Study of the intensity of super cyclonic storm GONU using satellite observations

Satellite microwave measurements show sea surface temperature (SST) increase in advance of significant cyclone intensification. Moreover, cyclone intensification may also be related to the location of high SST. In the present study results indicate pre-existing high sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) located at the right side of the storm track for Cyclone GONU. I emphasize that high SST which occurred at the right time and right place was conducive to the cyclone intensification. In particular, high SST in the northeastern quadrant of the storm track induced significant increases in surface latent heat fluxes contributing to the rapid intensification of GONU. The present study also focuses on the air-sea interactions associated with cyclone GONU. Surface latent heat flux (SLHF) and precipitation rate (PR) increase anomalously prior to landfall as compared to when the GONU was at its maximum intensity (category 5). Wind speed and rain-rate data from satellite observations show breakup of the eye-wall and asymmetric structure leading to increased precipitation prior to landfall.     

Climate change and finger millet: Perception,trend and impact on yield in different ecological regions in Central Nepal

The views of local people on climate change along different ecological regions are relatively unexplored in Nepal. This study was conducted in 13 villages in central Nepal at different altitudes to document the views of small holder farmers and compare their perception with trends of climatic variables, finger millet yield, natural disasters, plant phenology(flowering and fruiting), status of forest and wild life, as well as the spread of diseases and pests. Analysis on the climatic data of stations for 36-41 years between 1975 and 2016 showed significant increases in the minimum temperature in lower tropical climatic region(500 m), upper tropical to subtropical climatic region(500-2000 m) and temperate climatic region(2000-3000 m) by 0.01, 0.026 and 0.054℃/year, respectively, and an increase of maximum temperature by 0.008, 0.018, and 0.019℃/year, respectively. Rainfall showed a strongly significant decreasing trend in all elevation regions. This result matches with the views of respondents except 38% respondent from temperate climatic region. People from the temperate climatic region also mentioned that current onset of snowfall is delayed but amount of snowfall remained the same. From the documented records, except events of wild fire, frequency of natural disasters events have increased in the recent years, which was in harmony with the views of local people. Multi-linear regression analysis showed that contribution of climatic variables on finger millet yield in lower tropical climatic region and upper tropical to subtropical regions was 23% and 57.3%, respectively, which was supported by increasing trend on average growing degree day(GDD) temperature at the rate of 0.01℃ in upper tropical to subtropical region and 0.007℃ in lower tropical climatic region yearly. Finger millet yield has been increasing at the rate of 7.39 and 36.9 kg/ha yearly in lower tropical climatic region and upper tropical to subtropical climatic region, respectively. This result provides deeper understanding of people's perception of causes and effects of climate change on diverse variables along different elevation and related magnitude which can contribute to policy making in Nepal.     

Predicting suitable habitat of an invasive weed Parthenium hysterophorus under future climate scenarios in Chitwan Annapurna Landscape,Nepal

Chitwan-Annapuma Landscape(CHAL)in central Nepal is known for its rich biodiversity and the landscape is expected to provide corridors for species range shift in response to climate change.Environmental assessments have identified biological invasions and other anthropogenic activities as major threats to the biodiversity in the CHAL.One of the rapidly spreading Invasive Alien Plant species(IAPs)in the CHAL is Parthenium hysterophorus L.,a neotropical invasive weed of global significance.This study aimed to investigate the current and future projected suitable habitat of P.hysterophorus in the CHAL using MaxEnt modelling in three"Representative Concentration Pathways"(RCPs 2.6,4.5 and 8.5)corresponding to different greenhouse gases emissiontrajectories for the year 2050 and 2070.A total of 288species occurrence points,six bioclimatic variablesmean diurnal range,isothermality,annual precipitation,precipitation of driest month,precipitation seasonality,precipitation of driest quarter and two topographic variables(aspect and slope)were selected for MaxEnt modelling.Potential range shift in terms of increase or decline in the suitable habitat areas under the projected scenarios were calculated.Slope and annual precipitation were the most important variables that explained the current distribution of P.hysterophorus.Twenty percent of the total area of CHAL was predicted to be suitable habitat for the growth of P.hysterophorus in the current climatic condition.Highest gain in the suitable habitat of this noxious weed was found under RCP 4.5 scenario in 2050 and 2070.whereas there will be a loss in thesuitable habitat under RCP 8.5 scenario in 2050 and2070.Out of four physiographic regions present in CHAL,three regions-Siwalik,Middle Mountain and High Mountain have suitable habitat for P.hysterophorus under current climatic condition.The mountainous region is likely to be affected more than the Siwalik region by further spread of P.fhysteropfhorus in the future under low(RCP 2.6)to medium(RCP 4.5)emission scenarios.The suitable habitat for this weed is likely to increase in the protected areas of mountain regions(Langtang National Park,Annapurna Conservation Area and Manaslu Conservation Area)in the future.The results have revealed a risk of spreading P.hysterophorus from present localities to non-invaded areas in the current and future climatic condition.Such risk needs to be considered by decision makers and resource managers while planning for effective management of this weed to reduce its ecological and economic impacts in the CHAL.     

Toxic Trace Metals in the Surface Water Sources of Jia–Bharali river basin,North Brahmaputra Plain,India—A Hydrochemical Elucidation

Water Resources - Surface water samples from thirty five sources in the Jia Bharali river basin in north Brahmaputra plain, North East India were analyzed for ten toxic trace elements namely As,...     

Evaluating the impact of climate change in threshold values of thermodynamic indices during pre-monsoon thunderstorm season over Eastern India

Natural Hazards - The present study analyses thermodynamic indices variation over three sites of eastern Indian region: Bhubaneswar, Kolkata and Ranchi, associated with pre-monsoon thunderstorms...     

The role of stratification and initial conditions on the propagation and decay of near-inertial waves on a $$\beta $$ -plane

Ocean Dynamics - In this study, we model the evolution of near-inertial waves (NIWs) under the $$\beta $$ -effect by imposing initial zonal velocity in the mixed layer. We consider various...     

Two-dimensional interpretation of gravity anomalies over sedimentary basins with an exponential decrease of density contrast with depth

The decrease of density contrast with depth in sedimentary basins is approximated by an exponential function. The anomaly equation, in frequency domain, of a prismatic model with an exponential density function is derived. The method has been extended to derive the Fourier transforms of the gravity anomalies of the sedimentary basin, wherein the basin is viewed as vertical prisms placed in juxtaposition. The gravity anomalies of the sedimentary basin are obtained by taking the inverse Fourier transforms. Filon’s method has been extended for calculating accurate inverse Fourier transforms. The accuracy of the method has been tested using a synthetic example. A combination of space and frequency domain methods have been developed for inversion of gravity anomalies over the sedimentary basin. The method has been applied to interpret one synthetic profile and one field profile over the Godavari basin. The method developed in this paper to calculate the inverse Fourier transforms yields continuous spectrum with accurate values. The maximum depth deduced from the gravity anomalies is of the same order as the depth encountered to the basement at the Aswaraopeta borewell.     

Atmospheres of extreme metal-deficient stars

Atmospheric models have been constructed for effective temperatures 4000°, 4500° and 5000° and for hydrogen-to-metal ratios of 1, 10², 10³ and 10⁴ times the solar values, and for surface gravities of 2×10⁴ and 2×10². The effect of metal deficiency on the atmospheric structure of these stars are studied.National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council Postdoctoral Research Associate.     

Nonradial oscillations of models of the generalized Roche series

Nonradial oscillations of certain models of the generalized Roche series have been investigated numerically to further understand the nature of the eigen-values and the eigen-functions of the modes of nonradial oscillations of stellar models.     

Effects of rotation and tidal distortion on the periods of small adiabatic oscillations of the polytropic models of the stars

The averaging technique of Kippenhahn and Thomas (1970) has been used in conjunction with Kopal's method of evaluating various parameters on the Roche equipotentials to determine the effects of rotation and tidal distortions on the periods of small adiabatic radial and nonradial modes of oscillations of polytropic models of the stars.