Urban Climate Dynamics of the Indian Subcontinent A Multidimensional Perspective

George Thomas is an Assistant Professor in the Postgraduate and Research Department of Physics at Catholicate College, Pathanamthitta, Kerala, India, and a research supervisor in Physics at Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam (Kerala, India). He has 15 years of teaching experience and approximately two decades of research experience in urban climate and atmospheric science. His research interests include urban microclimates, urban heat islands, atmospheric processes, air quality, lightning, and climate-related environmental changes. He leads the Atmospheric Research Observatory at Catholicate College, established in collaboration with the National Centre for Earth Science Studies under the Mission Mausam initiative of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India. He also coordinates collaborative lightning research with the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology under the National Lightning Network Research Programme. He completed a University Grants Commission-funded research project examining the effects of urbanization on urban heat islands in tropical cities. In addition to his research and teaching, Dr. Thomas has served as Head of the Department of Physics and Coordinator of the Internal Quality Assurance Cell at Catholicate College and has organized several conferences, workshops, and training programs in collaboration with national scientific and academic institutions.

Jobin Thomas is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Geology and Geological Engineering at the University of Mississippi, USA. He received his Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences from the University of Kerala, India. His interdisciplinary research integrates hydrology, climatology, geomorphology, remote sensing, geographic information science, and machine learning to investigate environmental changes and natural hazard risk. His research interests include extreme rainfall events, flood and landslide modeling, urban climate, and geospatial decision support systems. Before joining the University of Mississippi, he held research positions at Michigan Technological University (USA), the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, and the University of Kerala (India). Dr. Thomas has authored or coauthored more than 60 peer-reviewed journal articles and contributed to scholarly books, book chapters, and international conferences. He also serves as a reviewer for international journals in hydrology, climatology, geomorphology, remote sensing, and environmental science.