Hydroclimate & Risk Lab
We forecast floods and droughts in a warming climate, and turn those forecasts into decisions that districts can act on.
Department of Civil Engineering, Malabar Institute of Science and Technology, Kozhikode, Kerala
Principal investigator
Dr. Arjun Menon
Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering
I am an Associate Professor of Civil Engineering and head of the Hydroclimate & Risk Lab. My group combines hydrological models, satellite data and machine learning to understand how rainfall extremes are changing and what that means for flood risk and water supply.
Much of our work is done with district disaster management authorities and state water resources departments, so that our forecasts are used in practice rather than sitting in papers.
I did my PhD at IISc Bengaluru and a postdoc at the University of Bristol before joining MIST in 2018.
Research projects
We work on extreme rainfall and flash floods, drought monitoring from satellite data, reservoir operations under climate change, machine learning for streamflow forecasting, flood risk communication.
Flash flood early warning for the Western Ghats
A forecasting system that gives district officials a 24-hour warning of flash floods in steep catchments, tested with three districts in Kerala.
Funded by DST-SERB Core Research Grant, 2024–2027
Satellite drought index for smallholder farms
Combining soil moisture and vegetation data from satellites into a weekly drought index at village scale.
Funded by ISRO RESPOND, 2023–2026
Reservoir rules for a changing monsoon
Testing whether dam release rules written in the 1980s still work under current rainfall patterns, and proposing updated ones.
Funded by Ministry of Earth Sciences, 2022–2025
Explaining ML streamflow forecasts
Making machine learning flood forecasts interpretable enough that engineers can trust and question them.
Funded by Institute seed grant, 2025–2026
Team
Dr. Kavya Nair
Postdoctoral researcher
Rohan Pillai
PhD scholar, flash flood forecasting
Fathima Rasheed
PhD scholar, satellite drought monitoring
Siddharth Rao
PhD scholar, reservoir operations
Ananya Varma
M.Tech student
Joel Mathew
M.Tech student
Nikhil Das
Project associate
Alumni
- Dr. Meghna Iyer, PhD 2024, now Assistant Professor at IIT Palakkad
- Dr. Vivek Kurian, PhD 2023, now Scientist at a national hydrology agency
- Aparna Suresh, M.Tech 2025, now flood modeller at an engineering consultancy
Publications
Twenty-four-hour flash flood forecasts for steep tropical catchments
R. Pillai, K. Nair, A. Menon. Water Resources Research, 2026. DOI
A village-scale drought index from satellite soil moisture
F. Rasheed, A. Menon. Remote Sensing of Environment, 2025. DOI
Are 1980s reservoir rules fit for the current monsoon?
S. Rao, M. Iyer, A. Menon. Journal of Hydrology, 2025. DOI
Changing intensity of sub-daily rainfall extremes over the Western Ghats
M. Iyer, A. Menon. Geophysical Research Letters, 2024. DOI
Interpretable LSTM streamflow forecasts for Indian river basins
V. Kurian, A. Menon. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 2023. DOI
How district officials read flood forecasts: a survey from Kerala
A. Menon, K. Nair, J. Thomas. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 2022. DOI
News
- Rohan’s paper on flash flood forecasting is out in Water Resources Research.
- Our flood warning system ran live for its first monsoon with three district authorities.
- Fathima won the best poster award at the National Hydrology Symposium.
- Welcome to Ananya and Joel, who joined the lab as M.Tech students.
Join the lab
We are hiring for the 2027 intake.
To apply, email Dr. Menon a one-page statement of what you want to work on, your CV, and one piece of work you are proud of (a thesis, a paper, or a GitHub repository). We reply to every email within two weeks.
Email Dr. Arjun Menon to apply- PhD (1 position)Flash flood forecasting with machine learning. You should have a master’s degree in civil, environmental or earth sciences, or a strong B.Tech with research experience, and be comfortable writing Python.
- Project associate (1 position, 2 years)Maintaining the forecasting system and working with district officials. Suits someone who likes both code and fieldwork.