Good day, Hara Prasad Nayak, Ph.D.. I'm Arjun. I've had a look through your background and your professional record. I'm interested in hearing more about your work and how you see yourself fitting in here with our faculty. Ready to start?

Hi. So first of all, I'd like to thank you know.

Bit for giving this opportunity to interact.

Uh, so I am actually basically Doctor Harapasad Naik, currently working, uh, at uh, Banarasa Hindi University. Ajay Rajajwala Prasad Prospector Fellow.

I basically work on, you know, uh, land surface hydrology.

Uh.

Please start by introducing your professional journey in academia.

You know, I, I currently I'm working at the BHU.

Yeah, thanks. So I basically.

One BHO Varanasi as a postdoctoral fellow. So prior to that I was working at University of California, Los Angeles.

For the period you know, 2021 to 2024.

Ajay, postdoctoral scholar.

Prior to this, I was working at IIT Bhubaneswar as a Resource associate.

Thanks for sharing that!

Yeah, yeah. I have completed PhD from IIT Kharagpur in Atmospheric Science in the year 2019.

And my research experience basically.

You know, uh.

On land surface hydrology. A land atmosphere interaction studies. Northern climate modeling.

And I feel like, you know, this opportunity and I feel my expertise is actually very much fit to this department, uh, particularly, you know, CDMA, uh, where actually you, I can do, you know, uh, you know, the prediction of your hydrological processes, particularly, you know, your draw or predictions.

At various time scales.

And uh.

Moreover, actually I have a prior teaching expertise and mathematics, giving my background in mathematics, uh, so I think I, I could be a very good, uh, fit to the department and useful, uh, uh.

Passion for the department and developmental department.

Yeah.

Thank you for sharing that background, Professor. Let's examine your expertise in a more detailed manner

Let’s begin by evaluating your expertise in Water Resources and Hydrology. Could you explain how your research on land surface hydrology and Northern climate modeling contributes to advancing our understanding of hydrological processes?

Yeah. So basically.

I I work on, you know, so particularly development of a soil muscle, soil temperature data.

Basically.

Uh, you know, give him, you know, this land surface, RJ, one of the important component of your weather and climate systems.

Uh, so basically.

So this land surface actually integrated to your basically, you know, hydrogen cycles and you know, weather and the climate system and one of the challenges we face basically, you know, the on ability to land surface data.

So that limits our understanding. Basically a spatial temporal variability of this.

Soil moisture.

And how it is feedback to your, you know, climate system. So you have a transmission process and how we can model basically this soil hydrology things because of lack of fracturing your data. So we intend to, you know, develop a data set for Indian region. So that can be immensely useful for, you know.

Water resources such hydrology prediction, for instance, draw fraud.

Predictions and your, you know, within climate prediction systems and not only that, you know, it's very much useful for your, you know, agricultural applications. So so my research actually, you know, so basically we have modeled the soil master soil temperature data for Indian region starting from 20.

Starting from 1980 to.

2017 So about 37 years of high resolution soil muscle soil template data we have provided for India.

So if that data, we have Harry paired with, you know, uh, various station observations and, uh, uh, satellite observations.

Over India.

And after verification, we have actually studied, you know, demonstrated how this data can be helpful, uh, for prediction of your, you know, uh, monsoon on, uh, precipitation.

Events and, you know, events and moreover, we are actually, you know, carrying out research how this data can be useful for draw predictions.

So these are the, you know, research we do.

Uh, basically, you know, does soil, you know, soil master modeling your evapotranspiration process, how it interacts your, your climate, basically how climate actually influencing your Lancer hydrology and return how your land surface hydrology influencing your, you know, climate systems. So those aspects I study basically. Enhance understanding through of the relations and modeling stories. Basically, you know I do.

Whether climate model at various.

Scales basically, you know, as substitutional to seasonal skill that means from several weeks to about two months scale and short scale also. So how this will answer processes basically, you know affects your hydrology, you know, various time scales. So that kind of research I do.

Thank you.

Thank you, Professor. That provides a comprehensive overview of your work. Given your research background, how would you approach integrating these soil moisture datasets with real-time hydrological systems to improve drought prediction accuracy?

Yeah. So basically one of the, you know.

Yeah.

You know soil moisture we can study. You know soil moisture, dry down red.

Yeah, one of the important aspect is actually.

You know how this oil mustard is drying up with the time? You know it's because.

The whole property. Sometimes it matters. You know how fast it is drying out.

Giving your, you know, a buffer transplant and give your climate climatic conditions for instance. So you know this.

Your vapor pressure deficit, basically how you tell you go to what is the, you know, atmospheric demand of water. So those aspects would like to study, you know, basically that will determine how fast you know soil is losing water.

Through, you know, above transmission processes. So that will be one of the, you know.

Factor will be used basically for draw predictions. So draw prediction basically you know, again there are different kind of draw predictions like short term, you know, flash drug, you know, sudden, you know, very intense.

Drought. No. Short, shortly. Drought, basically.

But very intense. So that happens in Indian context when you have actually, you know, the graph basically the padding plant actually they they require lot of, you know, water.

And when during this harvesting time, you have a, you know.

Plant drug. So that will affect your, you know.

Understood.

Agricultural productivity secondly, you know we have actually, you know seasonal time period, we have a drought conditions so that will actually we have to consider the climatic forcing for instance precipitation. And then soil moisture and then we have, you know, the atmospheric variables like I said.

Temperature, your vapor pressure deficiency and your vapor transplant, all the factors we have to, you know, integrate to derive, you know, the drought. And thirdly, we can also use this, you know, sound moisture as the initial condition in northern climate models. So that will give you, you know.

Drought and fraud predicts and basically at various temporal scale, let's say you know, subseasonal, seasonal scale.

So that will be, you know, that's how your soil moisture can be immensely helpful for your drought predictions.

Thank you, Professor. That underscores the depth of your integration work for hydrological predictions. Now let's examine your ability to teach theory and laboratory courses. Can you share how you make complex hydrology concepts accessible and engaging for students in both a classroom and practical laboratory setting?

Yeah, so.

Basically, you know, for that, actually we, we have to, uh, you know, uh.

So.

1st I have to teach like how the you know the how once you have a, you know the source of basically the surface hydrology, the precipitation, so how the precipitation it is reaches your surface air surface and how it is actually you know, you know, transport to the various soil layers.

You know you have behaviors zone and you know you have a saturated zone and how it is actually, you know, inflicted to the soil layers and what part of it it is actually.

You know.

After saturation, what portion of the water actually, you know, it goes to the reservoir through various, you know, runoff?

Systems. So that's it will be my, you know, classroom teaching. Secondly, regarding the laboratory, so I have to, you know, in laboratory I have to demonstrate the land surface modeling through computer programming. I have to demonstrate, you know, how we can model basically the land surface processes.

In in laboratory through and we can also have some instrumentation basically.

To show basically, uh, what do you mean by soil moisture?

And what is the soil porosity so various we have to have actually various instrument to demonstrates.

You know, what is the soil field capacity, what is the soil porosity, how you define it? So physical interpretation. So those things you have to demonstrate in the laboratory and.

Similar and again in the in the computer model, once you have actually modeled file master data, we can have actually we can demonstrate, you know various surface processes to the students. In fact, actually we have in my.

Uh, you know, for development research at the Industrial California, Los Angeles, we have demonstrated to the students, you know, the various, you know, surface boxes, uh, processes how it is varies, uh, with the, you know, with, with the different forcing fields and we can evaluate with observations. So that's how you know, we can. Complement, you know, classroom teaching with laboratory teaching and that will and, you know, eventually strengthen.

You are, you know, students understanding and, uh, that will, uh, you know, facilitate their, you know, research interest as well.

Appreciate your thorough explanation, Professor. Now let’s discuss student evaluation and exam duties. How do you ensure assessments, whether theoretical or practical, accurately measure a student's understanding of hydrology concepts and their application?

Yeah, I think that's an interesting question actually. So, so for that actually I have to actually, you know, conduct the student assessment, you know, you know, various format. So first of all, you know, we can have you know.

Quiz questions to the students and secondly, we can actually for for their thorough understanding, we can act assign some of the projects.

Basic projects to the students. So that will actually, so basically we will have few teams actually in in a classroom. So we'll assign some of the project to the students and they can you know.

Understood.

You know.

Through their uh, uh, you know, uh, uh, you know, through their understanding and student interaction, so they can submit their, uh, you know.

Uh, assessment report to the, you know, consent faculty and if you have any uh, questions, they can actually, you know, prior to it, you know, assessment, they can come to the faculty and they can clarify. So I would like to have a specified time where the students can come and have interaction with the package if they have a question.

You know, whether it is practical aspect or, you know, theoretical aspect, uh, so, so that's the one of the, you know, a key things we would like to address. So besides that, uh, I would like to, you know, you know.

Make you know yeah friendly atmosphere where students feel free, you know, to ask any questions. So that's that's that's will be the best way I think. And besides that we'll have, you know, various, as I said, laboratory classes and.

Uh, Q day classes, so we'll have a continuous interacts interactive assessment processor, where to, you know, strengthen students understanding on the state hydrological processes.

Thank you, Professor. Now let's discuss guiding student projects and research. Could you share your approach for mentoring students as they navigate complex research tasks, ensuring they achieve both academic growth and impactful outcomes?

Yeah, so, so actually I have been actually, you know, mentoring the graduate students currently.

So I am very, you know, familiar with the difficulty with the students.

You know their face basically so.

I'll, I'll, uh.

You know provide them, you know the basic understanding, you know the key questions basically. So when you approach a problem actually, so they have to have actually clear picture in their mind though what is their objective, the story.

Why they want to achieve from that story. So the few clear questions they should have in their mind then the first thing first thing actually they should have a clear understanding of that back and literature survey.

So these are the queue aspect, few aspects you know that will drive your students, you know, right directions. Besides that, if they face any difficulty, you know.

In any aspect, you know, let's say theoretical or unpractical aspect, technical aspect. So that can be resolved through, you know, collaboration or interactions or various mentorship. So I think I have ability to, you know.

Teach or guide students.

And guys, students and I have a strong national, international collaborations. So that will actually enhance your you know, you know, you know, students ability to work in a team and collaboratively, but also they need to learn independent research and.

I also I will also prioritize, you know, the job oriented, how they people, the students can be successful, you know, so that that job you need to courses. So those you know, job oriented research. So those things are prioritized. I try to promote research.

And, you know, innovations in a holistic way.

Thank you, Professor. Now let’s examine your communication and teaching approach. How do you ensure that your teaching methods resonate with a diverse student audience and maintain structured clarity across complex topics?

Yeah. I think that's an interesting question actually.

Sorry

Yeah. So, yeah.

Yeah, Yeah. I think that's an interesting question. Yeah. So.

For that, actually, I have to, you know, teach students.

I have to teach, Yeah. I have to teach students carefully and, uh, you know, let them know, you know, what is the, uh, you know, subject?

Demands.

And then I try to understand their problems.

Uh, yeah, that's how I I'll, I'll try to address their problems.

Got it, Professor. Let's touch on your research publications. Could you highlight any impactful studies you've authored in reputed journals that align with water resources or hydrology?

Yeah, so I have actually published in a paper, you know, Nature scientific data.

So then we have developed, you know as I said, high resolution soil muscle, soil temperature data for Indian region actually so that we have after you know successfully.

Validation and evaluation We have designated the data to Minister of Science, Government of India and Indian Institute of Tropical Metrology which is again.

They, you know, are the institution affect.

Under the Minister of Ascent, governor to India, so we have this data. So that work is published in Nature Scientific Data.

Uh, besides that, we are currently also working, uh, you know, the, uh, precipitation prediction. So that's, that's one of the interesting problem actually. And we'll, we'll be publishing a very good, very high impact journals.

Understood, Professor. Finally, let’s review your industry-related projects or consultancy experience. Could you share examples of work you've done, collaborations, or consultancy roles that link to hydrology or water resource management?

Yeah. So, so basically I work in various, uh, research projects basically, yeah. And uh, so that's the, the particularly the work I mentioned, like developing data. It is a part of Indian National Monsoon mission project.

So so besides that. We have actually, you know, I work now, UCLA.

Thank you.

Where I have a contributed to, uh, you know, yeah, NSNSF, Uh-pointed project basically, hmm, where we have tried to predict fraud and fraud over North America and East this year. And I also, you know, involved, you know, in the project writing in a various uh, projects.

For instance, you know we have submitted some of the projects in collaboration with.

Different institution at IIT Kharagpur.

Got it. Thank you for elaborating, Professor. Let me summarize.

Yeah, number of projects we have, I have contributed and I think this expertise will help me to grow further.

That's why, you know, we enhance my research endover.

Thank you, Professor. To begin, I'd like to discuss your role as an educator. Could you share a specific topic or course within water resources or hydrology that you find most fulfilling to teach? What about it resonates with you as an instructor?

Yeah. So I would like to teach, you know, hydrology topic basically, you know, land surface modeling.

Uh, so basically.

Yeah, land surface modeling processes, basically the land surplus processes.

So these aspects I would like to teach in the in the.

Classroom besides that, I also, I can also take is mathematics, you know, various topics like, you know, linear algebra, statistical methods, uh, your, uh, operational research, numeric analysis and so forth.

So I can, yeah.

Thank you, Professor Nayak. Your expertise in land-surface modeling and mathematical topics could indeed contribute immensely to both research and teaching. Let’s delve deeper into how you translate your research into effective classroom instruction. Your resume mentions significant experience with numerical models like NCEP/CFSv2, WRF, and NASA-LIS, as well as machine learning model integration. Could you explain how you would design a course or a module to introduce students to land-surface modeling or numerical modeling techniques?

Yeah, giving the opportunity, I would like to you know, you know.

Uh, uh, you know, introduce the land surface, uh, modeling, uh, course in the classroom, basically, you know, basically I, as I mentioned, I, I will have, you know.

Basically theoretical, uh, classroom, uh, theoretical teaching Agile parallel. I'll have lab classes also.

So in theoretical teaching, in theory class, basically I will have provide the various, you know, the surface processes, basically how to model the land surface hydrology. So basically theoretical backgrounds and what are the various, you know, lands office models.

Available and how we can actually, you know, improve this model in Indian context?

You know, instructor in the classroom and in parallel we'll have a laboratory so where people, students can actually, you know.

So those things will be provided.

Learn the modeling you know, basically land surface modeling through, you know, they have to learn the.

The programmings and they they have to develop program skills and various computational skills and after that actually they will Start learning, you know, how these they're they're translating this, you know, theoretical knowledge to, you know, practical approach. You know, you know, for instance, how the soil master they can, you know, live in initial and giving your initial and boundary conditions basically how they can. You know, model this soil moisture to the future.

Time. So that would be, you know, one of the aspects I can teach. Beside that I can also teach, you know, basically the draw draught conditions and how the, you know, various indices actually to identify basically to monitor and monitor the drought.

Draw conditions and how we can predict and draw it.

Those things I can actually taste actually your number of activity, teaching activity and I can carry out. Besides that, I also interested how this you know, with the climate change, how this landslide on broad floor and actually, you know, affected. So those aspects I'll have to teach.

And parallel will have various model basically, you know to demonstrate how we can predict using CFSB to and you know whether it's such forecast model. How? By providing the initial conditions in the weather research forecast model. How you can predict various external for instance, however, you can predict you know whether it's such for you know, sorry, precipitation prediction particular, you know, monsoonal heavy rainfall events and. Besides that, I have expertise also, you know.

In the classroom.

You know the, particularly the current.

Challenge. Basically, you know the what do you call?

The, you know, the extreme events over our bandage regions, so urban forwarding, urban Rd. So those aspects I can teach to the students and I think these are socially relevant problems and very interesting to the students.

And I think this, you know, given this opportunity.

This would be very interesting, you know, for the students and to develop that skills.

And I really, this is very helpful for, you know, both instructors and the students and they can, you know, complement to each other through Interacts Interactive, you know.

Interacting environment.