Dr. K Ajith Joseph

Presently the Principal Scientist and Executive Director of Nansen Environmental Research Centre - India (NERCI), a non profit research centre accredited by DSIR, Ministry of Science and Technology for environment and climate research (http://www.nerci.in) and a recognised research centre of Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, Kochi. Doctorate in Physical Oceanography from Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), India in 1998 with graduation in Mathematics and Masters in Oceanography. He joined NERCI as Scientist in 2000. He has more than Thirty years of research including twenty years of project management experience with CUSAT and NERCI through various projects. He is currently the Principal Investigator for ISRO-SAC Oceansat3 calibration and validation project and also the Co Investigator for H2020-MoES co funded project Ocean Observations and indicators for Climate and Assessments (ObsSea4clim) coordinated by Danish Met office and National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research. He was also a member of the doctoral committee of Institute of Remote Sensing, Anna University, Chennai, India. He is a recognised research guide at KUFOS in the faculty of Ocean Science and Technology and Faculty of Fisheries Engineering. He has headed projects funded by UNEP-APFED and Space Application Centre, ISRO in his capacity as PI and Co-PI. He was the Co-investigator for the SARAL-Altika data Utilisation project implemented jointly at CUSAT and NERCI funded by Space Application Centre of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and also Co-Investigator of two AO projects of Space Application Centre, India for international agencies for utilisation of Oceansat II data for Arctic ice monitoring and HAB monitoring in the Norwegian waters. He was the Indian coordinator for the Indo-Russian workshop on Regional Climate Change held at Cochin in October, 8-9,2009 under the DST-RFBR 2009 Call and the Nansen International Summer School held in India from Feb 6-12, 2010. Dr. Ajith was the Project manager for the INDO-MARECLIM, (http://www.indomareclim-nerci.in), EU-FP7 international project (2012-2015) involving institutes from five EU countries-Norway, Netherlands, Italy, France and UK as well as the team leader in to strengthen the INDO-MARECLIM partnership and building network of cooperation between Europe and India. He also headed the Norwegian Research Council Project (2012-2015) to study the Decadal to multi-decadal variability in the Indian Monsoon Rainfall and teleconnection with Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) - a joint study of observed and modeled variations in Climate in India. He is presently, coordinating two Norwegian Research Council project from India “PECO2” (Partnership for Education in Operational Oceanography) (2020-2023) and “Urban Sustainability in Action (URSAMAJOR-2021-2025). He was the Principal investigator of a joint project with KUFOS on Synergistic application of Earth observation data for the Ocean State forecasting for north Kerala coast funded by INCOIS and is the project partner in a H2020 project COMFORT- Our common future ocean in the Earth system – quantifying coupled cycles of carbon, oxygen, and nutrients for determining and achieving safe operating spaces with respect to tipping points” under the theme “Building a low-carbon, climate resilient future: climate action in support of the Paris Agreement” jointly funded by European Commission and Ministry of Earth Sciences involving 30 institutes from EU. He has more than 75 publications in referred and indexed journals and proceedings and has guided around 15 master students.

Research Interest

His research interest is in satellite oceanography and implementation of numerical ocean models for the Indian Ocean.

Key Publications

Jishnu E S, Ajith Joseph K, Sreenal Sreedhar and George Basil. 2017. Hazard Mapping of Landslide Vulnerable Zones in a Rainfed Region of Southern Peninsular India- A Geospatial Perspective. International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology. Volume: 04 Issue: 07 | July -1350-1357.

Ajith Joseph K, C Jayaram, Archana Nair, Mary Swapna George,A N Balchand, Lasse H.Pettersson. 2017. Remote Sensing of Upwelling in the Arabian Sea and adjacent near –coastal regions. In: Remote sensing of Asian seas, Vittorio Barali and Martin Gade (Eds). Springer pub.(under review).

George, M.S., Joseph, P.V., Ajith Joseph, K. Laurent Bertino and O. M. Johannessen. 2017. The Cold Pool of the Bay of Bengal and its association with the break phase of the Indian summer monsoon. Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Letters., http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/16742834.2017.1294017.

Muhammad Shafeeque, Ajith Joseph, K. and A. N. Balchand. (2015).South Eastern Arabian Sea features based on Ka-Band Altimetry. Bulletin of the National Natural Resources Management System,NNRMS(B)-39, Dept.of Space, Govt.of India, 42-47.

N.Madhavan, D. Thirumalai Vasan K. Ajith Joseph and K.Sravani.,2015. Prediction of Mackerel Landings Using MODIS Chlorophyll-A,Pathfinder SST and Seawifs PAR, Indian Journal Of Natural Sciences Vol.5 / Issue 29/ April 2015 ISSN: 0976 – 0997,4858-4871.

N.Madhavan, D. Thirumalai Vasan K. Ajith Joseph.and K.Madhavi.2015. Neural network prediction on sardine landings using satellite derived ocean parameters Chlorophyll-a (SeaWiFS), SST and PAR Indian Journal Of Natural Sciences Vol.5 / Issue 29/ April 2015 ISSN: 0976 – 0997.5052-5063

Archana Nair, Ajith Joseph, K and Nair, K.S. (2014). Spatio-temporal analysis of rainfall trends over a maritime state (Kerala) of India during the last 100years. Atmospheric Environment, Volume 88, 123-132 Elsevier., ., http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2014.01.061.

Principal Scientist & Executive Director

+91 9747713474

ajith_jk@yahoo.com

ajith_jk@nerci.in