Dwellers’ perception toward the Urban services of Panskura Municipality,India: an application of importance-performance models

The provision of urban service and citizens’ satisfaction is an important key issue in urban planning. Importance-performance analysis (IPA) is an effective and widely applicable technique to explore consumer’s satisfaction. IPA helps to prioritize the management strategies for urban services using the IPA. Purpose of the present study is to assess the performance of urban services and citizen’s satisfaction level of Panskura municipality using IPA models and improvement index. A total of 629 valid household responses are collected with the help of the door-to-door primary survey technique. The study reveals that all the selected seven urban services have significant importance-performance gap except water supply. Residents of the Panskura municipality are very much satisfied with the water supply service because of the very minimum improvement score. The combined result of IPA matrices and improvement index suggests residents are dissatisfied to a great extent with the performance of four urban services, i.e. health, economy, transportation and sanitation. These urban services require a problem-solving urgent action for restoration of the performance status. The improvement and prioritization of urban service are also required to fulfil the demand of target groups.

     

A multi-isotope approach (O,H, C,S, B and Sr) to understand the source of water and solutes in some the thermal springs from West Coast geothermal area,India

The West Coast belt, consisting of nearly 60 thermal springs, is one of the most diversified geothermal fields in India. The present work describes the multi-isotopic (O, H, C, S, B and Sr) characterization of thermal waters carried out in the Tural-Rajwadi geothermal field, situated in southern sector of the west coast geothermal area. The aim of this study is to delineate the origin of thermal water as well as to ascertain the sources of carbon, sulphur, boron and strontium dissolved in those thermal springs. The stable isotopes (δ²H and δ¹⁸O) and tritium data indicate that these thermal springs are not recently recharged rain water rather, it contains very old component of water. Oxygen-18 shift is observed due to rock-water interaction over a long period of time. Carbon isotopic composition of DIC points out to the silicate weathering with soil CO₂ coming from C₃ type of plants whereas δ³⁴S of dissolved sulphate confirms the marine origin of sulphate. This marine signature is basically derived from paleo-seawater possibly entrapped within the flows. Boron isotopic data reveals that both the seawater and rock dissolution are the sources of boron in the thermal waters whereas high ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (0.7220–0.7512) of the thermal waters conclusively establishes that archean granitic basement is the predominant rock source of strontium, not the Deccan flood basalts. In addition, like strontium, concentrations of lithium, rubidium and caesium are also governed by the rock-water interaction. Thus, the combined use of this multi-isotope technique coupled with trace element concentrations proves to be an effective tool to establish the sources of solutes in the thermal water.     

Geochemical evolution of groundwater in hard-rock aquifers of South India using statistical and modelling techniques

ABSTRACT

Multivariate statistical analysis and inverse geochemical modelling techniques were employed to deduce the mechanism of groundwater evolution in the hard-rock terrain of Telangana, South India. Q-mode hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA) were used to extract the hydrogeochemical characteristics and classify the groundwater samples into three principal groups. Use of thermodynamic stability diagrams and inverse geochemical modelling in PHREEQC identified the chemical reactions controlling hydrogeochemistry of each of the groups obtained from statistical analysis. The model output showed that a few phases are governing the water chemistry in this area and the geochemical reactions responsible for evolution of groundwater chemistry along the flow path are (i) dissolution of evaporite minerals (dolomite, halite); (ii) dissolution of primary silicate minerals (albite, anorthite, K-feldspar, biotite); (iii) precipitation of secondary silicate minerals (kaolinite, quartz, gibbsite, Ca-montmorillonite) along with anhydrite and calcite; and (iv) reverse ion exchange processes.     

Deposition of atmospheric pollutant and their chemical characterization in snow pit profile at Dokriani Glacier,Central Himalaya

The uncertainty in assessing the numerous atmospheric pollutants transported via wind from arid and semi-arid regions is affecting the glacial ecosystem. In our study area due to the complexity of the system, a prominent seasonal difference noticed among major ions(Ca~(2+), Mg~(2+), SO_4~(2-), and NO_3~-). There is a need for understanding the ions cycling as a whole and the directionality of the feedback loops in the system. Therefore, we provide an appraisal of our current hypothesis for seasonal difference in major ion concentration from snow samples for two corresponding years(2013 and 2015) at Dokriani Glacier. A systematic study of chemical compositionsin the shallow snow pit from Dokriani Glacier was undertaken for the pre-monsoon season to understand the cycling of major ions from atmosphere to solute acquisition process. The intimating connections of ions cycling in snow and its temporal behavior was observed and analyzed through various statistical tests. Among major ions, the SO_4~(2-)has the highest concentration among anions on an average considered as 14.21% in 2013 and 29.46% in 2015. On the other side Ca~(2+) is the dominant cation contributing 28.22% in 2013 and 15.3% in 2015 on average. The average ratio of Na+/Cl-was higher in 2013 whereas lower in 2015. The backward trajectory analysis suggests the possible sources of the ions transported from Central Asia through the Western Disturbance(WD) as a prominent source of winter precipitation mainly in the Central Himalaya. Ionicconcentration of Ca~(2+) in cations was highly dominated while in anion SO_4~(2-)played the major role. Factor analysis and correlation matrix suggested that, the precipitation chemistry is mostly influenced by anthropogenic, crustal, and sea salt sources over the studied region. The elemental cycling through ocean, atmosphere and biosphere opens up new ways to understand the geochemical processes operating at the glacierized catchments of the Himalaya. Moreover, increasing the field-based studies in the coming decades would also have the certain advantage in overcoming the conceptual and computational geochemical modelling difficulties.     

Wave forces on a seawater intake caisson

The wave force on a seawater intake structure consisting of a perforated square caisson of 400 mm×400 mm size encircling a vertical suction pipe of 160-mm diameter is investigated using physical model studies. The porosity of caisson was varied from 1.6 to 16.9%. Regular and random waves of wide range of heights and periods were used. It is found that the force ratio (ratio of the force on perforated caisson to the force on caisson with zero percent porosity) reduces to an extent of up to 60% with increase in porosity of the caisson from 1.6 to 16.9%. The force ratio was found to increase with increase in relative wave height and reduces with increase in relative width. Multiple regression analysis of the measured data points was carried out and predictive equations for wave force ratios are obtained both for regular and random waves. The results of this investigation can be used in the hydrodynamic design of perforated caissons, which are widely used as seawater intake structures.     

A Tsunami Detection and Warning-focused Sea Level Station Metadata Web Service

Currently information used to describe sea-level stations (such as location, collection and transmission capabilities, operator identification, etc.) is distributed among databases held by multiple agencies, institutions and organizations. Such information could be used to support detection and warning. However, the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 26 December, 2004 made it clear that such information is not readily accessible, is difficult to use, and is often incomplete. In addressing this issue, agencies within the Pacific region are collaborating to develop a web service to expose station metadata enabling various types of real-time data mining client applications that support decision-making and strategic planning at Tsunami Warning Centers. Because information about sea levels has a broad range of applications, integration of this information in a way that is comprehensive, and enhances its access and use, would have a tremendous impact on lives and livelihoods.     

Cylindrical Zakharov–Kuznestov equation for ion-acoustic waves with electrons featuring non-extensive distribution

Cylindrical Zakharov–Kuznestov equation for ion-acoustic waves comprising of ions and electrons featuring non-extensive distribution are derived from the fluid equations through reductive perturbation technique. System of first order ordinary differential equations is obtained from Zakharov–Kuznestov equation through dynamical system approach and ultimately it is solved using numerical method. It is found that the electron to positron ratio parameter and the non-extensive distributed parameter due to electron play crucial role on the solution.