Hydrologic and carbon services in the Western Ghats

Extreme rain events are occurring with greater frequency, which is likely to increase in the future. There is a pressing need to bridge the gap in the knowledge of how these events are distributed over space and time, and their influence over hydrology and carbon dynamics in large landscapes with different land cover and land use patterns. This project aims to understand the nature of extreme rainfall events and the hydrologic and carbon regulatory effects of forest degradation and reforestation in the Western Ghats. Supported by the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Government of India, and the National Environment Research Council (NERC), UK, to strengthen inter-governmental partnership on climate change research, this project is part of the MoES-NERC’s Changing Water Cycle Programme. The project has led to some critical research and data outputs, methodological breakthroughs, the establishment of long-term monitoring sites, and has helped enhance the capacity for hydrologic and water resources monitoring among the civil society. The project trained over a hundred students, NGOs and government staff in the fields of hydrologic science and monitoring.