Irfan Rashid

Time to reflect upon after full day of strenuous cryosphere-related fieldwork in Ladakh

Cryoconite - the dark secret of glaciers

Photograph clicked on an unnamed glacier at 5400 m asl near Khardung La in Ladakh on 27 July 2025 at 8:30 AM

University of Kashmir and IIT Madras conducted a joint reconnaissance in the Chilung catchment, Kargil to establish it as a Himalayan cryosphere supersite as part of Indo-EU Horizon project funded by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India

A peek into our cryosphere studies in Ladakh: science, snow, and stunning landscapes

Frontal degradation (130 m retreat) and rapid calving observed at a lake-terminating Drang Drung Glacier in Ladakh between 2023 and 2025 🧊📉 from high-resolution PlanetScope imagery.

#EarthObservation #Cryosphere #Transhimalaya

After a heavy 🌧️, the University of Kashmir stands still - its walkways shimmering, its silence deepened, its soul refreshed.

Focus:
🔹 Remote sensing
🔹 In situ data
🔹 Machine learning
🔹 Modelling & hazard prediction

🌍 Especially welcoming work from data-scarce regions.

🗓️ Submit by 14 Jan 2026

Remote sensing and modelling of the cryosphere in high mountain regions This Collection offers a platform for original research of the cryosphere in high mountain regions. It welcomes studies utilizing remote sensing, in situ ...

📣 Call for papers!

Scientific Reports invites submissions on the mountain cryosphere — glaciers, snow, permafrost, lake/river ice — in high-altitude regions like the Himalaya, Karakoram, Andes & more ❄️🗻

🔗 nature.com/collections/hdhecgejhf
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#Cryosphere #ClimateChange #OpenScience

Majestic scenes at ~5500 m asl - towering ice formations stand resilient in the trans himalayan wilderness of Ladakh, sculpting the landscape.

🚨 HUGE news from Canada's tricouncils who are harmonizing their scholarship & fellowship programs, upping the total number (huzzah!), and critically, allowing foreigners to apply for doctoral and postdoc fellowships. Want to work with me? Get in touch! 🇨🇦🧪⚒️

www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/NewsDetail-D...

Amid academic chit-chat, a chilled glass of faluda is pure comfort. A delightful fusion of silky vermicelli, raisins, basil seeds, rose syrup, and creamy kulfi, garnished with nuts and strawberry sticks - both a dessert and a refreshment in one. Balancing academia with indulgence, one sip at a time.

Photograph showing automobiles and buildings buried under the sediments deposited by the flood cascade at Rangpo. Photo credits: Praful Rao

New paper today in @science.org focused on unraveling the chain of events that led to the 2023 Teesta disaster, which resulted in about 130 people either dead or missing in Sikkim, India. Short thread to follow. 🧪⚒️ doi.org/10.1126/scie...

This initiative aligns with the International Year of Glaciers' Preservation highlighting the economic, social and environmental impacts of the melting cryospheric reserves.

This information will not only contribute to robust GLOF risk assessments locally but will also play a vital role in calibrating, validating, or even developing area-volume scaling models tailored to western Himalaya. +

Under the Ministry of Earth Sciences project on GLOF risk across the Indian Himalaya, an important aspect is to generate bathymetry for at least 15 proglacial lakes in the western Himalaya.

Timelapse from Drang Drung proglacial lake, Ladakh during the 2024 summer field campaign of our group

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From 🌲🌳🌴 to 🔥

Stark pre- and post-fire images reveal the devastating impact of the #palisades #wildfire in #TopangaStatePark

Satellite images: © Planet Labs PBC

"how would you describe your writing process?"

Frost flowers spotted along the trek to a glacial lake in the Trans-Himalayan Ladakh

جس خاک کے ضمیر میں ہے آتش چنار
ممکن نہیں کہ سرد ہو وہ خاک ارجمند

The earth that enshrines in its bosom the fire of a plane tree:
this exalted earth can never be dead and cold

#autumnhues #kashmir