Dr. Ruchir Patidar

About

Dr. Ruchir Patidar is Scientist-B at the National Institute of Hydrology (NIH), Roorkee, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India. He is a hydrologist working at the intersection of hydrology, climate change, drought assessment, hydroclimatic extremes, remote sensing and GIS, machine learning, and water resources management. He is the recipient of the Hugh Robert Mill Award for Precipitation Research 2025, awarded by the Royal Meteorological Society, RMetS, United Kingdom, for his research on precipitation variability and its role in drought dynamics under a changing climate. His award-winning work, Assessing Spatio-Temporal Meteorological Drought Dynamics Across Indian Agro-Climatic Zones: A Long-Term Perspective, examined more than seven decades of precipitation and temperature variability across India and its implications for drought risk. He completed his Ph.D. in Water Resources Development and Management from IIT Roorkee in 2026, with research focused on integrating observational, reanalysis and CMIP6 datasets for multi-scale drought assessment and projection in a changing climate. He also holds an M.Tech. in Water Resources Development from IIT Roorkee. His research combines hydroclimatic data analysis, statistical methods, geospatial technologies, remote sensing, machine learning, hydrological modelling and climate projections to address drought monitoring, water security and climate-resilient water resources management. He has published research in international journals including International Journal of Climatology, Hydrological Sciences Journal, Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Groundwater for Sustainable Development and Arabian Journal of Geosciences. He has also contributed to research projects, technical reports, student supervision, scientific training programmes, invited lectures and international conferences.

Academic Qualifications

Degree	Subject	University	Year
Bachelor of Engineering	Civil Engineering	Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishvavidyalaya Bhopal	2016
Master of Technology	Water Resources Development	Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee	2019
PhD	Water Resources Development and Management	Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee	2026

Experience

03/11/2020 - 02/07/2021 | Project Officer (National Institute of Hydrology Roorkee)
23/07/2021 - 09/03/2026 | Research Scholar (Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee)
28/07/2023 - Present | Scientist-B (National Institute of Hydrology Roorkee)

Administrative Roles

Officer-in-Charge, Computer Centre (NIH Roorkee)
01.08.2025 - ongoing
Dy. Officer-in-Charge (Alternate), NIH Colony (NIH Roorkee)
July 2024 - July 2025
Committee member - Jal Shakti Hackathon (NIH Roorkee)
2025 - ongoing
Committee member - Social Media Cell (NIH Roorkee)
2025 - ongoing

Research Interest

Rainwater Harvesting and Water Resources Assessment
Climate change impact assessment using CMIP6 and reanalysis datasets
Hydroclimatic extremes and climate variability
Multi-source data integration (observations, remote sensing, and models)
Drought indices, modeling, and early warning systems
Lake Hydrology and Surface-Water Systems
Machine learning and data-driven approaches in hydrology and climate science
Isotope Hydrology and Geochemical Investigations

Publications

International Journal

Evaluating the GloFAS discharge reanalysis product for hydrological drought monitoring in India: performance across temporal scales and flow regimes
Ruchir Patidar, Santosh M. Pingale, Deepak Khare, Deen Dayal, Sourav Choudhary
Hydrological Sciences Journal (2026 )
Assessing spatio-temporal meteorological drought dynamics across Indian agro-climatic zones: A long-term perspective
Ruchir Patidar, Santosh M. Pingale, Deepak Khare, Sourav Choudhary
International Journal of Climatology, Wiley (2025 )
Comprehensive evaluation of precipitation reanalysis products and CMIP6 Models using statistical and machine learning techniques with nature-inspired optimization.
Sourav Choudhary, Santosh Murlidhar Pingale, Deepak Khare, Ruchir Patidar, Radha Krishan
International Journal of Climatology, Wiley (2025 )
Deciphering Groundwater Dynamics and Recharge Sources Across India Using Stable Isotopes: Implications for Sustainable Water Management
Amit Pandey, Virendra Padhya, Swagatika Chakra, Akash Ganguly, Harsh Oza, Ruchir Patidar, RD Deshpande
Groundwater for Sustainable Development, Elsevier (2025 )
Spatio-temporal assessment of multi-scalar meteorological and hydrological droughts over Bundelkhand, India
Ruchir Patidar, Santosh Murlidhar Pingale, Deepak Khare, Deen Dayal
Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/C, Elsevier (2024 )
An integration of geospatial and machine learning techniques for mapping groundwater potential: a case study of the Shipra river basin, India
Ruchir Patidar, Santosh Murlidhar Pingale, Deepak Khare
Arabian Journal of Geosciences (2021 )

Projects

Internal Studies 5

Assessment Of the Possible Impact of Climate Change on Evapotranspiration for Different Climatic Regions of India

Agency: NIH | Duration: March 2023 – March 2026 | Role: PI

Runoff and Water Storage Capacity Estimation Using Different Resolutions of Topographic Data for Deciding Rainwater Harvesting Strategies

Agency: NIH | Duration: March 2023 – March 2026 | Role: Co-PI

Investigations of Water Sources and Hydrological Behaviour of Two Small Lakes at Shri Badrinath, Uttarakhand

Agency: NIH | Duration: March 2025 – March 2027 | Role: Co-PI

Isotopic & Geochemical Studies, Behal & Loharu Block of Bhiwani District, Haryana

Agency: NIH | Duration: April 2025 – March 2026 | Role: Co-PI

Quantifying Current and Future Meteorological Drought Characteristics and Identifying Risk Zones in Central India

Agency: NIH | Duration: March 2024 – March 2027 | Role: PI

Consultancy Projects 1

Integrated Hydrological Investigations and Sedimentation Studies of Wular Lake

Agency: Wular Conservation & Management Authority, Government of J&K | Duration: 2023-2026 | Role: Co-PI

Conference & Training

Seminar / Conference / Symposia

Organising Committee Member in 10th International Groundwater Conference 2025 (IGWC 2025) with the theme on “Groundwater Vision 2047: Towards Water Security under Changing Climate”

International Duration: March 05 to 07, 2025 Location: National Institute of Hydrology (NIH), Roorkee

Training / Workshop / Brainstorming

Tools and Techniques for Hydrological Investigations

International Duration: 11–15 March 2024 Location: NIH Roorkee

Advanced Course on Environmental Tracers in Water Resources Management, UK Support Project with BGS, UK

International Duration: 30 June–4 July 2025 Location: NIH Roorkee

Pre-Conference Workshop on “Groundwater Flow and Mass Transport with FEFLOW” during the 10th International Groundwater Conference 2025 organized at NIH Roorkee

International Duration: March 05 to 07, 2025 Location: National Institute of Hydrology (NIH), Roorkee

Achievements

Honors & Awards

Hugh Robert Mill Award for Precipitation Research 2025, Royal Meteorological Society, UK, first Indian recipient since the award's inception in 1950; presented in London in June 2026. (https://www.rmets.org/rmets-awards/2025-winners/awards-advancing)
IAHS Sivapalan Young Scientist Travel Award (SYSTA) — 2026 (https://iahs.info/About-IAHS/SYSTA-Grants/2026-systa-awards/)
Best Paper Award - International Conference on Advances in Water Resources, Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology Bhopal
Best Paper Award - International Conference on Climate and Weather-Related Extremes, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee
GATE Qualified 2017,2018, 2019 and 2020
Featured Article, Hydrological Sciences Journal, Taylor & Francis — 2026
Bureau of Indian Standards Excellence Award (Gaps in Standards Category)
MHRD Scholarship for M.Tech., 2017–2019

Student Guidance

Masters Supervision

Integration of Machine Learning and Deep Learning with Geospatial Techniques for Dam Site Suitability Mapping in the Ruvu Catchment, Tanzania

Student: Mwandu Onosmo | University/Institute: Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee | Year: 2024-2026 | Role: Co-Guide

Hydrological Modelling and Water Resources Assessment

Student: Prashant Gupta | University/Institute: Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee | Year: 2025-2027 | Role: Co-Guide

Assessing Climate Change Impact on Streamflow and Base Flow in the Karnali River Basin, Nepal

Student: Sudip Subedi | University/Institute: Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee | Year: 2025-2027 | Role: Co-Guide

Climate Change Impact on Water Availability in the Himalaya: Insights from Sunkoshi River Basin, Nepal

Student: Ram Chandra Timilsina | University/Institute: Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee | Year: 2025-2027 | Role: Co-Guide

Sediment Transport and Flood Risk: Impact of Newly Constructed Embankments on River Morphology and Flood Dynamics in Kathmandu, Nepal

Student: Puspa Raj Shrestha | University/Institute: Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee | Year: 2025-2027 | Role: Co-Guide

Miscellaneous

National / International Committees

Member- International Association of Hydrological Sciences

Foreign Visits

United Kingdom — 2026 Visited the Royal Meteorological Society (RMetS), London, UK, for the Annual General Meeting and ceremony associated with the Hugh Robert Mill Award for Precipitation Research 2025.

Other Important Information

Contributed to NITI Aayog IWRM concept notes.
Contributed to Drought Concept Note. Contributed to Water Stress Concept Note.
Contributed to iGOT Karmayogi training material on drought.
Rapporteur for NAP Workshop.
Presiding Officer, Lok Sabha Election 2024.
Reviewer, Irrigation and Drainage, Wiley. Reviewer, MAUSAM. Reviewer, Roorkee Water Conclave 2024. Reviewer, 10th International Groundwater Conference 2025.
Internship Students
Mr. Harsh Kumar – Machine Learning-Based Drought Prediction for the Marathwada Region Using IMD and ERA5 Climate Data — M.Tech Disaster Mitigation and Management — 08 June–08 August 2026.
Mr. Shubham Tetarwal – Analyzing the Impact of Climatic Variables on Crop Yields: A Case Study of Madhya Pradesh.
Mr. Muhsin C.P. – Groundwater Potential Mapping Review.
Mr. Rajarshi Dubey – A Detailed Analysis of Daily Mean Temperatures of May for Uttarakhand using Google Earth Engine (GEE).
Mr. Dave Yash Kaushikkumar – Meteorological and Hydrological Drought Assessment in the Sone River Basin — M.Tech Watershed Management — 25 May–25 July 2026.
Reviewer, Journal of Hydrology, Elsevier.
Reviewer, Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, ASCE.
Reviewer, Scientific Reports, Springer Nature.
Reviewer, Hydrological Sciences Journal, Taylor & Francis.
Reviewer, International Journal of Climatology, Wiley.
Reviewer, Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment, Springer.
Reviewer, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, Springer.
Reviewer, Frontiers in Climate. Reviewer, Frontiers in Environmental Science.
Reviewer, Discover Sustainability, Springer Nature.