FOR MOTHER EARTHAmrita landslide research
Beyond landslides
Amrita’s disaster risk management approach is grounded in applied research and driven by a strong social conscience, across pre-disaster, disaster and post-disaster scenarios.
Beneficiaries impacted
States
Communities
Community projects
Flood monitoring & mitigation
Flood EWS · Himalaya
A hydrological modelling framework for the Beas and Sunkoshi rivers forecasts flooding up to 7 days ahead. A physics-aware machine-learning model produces an ensemble of river-flow simulations and minimises forecasting error.
FloodEvac · Indo-German
Smartphone reports, computer-vision depth estimates from known objects such as bridges, lamp-posts and vehicles, and a coordination suite linking government, NGOs and volunteers produce spatio-temporal flood-intensity maps for relief.
Trento collaboration
Back-analysis of the August 2018 disaster combined hydraulic modelling, river geometry mapping, surface velocity and bathymetry. Rating-curve and HEC-RAS discharge estimates converged at about 630 to 1,016 m³/s.
84.24% classification accuracy (Geetha et al., ICCSP 2017)
Hydroclimatic extremes in a changing climate
Research into precipitation shifts, extreme rainfall including cloudbursts, drought development and compound drought-heatwave events, using machine learning and deep learning to improve prediction and climate risk assessment.
Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research
Predicting precipitation shifts and their impacts for disaster risk reduction and resource security. The project aims to:
Consortium partners
Extended-range forecasting
Satellite, in-situ, reanalysis and numerical weather prediction data, with temperature, humidity, wind and sea surface temperature, capture drivers such as monsoon variability and the Madden-Julian Oscillation. Statistical and machine-learning fusion improves reliability for early warning and climate-sensitive decisions.
Response tools
Amrita Kripa
Directly links survivors, providers, relief-camp coordinators, rescue teams, NGOs, volunteers and administrators. 12,000+ people rescued, 3,000+ requests logged, 100,000+ call-centre linkages, 20 languages.
Amrita Unmanned Aerial Systems
Born from the Kerala floods and Uttarakhand flash floods. 21+ multi-rotor VTOL configurations tested across endurance and payload regimes; indigenous, scalable design for state-level deployment, co-developed with State Disaster Management Authority experts.
24×7 helpline · Kerala floods 2018
Within 5 days the team fielded 25,000+ calls and connected 100,000+ flood victims to government, Navy, NDRF, Kerala State Police, fishermen and volunteer agencies. 400+ AYUDH Amritapuri volunteers worked across three shifts.
Oceans & coast
Up to 60 km of offshore connectivity reduces casualties caused by communication failure during emergencies.
A hierarchical point-to-multipoint long-range Wi-Fi backhaul links onshore base stations with low-cost receiver-broadcaster units on fishing vessels. A boat-to-boat hopping mode extends the signal far beyond the shoreline.
Emerging · 2024 to 2026
Extends OceanNet into a knowledge ecosystem: sustainable fish-catch information, ocean-emergency warnings, pollution monitoring, wave-height and acidification observation. Blockchain adds decentralisation, transparency and data immutability, addressing five core livelihood issues for fisherfolk.
Coastal erosion · Alappad, Kerala
Remote sensing, field data and geospatial modelling reveal interactions between coastal processes and human activity, informing Tsunami Ready preparedness (Satish & Geetha, ICECCT 2021).
Ocean observatory
Static nodes and a modified Ferrybox on ships of opportunity feed a delay-tolerant wireless network. Cloud-stored pCO₂, pH, temperature, salinity and pressure inform tropical-estuary biogeochemistry.
Community resilience · 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami
On 26 December 2004, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake off Sumatra unleashed a tsunami that claimed over 230,000 lives across 14 countries. Alappad, a narrow coastal island in Kerala and Amma’s birthplace, lost 142 lives, and thousands of homes, boats and livelihoods.
Within 45 minutes of the first wave, Amma evacuated 3,000 people, and ultimately 20,000 survivors were ferried to safety by boat.
The Amrita Setu evacuation bridge was built, transforming a devastated community into one more resilient than before the disaster.
Mitigation
Tsunami-resistant houses, nature-based and indigenous solutions, livelihood diversification.
Preparedness
Early warning, horizon scanning, situation awareness and risk communication.
Response
Mass evacuation, timely medical care, safety, calm and hope.
Recovery
Healing trauma, youth empowerment, skill training, quality education and social connectedness.
Climate, ecosystems & community adaptation
Remote sensing
Sentinel-5P TROPOMI and Sentinel-2 imagery quantify CO and CH₄ emissions across Kerala’s Ramsar-listed estuary, yielding emission-flux models tuned for tropical estuaries.
Biodiversity
Landsat time-series, field spectra and biomass data deliver species-level maps of coastal mangroves, with a transferable method for long-term monitoring.
International
A methane data-assimilation system using in-situ and satellite observations, co-developed with the Superpower Institute (Australia) and LSCE (Paris), produces an improved global flux map for wetland emissions.
Sadivayal village, Coimbatore
In Sadivayal, 70% of rice farmland is left fallow each year. Three strategies were co-designed: early sowing to reduce terminal drought; supplemental irrigation to stabilise yields; and switching from rice to sorghum or maize, which cut irrigation needs by up to 90%.
Cauvery watershed
Quantifying climate-change impact on soil erosion with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), with sustainable mitigation strategies for affected communities.
Empowering communities
Launched June 2022
Amrita with IOC-UNESCO and INCOIS. A community-performance-based programme engaging the public, leaders and emergency agencies. Alappad is the first launched site, with adjacent coastal regions next.
Skill acquisition
Has trained 4,500+ Self-Help Group members across 9 states: Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, including transgender SHG cohorts and other minority groups.
Since 2006
Launched by Amma to build climate-resilient communities. 300,000+ women access vocational education, start-up capital, microcredit and microsavings to run cottage industries that buffer climate shocks.
Featured research · community preparedness
Community resilience · Kerala floods 2018
Within five days of the Amrita Kripa launch, the team logged 3,000+ entries in real time, fielded 25,000+ helpline calls and connected 100,000+ flood victims with rescue and relief services across Kerala.
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham
Read the full Disaster Risk Reduction & Community Resilience brochure, or visit the university site.