BENGALURU: Padma Awardee and National Institute of Advanced Sciences (NIAS), Director and former Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Shailesh Nayak said that with information being easily and quickly accessed through drones and satellites is being utilised to the optimum, it is now important to understand and ensure how fast the information is processed in real time.
He said the focus now needs to be more towards decoding information at the earliest.
Drones are now not just used for civilian applications like medical services, agriculture, geosciences, identifying mineral potential areas and others, they are also used in wars, including Operation Sindoor, the Russia-Ukraine war and the recent Iran war.
They can be used to quickly cover large areas, and with technological advances, different types of sensors are also used. They are cheaper, faster and easier to make. Earlier, there were single drones; now there is a swamp. "So the focus now is on quick understanding and utilisation of information", he said.
"The idea now is how best and quickly the drone and satellite information obtained can be utilised," Nayak said.
He was speaking at the sidelines of the three-day-long national conference on Youth for Understanding of Geosciences and Action Conference on the theme- Changes in Hydrological Dynamics of Lakes and Reservoirs in a Warming Climate and the Anthropocene.
He added that in war, it is not just technology that is important, but also gathering information and utilising it in a time-bound manner that is important.
Nayak also warned of the impacts of climate change.
He said, while everyone is worried about rising temperatures, little is being spoken about the increasing levels of carbon dioxide, which will have a major impact on the vegetation.
A 2.1-3.3 degrees Celsius rise in temperatures by the end of the century has been forecast.
"Thus, there will be more humidity and an overall increase in precipitation. Changes in the seasonal snowfall are being noted, which is affecting the Himalayas, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra," he added.
The ecosystem of the lakes is also changing, and increasing human activities are affecting the water bodies and the ecosystem.
A 10-20 per cent reduction in water flow in the water bodies is also being noted, along with changes in the salinity and nutrients.