Impact of Doppler Radar Wind in Simulating the Intensity and Propagation of Rainbands Associated with Mesoscale Convective Complexes Using MM5-3DVAR System

Pre-monsoon rainfall around Kolkata (northeastern part of India) is mostly of convective origin as 80% of the seasonal rainfall is produced by Mesoscale Convective Systems (MCS). Accurate prediction of the intensity and structure of these convective cloud clusters becomes challenging, mostly because the convective clouds within these clusters are short lived and the inaccuracy in the models initial state to represent the mesoscale details of the true atmospheric state. Besides the role in observing the internal structure of the precipitating systems, Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) provides an important data source for mesoscale and microscale weather analysis and forecasting. An attempt has been made to initialize the storm-scale numerical model using retrieved wind fields from single Doppler radar. In the present study, Doppler wind velocities from the Kolkata Doppler weather radar are assimilated into a mesoscale model, MM5 model using the three-dimensional variational data assimilation (3DVAR) system for the prediction of intense convective events that occurred during 0600 UTC on 5 May and 0000 UTC on 7 May, 2005. In order to evaluate the impact of the DWR wind data in simulating these severe storms, three experiments were carried out. The results show that assimilation of Doppler radar wind data has a positive impact on the prediction of intensity, organization and propagation of rain bands associated with these mesoscale convective systems. The assimilation system has to be modified further to incorporate the radar reflectivity data so that simulation of the microphysical and thermodynamic structure of these convective storms can be improved.     

High iridium concentration of alkaline rocks of Deccan and implications to K/T boundary

We report here an unusually high concentration of iridium in some alkali basalts and alkaline rocks of Deccan region having an age of about 65Ma, similar to the age of the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. The alkali basalts of Anjar, in the western periphery of Deccan province, have iridium concentration as high as 178pg/g whereas the alkaline rocks and basalts associated with the Amba Dongar carbonatite complex have concentrations ranging between 8 and 80 pg/g. Some of these values are more than an order of magnitude higher than the concentration in the tholeiitic basalts of Deccan, indicating the significance of alkaline magmatism in the iridium inventory at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. Despite higher concentration, their contribution to the global inventory of iridium in the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary clays remains small. The concentration of iridium in fluorites from Amba Dongar was found to be <30 pg/g indicating that iridium is not incorporated during their formation in hydrothermal activity.     

Mapping of tropical dry deciduous forest and landuse in part of Vindhyan range using satellite remote sensing

Forest vegetation of Vindhyan range located in the north of G.B. Pant Sagar (dam) has been subjected to degradation due to high biotic pressure caused by the installation of thermal power plants, coal mining, heavy cattle grazing etc. In the present study Landsat TM FCC of 1∶250,000 scale was visually analysed with respect to forest vegetation types, crown density and structure along with other landuse/land cover classes. ExceptShorea robusta (Sal) andLagerstroemia parviflora (Lendia) all forest vegetation types show higher percentage of degradation and under-stocked condition with respect to their areal extent under study. Overall classification accuracy of the forest types has been found to be 88.94%. This indicates that for obtaining reliable mapping accuracy in dry deciduous areas, satellite remote sensing data of appropriate season is essential.

     

Simulation Of Salt-Water Encroachment In A Multi-Layer Groundwater System,Bangkok, Thailand

Salt-water encroachment in the multi-layer groundwater system underlying the Bangkok metropolitan area was simulated with a quasi-three-dimensional flow and solute-transport model. The quasi-three-dimensional model used in this study is based on the model SUTRA. Accurate conceptualization of the initial state of the system with regard to the distribution of salt-water concentration is very important for modeling, especially in areas where localized zones of high salt concentration exist in the groundwater. Data adequacy and model results were evaluated by a geostatistical analysis. The model is capable of simulating the regional trend of potentiometric levels and salt concentration. However, lack of monitoring data in areas where localized zones of high salt concentration exist resulted in large model residuals. RÉSUMÉ: L'empiétement des eaux salées dans le système hydrologique multi-couche sous-jacent la zone métropolitaine de Bangkok a été simulé à l'aide d'un modèle quasi-tridimensionnel représentant l'écoulement des eaux et le transport d'éléments en solution. Le modèle quasi-tridimensionnel utilisé dans cette étude est basé sur le modèle SUTRA. Une conceptualisation exacte de l'état initial du système en ce qui concerne la répartition de la concentration des eaux salines est très important, particulièrement dans les endroits localisés où l'eau souterraine presente une forte concentration en sel. La qualité des donnés et des résultats a été estimée à l'aide d'une analyse géostatistique. Le modèle est capable de simuler la tendance régionale des niveaux potentiométriques et de la concentration en sel. Cependant, le manque de données de contrôle dans les endroits à forte concentration a donné lieu à des résiduels importants. RESUMEN: La intrusión de agua salina en el sistema multicapa bajo el área metropolitana de Bangkok se simuló mediante un modelo de flujo y transporte de solutos casi-tridimensional, basado en el modelo SUTRA. La conceptualizacián precisa de la distribución inicial de concentraciones de agua salina es muy importante para el modelo, especialmente en áreas donde existen zonas locales de alta concentración salina en el agua subterránea. La exactitud de los datos y del modelo se evaluaron mediante un análisis geoestadístico. El modelo permite simular la tendencia regional de los niveles piezométricos y la concentración de sales. Sin embargo, la falta de datos de muestreo en las zonas locales de alta salinidad resultaron en valores altos de los residuos calculados por el modelo.     

On coda waves of earthquakes

Summary Coda waves viz. the tail portion of an earthquake record have been observed and analysed byCarder, Macelwane and others. They showed that the periods of such waves increase with the increase of epicentral distances.Carder observed that these waves have very little transverse component so that these may be considered as of the type of Rayleigh waves. RecentlyOmote showed that the Coda waves contain three periodsT ₁,T ₂,T ₃ of whichT ₁ increases with epi-central distances as observed by previous observers. ButT ₂,T ₃ remain constant for all earthquakes from different epicentral distances.Omote tried to explain this phenomenon by considering that the surface of the earth consists of several layers andT ₂,T ₃ are free oscillation periods of the surface layers.T ₁ period has been explained bySezawa and also byJeffreys which has been shown byGutenberg. The author has attempted to explain the periodsT ₂,T ₃ by considering passage of cracks at the focal region. The Rayleigh wave character of Coda waves and low velocity of such waves have been explained.     

Waves and stresses produced in an elastic medium due to impulsive radial forces and twist on the surface of a spherical cavity

Summary Displacements and stresses produced by impulsive radial pressure and by impulsive twists have been determined. In the former case total flow of energy across a spherical boundary has been obtained.     

Detection, excision and statistics of interference at the Mauritius radio telescope

A technique to detect man-made interference in the visibility data of the Mauritius Radio Telescope (MRT) has been developed. This technique is based on the understanding that the interference is generally ‘spiky’ in nature and has Fourier components beyond the maximum frequency which can arise from the radio sky and can therefore be identified. We take the sum of magnitudes of visibilities on all the baselines measured at a given time to improve detectability. This is then high-pass filtered to get a time series from which the contribution of the sky is removed. Interference is detected in the high-pass data using an iterative scheme. In each iteration, interference with amplitudes beyond a certain threshold is detected. These points are then removed from the original time series and the resulting data are high-pass filtered and the process repeated. We have also studied the statistics of the strength, numbers, time of occurrence and duration of the interference at the MRT. The statistics indicate that most often the interference excision can be carried out while post-integrating the visibilities by giving a zero weight to the interference points.     

Evening and morning twilight airglow emissions of 5577 Å and 5893 Å lines at Calcutta and Allahabad and their correlation with flare index

Evening and morning twilight enhancements of 5577 Å and 5893 Å lines were observed by Dunn-Manring type photometer at Calcutta during the period 1983–1985 and that of 5577 Å have been collected from Allahabad observatory. The following paper presents the correlation between the enhanced intensity of airglow lines (A _G ) and solar flare index (I _f ) which is calculated considering all the flares which occurred 24 hr before the times of occurrence of enhancements. It is observed that the intensity of airglow lines varies with the flare index in an oscillatory manner upto a certain limiting value ofI _f . Afterwards intensity of both lines increases with the increase ofI _f . The nature of variation is the same for both sunspot maximum and minimum periods. A possible explanation of such type of variation has also been invoked.     

OnH-functions of radiative transfer

Chandrasekhar'sH-functionH(z) corresponding to the dispersion functionT(z)=| _rs –frs(z)|, where [f _rs (z)] is of rank 1, is obtained in terms of a Cauchy integral whose density functionQ(x, ₁, ₂,...) can be approximated by approximating polynomials (uniformly converging toQ(x)) having their coefficients expressed as known functions of the parameters _r 's. A closed form approximation ofH(z) to a sufficiently high degree of accuracy is then readily available by term by term integration.