Advances in Remote Sensing Technology and the Three Poles

9 Geospatial Tools for Monitoring Vertebrate Populations in Antarctica With a Note on the Ecological Component of the Indian Antarctic Program

Anant Pande^1,2,*, Ankita Anand¹, Shailendra Saini³ and Kuppusamy Sivakumar⁴

¹ Department of Endangered Species Management, Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun 248001, Uttarakhand ² Marine Program, Wildlife Conservation Society -India, Kodigehalli, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560097 ³ Antarctic Logistics Division, National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, Vasco-da-Gama, Goa 403804 ⁴ Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Pondicherry University, Puducherry 605014, India ^* Corresponding author

9.1 Introduction

Antarctica has attracted scientists to study its gigantic glaciers, icebergs, pristine lakes, and alluring biodiversity, despite its extreme environmental conditions. It is also the prime focus of the global community in the wake of climate change related impacts such as rising sea levels, accelerated glacial melting, and global warming (Convey and Peck, 2019). Since the signing of the Antarctica Treaty in 1959, several countries have set up permanent or temporary research stations to conduct seasonal (austral summer mostly) or year-long studies in Antarctica, to decode its impact on global weather patterns and effects of global activities on its environment. Initially signed and adopted by 12 countries, this treaty now has 54 countries as official signatories steering “considerable scientific research activity” ...