere. The radio occultation experiments have derived a direct proportionality between peak electron density and solar zenith angle.

Comparative studies fostered both exploration and synthesis within diverse settings of Mars, Venus and Earth. Some fascinating similarities amongst these terrestrial planets include O+ ion flow, hot oxygen Corona and common dominant photo electron peak in Mars and Venus. The Photo e- peaks in Mars and Venus occur near tail unlike Earth where it occurs in Magnetosphere. The dominant composition of Martian Atmosphere and Venusian Atmosphere is Carbon-di-oxide. Yet, the current extreme and contradicting temperature in these planets digs questions about their Evolution and Primary Atmospheres which they inherited from Solar Nebula.

The last session on the first day was the most fascinating part as it spoke in volumes about India’s future Mars missions and Life on Mars. It was a lucid lecture by Prof.Murthy from PRL on Accretion, evolution, geochemistry and surface processes on Mars. Till now, we have had 4 orbiters, 3 rovers and 1 lander in Mars. Future Indian missions will carry Gamma Ray Spectrometers for studying the volatile chemistry, LASER sensors for terrain mapping, ultrasensitive magnetometers, and Hyperspectral imager for mineral analyses and Geological mapping camera. Another invigorating lecture was from Prof.B.C.Bhatt from Indian Institute of Astrophysics illustrated the telescopic observations which are being performed in India for analysing the Venusian cloud movement. He concentrated on the 2.3 window for cloud emissions and cloud opacity.

Day 2 was replete with lectures on diversified topics like Interplanetary Magnetic field, Heliospheric Physics, Outer planets, Aeronomy of Earth’s Atmosphere and Geomagnetic storms. Production of Sodium and water in Mercury is substantiated by proton sputtering of sodium bearing silicates by chemical spattering mechanisms (Ion spattering: Ion gives energy to target and releases neutrons). Craters can sustain magnetic field. When objects greater than Curie temperature when affected by impacts after cooling, can sustain permanent magnetic field.

Another mind blowing lecture series were about Saturn’s moon Titan. Titan , the only natural satellite ever found to possess dense Atmosphere with 1.5 bars of pressure dominated by Nitrogen and Methane. The nitrogen found in Titan is found to be of secondary origin. Ideal range of temperature in Titan is 150-250K. Methane has been evident in Titan through the process of Serpentinisation. RADAR data have revealed vast expanse of Methane lakes in northern Hemisphere and also specular reflection from these liquid bodies. Titan’s Atmosphere also contains Ethane clouds, Acetylene and uniform mixing ratio of Hydrogen. Titan’s methane cycle is similar to Hydrological cycle on Earth. In short, surface is the key to Titan’s mysteries.
The concluding lecture was about ‘Lightening in Planetary Atmosphere’. Dust storms in Venus stimulate turbo electric processes which cause lightening due to frictional charges. This electric field is similar to Earth’s electric field’. Though lightening in venus has been a matter of question, Lightening processes in Saturn and Jupiter has been confirmed.

I have only mentioned a few lectures which were fascinating me. Still, there were many on Jupiter’s moon, Mercury’s Magnetic field and Exoplanets. I would like to express my sincere thanks to Prof. Haider who gave us an opportunity to attend this conference.

When I started walking out of PRL after the conference, words of Dr. Lasio (Radio Astronomer, NASA, JPL) silently echoed in my ears, “Because nature is more clever than we are, it's quite possible that we will discover something we haven't thought of!” I continued walking saying to myself, ‘Yes, someday, the incredible will be known and we would be in other planets looking for some signals from living beings on Earth’.