With the rapid growth in population and economic development, emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from the Indian subcontinent have sharply increased during recent decades. However, evaluation of regional fluxes of GHGs and characterization of their spatial and temporal variations by atmospheric inversions remain uncertain due to a sparse regional atmospheric observation network. As a result of an Indo-French collaboration, three new atmospheric stations were established in India at Hanle (HLE), Pondicherry (PON) and Port Blair (PBL), with the objective of monitoring the atmospheric concentrations of GHGs and other trace gases. Here we present the results of the measurements of CO2, CH4, N2O, SF6, CO, and H-2 from regular flask sampling at these three stations over the period 2007-2011. For each species, annual means, seasonal cycles and gradients between stations were calculated and related to variations in natural GHG fluxes, anthropogenic emissions, and monsoon circulations. Covariances between species at the synoptic scale were analyzed to investigate the likely source(s) of emissions. The flask measurements of various trace gases at the three stations have the potential to constrain the inversions of fluxes over southern and northeastern India. However, this network of ground stations needs further extension to other parts of India to better constrain the GHG budgets at regional and continental scales

Bauxite residue (red mud), a poor substrate for plant growth because of very high pH, salinity and sodicity, is required to be revegetated. The possibility of using Aspergillus tubingensis (AT1), a phosphate solubilizer in red mud amended soils to reduce the alkalinity of the red mud was studied in the present study. A. tubingensis was tested for its ability to grow at high pH and in different concentrations of aluminium (Al), iron (Fe) and sodium (Na). The results showed that A. tubingensis was able to grow at high pH and reduce the alkalinity of the nutrient medium and also to accumulate different metals in the mycelium. The pH values of the red mud amended soils were also significantly reduced (by 2-3 units) by A. tubingensis, which resulted in maize growth improvement. These results suggest that A. tubingensis plays an important role in reducing the pH of the red mud and also helps in promoting the plant growth in it.

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Abstract. With the rapid growth in population and economic development, emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from the Indian subcontinent have sharply increased during recent decades. However, evaluation of regional fluxes of GHGs and characterization of their spatial and temporal variations by atmospheric inversions remain uncertain due to a sparse regional atmospheric observation network. As a result of Indo-French collaboration, three new atmospheric stations were established in India at Hanle (HLE), Pondicherry (PON) and Port Blair (PBL), with the objective of monitoring the atmospheric concentrations of GHGs and other trace gases. Here we present the results of five-year measurements (2007–2011) of CO2, CH4, N2O, SF6, CO, and H2 from regular flask sampling at these three stations. For each species, annual means, seasonal cycles and gradients between stations were calculated and related to variations in the natural GHG fluxes, anthropogenic emissions, and the monsoon circulations. Covariances between species at the synoptic scale were analyzed to investigate the dominant source(s) of emissions. The flask measurements of various trace gases at the three stations show potential to constrain the inversions of fluxes over Southern and Northeastern India. However, this network of ground stations needs further extension to other parts of India to allow a better understanding of, and constraints on the GHG budgets at regional and continental scales.

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