Kirti Chandra Sahu

Accurate rainfall prediction remains one of the grand challenges in environmental research. Despite significant advances, the accuracy of rainfall prediction remains limited. A key challenge is the inadequate understanding of the distribution of raindrop sizes and shapes in the atmosphere, which is fundamental to estimating rainfall using weather radar. Our research aims to provide much-needed fundamental information on raindrop shapes and size distributions as a function of altitude. This will be an enabling factor for making more accurate weather forecasting and climate modelling. 

Bubbles and drops have been the subject of scientific investigation for centuries and continue to attract significant interest because of their fundamental importance across a wide range of natural and industrial processes. Despite the extensive body of literature on bubbles and drops, several fundamental questions remain unresolved. Our research group addresses these challenging problems through a combination of fundamental experiments, theoretical analysis, and modelling, with the aim of advancing the understanding of the underlying multiphase flow physics.

Variations in viscosity, both over time and in space, have the potential to significantly impact fluid flow in various applications, such as the chemical industry and natural phenomena. As seen in non-Newtonian fluids like blood and mucus, shear and its past can affect viscosity. Our focus is on investigating hydrodynamic instabilities that arise in viscosity-stratified flows, which can be utilized to enhance mixing or decrease drag in diverse industrial settings.