This project is funded by the UK Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) through the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). The use of sensors on-board space- and airborne- platforms to monitor critical zones can provide independent sources of information about the ecosystem and overcome challenges in monitoring processes from the ground. This project builds on work done in a previous STFC 21st Century Global Challenges Exploration collaboration between the University of Leicester and the Indian Institute for Technology Kanpur (IITK). In this project we have employed land measurements from the STFC calibrated space technology, in the form of the Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer (SLSTR) on Sentinel-3A to map the heterogeneity of a Ganges Critical Zone Observatory (CZO) and its surrounding regions. Complementary high resolution sensors on airborne platforms have provided the first in-depth mapping of the CZO from which an understanding of the land-use processes contributing to ground water depletion and crop stress will be identified. Implementation of a high resolution radiometer in the Ganges basin has provided the first opportunity to validate and assess SLSTR measurements in the IGP. Together with other space-borne data, SLSTR has been used to generate prototype information on heat-, crop and fire-stress of which the efficiency will be tested through implementation into land and hydrological models and via community feedback through NGOs.