Seasonal and Diurnal Variation of Surface Ozone and a Preliminary Analysis of Exceedance of its Critical Levels at a Semi-arid Site in India

The mixing ratios of surface O₃ were measured at St. John's College, Agra, an urban and traffic influenced area for the period of 2000–2002. The monthly averaged O₃ mixing ratios ranged between 8 to 40 ppb with an annual average of 21 ppb. Strong diurnal and seasonal variations in O₃ mixing ratios were observed throughout the year except for monsoon season. The mixing ratios of O₃ follow the surface temperature cycle and solar radiation (r = 0.72 and r = 0.65 with temperature and solar radiation, respectively). Concentrations were higher with winds associated with NE and NW direction indicating the impact of pollution sources on surface O₃ concentration. Exceedance of ozone critical level was calculated using the AOT 40 index and found to be 840 ppb.h and 2430 ppb.h for summer and winter seasons, respectively. The present O₃ exposures are lower than the critical level of O₃ and suggest that the present level of O₃ does not have any impact on reduction in crop yields.     

Characteristics of surface ozone in Agra,a sub-urban site in Indo-Gangetic Plain

In the present study, measurements of surface ozone (\(\hbox {O}_{3}\)) and its precursors (NO and \(\hbox {NO}_{2}\)) were carried out at a sub-urban site of Agra (\(27{^{\circ }}10'\hbox {N}\), \(78{^{\circ }}05'\hbox {E}\)), India during May 2012–May 2013. During the study period, average concentrations of \(\hbox {O}_{3}\), NO, and \(\hbox {NO}_{2}\) were \(39.6 \pm 25.3\), \(0.8 \pm 0.8\) and \(9.1 \pm 6.6 \, \hbox {ppb}\), respectively. \(\hbox {O}_{3}\) showed distinct seasonal variation in peak value of diurnal variation: summer \({>}\) post-monsoon \({>}\) winter \({>}\) monsoon. However, \(\hbox {NO}_{2}\) showed highest levels in winter and lowest in monsoon. The average positive rate of change of \(\hbox {O}_{3}\) (08:00–11:00 hr) was highest in April (16.3 ppb/hr) and lowest in August (1.1 ppb/hr), while average negative rate of change of \(\hbox {O}_{3}\) (17:00–19:00 hr) was highest in December (–13.2 ppb/hr) and lowest in July (–1.1 ppb/hr). An attempt was made to identify the \(\hbox {VOC--NO}_{\mathrm{x}}\) sensitivity of the site using \(\hbox {O}_{3}/\hbox {HNO}_{3}\) ratio as photochemical indicator. Most of the days this ratio was above the threshold value (12–16), which suggests \(\hbox {NO}_{\mathrm{x}}\) sensitivity of the site. The episodic event of ozone was characterized through meteorological parameters and precursors concentration. Fine particles (\(\hbox {PM}_{2.5}\)) cause loss of ozone through heterogeneous reactions on their surface and reduction in solar radiation. In the study, statistical analyses were used to estimate the amount of ozone loss.     

Effect of soil interaction on the performance of liquid column dampers for seismic applications

The effects of soil–structure interaction (SSI) while designing the liquid column damper (LCD) for seismic vibration control of structures have been presented in this study. The formulation for the input–output relation of a flexible‐base structure with attached LCD has been presented. The superstructure has been modelled by a single‐degree‐of‐freedom (SDOF) system. The non‐linearity in the orifice damping of the LCD has been replaced by equivalent linear viscous damping by using equivalent linearization technique. The force–deformation relationships and damping characteristics of the foundation have been described by complex valued impedance functions. Through a numerical stochastic study in the frequency domain, the various aspects of SSI on the functioning of the LCD have been illustrated. A simpler approach for studying the LCD performance considering SSI, using an equivalent SDOF model for the soil–structure system available in literature by Wolf (Dynamic Soil–Structure Interaction. International Series in Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics. Prentice‐Hall: Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1985) has also been presented. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Proximal Remote Sensing of Herbicide and Drought Stress in Field Grown Colocasia and Sweet Potato Plants by Sunlight-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence Imaging

Chlorophyll fluorescence is an indicator of plant photosynthetic activity and has been used to monitor the health status of vegetation. Several studies have exploited the application of red/far-red chlorophyll fluorescence ratio in detecting the impact of various types of stresses in plants. Recently, sunlight-induced chlorophyll fluorescence imaging has been used to detect and discriminate different stages of mosaic virus infection in potted cassava plants with a multi-spectral imaging system (MSIS). In this study, the MSIS is used to investigate the impact of drought and herbicide stress in field grown crop plants. Towards this control and treatment groups of colocasia and sweet potato plants were grown in laterite soil beds and the reflectance images of these crop plants were recorded up to 14-days of treatment at the Fraunhofer lines of O₂ B at 687 nm and O₂ A at 759.5 nm and the off-lines at 684 and 757.5 nm. The recorded images were analyzed using the Fraunhofer Line Discrimination technique to extract the sunlight-induced chlorophyll fluorescence component from the reflectance images of the plant leaves. As compared to the control group, the chlorophyll fluorescence image ratio (F ₆₈₇/F ₇₆₀) in the treatment groups of both the plant varieties shows an increasing trend with increase in the extent of stress. Further, the F ₆₈₇/F ₇₆₀ ratio was found to correlate with the net photosynthetic rate (Pn) and stomatal conductance (g_s) of leaves. The correlation coefficient (R ²) for the relationship of F ₆₈₇/F ₇₆₀ ratio with Pn were found to be 0.78, 0.79 and 0.78, respectively for the control, herbicide treated and drought treated colocasia plants, while these were 0.77, 0.86 and 0.88, respectively for sweet potato plants. The results presented show the potential of proximal remote sensing and the application F ₆₈₇/F ₇₆₀ fluorescence image ratio for effective monitoring of stress-induced changes in field grown plants.     

Field evidences showing rapid frontal degeneration of the Kangriz glacier,western Himalayas,Jammu & Kashmir

Life cycle of glaciers in the Himalayan region has notably changed due to the climatic variability since last few decades. Glaciers across the world and specially the Himalayan glaciers have shown large scale degeneration in the last few decades. Himalayan glaciers serve as an important fresh water resource for the downstream communities, who are dependent on this water for domestic and other purposes. Therefore, glacier shrinkage and the associated hydrological changes pose a significant problem for regional-scale water budgets and resource management. These issues necessitate the regular and rigorous monitoring of the wastage pattern of the Himalayan glaciers in field and using satellite remote sensing data. In this work, we report rapid and enhanced degeneration of the frontal part of the Kangriz glacier, Jammu and Kashmir(J K), in terms of surface melting, debris cover, snout characteristics and meltwater discharge. Ablation data acquired during 2016-2017 shows the average lowering of the frontal part of the glacier to be ~148 ± 34 cm, one-third of which was found to have occurred within a 13 day time period in September, 2017. Also, the quantum of ice melt was found to be inversely influenced(r =-0.84) by the debris thickness. 15 day meltwater discharge measurement revealed its strong relationship with snout disintegration pattern, evidenced twice during the said time period. Volume of water discharged from the glacier was estimated to be 7.91×10~6 m~3 for the measurement duration. Also, mean daily discharge estimated for the 15 days interval showed good positive correction(r = 0.78) with temperature indicating the direct dependency of the former on land surface temperature conditions of the region. Besides the lowering and discharge observations, the frequent ice-block break-offs at the glacier snout further enhance its overall drastic degeneration. The study suggests that, being the largest glacier in the Suru basin, the Kangriz glacier needs to be continuously monitored in order to understand its glacio-hydrological conditions.     

Mass balance and morphological evolution of the Dokriani Glacier,central Himalaya,India during 1999–2014

Glaciological mass balance(MB)is considered the most direct,undelayed and unfiltered response of the glaciers to climatic perturbations.However,it may inherit errors associated with stake underrepresentation,averaging over the entire glacier and human bias.Therefore,proper validation of glaciological MB with geodetic MB is highly recommended by the World Glacier Monitoring Service(WGMS).The present study focuses on the Dokriani Glacier,central Himalaya which is one of the bench-mark glaciers in the region and has glaciological MB records from 1993 to 2013 with intermittent gaps.In the present study,firstly the glaciological MB series is extended to 2014 i.e.,field-based MB for one more year is computed and,to compare with it,the geodetic MB is computed for the 1999–2014 period using high resolution Cartosat-1 digital elevation model(DEM)and SRTM DEM.Finally,the study assesses the regional representation of the Dokriani Glacier in terms of MB and evaluates the influence of the MB regime on its morphological evolution.Results show that the average glaciological MB(-0.34±0.2 m water equivalent(w.e.)y-1)is more negative than the geodetic MB(-0.23±0.1 m w.e.y-1)for the 1999–2014 period.This is likely because of the partial representation of glacier margins in the glaciological MB,where melting is strikingly low owing to thick debris cover(>30 cm).In contrast,geodetic MB considers all marginal pixels leading to a comparatively low MB.A comparative assessment shows that the MB of Dokriani Glacier is less negative(possibly due to its huge accumulation area)than most other glacier-specific and regional MBs,restricting it to be a representative glacier in the region.Moreover,continuous negative MB has brought a peculiar change in the epiglacial morphology in the lower tongue of the glacier as differential debris thickness-induced differential melting has turned the glacier surface into a concave one.This concavity has led to development of a large(10–20 m deep)supraglacial channel which is expanding incessantly.The supraglacial channel is also connected with the snout wall and accelerates terminus disintegration.Given the total thickness of about 30–50 m in the lower glacier tongue,downwasting at its current pace,deepening/widening of supraglacial channel coupled with rapid terminus retreat may lead to the complete vanishing of the lower one km glacier tongue.     

Seasonal disparity in the co-occurrence of arsenic and fluoride in the aquifers of the Brahmaputra flood plains,Northeast India

Arsenic (As) and fluoride (F^?) in groundwater are increasing global water quality and public health concerns. The present study provides a deeper understanding of the impact of seasonal change on the co-occurrence of As and F^?, as both contaminants vary with climatic patterns. Groundwater samples were collected in pre- and post-monsoon seasons (n = 40 in each season) from the Brahmaputra flood plains (BFP) in northeast India to study the effect of season on As and F^? levels. Weathering is a key hydrogeochemical process in the BFP and both silicate and carbonate weathering are enhanced in the post-monsoon season. The increase in carbonate weathering is linked to an elevation in pH during the post-monsoon season. A Piper diagram revealed that bicarbonate-type water, with Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺, and Mg²⁺ cations, is common in both seasons. Correlation between Cl^? and NO₃ ^? (r = 0.74, p = 0.01) in the post-monsoon indicates mobilization of anthropogenic deposits during the rainy season. As was within the 10 µg L^?1 WHO limit for drinking water and F^? was under the 1.5 mg L^?1 limit. A negative correlation between oxidation reduction potential and groundwater As in both seasons (r = ?0.26 and ?0.49, respectively, for pre-monsoon and post-monsoon, p = 0.05) indicates enhanced As levels due to prevailing reducing conditions. Reductive hydrolysis of Fe (hydr)oxides appears to be the predominant process of As release, consistent with a positive correlation between As and Fe in both seasons (r = 0.75 and 0.73 for pre- and post-monsoon seasons, respectively, at p = 0.01). Principal component analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis revealed grouping of Fe and As in both seasons. F^? and sulfate were also clustered during the pre-monsoon season, which could be due to their similar interactions with Fe (hydr)oxides. Higher As levels in the post-monsoon appears driven by the influx of water into the aquifer, which drives out oxygen and creates a more reducing condition suitable for reductive dissolution of Fe (hydr)oxides. An increase in pH promotes desorption of As oxyanions AsO₄ ^3? (arsenate) and AsO₃ ^3? (arsenite) from Fe (hydr)oxide surfaces. Fluoride appears mainly released from F^?-bearing minerals, but Fe (hydr)oxides can be a secondary source of F^?, as suggested by the positive correlation between As and F^? in the pre-monsoon season.