Home > Meet our faculty > Prof. Mukand Singh Babel

Prof. Mukand Singh Babel

Position
Professor
Unit
Water Engineering and Management
Contact Info
(662) 524 5790
msbabel@ait.asia
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Media Links
Personal website
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
RESEARCH INTERESTS
TEACHING
OTHER TRAINING
AWARDS AND HONORS
MEMBERSHIP IN PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
  1. D. Eng. (Water Resources Engineering), Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand, 1993
  2. M. Eng. (Soil and Water Engineering), Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand, 1983
  3. B. Eng. (with honors) (Agricultural Engineering), Rajasthan Agricultural University, Udaipur, India, 1981

Climate change impact and adaptation in water and agriculture sectors; Drought and flood risk assessment; Hydrology; Hydrologic and water resources modelling; Integrated water resources management; Monitoring and Evaluation frameworks for water sector; Water security assessment and enhancement; Water supply and sanitation; Water-energy-food nexus.

Dr. Babel specializes in hydrologic and water resources modeling as applied to integrated water resources management. His interest areas are very much diverse and include watershed modeling and management; water resources allocation and management; water resources and socio-economic development; water supply system and management; and climate change on hydrology and water resources. Research related to groundwater resources management and drought analysis, forecasting and management are also of interest.

Regular Courses:

 

CE74.11: Watershed Hydrology
CE74.41: Water Supply and Sanitation
CE74.54: Integrated Water Resources Management
CE74.55: Modeling of Water Resources Systems

E-learning Courses:

CE74.11: Watershed Hydrology
E-Learning Diploma Program on Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM)
E-Learning Certificate Program on Service Oriented Management of Irrigation Systems (SOMIS) with UNESCO-IHE

  1. Sustainable Irrigation Management: Policy Issues and Operational Implications organized by AIT and International Water Resources Association (IWRA).
  2. Training in Irrigation Water Management at the Utah State University and Colorado State University, USA under the USAID funded Water Resources Management and Training Program for India.
  3. Orientation-cum-Diagnostic Analysis of Irrigation Systems conducted by the Water and Land Management Institute (WALMI), Aurangabad, India.
  1. International Award by the Japan Society of Hydrology and Water Resources.
  2. AIT Distinguished Researcher Award (senior category) based on sponsored activities and publications
  3. Awarded JAFAH Fellowship by the Japan Foundation for Aging and Health, Ministry of Public Health, Japan under the Program for the Invitation of Foreign Scientists to Japanese Institutes, from 06-22 January 2005 to develop collaboration with Japanese researchers.
  4. 1990-1993. Awarded scholarship by the Government of Australia for D. Eng. Program at the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand
  5. 1982-1983. Awarded scholarship by the Government of Japan for M. Eng. Program at the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand
  1. Member of the International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research (IAHR)
  2. Member of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) (9479)
  3. Member of the International Water Resources Association (IWRA)
  4. Member of the Asia & Pacific Hydrology and Water Resources (APHW) Association
  5. Life Member of the Indian Water Resources Society (IWRS)
  6. Life Member of the Asian Association for Agricultural Engineering (AAAE)
  7. Life Member of the Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers (ISAE)
  8. Life Member of the Indian Association of Soil and Water Conservationists (IASWC)

Books

  1. Title: Water Security in Asia: Opportunities and Challenges in Context of Climate Change (2021).
    • Editors: Mukand Babel, Andreas Haarstrick, Lars Ribbe, Victor R. Shinde and Nobert Dichtl
    • Publisher: Springer Nature
  1. Title: Towards Water Secure Societies: Coping with Water Scarcity and Quality Challenges (2021)
    • Editors: Ribbe, L., Haarstrick, A., Babel, M. S., Dehnavi, S., and H. K. Biesalski
    • Publisher: Springer Nature
  1. Title: Climate Change and Water Resources
    • Editors: Shrestha, S., Babel, M. S., and V. P. Pandey (eds.) (2014).
    • Publishers: CRC Press. ISBN-10: 1466594667, ISBN-13: 978-1466594661, 383p.

Refereed articles (Since 2018, from a total of 150 peer-reviewed journal papers)

  1. Khadka, D., Babel, M. S., Abatan, A. A., and M. Collins (2021). An evaluation of CMIP5 and CMIP6 climate models in simulating summer rainfall in the Southeast Asian monsoon domain. Accepted in International Journal of Climatology. Publisher: Royal Meteorological Society.
  2. Jaroenongard, C., Babel, M. S., Shrestha, S., Weesakul, S., Nitivattananon, V. and D. Khadka (2021). Projecting relative sea level rise under climate change at the phrachula chomklao fort tide gauge in the upper gulf of Thailand. Water. 2021, 13(12), 1702 Publisher: MDPI.
  3. Mishra, Y., Babel, M. S., Nakamura, T., and B. Mishra (2021). Impact of climate change on irrigation water requirement of Babai River Basin, Nepal. Hydrology. 2021, 8(2), 85. Publisher: MDPI.
  4. Delpasand, M., Fallah-Mehdipour, E., Azizipour, M., Jalali, M., Safavi, H. R., Saghafian, B., Lo´aiciga, H. A., Babel, M. S., Savic, D., O. Bozorg-Haddad (2021). Forensic engineering analysis applied to flood control. Journal of Hydrology 594 (2021) 12596. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2021.125961
  5. Babel, M. S., Shrestha, A., Anusart, K., and V. R. Shinde (2021). Evaluating the potential for conserving water and energy in the water supply system of Bangkok, Sustainable Cities and Society. Vol. 69, 102857. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2021.102857, Publisher: Elsevier.
  6. Boonwichai, S., Shrestha, S., Pradhan, P., Babel, M. S., and A. Datta (2021). Adaptation strategies for rainfed rice water management under climate change in Songkhram River Basin, Thailand. Journal of Water and Climate Change. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/wcc.2021.220 Publisher: IWA Publishing.
  7. Budhathoki, A., Babel, M. S., Shrestha, S., Meon, G., and A. G. Kamalamma (2020). Impacts of Climate Change on Water Resources in the Physiographic Regions of the West Seti River Basin, Nepal, Ecohydrology and Hydrobiology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecohyd.2020.07.001 Publisher: Springer.
  8. Babel, M. S., Tansar, H., Mark, O., Weesakul, S., and H. Madsen (2020). Data Assimilation for Flow Forecasting in Urban Drinage Systems by Updating a Hydrodynamic Model of Damhusåen Catchment, Copenhagen. Urban Water Journal. Vol. 17(10), 847-859, doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/1573062X.2020.1828938, Publisher: Taylor and Francis.
  9. Nyahora, P. P., Babel, M. S., Ferras, D. and A. Emen (2020) Multi-Objective Optimization for Improving Equity and Reliability in Intermittent Water Supply Systems. Water Supply, https://doi.org/10.2166/ws.2020.066 Publisher: IWA Publishing.
  10. Babel, M. S., Shinde, V. R., Sharma. D. and D. M. Nguyen (2020). Measuring Water Security: A Vital Step for Climate Change Adaptation. Environmental Research, 185 (2020), 109400, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.109400. Publisher: Elsevier.
  11. Chirachawala, C., Shrestha, S., Babel, M. S., Virdis, S. and S. Wichakul (2020). Evaluation of global land use/land cover products for hydrologic simulation in the Upper Yom River Basin, Thailand, Science of the Total Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135148 Publisher: Elsevier.
  12. Dubey, S. K, Sharma, D., and S. Babel (2020). Application of Hydrological Model for Assessment of Water Security using Multi-Model Ensemble of CORDEX-South Asia Experiments in a Semi-Arid River Basin of India, Ecological Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2019.105641 Publisher: Elsevier.
  13. Babel, M. S., Oo, E., Shinde, V. R., Kamalamma, A. and A. Haarstrick (2020). Comparative study of water and energy use in selected automobile manufacturing industries, Journal of Cleaner Production. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.118970 Publisher: Elsevier.
  14. Shrestha, S., Gunawardana, S. K., Piman, T. and S. Babel (2020). Assessment of the impact of climate change and mining activities on streamflow and loading of selected metals in the Chindwin River, Myanmar. Environmental Research, 181 (2020), 108942. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2019.108942 Publisher: Elsevier.
  15. Acharya, S. C., Babel, M. S., Madsen, H., Sisomphon, P. and S. Shrestha (2020). Comparison of Different Quantile Regression Methods to Estimate Predictive Hydrological Uncertainty in the Upper Chao Phraya River Basin, Thailand. Journal of Flood Risk Management. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfr3.12585 Publisher: Wiley.
  16. Babel, M. S. (2019). Emerging research needs for water security enhancement, Journal of Japan Society of Hydrology and Water Resources. 32(2):74-81. Publisher: The Japan Society of Hydrology and Water Resources (JSHWR).
  17. Boonwichai, S., Shrestha, S., Babel, M. S., Weesakul, S. and A. Datta (2019). Evaluation of climate change impacts and adaptation strategies on rainfed rice production in Songkhram River Basin, Thailand, Science of the Total Environment, 652 (2019), 189–201. Publisher: Elsevier.
  18. Behera, S. S., Nikam, B., Babel, M. S., Garg, V., and S. P. Aggarwal (2019). The Assimilation of Remote Sensing Derived Soil Moisture Data into a Hydrological Model for the Mahanadi Basin, India. Journal of the Indian Society of Remote Sensing. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12524-019-00954-2. Publisher: Springer.
  19. Aryal, A., Shrestha, S., and S. Babel (2019). Quantifying the sources of uncertainty in an ensemble of hydrological climate-impact projections, Theoretical and Applied Climatology, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-017-2359-3, Publisher: Springer.
  20. Babel, M. S., Deb, P., and P. Soni (2019). Performance Evaluation of AquaCrop and DSSAT-CERES for Maize Under Different Irrigation and Manure Application Rates in the Himalayan Region of India, Agricultural Research, https://doi.org/10.1007/s40003-018-0366-y, Publisher: Springer.
  21. Ghimire, U., Babel, M. S., Shrestha, S., and G. Srinivasan (2019). A Multi-temporal Analysis of Streamflow using Multiple CMIP5 GCMs in the Upper Ayerawaddy Basin, Myanmar. Climatic Change. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-019-02444-3. Publisher: Springer.
  22. Yadav, S., Babel, M. S., Shrestha, S., and P. Deb (2019). Land Use Impact on the Water Quality of Large Tropical River: Mun River Basin, Thailand. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. 191(10). DOI: 10.1007/s10661-019-7779-3 Publisher: Springer.
  23. Assefa, Y.T., Babel, M. S., Susnik, J. and Shinde, V.R. (2018). Development of a generic domestic water security index and its application in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Water, 11, 37. Doi:10.3390/w11010037
  24. Babel, M. S., and V. Shinde (2018). A framework for water security assessment at basin scale. APN Science Bulletin,8(1). doi:10.30852/sb.2018.342
  25. Boonwichai, S., Shrestha, S., Babel, M. S., Weesakul, S. and A. Datta (2018). Climate change impacts on irrigation water requirement, crop water productivity and rice yield in the Songkhram River Basin, Thailand, Journal of Cleaner Production, 198 (2018), 1157-1164. Publisher: Elsevier.
  26. Sirisena, T.A.J.G., Maskey, S., Ranasinghe, R. and S. Babel (2018). Effects of different precipitation inputs on streamflow simulation in the Irrawaddy River Basin, Myanmar, Journal of Hydrology (Regional Studies), 19(2018), 265-278. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2018.10.005 Publisher: Elsevier.
  27. Mishra, Y., Nakamura, T., Babel, M. S., Ninsawat, S. and S. Ochi (2018). Impact of Climate Change on Water Resources of the Bheri River Basin, Nepal, Water 2018, 10, 220; doi:10.3390/w10020220, Publisher: MDPI.
  28. P., Babel, M. S., and A. F. Denis (2018). Multi-GCMs Approach for Assessing Climate Change Impact on Water Resources in Thailand”, Modeling Earth Systems and Environment, https://doi.org/10.1007/s40808-018-0428-y, Publisher: Springer.
  29. Sharma, D., and S. Babel (2018). Assessing Hydrological Impacts of Climate Change using Bias-corrected Downscaled Precipitation in Mae Klong Basin of Thailand, Meteorological Applications, doi:10.1002/met.1706. Publisher: Wiley.
  30. Shrestha, B., Maskey, S., Babel, M. S., van Griensven, A. and S. Uhlenbrook (2018). Sediment related impacts of climate change and reservoir development in the Lower Mekong River Basin: A case study of the Nam Ou Basin, Lao PDR, Climatic Change. Vol. 149, 13-27. Doi:10.1007/s10584-016-1874-z, Publisher: Springer.

For complete list of peer-reviewed journal articles, please see Annex 1 or visit the Scopus link at https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=6701728587

SELECTED PROJECTS

Global Water and Climate Adaptation Centre

Location: South and Southeast Asia and Europe      Client/Sponsor: DAAD              Duration: 2021–2025

Budget: EUR 2,800,000                            Position: AIT Lead/Researcher

Brief Description: The objectives of the Centre are to conduct research on water security and climate adaptation, to educate responsible future environmental leaders, and to enable the transfer of research results into practice and policy in South Asia and Southeast Asia. Three interconnected, synergistically intertwined research clusters are “Water Security, Water Resources Management, Secure Water Supply and Water Treatment”; “Ecosystem Resilience and Nature-Based Adaptation Measures”; and “Transfer Strategies for Climate Adaptation: Traditional Knowledge, Local Economies and Societal Acceptance”. The consortium comprises RWTH Aachen University, Asian Institute of Technology, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Technische Universität Dresden and United Nations University – Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources.

Climate Change Adaptation in Agriculture for Enhanced Recovery and Sustainability of Highlands

Location: Thailand                                  Client/Sponsor: ADB/JFPR                          Duration: 2021–2023

Budget: USD 1,651,415                             Position: Project Director/Capacity Building and Knowledge Management Expert

Brief Description: The objective of the Technical Assistance (TA) is to strengthen Thailand’s technical and institutional capacities to assess agriculture sector vulnerabilities to climate change, demonstrate climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices and digital technologies for traceability of agri-food products, and support local governments to integrate climate change concerns in agriculture planning. The TA has four outputs: (i) capacity to assess climate change vulnerability of highland agriculture improved; (ii) gender-responsive, climate-smart agricultural practices prioritized and demonstrated; (iii) agricultural product quality, value addition and market linkages enhanced; and (iv) capacity of local governments and communities to address climate change strengthened.

Capacity Building Programme for MRV and Transparency

Location: Thailand.                             Client/Sponsor: UNFCCC                                Duration: 2021–2025

Budget: USD 500,000                             Position: Focal Point/Climate Adaptation Expert

Brief Description: This objective of this programme is to build institutional and technical capacity of developing countries to effectively participate in the existing MRV arrangements under the UNFCCC and the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) under the Paris Agreement. The Programme will be carried out in collaboration with Alliance for Global Water Adaptation (AGWA), IHE Delft Institute for Water Education and Oregon State University.

Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN)

Location: Thailand                            Client/Sponsor: UN Environment                     Duration: 2013–2021

Budget: USD 466,000                          Position: Coordinator

Brief Description: CTCN is the operational arm of the UNFCCC Technology Mechanism, led by UN Environment and UNIDO. The CTCN mission is to help developing countries adopt technologies to mitigate, and adapt to, climate change. The scope of services is aimed to support action on mitigation and adaptation to enhance low-emission and climate-resilient development. Specific examples of technical services that I have been involved in include:

  1. Developing a Knowledge Management System comprising technical reports, advisories, technology factsheets, policy briefs, and compendiums on topics related to agriculture, forestry, and water management.
  2. Provide capacity building support to Timor Leste for implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions.
  3. Provide support to Afghanistan (Ministry of Energy and Water) in identification of technological needs in the water sector.
  4. Provide capacity building support to Thailand (National Science and Technology Development Authority) for efficient use of resources in the agricultural and water sectors.
  5. Provide support to Myanmar (Myanmar Institute for Integrated Development) for promoting data for climate change, drought, and flood management.
  6. Provide capacity building support to Bhutan (Ministry of Works and Human Settlements) for developing an integrated flood management plan for the Dungsumchu Basin in Samdrupjongkhar.
  7. Provide capacity building support to Pakistan for developing bankable project proposals for submission to the Green Climate Fund.
Collaborative Adaptation Pathways for Water Management in Agriculture in Bhavani River Basin, Tamil Nadu, India (Co-Adapt)

Location: India                                          Client/Sponsor: USAID                           Duration: 2020–2022

Budget: USD 26,000                                          Position: Project Director/Adaptation Expert

Brief Description: This aim of the project is to use bottom-up approaches to recommend adaptation strategies that will help manage the risks due to climate change in the agricultural sector of Bhavani River basin in Tamil Nadu. The project employs the CRIDA (Climate Risk Informed Decision Analysis) approach, to identify the “breaking point” of agricultural system (when the system fails), the magnitude of climate change that will cause the system to cross the threshold; and the plausibility of reaching that state in future. Several adaptation options will be proposed to address the range of plausible future climate scenarios. The project will also develop a set of adaptation pathways that will inform the policy makers on when to act.

ENRICH: Enhancing Resilience to future Hydro-meteorological extremes in the Mun river basin in Northeast of Thailand

Location: Thailand Client/Sponsor: National Research Council of Thailand              Duration: 2018–2021

Budget: USD 156,250         Position: Country Team Leader and Climate Change Lead

Brief Description: The overarching aim of this project is to understand the impact of the combined stressors of climate variability, climate change and land-use change on hydro-meteorological extremes in the Mun River Basin and to recommend adaptation measures to enable sustainable management of water resources and improve water security in the coming decades. The project is implemented by the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Thailand and the University of Exeter in UK with support from relevant government agencies. The project has four work packages that include Land use change analysis; Climate variability and climate change; Hydro-meteorological hazards and risks; and Adaptation strategies and measures to improve climate resilience.

Building Capacities for Water Security Assessment in Asian Cities

Location: Thailand, India, Nepal, and Vietnam.   Client/Sponsor: APN, Japan           Duration: 2020–2022

Budget: USD 40,000                                                 Position: Team Leader

Brief Description: The overall objective of this project is to build the capacities of early-career scientists, researchers, practitioners, and government agencies in Nepal, India, and Vietnam in assessing water security at city-scale. The project will develop a computer-based tool to help assess the water security, and train different stakeholders in the three countries in using this tool. It is expected that this project will serve as an avenue to help the uptake of an important decision support tool to enable the city stakeholders in operationalizing water security.

Evaluation of climate change impacts and suitable adaptation strategies for crop production and its environment and economic implications in vulnerable regions of Thailand and India

Location: India, Thailand    Client: French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development 

Duration: 2016–2017        Budget: USD 40,000                                          Position: Team Leader

Brief Description: The study projected climate change scenarios and assessed their effects on agriculture and subsequently its impacts on environment and socio-economy of the region. Mitigation and adaptation measures were suggested for coping with the future climate conditions. Alternatives like conservation agriculture, beneficial crop mix or trade-offs for planting single crops were investigated with resultant environmental impacts to provide feasible solutions with regards to climate change.

Exchanging Information and Creating Awareness in a Structured Basis between Peak Bodies in ASEAN Member States

 Location: Thailand, Philippines              Client: National Water Resources Board, Philippines 

 Duration: 2016–2017                                 Budget: USD 20,500                                          Position: Co-Consultant

Brief Description:  The project aims to create a forum for water resource and environmental government agencies, NGOs, and peak industry bodies and associations with interest in water management issues to discuss key water resource management problems and to exchange information about generic solutions. The project is part of the mandate of the ASEAN Working Group on Water Resources Management (AWGWRM) that is currently implementing the ASEAN Strategic Plan of Action (ASPA) on Water Resources Management.

Water interventions for improving smallholder farming and rural livelihoods in Asia

Location: Asia                    Client: UN FAO and IFAD                                   Duration: 2011-2012

Budget: USD 80,000           Position: Team Leader

Brief Description: The main project activities included (1) Development of framework and methodology for regional and national level studies; (2) Literature review, data collection and analysis; and (3) Implementation of a regional consultation workshop. The outputs included (1) Mapping the persistent poor groups in Asian region; (2) Identifying their major linkages and constraints with water; and (2) Proposing innovative water interventions to improve their livelihood.