Dr Harjinder Sembhi

I am a lecturer in Earth Observation Science in the School of Physics and Astronomy.  I lead the ALCI (Atmosphere–Land–Climate Impacts) research group, which investigates human and climate influences on the land–atmosphere system. We use satellite observations to map anthropogenic pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and extreme heat to generate actionable data and test efficacy of environmental policy. My team is based at Space Park Leicester within the Earth Observation Science group. I am part of the Schools undergraduate admissions team and a space expert for the National Space Centre. 

Previously I was a research associate in the King’s Earth Observation and Wildfire Research Group at Kings College London and a senior post-doctoral research associate at the University of Leicester. I hold a PhD in Atmospheric Physics from the University of Leicester, a MSc in Applied Meteorology and Climatology from the University of Birmingham and a BSc in Physics and Space Science from the University of Leicester. 

• PI - Methane Emissions: Testing, Reporting and Implementing Common practises using Satellites (ESA METRICS project, 2024 - )

• Co-I - Methane Emissions Detection using Satellites Assessments (ESA MEDUSA project, WP leader on Madrid landfills, ESA, 2023 -)

• Co-I  - ESA EDAP+ study on European methane emitters (ESA, 2022)  

• Co-I  - Bablyon: modern heritage or ancient ruin? (Nahrein Network UKRI AHRC led by Dept. Archaeology University of Leicester 2019 - 2020)

• PI -  Monitoring water availability and agricultural practises in India’s agricultural heartlands with thermal infrared technologies (University of Leicester QR Research Institutional GCRF Award 2018)

• PI  - Thermal infrared technologies for environmental assessment and decision making in the Ganges basin (UKRI STFC GCRF 2017 to 2021)

• Co-I  Towards an integrated approach for assessing the impact of climatic stresses on agriculture and the exchange of greenhouse gases on the Indo-Gangetic Plain (UKIERI British Council 2017 to 2020)

• PI - Characterising regimes of land stress across the Indo-Gangetic Plain with Earth Observation (STFC 21st Century Global Challenges 2017) 

Selected Publications:

Dash, S.K, Sembhi H, Sinha R, Integrating UAV thermal imagery and in-situ data for high-resolution crop water stress–soil moisture dynamics over India’s agricultural hotspot, International Journal of Remote Sensing, 2026

Chen, F, Parker,  R J, Sembhi,H,  Anjum, A, Balzter, H, CELNet: A comprehensive efficient learning network for atmospheric plume identification from remotely sensed methane concentration images, Remote Sensing of the Environment, 2025

Dash, S.K, Sembhi H, Langsdale, M, Wooster M, Dodd, E, Ghent, D, Sinha R,  Assessing the field-scale crop water condition over an intensive agricultural plain using UAV-based thermal and multispectral imagery, Journal of Hydrology, 2025

Majumder, A., Setia, R., Kingra, PK., Sembhi, H., Singh SP, Pateriya, B.,  Estimation of land surface temperature using different retrieval methods to study the spatio-temporal variations of surface urban heat and cold islands in Indian Punjab, Environ Dev Sustain, 2021

Singh, T., Khaiwal, R., Sreekanth, V., Gupta, P., Sembhi, H., Tripathi, S.N., Mor, S, Climatological trends in satellite-derived aerosol optical depth over North India and its relationship with crop residue burning: Rural-urban contrast, Sci Tot Environ, 748, 15, 2020

Sembhi, H., Wooster, M., Zhang, T., Sharma, S., Singh, N, Agarwal, S., Boesch, H., Gupta, S., Misra, A., Tripathi, S.N., Mor, S., Ravindra, K., Post-monsoon air quality degradation across Northern India: assessing the impact of policy related shifts in timing and amount of crop residue burnt, Environ Res Letts, 2020

Misra, A., Tripathi, S., Sembhi, H., and Boesch, H.: Validation of CAMS AOD using AERONET Data and Trend Analysis at Four Locations in the Indo-Gangetic Basin, Ann. Geophys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-2020-40, in review, 2020

Ghent, D., Veal, K., Trent, T., Dodd, E., Sembhi, H., Remedios, J., A New Approach to Defining Uncertainties for MODIS Land Surface Temperature. Remote Sens. 2019, 11, 1021, 2019

Palmer, P.I., O' Doherty, S., Allen, G., Bower, K., Boesch, H., Sembhi, H., & 37 authors, A measurement-based verification framework for UK greenhouse gas emissions : An overview of the Greenhouse gAs Uk and Global Emissions (GAUGE) project. Atmos. Chem. & Phys., Vol. 18, No. 16, 11753-11777, 2018

Wang, Z., Warneke, T., Deutscher, N. M., Notholt, J., Karstens, U., Saunois, M., Schneider, M., Sussmann, R., Sembhi, H., Griffith, D. W. T., Pollard, D. F., Kivi, R., Petri, C., Velazco, V. A., Ramonet, M. & Chen, H.: Contributions of the troposphere and stratosphere to CH4 model biases, Atmos. Chem. & Phys., 17, 21, 13283-13295 13, 2017

Eichmann, K.-U., Lelli, L., von Savigny, C., Sembhi, H., and Burrows, J. P.: Global cloud top height retrieval using SCIAMACHY limb spectra: model studies and first results, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 793-815, 2016

Bulgin, C.E., Sembhi, H., Ghent. D, Remedios, J., and Merchant, C.J, Cloud Clearing Techniques over Land for Land Surface Temperature Retrieval from the Advanced Along TRack Scanning Radiometer, Int. J. Remote Sens., 35, 10, 3594-3615, 2014

Sembhi, H., Remedios, J., Trent, T., Moore, D. P., Spang, R., Massie, S., and Vernier, J.-P.: MIPAS detection of cloud and aerosol particle occurrence in the UTLS with comparison to HIRDLS and CALIOP, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 5, 2537-2553, 2012

I am currently supervising the following projects:

• PhD lead supervisor  - Net Zero Mission: How Can Greenhouse Gas Emissions Be Monitored From Space To Support International Policy?
• PhD Co-supervisor  - Mission to Understand Emissions: How can we assess air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions from space today to shape the science and policies of tomorrow?
• PhD lead supervisor  - Decoding plant fluorescence signatures in intensive agricultural regions with space sensors 
• PhD Co-Supervisor  - A novel miniaturised atmospheric aerosol satellite instrument: developing a small form factor multi-angle spectropolarimeter

I teach across several undergraduate modules in the School of Physics and Astronomy:

• PA1110 1st year Mechanics (Module convenor)
• PA160x 1st year Introductory Climate Science (module leader)
• PA1900 1st year Experimental Physics 
• Assessor on the 3rd year Research Projects and Physics Challenge 
• PA4900 4th year MPhys Research Projects