Work worth building on.

I’m Srijith Balan, a remote sensing and GIS researcher.

Every piece of research becomes someone’s foundation, so I try to show all of it: the method, the context, and the result, whether it worked or not. Here you’ll find my published research, consulting work and tools, and smaller explorations that ask what polished maps and reports leave out. No environmental change happens in isolation.

Two NDVI maps of Ahmedabad, post-monsoon 2017 and 2025; the 2025 map is visibly greener.
Post-monsoon NDVI over Ahmedabad, 2017 and 2025. The difference is real. Whether it means anything depends on the years in between. Read the exploration

Recent explorations

Short studies from GISVENTURE, my exploration lab. Each one states what the data supports, where it stops, and what it connects to. See all explorations

  • Southeast Asia’s haze: fires and forecasts together

    Aerosols, VIIRS active fires with CAMS five-day forecasts

    Shows
    Modelled mean aerosol optical depth falling by about 43% over five days, unevenly.
    Doesn’t show
    Smoke travelling from particular fires to particular places.
    Connected to
    Fire activity, winds at several heights, vertical mixing, rain washout.

  • Two NDVI maps are not the whole story

    Vegetation change, Ahmedabad, Sentinel-2, 2017–2026

    Shows
    Post-monsoon NDVI was higher in 2025 than in 2017.
    Doesn’t show
    A steady rise. The years between swung up and down.
    Connected to
    Rainfall and monsoon timing, vegetation phenology, irrigation, urban expansion.

  • What does a satellite measure when we map NO₂?

    Air quality explainer, Sentinel-5P TROPOMI

    Shows
    How much NO₂ sits in the whole tropospheric column.
    Doesn’t show
    The concentration at breathing height.
    Connected to
    Emissions, wind and mixing, atmospheric chemistry, weather.

  • Low-chlorophyll waters are spreading in the tropical Indian Ocean

    Paper explainer, ocean colour, 2015–2024

    Shows
    Regional and seasonal expansion of low-chlorophyll area, alongside warming, oxygen and pH changes.
    Doesn’t show
    A single cause. El Niño and the Indian Ocean Dipole shape the decade too.
    Connected to
    Surface warming, stratification, nutrient supply, monsoons, El Niño and the IOD.
No matching items

Published research

Ocean optics, phytoplankton and coastal dynamics. All publications

  • Optical variability of Trichodesmium erythraeum and T. thiebautii blooms in the Arabian Sea: from pigments to satellite signals Remote Sensing Applications: Society and Environment, 2026
  • Expansion of low-chlorophyll regions in the tropical Indian Ocean: spatial patterns and physical–biogeochemical associations Marine and Freshwater Research, 2026
  • Linking derivative absorption spectra and HPLC pigments to satellite observations for phytoplankton typing in coastal India Journal of the Indian Society of Remote Sensing, 2026

Projects

Applied work for restoration programmes, NGOs and researchers.

  • Mangrove restoration, coastal Gujarat. Two decades of restoration outcomes read by planting phase, and a radar-based baseline for the next phase, with VIKAS Centre for Development.
  • Brine outfall siting. Seasonal 2D hydrodynamic modelling on an arid coastal mudflat.
  • CartoZen. A publication-ready map generator for scientists and fieldworkers, usable right on this site.

More projects

Mentoring

Before remote sensing, I taught physics for a decade. I still mentor young learners, on more than academics.

Writing and podcast