THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Living amidst extreme weather conditions for days together has its share of risks. So how about spending five to six months every year in Antarctica for work?
Vishnu Nandan, a young earth research scientist from Thiruvananthapuram, does precisely that. “Work is always risky here,” Vishnu tells TNIE over a WhatsApp call from Antarctica.
Having first set foot on the continent in 2013, the 36-year-old’s job is to monitor polar sea ice decline to study global climate change using radar satellite data. As part of his regular work, he and his team would go on field expeditions to deploy radar sensors that scan the surface of sea ice, much like a radar satellite, which is a high-risk affair. He is happy that his passion for this particular field of work has led him on a long journey to the poles, where the temperature often plummets to -50 degrees Celsius.
An electronic engineer, Vishnu studied at the SCT College of Engineering in Pappanamcode, Thiruvananthapuram. He joined TCS in Bengaluru after completing his course. However, he was unhappy with the work and quit the job. Though he tried to crack the civil services and attempted many public sector exams, he could not make it. That prompted him to do a master’s in Earth Observation Sciences from the International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC) in the Netherlands, in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, ISRO. That changed his life.
After completing his master’s, he moved to the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Germany as a research associate and started working on the Antarctic ice cap. He also has a doctorate in Geography from the University of Calgary, Canada, and three post-doctoral fellowships.
“Though I’m settled in Canada with my wife, Ammu, I have to go to Antarctica for six to nine months a year,” Vishnu says. “But I’m enjoying it. It’s definitely not your average day at the office. Snow that falls on sea ice turns salty, affecting the accuracy of our measurements. Even with cold-weather gear, I suffered frostbite, both temporary and permanent, on my fingers.” Gusts at 100kph push temperatures down by another 10 degrees and can easily break apart the ice, opening up cracks and exposing the ocean.
“A few times, we lost instruments that fell into the water. Luckily, none of the crew. And if one of us did slip, float suits kept us safe. But we are always careful. We have to be, because an emergency medical evacuation could take anywhere from 10 to 14 days. The nearest hospital might be many thousand kilometres or even a continent away,” he points out.
During the Antarctic winter, the situation turns worse as they cannot even see the sun. It took him years to adapt and fall in love with those conditions, and now he is excited to embed himself in yet another stint in the land of darkness where time appears to stand still. But keeping their spirits up, his colleagues are always encouraging, he says.
“I’ve always been lucky to find friends on these campaigns who help keep me afloat. One of my best friends, Rasmus Tonboe, an associate professor with the Technical University of Denmark, is one such partner-in-arms,” he adds.
MOSAIC EXPEDITION
From 2019 to 2020, he was part of the MOSAiC International Arctic Drift Expedition – the largest and longest expedition in polar history. He was the only Indian to participate in the year-long campaign.