Prof. Kalachand Sain

Kalachand Sain obtained his M.Sc. (Tech) in App. Geophysics from IIT-ISM, Dhanbad, and Ph.D. in Active Seismology from CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), Hyderabad in 1995. He pursued post-doctoral research at Cambridge University (UK) and Rice University (USA), and was a visiting scientist at USGS (USA). Currently, he is JC Bose National Fellow at CSIR-NGRI, honorary Outstanding Professor at AcSIR, Ghaziabad and Advisor at the DST Centre of Excellence for Climate Information – IIT Delhi. Earlier, he served as Director of Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG-DST), Dehradun, held additional charge as Director of Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleo Sciences-DST, Lucknow for a small span, and was Chief Scientist and Head of Seismic Group at CSIR-NGRI.

Statement of Work: His expertise includes machine learning, seismic tomography, attribute characterization, rock physics modelling, and advanced processing of geoscientific data. His research covers seismotectonics, geodynamics, basin evolution, conventional hydrocarbons, non-conventional gas-hydrates & geothermal energy resources, sub-volcanic imaging, geo-hazards due to earthquakes, landslides, avalanches, debris flow, and flash floods. He has undertaken several national and international collaborations, delivered more than 100 plenary and invited talks (many are available in Websites/YouTube), organised international conferences, chaired sessions at scientific fora, and conducted short courses on advanced methodologies and current topics.He has led projects worth INR 62 crores and procured industry-standard data valued at INR 160 crores. These efforts have yielded 234 SCI, 114 Non-SCI and 28 Book chapters; 12 authored/edited books; 2 Patents and 2Copyrights; 16 Ph.D. supervisions and 70 Master-dissertations. He was/is in the Editorial Baords of numrous journals including the 'Encyclopedia of Solid Earth Geophysics' (2011, 2021) by Springer, chief edited by Prof. H.K. Gupta. At present, he is Subject (Earth Sciences) Editor of Proceedings of INSA.

Recognition: He is a Fellow of all three Indian Science Academies: Indian National Science Academy (Delhi), Indian Academy of Sciences (Bangalore), National Academy of Science in India (Allahabad), and Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Academies of Sciences (Hyderabad). His other main recognition includes National Merit Scholarship from the Min. of Education (MoE), Raman (CSIR) and BOYSCAST (DST) Fellowships, Distinguished Alumnus Award by IIT-ISM, AP Scientist Award, National Award of Excellence in Geosciences by Min. of Earth Sciences (MoES), National Mineral Award by Min. of Mines, Young Scientist Award by CSIR, Krishnan Gold Medal and Decennial Award by Indian Geophysical Union. He continues to serve as Secretary General of Federation of Indian Geosciences Association and Chairman/Core Member of National Committees of DST, ANRF, CSIR, MoES, MoE, MoEF&CC, NITI Aayog, Science Academies, Research Councils, Governing Bodies, Advisory Boards of premier Organizations and Institutes/Universities.

1. 1. Demonstrated subsurface hydrological imbalance as causes to the land sliding at Joshimath (2023)
2. 2. Identified precursors for 2021 Chamoli ice-rock avalanche that led to developing early warning system
3. 3. Established AI Centre of Excellence (2022) at WIHG-DST, Dehradun for ML applications to geosciences
4. 4. Provided scientific accounts of flash floods/snow avalanches (2022-24) in UK, HP, J&K Himalayas
5. 5. Long-term monitoring (2019-) of Gongotri glacier & Bhilangana lake at Bhagirathi basin that pose threat
6. 6. Prepared landslide risk maps (2022) in Kumaun-Garhwal Himalaya as input to developing green corridors
7. 7. Explained recent seismicity in Delhi-NCR using seismological and Magneto Telluric study (2023)
8. 8. Imaged hydrocarbon leakage from source to surface through minute fractures in Indo-Gangetic basin (2023)
9. 9. Developed ML-enabled novel tools (2022) for auto-delineation of subsurface 3D features from surface data
10. 10. Published an Authored Book (2022) by AGU-Wiley on ‘Meta-attributes: Artificial Networking’, first of its kind
11. 11. Developed full waveform tomography, first time in India, for the delineation of finer details of subsurface
12. 12. Published an Authored Book (2023) by Wiley on ‘Tomography of Wide-angle Seismic Data’, first in India
13. 13. Published an Edited Vol. (2022) by Geol. Soc. of India on ‘Emerging Energy Resources in India’
14. 14. Published an Edited Vol. (2025) by Jour. of Earth System Science on ‘AI/ML in Earth System Sciences’
15. 15. An Authored Book (2025, in progress) by Wiley on ‘Climate Change & Sustainable Development in Himalaya’
16. 16. An Authored Book (2025, in progress) by Wiley on ‘Analysis and Interpretation of Borehole logs’
17. 17. An Edited Vol. (2025, in progress) by Frontiers in ES on ‘Glaciers, Sediment Flux, Hazards in Himalaya’
18. 18. Evaluated geothermal resource potential in UK Himalaya (2020) that can be renewed into green electricity
19. 19. Established Gas Hydrate Research Centre (2008) with world-class facilities at CSIR-NGRI-Hyderabad
20. 20. Prepared gas-hydrates stability thickness map (2010) in Indian offshore for identification & characterization
21. 21. Characterized/gaged gas-hydrates (1998-) in KG, Mahanadi and Andaman basins, proved by drilling/coring
22. 22. Estimated critical parameters (2010-) that are pre-requisite for developing hydrates production technology
23. 23. Edited Two Volumes (2014, 2019) by Mar. & Petrol. Geol. Utilising drilling and coring data of Indian NGHP
24. 24. Edited One Volume (2011) by Mar. & Petrol. Geol. on the occurrences of gas-hydrates in the Asia-Oceania
25. 25. Delineated high-resolution crustal structures over Indian onshore, offshore, Himalayan regions (2000-)
26. 26. Imaged sub-volcanic Mesozoic sediments in central-western India for hydrocarbon exploration (2000-)
27. 27. Led marine cruises for heat flow (2007), gas-hydrates (2010), & imaging subduction plate geometry (2017)
28. 28. Laboratory study on hydrates kinetics led scopes for storage of gas transportation, & desalination of seawater
29. 29. Laboratory experiments for simultaneous CO2 sequestration, production of carbonate minerals, & orange H2.