Racindia

Indian postage stamp commemorating the first Indian Antarctic expedition.

Indian Antarctic Program is a multi disciplinary, multi institutional program under the control of the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India. It was initiated in 1981 with the first Indian expedition to Antarctic.

Contents

• 1 History
• 2 Organization
• 3 Global Cooperation
• 4 Research
• 5 Future
• 6 Notes
• 7 References
• 8 External links

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History

Indian research station Maitri, located on the ice-free and rocky base of the Schirmacher Oasis.

The origins of Indian missions to the Antarctic are traced to the joint Indian Space Research Organisation-Hydrometeorological Centre of Russia agreements, which led to Indians, such as Dr. Paramjit Singh Sehra, joining the 17th Soviet Antarctic expedition of 1971-1973.

The first Indian expedition—consisting of a team of 21 members exploring the Antarctic for a brief period of 10 days— was led by. S.Z. Qasim.

The first Indian research base—named Dakshin Gangotri—was set up on the ice shelf off the Princess Astrid Coast (70°45′S 12°30′E) in central Queen Maud Land in 1983.

Suman D. Gad summarizes the characteristics of the research station Maitri (1988–89):

The second research station Maitri was set up in 1988–89 on the ice-free rocky foundation of the Schirmacher oasis. The oasis offered an ideal location to carry out multifaceted scientific expeditions in the upper atmosphere, meteorology, geomagnetism, seismology, solid rock geology and geophysics, metamorphic petrology, limnology, structure and tectonics, geomorphology and glaciology. Maitri is equipped with scientific laboratories, GPS station, seismological observatory, ice drilling, etc.

Organization

Nations of the world that have stations on the Antarctican continent as of October 2006.

The National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research—a research and development body functioning under the Minstry of Earth Sciences, Government of India—controls the Indian Antarctic program.

One expedition costs up to Rs. 20 crore (US$ 4.04 million).

Global Cooperation

Antarctic Treaty System:      signatory, consulting, territorial claim.     signatory, consulting, reserved right for territorial claim.     signatory, consulting.     signatory, acceding status.     non-signatory.

The Indian Antarctic program is bound by the rules of the Antarctic Treaty System, which India signed in 1983. Pandey (2007) outlines the various international activities that India has undertaken as a part of its Antarctic program:

On 12 September 1983, India achieved the status of Consultative Party, on 1 October became a member of Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), and in 1986 became a member of the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). In 1997 India also ratified the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty thus reaffirming India’s commitment to protection the Antarctic environment. India hosted the eleventh COMNAP/SCALOP (Standing Committee on Antarctic Logistics and Operations) meeting in Goa in 1999, and the working group meeting on eco-system monitoring and management of CCAMLR in August 1998 at Cochin. India occupied the CCAMLR chair begining in November 1998 for a period of 2 years.

India also collaborates with the international community as a member of the Inter Governmental Oceanographic Commission, Regional Committee of Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission in Coastal Indian Ocean (IOCINDIO), International Sea-Bed Authority (ISBA), and the State Parties of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS).

Research

Antarctic holds scientific interest for global research projects due to a number of reasons: ‘Origin of continents, climate change, meteorology and pollution’ are among the reasons cited by S.D. Gad (2008).

Krill distribution on a NASA SeaWIFS image — the main concentrations are in the Scotia Sea at the Antarctic Peninsula. India carries out krill exploration in the Southern Ocean region of the Antarctic.

Close to 1,300 Indians had been to the continent as of 2001 as a part of the country’s Antarctic program.

The ‘ice cores’ retrieved by drilling holes in Antarctic’s vast ice-sheets yield information ‘on the palaeoclimate and eco-history of the earth as records of wind-blown dust, volcanic ash or radioactivity are preserved in the ice as it gets accumulated over time’.

Future

India also plans to begin similar research activity in the Arctic. Walawalkar (2005) summarizes the Government of India’s decision to consider another base in the Antarctic:

An additional station, third, for India would be coming up in Antartica in future. Only 2% of the area in Antarctica is icefree and is ideal for the new station location. A team of Indian scientists from Geological Survey of India has carried out the initial survey for the location for the station and has recommended a site. This site is at the Larsemann Hill with latitude ~70° South and longitude 76° East. The new station is expected to be two days away by ship from Maitri.

Notes

1. ^ a b c Walawalkar (2005), Gad (2008).
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Pandey (2007).
3. ^ a b The Indian Institute of Geomagnetism: Research-Antarctica, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.
4. ^ a b c Pursuit and Promotion of Science - The Indian Experience, page 352
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Gad (2008).
6. ^ 24 Antarctic expeditions and 4 ’special expeditions’ to the continent according to P.C. Pandey, p. 529.
7. ^ Pursuit and Promotion of Science - The Indian Experience, p. 351.
8. ^ a b c d e f Walawalkar (2005)
9. ^ Pursuit and Promotion of Science - The Indian Experience, pp. 173, 213.

References

• Gad, S. D. (2008), “India in the Antarctic”, Current Science, 95 (2): 151, Indian Academy of Sciences.
• Pandey, P.C. (2007) in “India: Antarctic Program”, Encyclopedia of the Antarctic edited by Beau Riffenburgh, pp. 529–530, Taylor & Francis, ISBN 0-415-97024-5.
• Pursuit and Promotion of Science - The Indian Experience (2001), New Delhi: Indian National Science Academy.
• Walawalkar, M. G. (2005), “Antarctica and Arctic: India’s contribution”, Current Science, 88 (5): pp. 684–685, Indian Academy of Sciences.

External links

• National Centre for Antarctic & Ocean Research (NCAOR), Minstry of Earth Sciences, Government of India.

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Categories: Science and technology in India | Science and technology in Antarctica

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