Critical Zone Observatories
In the time of Anthropocene, characterized by a dramatic increase in anthropogenic pressure, global changes are questioning the capacity of the planet Earth to sustain the development of human societies in the long term. In the past two decades, this concern has fostered world wise efforts to develop integrated studies of the “Critical Zone”.
In India, the first CZO was established in 2003 in the Kabini River Basin and two more are being established in the Himalayan region and Gangetic basin.

Astrogeological sites
Ladakh in the north, Lonar in Central and Kutchh in western India, have diverse, pristine, extreme environments which are considered analogues for other planetary environments. These three regions have potential for astrobiology study.

In Ladakh hot springs, high altitude glacial passes, sand dunes, saline lakes, and permafrost mounds are seen in abundance. The landscape of the place resembles that of Lunar and Martian topography.

Evaporation of saline waters in the Kachchh leaves thin salt crust (few centimetres to tens of centimetres at places) spread over several hundreds of kilometres. This region offer unique opportunities to study the extremophiles (micro and macroorganisms) under rapidly changing environments and prove the best analogues for the planetary studies.

The meteorite lake, Lonaris considered to have potential as astrobiologicalanalogues of Martian surface. Shocked altered basalt and shocked soil from Lonar Crater can be used as analogues for similar materials found by rovers in Martian meteorite melt veins.