What do they do?
11 am. Monday, February 8, 2010. An advance camp is being set up by the Indian Army’s High Altitude Warfare School on the snowy reaches of Gujjar Hut near Khelanmarg in Jammu and Kashmir. Men are busy getting in supplies and preparing for training. Suddenly, with a huge roar, a wall of snow comes crashing down. Seventeen Army men, including a captain, lose their lives and 17 others are injured.
An avalanche warning had been issued the evening before by the Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE) of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). A little more caution exercised could perhaps have saved a few more lives.
It’s due to such avoidable calamities that the study of snow has gained importance over the years. From avalanche experts to glaciologists, ‘snow’ careers seem to be gaining importance in times of climate change.
SASE has been doing commendable work in studying snow behaviour, predicting and thus preventing avalanches, and helping develop structures that can withstand their impact.
“There is definitely a need for more (snow) researchers in our country, especially in the DRDO,” says Ashwagosha Ganju, director, SASE. There are many grey areas, adds Ganju, that need to be investigated; there are many gaps in the existing information about the cryosphere that need to be filled.
SASE has a small team of scientists who carry out research related to snow. The work involves field as well as lab studies and is carried out during winters because seasonal snow duration is only four to five months a year in the Himalayas.
There are other people too, braving the cold and negotiating incredibly difficult terrain, who study glaciers, monitor their movement and find out if global warming is causing masses of ice to shrink. The scientists’ field of study is vast – the Himalayan glaciers and snow-bound areas are considered the third polar ice cap because they hold large amounts of ice mass. Millions in India and China get fresh water thanks to these melting glaciers…
Milap Chand Sharma, Ph D (London), associate professor, Centre for the Study of Regional Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University, chose the Gangotri glacier for his doctoral research, because of the social, cultural, economic and historical importance of the glacier. He also assessed the relative role of the monsoons in the mass balance of glaciers in the Central Himalayas. For this, surveys, mapping and sampling of the glacial environment started in August 1991. Even now, says Sharma, he visits the glacier every two-to-three years to update the repository. Apart from this, he has also mapped and dated glacial environs and landforms in Ladakh (Stok Kangri, Bazgo and Nimmu), Chandra and Bhaga basin-Miyar basin-Upper Beas basin in Himachal Pradesh, etc.
Glaciologists need good physical fitness and also be passionate about the mountains. Working at altitudes above 4,000 m for prolonged durations, surveying, identifying sites, mapping, logging and sampling are challenges that one has to face without any ambition for rewards or fame. One must also have a good understanding of natural processes rather than having any academic qualification. Any discipline in the earth sciences/physical sciences would strengthen one’s scientific temperament and understanding, adds Sharma.
Avalanche researchers can include physicists and those with a background in mathematics, geology, and computer science. People working on avalanche-resistant structures are generally civil engineers who are supported by mechanical engineers. Electronics and communication engineers help in the development and maintenance of various instruments for use in snow studies. Computer scientists help in model development.
When asked about his work environment, Sharma says, “We hand over our safety to the Almighty while in the field. However, formal trainings done in mountaineering help us assess the risks beforehand. We do not stretch ourselves beyond our physical capacity and nature’s limits,” says Sharma.
