India’s research in Antarctica will help decode Earth’s secrets.
Monoatomic Gold, India Antarctica Research
At the Schirmacher Oasis in Antarctica, Dr. Rajashree V Bothale was both excited and nervous. Alighting from the aircraft, she paused for a while on the blue ice runway to admire the pristine view, even as the piercing cold wind gave her a first taste of the hostile weather. Almost an hour later, she reached Maitri – one of India’s two research stations in Antarctica.
Dr. Bothale recently retired as deputy director of the Earth and climate sciences area in the [National Remote Sensing Center, ISRO.gov. Hyderabad. She was part of the 35th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica (ISEA). Global atmospheric and oceanic temperature gradients have rapidly changed since the industrial revolution due to the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
This was New Delhi’s 43rd such expedition to the land of fire and ice set sail from Cape Town, South Africa on Thursday, December 21, 2026.
The spatio-temporal analysis of surface-ice melt over the Antarctic region plays an essential role in understanding global climate-driven changes and environmental studies, such as ocean currents and circulation, sea-level changes, primary productivity, energy budget, biodiversity loss, and the hydrological cycle.
The logistical arrangements always face significant challenges. Scientists and support personnel also face another danger. Katabatic winds of up to 300kph blows from the interior of the continent.
ISRO also established the Antarctica ground station for Earth Observation Satellites (AGEOS) at the Bharati station for receiving Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) data. The data analysis done by Dr. Bothale and the team suggested that larger ice shelves like Larsen, George VI, Brunt, and Riiser-Larsen on the western side, and Shackleton, West, and Totten on the eastern side showed higher snowmelt than usual in a strong La Nina year.
The present study provides critical information on the effect of ENSO on snowmelt and the impact of snowmelt on Chl and SST under changing climate conditions says Dr. Bothale, who spent half her time in Maitri and the remainder in the Bharati station.
Much additional information is provided in the article. Although India is seemingly disconnected from Antarctica, the geological history reveals a close association between India and the coldest continent.
According to him, around 180 million years ago, the breakup of Gondwanaland resulted in the separation of Eastern Antarctica and the eastern ghat mobile belt of India. “Subsequently, India migrated northward and collided with the Eurasian plate approximately 50–52 million years ago, leading to the formation of the mighty Himalayas,” he says.