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Deepak Dhingra
PhD (Brown University, USA)
Assistant Professor, Department of Earth Science
Research Interest
- Visible and near-IR spectroscopy for mineral mapping.
- Planetary geological remote sensing.
- Impact cratering studies with special emphasis on impact melt characterization.
- Lunar science and exploration.
- Spatial and spectral characterization of Enceladus’ water ice and vapor plume.
- Radiative transfer modeling for mineral abundance estimation.
- Comparative planetology (including study of terrestrial analogs).
Room No. 206, Old SAC Building
Specialization
Planetary Remote Sensing Geology
Education
Ph.D. Brown University, USAPhD thesis title: Integrated Mineralogy & High Resolution Geologic Context of Lunar Impact Melt Deposits: Implications for Crustal Diversity & the Impact Cratering ProcessPhD thesis supervisor: Prof. Carle Pieters
M.Tech Applied Geology, IIT Roorkee, India
B.Sc.(Hons)Geology, Hans Raj College, Delhi University, India
Current Teaching
ES311A Mineralogy & CrystallographyES312A Field Geology I
Selected Publications
Bhatt M., Wohler C., Dhingra D., Thangjam G., Rommel D., Mall U., Bhardwaj A. and Grumpe A. (2017) Compositional studies of Mare Moscoviense: New perspectives from Chandrayaan-1 VIS-NIR data, Icarus, In Press
Dhingra D., Matthew M. Hedman, Roger N. Clark. Phillip D. Nicholson (2017) Spatially resolved near-infrared observations of Enceladus’ tiger stripe eruptions from Cassini VIMS, Icarus, 292, 1-12
Dhingra D., J. W. Head and C.M. Pieters (2017) Geological mapping of impact melt deposits at lunar complex craters: New insights into morphological diversity, distribution and the cratering process, Icarus, DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2016.05.004
Dhingra D., C. M. Pieters and J.W. Head (2015) Multiple origins of olivine at Copernicus crater, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 420, 95-101
Pieters C.M. K.D. Hanna, L. Cheek, D. Dhingra, T. Prissel, C. Jackson, D. Moriarty, S. Parman and L.A. Taylor (2014) The distribution of Mg-Spinel across the Moon and constraints on crustal origin, American Mineralogist, 99, 1893–1910
Prissel T.C., S.W. Parman, C.R.M. Jackson, M.J. Rutherford, P.C. Hess, J.W. Head, L. Cheek, D. Dhingra, and C.M. Pieters (2014) Pink Moon: The petrogenesis of pink spinel anorthosites and implications concerning Mg-suite magmatism, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 403, 144-156
Dhingra D., C.M. Pieters, J.W. Head, P.J. Isaacson (2013) Large mineralogically-distinct impact melt feature at crater Copernicus: Evidence for retention of compositional heterogeneity, Geophys. Res. Lett., 40, 1-6, doi: 10.1002/grl.50255
Dhingra D., C.M. Pieters, J.W. Boardman, J.W. Head, P.J. Isaccson and L.A. Taylor (2011) Compositional diversity at Theophilus crater: Understanding the geological context of Mg-Spinel bearing central peaks, Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L11201, doi: 10.1029/2011GL047314
Kramer G.Y., S. Besse, D. Dhingra and 10 others (2011) M3 spectral analysis of lunar Swirls and the link between optical maturation & surface hydroxyl formation at magnetic anomalies, J. Geophys. Res., 116, E00G18, doi: 10.1029/2010JE003729
Pieters, C. M., S. Besse , J. Boardman , B. Buratti, L. Cheek , R.N. Clark , J. P. Combe, D. Dhingra and 19 others (2011) Mg-spinel lithology: A new rock type on the lunar farside, J. Geophys. Res., 116, E00G08, doi:10.1029/2010JE003727
Nettles, J. W., M. Staid, S. Besse, J. Boardman, R. N. Clark, D. Dhingra, P. Isaacson, R. Klima, G. Kramer, C. M. Pieters, and L. A.Taylor (2011) Optical maturity variation in lunar spectra as measured by Moon Mineralogy Mapper data, J. Geophys. Res., 116, E00G17, doi:10.1029/2010JE003748
Staid, M. I., C. M. Pieters, S. Besse, J. Boardman, D. Dhingra, R. O. Green, J. W. Head, P. Isaacson, R. Klima, G. Y. Kramer, J. F. Mustard, C. Runyon, J. M. Sunshine, and L. A. Taylor (2011) The mineralogy of late stage lunar volcanism as observed by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper on Chandrayaan-1, J. Geophys. Res., 116, E00G10, doi:10.1029/2010JE003735
Green, R. O., C. M. Pieters, P. Mouroulis, M. Eastwood, J. W. Boardman, T. Glavich, P. J. Isaacson, M. Annadurai, S. Besse, D. C .Barr, B. J. Buratti, D. Cate, A. Chatterjee, R. N. Clark, L. C. Cheek, J. P. Combe, D. Dhingra and 37 others (2011) The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) imaging spectrometer for lunar science: Instrument description, calibration, on-orbit measurements, science data calibration and on-orbit validation, J. Geophys. Res., 116, doi: 10.1029/2011JE003797
Dhingra D. (2008) Exploring links between crater floor mineralogy and layered lunar crust, Adv. in Space Res., 42, 275 – 280
Dhingra D., N. Bhandari, P.N. Shukla, S. V. S. Murty, R. R. Mahajan, G. M. Ballabh (2004) Spectacular fall of the Kendrapara H5 chondrite, Meteor. & Planet. Sci., 39(8), Supplement, A121-A132Bhandari N., V. Adimurthy, D. Banerjee, N. Srivastava and D. Dhingra (2004) Chandrayaan-1 Lunar polar orbiter: Science goals and payloads, Proc. International Lunar Conference 2003 / ILEWG 5, Hawaii, 33-42Dhingra D. and G.J. Chakrapani (2004) Estimation of silicate weathering in the upper Ganga river basin in the Himalayas, India, Himalayan Geology, 25 (2), 139-144
Publication Under Review:Hedman M. M., D. Dhingra, P. D. Nicholson, C. J. Hansen, G. Portyankina, S. Ye and Y. Dong (2017) Spatial variations in the dust to gas ratio of Enceladus’ Plume, Icarus, Under Review
Keywords
Planetary Geology, Moon, Spectroscopy, Earth Science, Geology, Geomorphology
Professional Experience
Project Associate, PLANEX Programme, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, India (2002-2004)
Scientist SC, PLANEX Programme, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, India (2004-2009)
Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Physics, University of Idaho, USA (2014-2017)
Research Assistant, Geological Sciences, Brown University, USA (March 2007 – May 2007)
Visiting Scientist, Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI), USA (April 1-30, 2009)
Additional information
Book Chapters:
Dhingra D. (2017) Lunar Impact Melt Deposits, Encyclopedia of Lunar Science, Editor. B. Cudnik, Springer International Publishing, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-05546-6_22-1
Press Coverage / Press Release of My Research
http://www.uidaho.edu/sci/physics/news/features/2016/exploring-the-moon https://sservi.nasa.gov/articles/rich-regolith-copernicus-crater/ https://news.brown.edu/articles/2013/04/survivor https://cosmoquest.org/x/365daysofastronomy/2013/04/30/april-30th-the-moon-is-a-survivor/ (Podcast) https://sservi.nasa.gov/articles/pre-existing-mineralogy-may-survive-lunar-impacts/
Other Scientific Publications
- Dhingra D. (2012) Un-mixing the Moon - Gaining new insights into lunar evolution, Signatures, Special issue on Remote Sensing for Astronomy and Planetary Science, Indian Society of Remote Sensing, Ahmedabad Chapter, 23(4), 78-82 [Invited Contribution]
- Dhingra D. (2015) Remote sensing studies of impact melt deposits on the Moon, PLANEX Newsletter, 5(2), 12-16 [Invited Contribution]