Satellite altimetry can be used to infer subsurface geological structures analogous to gravity anomaly maps generated through ship-borne survey. The Eastern offshore was taken up for analysis using Geosat Exact Repeat Mission (ERM) altimeter data. A methodology is developed to use altimeter data as an aid to offshore hydrocarbon exploration. Processing of altimeter data involves corrections for various atmospheric and oceanographic effects, stacking and averaging of repeat passes, cross-over correction, removal of deeper earth and bathymetric effects, spectral analysis and conversion into free-air gravity anomaly. The final processed results were derived for Eastern offshore in the form of prospecting geoid and gravity anomaly maps and their spectral components. The highs and lows observed in those maps were derived in terms of a number of prominent megastructures e.g., gravity linears, 85°E and 90°E ridges, the Andaman trench complex etc. Satellite-derived gravity profiles along 12°N latitude match well with the existing structures.

In this study, an attempt has been made to estimate land surface temperatures (LST) and spectral emissivities over a hard rock terrain using multi-sensor satellite data. The study area, of about 6000 km², is a part of Singhbhum–Orissa craton situated in the eastern part of India. TIR data from ASTER, MODIS and Landsat ETM+ have been used in the present study. Telatemp Model AG-42D Portable Infrared Thermometer was used for ground measurements to validate the results derived from satellite (MODIS/ASTER) data. LSTs derived using Landsat ETM+ data of two different dates have been compared with the satellite data (ASTER and MODIS) of those two dates. Various techniques, viz., temperature and emissivity separation (TES) algorithm, gray body adjustment approach in TES algorithm, Split-Window algorithms and Single Channel algorithm along with NDVI based emissivity approach have been used. LSTs derived from bands 31 and 32 of MODIS data using Split-Window algorithms with higher viewing angle (50°) (LST1 and LST2) are found to have closer agreement with ground temperature measurements (ground LST) over waterbody, Dalma forest and Simlipal forest, than that derived from ASTER data (TES with AST 13). However, over agriculture land, there is some uncertainty and difference between the measured and the estimated LSTs for both validation dates for all the derived LSTs. LST obtained using Single Channel algorithm with NDVI based emissivity method in channel 13 of ASTER data has yielded closer agreement with ground measurements recorded over vegetation and mixed lands of low spectral contrast. LST results obtained with TIR band 6 of Landsat ETM+ using Single Channel algorithm show close agreement over Dalma forest, Simlipal forest and waterbody with LSTs obtained using MODIS and ASTER data for a different date. Comparison of LSTs shows good agreement with ground measurements in thermally homogeneous area. However, results in agriculture area with less homogeneity show difference of LST up to 2°C. The results of the present study indicate that continuous monitoring of LST and emissivity can be undertaken with the aid of multi-sensor satellite data over a thermally homogeneous region.

The 85°E Ridge extends from the Mahanadi Basin, off northeastern margin of India to the Afanasy Nikitin Seamount in the Central Indian Basin. The ridge is associated with two contrasting gravity anomalies: negative anomaly over the north part (up to 5°N latitude), where the ridge structure is buried under thick Bengal Fan sediments and positive anomaly over the south part, where the structure is intermittently exposed above the seafloor. Ship-borne gravity and seismic reflection data are modelled using process oriented method and this suggest that the 85°E Ridge was emplaced on approximately 10–15 km thick elastic plate (Te) and in an off-ridge tectonic setting. We simulated gravity anomalies for different crust-sediment structural configurations of the ridge that were existing at three geological ages, such as Late Cretaceous, Early Miocene and Present. The study shows that the gravity anomaly of the ridge in the north has changed through time from its inception to present. During the Late Cretaceous the ridge was associated with a significant positive anomaly with a compensation generated by a broad flexure of the Moho boundary. By Early Miocene the ridge was approximately covered by the postcollision sediments and led to alteration of the initial gravity anomaly to a small positive anomaly. At present, the ridge is buried by approximately 3 km thick Bengal Fan sediments on its crestal region and about 8 km thick pre- and post-collision sediments on the flanks. This geological setting had changed physical properties of the sediments and led to alter the minor positive gravity anomaly of Early Miocene to the distinct negative gravity anomaly.

The northern Indian Ocean consists of older Bay of Bengal (BOB) oceanic lithosphere with numerous intra-plate loads; whereas, contrasting elements like active Mid-Ocean ridge divergence and slow spreading ridges are present in the relatively younger (<60 Ma) Arabian Sea oceanic lithosphere. The mechanism of lithospheric cooling of young age oceanic lithosphere from the moderately active and slow spreading Carlsberg Ridge is analysed by considering the hypothesis of near lithospheric convective action or whole upper mantle convection. We addressed these issues by studying the marine geoid at different spatial wavelengths and retrieved and compared their lithospheric cooling signatures, plate spreading and distribution of mass and heat anomalies along with seismicity, bathymetry, gravity and isochron age data. Results show that progressive cooling of young-aged oceanic lithosphere from the Mid-Ocean Carlsberg Ridge is because of conductive cooling and those signals are retrieved in the shorter wavelength band (111 < 𝜆 < 1900 km) of constrained residual geoid with mass anomaly sources near to sublithospheric. This shows steadiness in the geoid anomaly decay rate (∼–0.1 m/Ma), consistency in the growth of thermal boundary layer and progressive fall of basal temperature and heat flux (900–300 K and 100–18 mW m⁻²) with increase of lithospheric age. The above observations are attributed to the fact that the advective–convective action beneath the Mid-Ocean Carlsberg Ridge is driven by the basal temperature gradient between the lithosphere and the near lithospheric low viscose thin layer. But, for the case of old-aged oceanic lithosphere in the BOB, the residual geoid anomaly cooling signals are not prominently seen in the same band as that of the Arabian Sea because of the Ninetyeast Ridge magmatism. However, its cooling anomaly signatures are retrieved at relatively higher band (1335 ≤ 𝜆 ≤ 3081 km) having erratic geoid decay rates (–0.3 to 0.2 m/Ma) owing to vigorous convective thermal instabilities originated around 290–530 km from the plume remnant in the upper mantle (for the case of the BOB). We discussed that such instabilities had transported sufficient heat energy to accelerate the erstwhile fast movement of the Indian Plate prior to the India–Eurasia continent–continent collision.