Dr. Subhash Chandra

Chief Scientist , Electrical and Heliborne Geophysics

schandra75@ngri.res.in

Academic Identity

Specialization

Airborne Geophysics, Hydrogeophysics, Paleochannel, Groundwater, Tunnel Exploration

Research Area

Dr. Subash Chandra did B.Sc.(Hons.) in Geology in 1997, M.Sc.(Tech.) in Exploration Geophysics in 2000 and Ph.D in 2006 from Banaras Hindu University, India. He joined CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), Hyderabad, India in 2000. Presently, he is Senior Principal Scientist at the institute and also Associate Professor at the Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR). Dr. Chandra received Boyscast postdoctoral fellowship from Department of Science and Technology, India and worked at Aarhus University, Denmark during 2010-11. His research interests are in the field of groundwater, airborne electromagnetics, aquifer mapping and parameterization, translation of geophysical results into hydrogeological model, etc.

Dr. Chandra has played a key role in establishing the pilot project on Aquifer Mapping (AQUIM) in collaboration with CGWB, MoWR and Aarhus University, Denmark. For the first time in India, a dual moment time-domain electromagnetic and magnetic heliborne surveys were carried out in 2013 and completed ~60,000 line km surveys successfully in different geological settings located in parts of Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Kerala and Haryana including smart city project in Surat, paleochannel near Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, tunnel related projects in Himalayan hills and Western Ghats. He led the team from front in managing, coordinating, data acquisition, processing and interpretation that has yielded successful result with high-resolution aquifer maps and established method for high-resolution aquifer mapping to be up scaled over entire India for developing aquifer based groundwater management. Currently he is leading airborne geophysics projects on paleochannel mapping sponsored by Ministry of Jal Shakti, Govt. of India and also for safe tunneling in hilly terrains to lay the rail lines.

The initiative of high-resolution aquifer mapping establishes a new paradigm in the field of Hydrogeophysics and opens up new vistas for groundwater exploration in the India. The Hon’ble President of India bestowed National Geosciences Award (2017) recognizing the significance of this work in the field of Groundwater Exploration through AEM survey. His work on heliborne geophysics for smart city helped Surat Municipality, Surat to bag FICCI award (First Prize) for adopting this innovative scientific approach towards water security. Dr Chandra is honoured with Associate Fellow by Telangana Science Academy (2016); and “Sudarshan Pani-Rama Dwivedy Medal 2022” from Indian Society of Applied Geochemistry (ISAG), Hyderabad for the best contribution in the field of “Hydrogeology and Environmental Geochemistry” for the last ten years i.e. 2011-2021.

Dr. Chandra has several research publications in peer reviewed National and International journals, chapters in books, Technical Reports, etc. A significant work emanating from the above-mentioned investigations is the development of a robust and cost effective method to address the most challenging problem of mapping water saturated fractures in hard rock terrains using AEM. He also developed method viz., LCR recharge method to estimate natural recharge and hydraulic conductivity estimation in granitic hard rock terrain.

Ongoing Research Projects

Aquifer -Paleochannel Mapping and Management

High resolution aquifer mapping and management in north-west arid areas of India (Funded by MoJS)
Aquifer and paleo channel mapping in Ganga-Yamuna Doab, UP; Phase-II. (Funded by NMCG, MoJS)

Tunnel Projects

Safe tunnelling in Western Ghats (Funded by KRCL, Navi Mumbai)
Safe tunnelling in Himalayan hilly terrains of Dehradun and Himachal Pradesh (Funded by RVNL, new Delhi)

Honors & Awards

The National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI) 2023: Selected Member (Physical Sciences-Earth Sciences)) -2023

Sudarshan Pani-Rama Dwivedy Medal 2022: Indian Society of Applied Geochemistry (ISAG), Hyderabad recognized and awarded for the best contribution in the field of “Hydrogeology and Environmental Geochemistry” for the last ten years i.e. 2011-2021

National Geosciences Award - 2017: The Hon’ble President of India bestowed National Geosciences Award (2017) recognizing the outstanding contribution in the field of Groundwater Exploration through AEM survey

Associate Fellow 2016: Telangana Academy of Sciences in the sector of Earth and Environmental Science.

Publications

Chandra S., and Tiwari V.M. (2022). Rapid 3D geophysical imaging of aquifers in diverse hydrogeological settings. Water Security 15, 100111.
Chandra, S., Tiwari, V. M., Vidyasagar, M., Raju, K. B., Choudhury, J., Lohithkumar, K., et al. (2021). Airborne electromagnetic signatures of an ancient river in the water-stressed Ganga Plain, Prayagraj, India: A potential groundwater Repository. Geophysical Research Letters, 48, e2021GL096100. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL096100
Maurya, V.P., Chandra, S., Sonkamble, S., Kumar, K.L., Nagaiah, E., Selles A., (2021). Electrically inferred subsurface fractures in the crystalline hard rocks of an Experimental Hydrogeological Park, Southern India. Geophysics 86 (5), WB59-WB146, https://doi.org/10.1190/geo2020-0327.1
Chandra S., Choudhury J., Maurya P.K., Ahmed S., Auken E., and Verma S.K. (2021). Geological significance of locating paleo-channels with AEM. Exploration Geophysics. Exploration Geophysics, 51 (1): 74-83 DOI: 10.1080/08123985.2019.1646098
Chandra S., Jacobsen B.H., Christensen N.B. Ahmed S. and Verma, S.K., 2020. Multiparametric Coupling and Constrained Interpolation to Improve Natural Recharge Estimation, Earth System Sciences, 129:8, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-019-1253-z .
Chandra S., Auken E., Maurya P.K., Ahmed S., and Verma S.K, (2019). Large scale mapping of fractures and groundwater pathways in crystalline hard rock by AEM, Scientific Reports 9: 398, DOI:10.1038/s41598-018-36153-1
Chandra S, Ahmed S., Auken E., Pedersen J.B., Singh A., Verma S.K., (2016). 3D aquifer mapping employing airborne geophysics to meet India's water future. The Leading Edge 35 (9), 770-774, http://dx.doi.org/10.1190/tle35090770.1
Chandra, S., Ahmed, S., Nagaiah, E., Singh S.K., and Chandra, P.C., (2011). Geophysical exploration for lithological control of arsenic contamination in groundwater in Middle Ganga Plains, India. Physics and Chemistry of Earth, Elsevier publication, Physics and Chemistry of the Earth 36 (2011) 1353–1362, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pce.2011.05.009.
Chandra S., Ahmed S., and Rangarajan R. (2011) Lithologically constrained rainfall (LCR) method to estimate spatio-temporal natural recharge distribution in hard rocks. Journal of Hydrology 402: 250–260.
Chandra, S., Dewandel, B., Dutta, S., and Ahmed S., (2010). Geophysical model of geological discontinuities in a granitic aquifer: analyzing small scale variability of electrical resistivity for groundwater occurrences, Journal of Applied Geophysics, 71: 137–148.

Chandra, S., Ahmed, S., Ram A., and Dewandel B., (2008), Estimation of Hard Rock Aquifers Hydraulic Conductivity from Geoelectrical Measurements: A theoretical development with field application, Journal of Hydrology” 35, pp. 218-227.

Books

Ahmed S, Chandra, S., Chandra PC, Prasad P R. 2019. Groundwater Prospecting: Classical to advanced Geophysical Investigations. A chapter in a book entitled Water Furture of India: Status of science and Technology

Research Scholars

Supervision on Doctoral Research

Awarded PhDs: 2 Nos.

Pursuing PhDs: 3 nos.

Educational Qualification

M.Sc.(Tech.), Ph.D

Proffessional Experience

Current Major Responsibility as Project Leader (PL)/Co-PL (2020- onward)

Currently leading four project on Airborne geophysics for: