Nitheshnirmal Sadhasivam

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Short Bio

I am a PhD student in Geosciences at Virginia Tech, specializing as a Hydrogeodesist. I am a part of Hydrologic Innovation and Remote Sensing Lab led by Dr. Susanna Werth and Earth Observation and Innovation Lab led by Dr. Manoochehr Shirzaei in Virginia Tech. I have background in Geo-information Science and Earth Observation, and Geography. My interdisciplinary doctoral research leverages satellite geodesy, physics-based models, and artificial intelligence to address global challenges associated with groundwater and geohazards. My work aims to provide decision-makers with critical insights for developing sustainable groundwater management policies, which are crucial for assisting vulnerable communities in tackling water scarcity issues amid changing climatic conditions. Know more about me here

Upcoming Talk

  • I will be presenting a poster about my work on California’s Central Valley groundwater recharge during wet year 2023 in 2025 USGIF GEOINT Symposium (updates on this soon).

  • Co-authored abstract got accepted for the 2025 EGU session NH6.2 – SAR remote sensing for natural and human-induced hazard applications (updates on this soon).

What’s New

  1. Co-authored work focusing on 2023 Libya Dam Collapse published in npj Natural Hazards (link).

  2. Recipient of William A. Fischer Memorial Scholarship from the American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) on January 2025.

  3. I am part of a UN report led by Dr. Manoochehr Shirzaei detailing the asset damage based on synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data during the recent Hurricane Helene, which hit east coast of USA. Incident Brief Report, Press Release.

    Shirzaei, M., Sadhasivam, N., Werth, S., Lucy, J., Etzler, W., Matin, M., Madani, K. (2024). Helene Disaster: The Threat of Poor Management and Climate Change to Human Lives and Assets, United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, doi: 10.53328/INR24MSIR001 (Link).

What’s old

  1. Sadhasivam, N., Werth, S., Carlson, G., Shirzaei, M. (9 December 2024). From Dry to Wet: Are Deep Central Valley Aquifers Recharged Following the Very Wet 2023? AGU Fall Meeting 2024, Washington D.C.
  2. I presented my research work on Central Valley of California as a talk in the 2024 GRACE/GRACE-FO Science Team Meeting.
  • Sadhasivam, N., Werth, S., Carlson, G., and Shirzaei, M.: Did the Record-Breaking Rains of 2023 Revive Central Valley’s Deep Aquifers?, GRACE/GRACE-FO Science Team Meeting, Potsdam, Germany, 8–10 Oct 2024, GSTM2024-69, https://doi.org/10.5194/gstm2024-69, 2024.

  1. I presented my research work on assessing infrasturcture vulnerability in a populated Himalayan slope as a poster presentation in the 2024 Geological Society of America meeting (Link to abstract).

  2. I co-presented our team project on estimating water footpint of a reservoir in the Transboundary US-Mexico Region (link) along with another team member from 2023 NSF I-GUIDE summer school on December 4, 2024 (note: recordings will be available soon online).