Prof. Arun K. Saraf

IIT Roorkee

Prof. Arun K. Saraf is Ph. D. (Remote Sensing) from University of Dundee, United Kingdom. Presently he is working as Professor (High Academic Grade at Level-15, Sub-level-08) in the Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee since December 1989, and teaches courses on Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Remote Sensing, Digital Elevation Models and Applications, Digital Image Processing of Satellite Data, Global Navigation Satellite Systems, Geomorphology, Advanced Technical Communication etc. and teaching to under- and post-graduate students of Integrated M. Tech. (Geological Technology) and MSc (Applied Geology) respectively. He was also been Head of Department of Earth Sciences between Jan. 2012 – Feb. 2015. He was first in the country to introduce GIS course to post-graduate students in the year 1990. In 1986, he was awarded “National Fellowship to Study Abroad” by Govt. of India for his doctoral degree. Further, in 1993 he was awarded “Indo-US S&T Fellowship” and worked in Goddard Space Flight Centre, NASA, USA for Post-Doctoral Research. He has been also awarded “National Remote Sensing Award 2001” by Indian Society of Remote Sensing and “GIS Professional of the Year Award-2001” by Map India 2002 for his outstanding research contributions in the fields of Remote Sensing and GIS. Earlier, he has also been given Khosla Research Awards and Prizes by then University of Roorkee. For four consecutive years, he as Star Performer in IITR. Three times he has also been awarded Indian National Science Academy (INSA) Bilateral Exchange Fellowships. So far Prof. Saraf has published more than 100 research papers in journals of repute (ISI) and supervised 15 Ph.Ds. Between 2003-2015, he was also Associate Editor of International Journal of Remote Sensing. Through funding from DST, Min. of Earth Sciences, CSIR, Prof. Saraf has been able to establish and operating NOAA-HRPT Satellite Earth Station at IITR since Oct. 2002, first in any educational institute in the country. Recently, Prof. Saraf has conducted five online video courses (Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, Introduction to Remote Sensing, Digital Image Processing of Remote Sensing Data, Digital Elevation Models and Applications, Remote Sensing and Digital Image Processing of Satellite Data and Global Navigation Satellite Systems), under NPTEL (National Program on Technology Enhanced Learning) (a project funded by MHRD, Govt. of India). Recently, Prof. Saraf has been recognized among Top 2% Scientists of the World (based on analysis done by Stanford University, USA). His research work in the fields of remote sensing and GIS and its applications in groundwater, earthquakes, fog etc. has earned him very high citation

NOC: Groundwater Engineering, IIT Roorkee