Academic Record & Distinction

M.A. (Geography), M.Sc. (Geoinformatics), P.G. Diploma (Remote Sensing & GIS)

UGC National Eligible Test (Geography)

Ph.D. (Remote Sensing), Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra

Ph.D. Topic: ‘Assessment and Comparative Evaluation of Urban Environment of Ranchi Township’

Editor, SN Social Sciences (published by Springer Nature)

Review Editor of the Conservation and Restoration Ecology (special section of Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Frontiers in Environmental Science, and Frontiers in Plant Science)

Awards:

• Recipient of Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Fellowships (Research) 2023-2024 in May 2023 by United States-India Educational Foundation (USIEF).
• Fellow of the Society for Science of Climate Change and Sustainable Environment (FSSCE), New Delhi, 2021.
• Young Scientist Award (2020), SSCE, New Delhi.
• SERB – ITSS to participate in GFBI-FECS Joint symposium at BFU, 2017.
• Honorary External Expert Member for Research Advisory Committee for Forest Geoinformatics of the FRI University, Dehradun at the Institute of Forest Productivity, Ranchi.
• Commission Member 2017-2020 & 2021-2025- International Union for Conservation of Nature - Commission of Ecosystem Management (IUCN-CEM)

Research Interests:

• Urban Growth and Ecosystem Dynamics,
• Weather extremes, Urban Hazards-Risk,
• Biogeography, Forest dynamics, Himalayan Ecosystem
• Remote Sensing & GIS

Research Guidance:

PhD Research: 03 Awarded, 01 Submitted, 01 Ongoing

M.Sc. Dissertation: 59 Awarded

Summary of Publications & Projects:

Publications in Journals: 81.

Book chapters: 38.

Edited Books: 03.

Research projects: 09 completed (NISAR, AVIRIS, GISAT, DBT, etc.), 02 ongoing (LTEO)

Book Publication (Selected):

• Kumar A, Srivastava PK, Saikia P, Mall RK. (eds.) (2023). Earth Observation in Urban Monitoring: Techniques and Challenges. Elsevier Inc. ISBN: 9780323991643. Available at URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780323991643/earth-observation-in-urban-monitoring’.

Latest Selected Publications

1. Upreti M, and Kumar A*. 2023. Landscape Modeling for Urban Growth Characterization and its Impact on Ecological Infrastructure in Delhi-NCR: An Approach to Achieve SDGs. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth. 131: 103444. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pce.2023.103444. Impact factor: 3.7    
2. Kishore BSPC, Kumar Amit*, Saikia P. 2023. Understanding the Invasion Potential of Chromolaena odorata and Lantana camara in the Western Ghats, India: An Ecological Niche Modelling Approach under Current and Future Climatic Scenarios. Ecological Informatics. 66: 101455. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2021.101455. ISSN 1574-9541. Accepted on 9 Dec. 2023. IF: 5.1   
3. Diksha, Kumar A*, Tripathi P, 2023. Geographically Weighted Regression to measure the role of Intra-Urban Drivers for urban growth modelling in Kathmandu, Central Himalayas. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 195:627. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-023-11164-2. IF: 3.307.
4. Kumar A*, Manisha, Lal P, Prasad A, Tripathy P, Saikia P. 2022. Analyzing Urban Damage and Surface Deformation based hazard-risk in Kathmandu City occurred during Nepal Earthquake (2015) using SAR Interferometry. Advances in Space Research. 70(12):3892-3904. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2022.02.003. IF: 2.6
5. Kishore BSPC, Kumar Amit*, Saikia P., Lele N., Srivastava P, Pulla S, Suresh H, Bhattacharya BK, Khan ML, Sukumar R. 2022. Mapping of understorey invasive plant species clusters of Lantana camara and Chromolaena odorata using airborne hyperspectral remote sensing. Advances in Space Research. 73(2): 1379-1396, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2022.12.026. IF: 2.6.
6. Liang J, ..… Kumar A, … et al.  2022. Co-limitation towards lower latitudes shapes global forest diversity gradients. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 6, 1423–1437. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01831-x. Impact factor: 16.8
7. Gatti RC, Reich PB, Liang J,… Kumar A, et al. 2022. The number of tree species on Earth. PNAS, 119(6):e2115329119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2115329119. IF: 12.779
8. Kumar A, Mondal S, Lal P*. 2022. Analysing Frequent Extreme Flood Incidences in Brahmaputra Basin, South Asia. PLOS ONE. 17(8): e0273384. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273384. Impact factor: 3.752.
9. Lal P, Dubey AK, Kumar A*, Kumar P, Dwivedi CS. 2022. Measuring the control of landscape modifications on surface temperature in India. Geocarto International. 37(27): 15736-15753. https://doi.org/10.1080/10106049.2022.2102224. IF: 3.45
10. Diksha, Kumar A*, and Preet Lal. 2022. Analyzing climatic variability and extreme events in the Himalayan regions focusing on mountainous urban agglomerations. Geocarto International. 37: 14148-14170. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/10106049.2022.2086635. IF: 3.45
11. Lal P, Kumar A*, Kumar S, Kumari S, Saikia P, Dayanandan A, Adhikari D, Khan ML. (2020). The dark cloud with a silver lining: Assessing the impact of the SARS COVID-19 pandemic on the global environment. Science of the Total Environment, 732: 139297. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139297. IF: 10.753.
12. Tripathy P, Kumar A*. (2019). Monitoring and modelling of spatio-temporal urban growth of Delhi, India using cellular automata and Geoinformatics. Cities, 90: 52-63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2019.01.021.  IF: 6.7.
13. Kumar A, Kishore, BSPC, Saikia P, Deka J, Bharali S, Singha LB, Tripathi OP, Khan ML. (2019). Tree diversity assessment and above ground forests Biomass estimation using SAR Remote Sensing: A case study of Higher Altitude vegetation of North-East Himalaya, India. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, 111: 53-64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pce.2019.03.007. IF: 3.7
14. Diksha, Kumar A* (2017). Analysing urban sprawl and land consumption patterns in major capital cities in the Himalayan region using Geoinformatics. Applied Geography, 89C: 112-123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2017.10.010. IF: 4.9.