Studio portrait of Soumendra Bhanja at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Soumendra N. Bhanja

Research Scientist

[email protected]
865.341.2119

Dr. Soumendra Bhanja is a Research Staff Member in the Computational Sciences and Engineering Division (CSED) at ORNL. His research incorporates multidimensional topics including process-based modeling of reservoir sedimentation and storage capacity loss, High Performance Computing (HPC)-based AI and process-based hydrological modeling, and large-scale environmental systems issues. His technical experience includes:

  • developing Watershed Workflow – a tool for preparing the input files for the integrated surface-subsurface hydrological model, Advanced Terrestrial Simulator (ATS)
  • large-scale, fully distributed hydrology application through ATS
  • HPC-based calibration for the Soil & Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model
  • developing tools for greenhouse gas emission modeling from reservoirs
  • resource estimation for future adaptation of quantum computing systems
  • developing Python-based codes for automated data processing, and
  • developing process-based biogeochemical models for simulating multiple cycles simultaneously
  • some of his earlier and ongoing research focuses on groundwater recharge, storage dynamics, and water resources management.

He received PhD from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur and spent an academic year at the NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center as a Fulbright fellow. Prior to joining the Computational Sciences and Engineering Division (CSED) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in February 2024, he completed postdoctoral appointments in the Environmental Sciences Division at ORNL, the Indian Institute of Science, and Athabasca University.

Links

Publications

View All Publications

Additional Publications

  1. Bhanja, S.N. and Sekhar, M. (2022) Short-Term and Long-Term Replenishment of Water Storage Influenced by Lockdown and Policy Measures in Drought-Prone Regions of Central India, Remote Sensing, 14(8), p. 1768.

  2. Bhanja, S.N., Wang, J. and Bol, R. (2022) Soil CO2 emission largely dominates the total ecosystem CO2 emission at Canadian boreal forest, Frontiers in Environmental Science.

  3. Bhanja, S.N. and Wang, J. (2021) Influence of environmental factors on autotrophic, soil and ecosystem respirations in Canadian boreal forest, Ecological Indicators, 125, p. 107517

  4. Wang, J., Shrestha, N.K., Delavar, M.A., Meshesha, T.W. and Bhanja, S.N. (2021) Modelling watersheds and river basins in cold climate regions: A review, Water, 13(4), p. 518.

  5. Malakar, P., Mukherjee, A., Bhanja, S.N., Saha, D., Sarkar, S. and Ray, R. (2021) Deep learning-based forecasting of groundwater level trends over India: Implications for crop production and drinking water supply, ACS ES&T Engineering.

  6. Malakar, P., Mukherjee, A., Bhanja, S.N., Ganguly, A.R., Ray, R.K., Zahid, A., Sarkar, S., Saha, D. and Chattopadhyay, S. (2021) Three decades of depth-dependent groundwater response to climate variability and human regime in the transboundary Indus-Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna mega river basin aquifers, Advances in Water Resources, 149, p. 103856

  7. Malakar, P., Mukherjee, A., Bhanja, S.N., Saha, D., Ray, R., Sarkar, S. and Zahid, A. (2021) Machine learning-based regional-scale groundwater level prediction using GRACE, Hydrogeology Journal, 29, pp. 1027–1042

  8. Sarkar, S., Mukherjee, A., Duttagupta, S., Bhanja, S.N., Bhattacharya, A. and Chakraborty, S. (2021) Emerging spatiotemporal trends of groundwater nitrate pollution across India, Journal of Contaminant Hydrology

  9. Duttagupta, S., Bhanja, S.N., Dutta, A., Sarkar, S., Chakraborty, M., Ghosh, A. and Mukherjee, A. (2021) Impact of Covid-19 lockdown on river and groundwater-sourced drinking water sustainability in the arsenic-affected Ganges river basin, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(6), p. 2832.

  10. Singhal, A., Sahu, S., Chattopadhyay, S., Mukherjee, A. and Bhanja, S.N. (2020) Using night time lights to find regional inequality in India and its relationship with economic development, PLOS One, 15(11), p. e0241907

  11. Duttagupta, S., Mukherjee, A., Bhanja, S.N., Chattopadhyay, S., Sarkar, S., Das, K., Chakraborty, S. and Mondal, D. (2020) Achieving sustainable development goal for clean water in India: influence of natural and anthropogenic factors on groundwater microbial pollution, Environmental Management, 66, pp. 742–755

  12. Malakar, P., Mukherjee, A., Bhanja, S.N., Saha, D., Ray, R., Sarkar, S. and Zahid, A. (2020) Importance of spatial and depth-dependent drivers in groundwater level modeling through machine learning, Hydrology and Earth System Science Discussions

  13. Bhanja, S.N., Mukherjee, A. and Rodell, M. (2020) Groundwater storage change: Estimates from major river basins across India, Hydrological Sciences Journal, 65(4), pp. 650–659

  14. Bhanja, S.N. and Wang, J. (2020) Estimating influences of environmental drivers on terrestrial heterotrophic respiration, Environmental Pollution, 257, p. 113630

  15. Bhanja, S.N., Wang, J., Shrestha, N. and Zheng, X. (2019) Modelling microbial kinetics and thermodynamic processes for quantifying soil CO2 emission, Atmospheric Environment, 209, pp. 125–135

  16. Bhanja, S.N., Wang, J., Shrestha, N. and Zheng, X. (2019) Microbial kinetics and thermodynamic (MKT) processes for soil organic matter decomposition and dynamic oxidation-reduction potential: Model descriptions and applications to soil N2O emissions, Environmental Pollution, 247, pp. 812–823

  17. Li, B., Rodell, M., Kumar, S., Beaudoing, H., Getirana, A., Zaitchik, B., DeGoncalves, L., Cossetin, C., Bhanja, S.N., Mukherjee, A., Tian, S., Tangdamrongsub, N., Long, D., Nanteza, J., Lee, J., Policelli, F., Goni, I.,Daira, D., Bila, M., Delannoy, G., Mocko, D., Steele-Dunne, S., Save, H. and Bettadpur, S. (2019) Global GRACE data assimilation for groundwater and drought monitoring: Advances and challenges, Water Resources Research, 55, pp. 7564–7586

  18. Bhanja, S.N., Malakar, P., Mukherjee, A., Rodell, M., Mitra, P. and Sarkar, S. (2019) Using satellite-based vegetation cover as indicator of groundwater storage, Geophysical Research Letters, 46(14), pp. 8082–8092

  19. Bhanja, S.N. and Mukherjee, A. (2019) In situ and satellite-based estimates of usable groundwater storage across India: implications for drinking water supply and food security, Advances in Water Resources, 126

  20. Bhanja, S.N., Mukherjee, A., Rangarajan, R., Scanlon, B.R., Malakar, P. and Verma, S. (2019) Long-term groundwater recharge rates across India by in situ measurements, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 23

  21. Sun, A.Y., Walling, D., Scanlon, B.R., Zhang, Z., Bhanja, S.N., Mukherjee, A. and Zhong, Z. (2019) Combining Physically-Based Modeling and Deep Learning for Fusing GRACE Satellite Data: Can We Learn from Mismatch?, Water Resources Research, 55(2), pp. 1179–1195

  22. Mukherjee, A., Dutta Gupta, S., Chattopadhyay, S., Bhanja, S.N., Bhattachayra, A., Chakraborty, S., Sarkar, S., Ghosh, T., Bhattacharya, J. and Sahu, S. (2019) Impact of sanitation and socio-economy on groundwater fecal pollution and human health towards achieving sustainable development goals across India from ground-observations and satellite-derived nightlight, Scientific Reports, 9, p. 15193

  23. Yoon, Y., Kumar, S.V., Forman, B.A., Zaitchik, B., Kwon, Y., Qian, Y., Rupper, S., Maggioni, V., Houser, P., Kirschbaum, D., Richey, A., Arendt, A., Mocko, D., Jacob, J., Bhanja, S.N. and Mukherjee, A. (2019) Evaluating the uncertainty of terrestrial water budget components over High Mountain Asia, Frontiers of Earth Science, 7

  24. Gupta, S., Bhattacharya, A., Mukherjee, A., Chattopadhyay, S., Bhanja, S.N., Sarkar, S., Malakar, P. and Bhattacharya, J. (2019) Groundwater faecal pollution observation in parts of Indo-Ganges-Brahmaputra river basin from in-situ measurements and satellite-based observations, Journal of Earth System Science, 128

  25. Bhanja, S.N., Zheng, X. and Wang, J. (2018) Estimating long-term groundwater storage and its controlling factors in Alberta, Canada, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 22, pp. 6241–6255

  26. Mukherjee, A., Bhanja, S.N., and Wada, Y. (2018) Groundwater depletion causing reduction of baseflow triggering Ganges river drying, Scientific Reports, 8, p. 12049

  27. Bhanja, S.N., Mukherjee, A., Rodell, M., Wada, Y., Chattopadhyay, S., Velicogna, I., Pangaluru, K. and Famiglietti, J.S. (2017) Groundwater rejuvenation in parts of India influenced by water-policy change implementation, Scientific Reports, 7, p. 7453

  28. Girotto, M., De Lannoy, G.J., Reichle, R.H., Rodell, M., Draper, C., Bhanja, S.N. and Mukherjee, A. (2017) Benefits and pitfalls of GRACE data assimilation: A case study of terrestrial water storage depletion in India, Geophysical Research Letters, 44(9), pp. 4107–4115

  29. Bhanja, S.N., Rodell, M., Li, B., Saha, D. and Mukherjee, A. (2017) Spatio-temporal variability of groundwater storage in India, Journal of Hydrology, 544, pp. 428–437

  30. Bhanja, S.N., Mukherjee, A., Saha, D., Velicogna, I. and Famiglietti, J. (2016) Validation of GRACE based groundwater storage anomaly using in-situ groundwater level measurements in India, Journal of Hydrology, 543(B), pp. 729–738

  31. Verma, S., Priyadharshini, B., Pani, S.K., Bharath Kumar, D., Faruqi, A.R., Bhanja, S.N. and Mandal, M. (2016) Aerosol extinction properties over coastal West Bengal Gangetic plain under inter-seasonal and sea breeze influenced transport processes, Atmospheric Research, 167, pp. 224–236.

  32. Mukherjee, A., Saha, D., Harvey, C.F., Taylor, R.G., Ahmed, K.M. and Bhanja, S.N. (2015) Groundwater systems of the Indian Sub-Continent, Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 4, pp. 1–14.

  33. Verma, S., Bhanja, S.N., Misra, A. and Pani, S.K. (2014) Aerosol optical and physical properties during winter monsoon pollution transport in an urban environment, Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 21(7), pp. 4977–4994

  34. Verma, S., Pani, S.K. and Bhanja, S.N. (2013) Sources and Radiative Effects of Wintertime Black Carbon Aerosols in an urban atmosphere in east India, Chemosphere, 90, pp. 260–269.