Front Ranking Research in Antarctica Programme

The first Indian expedition landed in Antarctica in January 1982 and ever since India has been in forefront of the polar science. The infrastructure available at the Indian Research Station Dakshin Gangotri and Maitri enabled the scientists to conduct front-ranking research in disciplines such as Atmospheric Sciences Biological Sciences, & environmental sciences. Several of these research programs have contributed directly to global experiments mounted under the aegis of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR).

         Antarctic atmospheric science programme has seen participation of many cientific organizations, notably the India Meteorological Department (IMD), National Physical Laboratory (NPL), Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG), Calcutta University, Physical Research laboratory (PRL) and Barkattulah University etc. essentially in the areas of Solar Terrestrial Physics (Upper Atmosphere and Geomagnetism), Middle Atmospheric Studies and Lower Atmospheric Studies (weather, climate and boundary layer). Radiation balance studies are being carried out to understand the total global solar radiation and diffused solar radiation. This measurement helps in deciphering the energy transfer that drives the global atmospheric engine with continued data collection. Regular ozone measurements at Maitri using Ozonesonde augment the international efforts for study of ozone-hole phenomenon over Antarctica and effect of depletion of ozone in global climate change. Ionospheric studies have formed an important part of the Antarctic scientific experiments. A digital ionosonde (CADI – Canadian Advanced Digital Ionosonde) has been installed during the 2008-09 expedition. This gives us the details of the space weather events. Global Ionospheric Scintillation & Total Electron Content Monitoring System (GISTM) has been installed at Maitri to look into the Total Electron Content (ITEC) and occurrences characteristics of polar ionospheric scintillation and its dependence on space weather events. The GISTM data will help us in understanding the macro and mesoscale plasma structure and its movement.

     The Polar Regions and its fragile ecosystem play a key role in the operation of various global systems. Such ecosystems are intrinsically unstable, as slight changes in the environs may considerably damage them. It is known that the growth rate of the polar organisms is slow and it takes quite a long time to recover from the damage. Biological Studies in Antarctica by Indian scientists focus on sea ice micro-organisms, living benthic communities, fresh water and terrestrial ecosystems, biodiversity and other related phenomena. Cryobiology Studies - Cryobiology Laboratory was inaugurated on the 15th February 2010 to bring together researchers from biological and chemical sciences who have a common interest in the field of low temperature biological systems. The laboratory is currently engaged in study of cold adapted microbes from Polar habitats. The major interests lie in Culture dependent and Culture independent polar microbial diversity by RFLP analysis of whole 16s rDNA amplicon (ARDRA); retrieval of latent microbial community from ice core and revealing their ecological and biogeochemical role; molecular level study on the physiology of cold adapted microbes; expression-based study of heat and cold shock proteins and revealing functional importance of the stress proteins; and establishment of the identity of stress-proteins from polar microbes. The work on the taxonomy, biochemistry and molecular biology of bacteria, yeast, microalgae and microfauna of the Schirmacher Oasis are being conducted by CCMB, NCAOR, NIO, NBRI, ZSI and BHU. Some of the accomplishments of the biological programs are: a number of new species of bacteria have been identified from cold habitats.

              In Antarctica 30 out of 240 new species discovered so far have been from India; Twelve new species of bacteria have been reported from the Polar regions during 2008-2011; two genes namely t- RNA modification GTPase and aspratate aminotransferase have been identified as genes required for survival of bacteria at low temperature; a number of lipases and proteases active at low temperatures and useful for the biotechnology industry have been identified; using metagenome analysis bacterial diversity has been found to be extremely diverse and a few of them have been implicated in hydrocarbon remediation; a number of cold active and heat labile enzymes (protease, RNAase, Time GTPase etc) with application in biotechnology have been purified to homogeneiry; biological samples which include soil samples from Antarctica have been collected and Compound PM181108 has been selected as a lead compound and is under precilinical studies with NCAOR and Piramal Life Sciences.

The environmental parameters are monitored at Maitri, as per the norms set by the Committee on Environmental Protection (CEP) on Antarctica. India has also initiated studies on base line data collection on environmental aspects at Larsemann Hills, the site of India’s new Research Station. Salient accomplishments include: preparation of Comprehensive Environmental Evaluation (CEE) report (prepared in accordance with Annex I of the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty) on the basis of the work done at the environmental laboratories and the base line data collected on environmental parameters from the Larsemann Hills area. India has also been successfully in establishing a protected site encircling Dakshin Gangotri Glacier within the ambits of Antarctic Treaty System.