Quantifying deformation in North Borneo with GPS

The existence of intra-plate deformation of the Sundaland platelet along its eastern edge in North Borneo, South-East Asia, makes it an interesting area that still is relatively understudied. In addition, the motion of the coastal area of North-West Borneo is directed toward a frontal fold-and-thrust belt and has been fueling a long debate on the possible geophysical sources behind it. At present this fold-and-thrust belt is not generating significant seismic activity and may also not be entirely active due to a decreasing shelfal extension from south to north. Two sets of Global Positioning System (GPS) data have been used in this study; the first covering a time period from 1999 until 2004 (ending just before the Giant Sumatra–Andaman earthquake) to determine the continuous Sundaland tectonic plate motion, and the second from 2009 until 2011 to investigate the current deformations of North Borneo. Both absolute and relative positioning methods were carried out to investigate horizontal and vertical displacements. Analysis of the GPS results indicates a clear trend of extension along coastal regions of Sarawak and Brunei in North Borneo. On the contrary strain rate tensors in Sabah reveal that only insignificant and inconsistent extension and compression occurs throughout North-West Borneo. Moreover, station velocities and rotation rate tensors on the northern part of North Borneo suggest a clockwise (micro-block) rotation. The first analysis of vertical displacements recorded by GPS in North-West Borneo points to low subsidence rates along the western coastal regions of Sabah and inconsistent trends between the Crocker and Trusmadi mountain ranges. These results have not been able to either confirm or reject the hypothesis that gravity sliding is the main driving force behind the local motions in North Borneo. The ongoing Sundaland–Philippine Sea plate convergence may also still play an active role in the present-day deformation (crustal shortening) in North Borneo and the possible clockwise rotation of the northern part of North Borneo as a micro-block. However, more observations need to be collected to determine if the northern part of North Borneo indeed is (slowly) moving independently.     

Development of new attenuation equation for subduction mechanisms in Malaysia water

The attenuation equation for far field earthquake is important because the earthquake occurring in neighboring countries can be felt in Malaysia. In this study, a new attenuation was generated using the regression method. It was developed to calculate the peak ground acceleration (PGA) onsite (offshore platform). The database consisting of more than 150 PGAs from 9 events of earthquakes recorded by the Seismology Station in Malaysia was used to develop the relationship. In addition, attenuation relationships for subduction mechanisms from previous researchers are then compared with the newly generated ones in this research. The new attenuation equation was also validated and used to calculate the acceleration for far field earthquake in a case study of offshore platform at a Terengganu seaside. The result of PGA from the new generated attenuation relationship was in a good match with previous attenuation equations.     

Spatial variability of soil erodibility and its correlation with soil properties in semi-arid mountainous watershed,Saudi Arabia

Soil erodibility values are best estimated from long-term direct measurements on runoff-plots; however, in lack of field tests, these values can be estimated using relationships based on physico-chemical soil properties. The study objective was to assess the erodibility and its correlation with soil properties. The average erodibility value was estimated 0.043 t ha h ha^?1 MJ^?1 mm^?1. The areas with heavy textured soil and low organic matter content had the lowest values of erodibility. The erodibility decreases as the sand content increases, whereas silt showed a positive correlation. The erodibility factors and its relation to soil properties were evaluated using multiple regression analysis. Results revealed that sand and organic matter content of soil combinedly explained 78% of variation. Altitudinal increases also seem to affect the soil texture. This study has demonstrated that soil properties and erodibility values can be used as assistance for soil conservation practices and modelling of landscape processes.     

Carbon sinks and tropical forest biomass estimation: a review on role of remote sensing in aboveground-biomass modelling

Tropical forest embraces a large stock of carbon and contributes to the enormous amount of above- and below-ground biomass and the global carbon cycle. The carbon kept in the above-ground living biomass of trees is typically the largest pool and the most directly impacted by deforestation and degradation. Hence, quantifying carbon stock and fluxes from tropical forests by estimating the above-ground forest biomass is the critical step that will be investigated further in this paper. Remote sensing technology can provide many advantages in quantifying and mapping forest structure and monitoring and mapping above-ground biomass, and is both temporally and spatially accurate. Therefore, a good data-set of biomass which comprises canopy height and canopy structure can provide carbon sequestration potential for forest reserves. This paper reviews a thorough research of biomass estimation using remote sensing and geospatial technologies.     

Observed Trends in Extreme Temperature over the Klang Valley,Malaysia

This study investigates the recent extreme temperature trends across 19 stations in the Klang Valley, Malaysia, over the period 2006-16. Fourteen extreme index trends were analyzed using the Mann-Kendall non-parametric test, with Sen’s slope as a magnitude estimator. Generally, the annual daily mean temperature, daily mean maximum temperature, and daily mean minimum temperature in the Klang Valley increased significantly, by 0.07°C yr~(-1), 0.07°C yr~(-1)and 0.08°C yr~(-1),respectively. For the warm temperature indices, the results indicated a significant upward trend for the annual maximum of maximum temperature, by 0.09°C yr~(-1), and the annual maximum of minimum temperature, by 0.11°C yr~(-1). The results for the total number of warm days and warm nights showed significant increasing trends of 5.02 d yr~(-1)and 6.92 d yr~(-1),respectively. For the cold temperature indices, there were upward trends for the annual minimum of maximum temperature,by 0.09°C yr~(-1), and the annual minimum of minimum temperature, by 0.03°C yr~(-1), concurrent with the decreases in the total number cold days (TX10P), with-3.80 d yr~(-1), and cold nights (TN10P), with-4.33 d yr~(-1). The 34°C and 37°C summer days results showed significant upward trends of 4.10 d yr~(-1) and 0.25 d yr~(-1), respectively. Overall, these findings showed upward warming trends in the Klang Valley, with the minimum temperature rate increasing more than that of the maximum temperature, especially in urban areas.     

Fitting the distribution of dry and wet spells with alternative probability models

The development of the rainfall occurrence model is greatly important not only for data-generation purposes, but also in providing informative resources for future advancements in water-related sectors, such as water resource management and the hydrological and agricultural sectors. Various kinds of probability models had been introduced to a sequence of dry (wet) days by previous researchers in the field. Based on the probability models developed previously, the present study is aimed to propose three types of mixture distributions, namely, the mixture of two log series distributions (LSD), the mixture of the log series Poisson distribution (MLPD), and the mixture of the log series and geometric distributions (MLGD), as the alternative probability models to describe the distribution of dry (wet) spells in daily rainfall events. In order to test the performance of the proposed new models with the other nine existing probability models, 54 data sets which had been published by several authors were reanalyzed in this study. Also, the new data sets of daily observations from the six selected rainfall stations in Peninsular Malaysia for the period 1975–2004 were used. In determining the best fitting distribution to describe the observed distribution of dry (wet) spells, a Chi-square goodness-of-fit test was considered. The results revealed that the new method proposed that MLGD and MLPD showed a better fit as more than half of the data sets successfully fitted the distribution of dry and wet spells. However, the existing models, such as the truncated negative binomial and the modified LSD, were also among the successful probability models to represent the sequence of dry (wet) days in daily rainfall occurrence.