Biography

Suryanaryanan Balasubramanian (Surya) has a doctorate from the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) and is the founder of Acres of Ice, a water-tech startup. As a passionate social entrepreneur, Surya is dedicated to solving the water crisis in the mountain regions due to rapid glacial retreat. He leverages his expertise in glaciology, programming, sensors and IoT technologies to address this critical issue. Surya has dedicated himself to understanding the challenges faced by mountain communities and made sincere efforts to empathize with their experiences. From 2015 to 2019, he collaborated with Sonam Wangchuk, a Ramon Magsaysay awardee, to improve the icestupa artificial glacier technology and increase irrigation water supply for more than 500 farmers in Ladakh, resulting in a 2 times increase in income. Surya played a key role in managing the Icestupa project and enabled its funding through several grants. Driven by his desire to deepen his understanding on the artificial glacier technology, Surya pursued a PhD from 2019-2023. Through this PhD, Surya developed an automation system that can make ice structures comparable in area to natural glaciers with little maintenance. Surya's entrepreneurial journey is characterized by his patience and resilience in tackling the world's water crisis, which poses a significant threat to the agricultural community particularly in the mountain regions.

Expertise

Research Type
Applied Research, Basic Research, Interdisciplinary Research, Research Interface and Management, Transdisciplinary Research
Sectors
Agriculture, forestry and fishing, Water supply
Methods
Earth Observations, Modeling, Qualitative Methods, Quantitative Methods
Spatial Scale of Expertise
Global/Hemispheric, Local/Community
Mountain Ranges of Research Expertise
Andes, European Alps, Himalayas
Mountain Ranges of Research Interest
Andes, European Alps, Himalayas

Disciplines

Atmospheric Sciences
General Atmospheric Sciences, Meteorology
Cryospheric Sciences
Glaciology, Icestupas
Earth Sciences
Geophysics, Physical Geography

Publications

Authors
Suryanarayanan Balasubramanian, and Suryanarayanan Balasubramanian, and Martin Hoelzle, and Roger Waser
Journal
Cold Regions Science and Technology
Publication Year
2023
External Reference
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coldregions.2022.103706

Authors
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Journal
Frontiers in Earth Science
Publication Year
2022
External Reference
https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.771342

Authors
Johannes Oerlemans, and Suryanarayanan Balasubramanian, and Conradin Clavuot, and Felix Keller
Journal
The Cryosphere
Publication Year
2021
External Reference
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3007-2021

Map of Affiliations

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