Dr. Anil Kumar Singh
Remote Sensing and GIS Expert
Agrometeorology and Hydrology Expert
Q1. Please share your educational and professional journey with us?
I was born in Gorakhpur and did my schooling: from Gorakhpur and Assam. After that, Completed my BE from Information Technology.
After BE, I worked in Telecom for 1 year. I did not like the job and I went on to do M.tech from a new subject which was Remote Sensing & GIS. At that time, some people told me to do M.Tech with Computer Science and they were right to say that because it was a new subject for me and its application in agriculture was completely new to me, I was very eager to take the challenge, and I accepted it and to be honest, I enjoyed it very much. My longing to know this subject better took me to IIRS and by coming here I learned a lot of things in the world of remote sensing. My first job was as a Project Scientist in UPRSAC, here I worked as a Watershed Management Planner, which was to be done completely using remote sensing, here I got a very good experience and I learned how through satellite You can plan rainwater harvesting, soil conservation, flood management etc. My second job was in IMD, New Delhi, where I worked as a SRF, as well as my Ph.D is also going on from Allahabad University. From IMD, I learn many things about the Weather, Climate and INSAT3D satellite data along with this learn how to uses these all data for Agriculture advisory. Currently, I am working in a Dehaat Pvt Ltd company; My work here is entirely on R&D for Remote Sensing and GIS products that we will use further in Agriculture Advisory Enhancement.
Q2. What did attract you towards technologies like Remote Sensing and GIS?
Making a career in remote sensing and GIS is a very good option in today’s era. It is needed in every sector in today’s time. When I used satellite data for the first time, I was thinking how easily we can know what is happening all over the world through satellite such as climate, change of agriculture, disaster etc. I liked it because it is a very good technique that gives us accurate information and we can map it and do some planning on it. Remote sensing is most commonly used today in agriculture insurance and yield forecasting.
Q3. How many types of project have you done in Remote Sensing Domain?
I have worked on many prestigious projects throughout my career. My first project was Micro Watershed Management and its Planning, which I did in UPRSAC. My second job was at IMD, where I worked in the Gramin Krishi Mausam Sewa (GKMS) project here I learned a lot of thing like weather forecasting, crop modelling, Cyclone Tracking using INSAT3D satellite, agriculture monitoring farmer advisory etc. My third project, which was at the FarmGuide company, here I worked on product development research in various themes like Farm Level Crop Identification, crop acreage estimation, Soil Moisture Estimation, Crop Growth Monitoring, and Drought Modeling using satellite and climatic data.
Q4. You had done PG Diploma in Remote Sensing from IIRS (ISRO). What was that experience & what did you learn from a great organization?
IIRS is similar to a Gurukul or Kumbh for learning Remote Sensing & GIS. All the scientists here are very good and they have a lot of knowledge on this topic. Everybody must come to this institute, who wants to make their career in remote sensing. My inclination towards research career also started from here.
Q5. What was your Thesis topic in Ph.D.? Please share something about it??
My Ph.D Thesis topic is on “CLIMATE RISK MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR AGRICULTURE, BASED ON OPTIMAL RAINWATER IN INDIA”. During my Ph.D research, I studied and cover most of the subjects that are associated with climate risk such as Indian Summer Monsoon, Agriculture Drought, Meteorological drought, Hydrological Drought, and Importance of Agriculture Insurance. In these all studies mostly, I used remote sensing data.
Q6. How can we use Remote Sensing in Agriculture?
The assessment of agricultural crop canopies has provided valuable insights in the agronomic parameters. Remote sensing play a significant role in crop classification, crop monitoring and yield assessment. The use of remote sensing is necessary in the field of agronomical research purpose because they are highly vulnerable to variation in soil and climate. The monitoring of agricultural production system follows strong seasonal patterns in relation to the biological life cycle of crops. All these factors are highly variable in space and time dimensions. Moreover, the agricultural productivity can change within short time periods, due to unfavorable growing conditions. Monitoring of agricultural systems should be followed in timely. Remote sensing are important tools in timely monitoring and giving an accurate picture of the agricultural sector with high revisit frequency and high accuracy. These technologies have many fold applications in the field of agriculture such as crop acreage estimation, crop growth monitoring, soil moisture estimation, soil fertility evaluation, crop stress detection, detection of diseases and pest infestation, drought and flood condition monitoring, yield estimation, weather forecasting, precision agriculture for maintaining the sustainability of the agricultural systems and improving the economic growth of the country
Q7. What is the role of Remote Sensing and GIS in modern world?
Remote sensing technology is becoming more important in the Modern world due to attention being paid to the latest information, planning, and management for public and private interests. It is most useful for natural resource management, sustainable development, environmental degradation, and disaster management. Its satellite data are used as basic inputs for the inventory of natural resources and development processes like agriculture, soil, forestry, and geology. There are other important technologies that are available to geographers as well, such as Maps, Aerial Photography/ Photogrammetry/ Pictometry, SAR, LiDAR, SONAR, and GIS.
Q8. What are your hobbies? Do you still update yourself in education?
Travelling, singing, cooking and learning new technology which is related to remote sensing.
Yes, I keep updating myself according to the time and it is also crucial because there is a lot of competition in today’s time like I am now learning Data Science and Machine Learning which is the demand of this time.
