S. Suresh Babu (born 14 March 1976) is an Indian atmospheric scientist and the head of the Aerosols, Trace gases and Radiative Forcing (ATRF) branch at the Space Physics Laboratory of

Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) is a major space research centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), focusing on rocket and space vehicles for India's satellite programme. It is located in Thiruvananthapuram, in the India ...

. Known for his studies on the

Atmospheric aerosols An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A ...

, Babu is a recipient of the Young Scientist or Associate Award of all the three major Indian science academies namely,

National Academy of Sciences, India The National Academy of Sciences, India, established in 1930, is the oldest science academy in India. It is located in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. Prof. Meghnad Saha was the founder president. Fellows *Suddhasatwa Basu * Sudha Bhattacharya * Ch ...

Indian Academy of Sciences The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore was founded by Indian Physicist and Nobel Laureate C. V. Raman, and was registered as a society on 24 April 1934. Inaugurated on 31 July 1934, it began with 65 founding fellows. The first general meet ...

and

Indian National Science Academy The Indian National Science Academy (INSA) is a national academy in New Delhi for Indian scientists in all branches of science and technology. In August 2019, Dr. Chandrima Shaha was appointed as the president of Indian National Science Acade ...

. The

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research ( IAST: ''vaigyanik tathā audyogik anusandhāna pariṣada''), abbreviated as CSIR, was established by the Government of India in September 1942 as an autonomous body that has emerged as the ...

, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (SSB) is a science award in India given annually by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for notable and outstanding research, applied or fundamental, in biology, ...

, one of the highest Indian science awards, for his contributions to Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences in 2017.

Biography

Babu was born on 14 March 1976 in the south Indian state of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. His undergraduate studies were at the

University College Thiruvananthapuram University College, Thiruvananthapuram (UCT) is a constituent college of the University of Kerala, based primarily in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. The college was awarded 23rd rank by National Institutional Ran ...

of the

University of Kerala University of Kerala, formerly the University of Travancore, is a state-run public university located in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital of Kerala, India. It was established in 1937 by a promulgation of the Maharajah of Travancore, Chit ...

from where he earned an MSc in physics in 1998 before continuing at the institution to obtain an MPhil in 2000. Enrolling at the same university for his doctoral studies, he did his research at

(VSSC) to secure a PhD in 2005. Subsequently, he joined the Space Physics Laboratory of VSSC where he heads the ''Aerosols Trace gases and Radiative Forcing (ATRF)'' branch holding the position of a scientist grade SG.

Legacy

Babu's research has been focused primarily on atmospheric aerosols and his works is reported to have assisted in a wider understanding of

black carbon Chemically, black carbon (BC) is a component of fine particulate matter (PM ≤ 2.5 µm in aerodynamic diameter). Black carbon consists of pure carbon in several linked forms. It is formed through the incomplete combustion of fossil fuel ...

aerosols and their radiative impacts on climate changes and atmospheric stability. His studies have been documented by way of a number of articles and ResearchGate, an online article repository of scientific articles, has listed 169 of them. Besides, he has contributed chapters to three books published by others and has edited thirty two proceedings. The invited talks delivered by him include the one on ''Atmospheric aerosols and their characterization over the Arctic'' at the 2013 Joint Workshop on Polar Research jointly organized by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research and

Norwegian Research Council The Research Council (also the Research Council of Norway; no, Norges forskningsråd) is a Norwegian government agency that funds research and innovation projects. On behalf of the Government, the Research Council invests NOK 11,9 billion (2021) ...

. When the

Ministry of Earth Sciences The Ministry of Earth Sciences was formed on 29 January 2006 from a merger of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune ...

constituted the National Facility for Airborne Research (NFAR) under the leadership of the then director of the

Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) is a scientific institution based in Pune, Maharashtra, India for expanding research in the tropical Indian Ocean with special reference to monsoon meteorology, and air-sea interaction of Sout ...

in 2013, Babu was selected as a member of the technical expert committee. He has served as the resource person for INSPIRE internship programs of the Department of Science and Technology and as the reviewer of proposals for the funding programs of Ministry of Earth Sciences, Department of Science and Technology and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. He is also an incumbent or former member of several government and institutional committees such as steering review committee of the Space Borne Lidar Project of VSSC, technical evaluation committee of CAIPEEX Program of the

, critical design review committee of NEMO-AM satellites of Space Applications Centre, expert committee for the project report preparation of

Environmental monitoring Environmental monitoring describes the processes and activities that need to take place to characterize and monitor the quality of the environment. Environmental monitoring is used in the preparation of environmental impact assessments, as well a ...

satellite of

Indian Space Research Organization The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO; ) is the national space agency of India, headquartered in Bengaluru. It operates under the Department of Space (DOS) which is directly overseen by the Prime Minister of India, while the Chairman ...

and the national committee for the procurement of scientific instruments in C-130J atmospheric research aircraft. He has also been an institutional member of two of VSSC research programs namely ''Investigations of atmospheric aerosols and their characterization over the Arctic during summer season'' which ended in 2012 and ''Characterization of Polar Aerosols: Source processes and climate impacts'', which is scheduled to end in 2018.

Awards and honors

Babu received the Young Scientist Award of the

in 2006 and a year later, the

chose him as their Young Associate. He was selected for the Young Scientist Platinum Jubilee Award of the

in 2009; he received another honor the same year in the form of NASI-SCOPUS Young Scientist Award from

Elsevier Elsevier () is a Dutch academic publishing company specializing in scientific, technical, and medical content. Its products include journals such as '' The Lancet'', ''Cell'', the ScienceDirect collection of electronic journals, '' Trends'', ...

. When the Indian National Science Academy established Indian National Young Academy of Science (INYAS) in 2015, he was elected as one of the founding members of the academy. In 2015, he was also selected for the Swarna Jayanti Fellowship of Department of Science and Technology, the tenure of the fellowship running until 2020. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research awarded him the

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (SSB) is a science award in India given annually by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for notable and outstanding research, applied or fundamental, in biology, ...

, one of the highest Indian science awards in 2017.

Selected bibliography

* * *

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Babu, S. Suresh Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Engineering Science 1976 births Living people Indian climatologists Space physics Scientists from Thiruvananthapuram Malayali people University of Kerala alumni Indian oceanographers Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean & Planetary Sciences