Equivalent width of molecular lines in stars

The expected equivalent widths of the individual rotational lines of the Lyman and Werner bands of the hydrogen molecule from the solar atmosphere have been calculated. These results are used to predict what one expects to observe with a specified wavelength bandpass. These are compared with the observation of Dupree and Reeves.     

Biogeochemistry and paleoclimate variability during the Holocene: a record from Mansar Lake,Lesser Himalaya

Investigation of biogeochemistry and amino acids on a 30-m-long core from Mansar Lake has thrown light on palaeoclimate variability during the Holocene period. The C/N ratio between 6 and 10 with some deviations and δ13C mostly between −20 and −22‰ in the shallow core, as well as a C/N ratio greater than 13 reaching from 19 to 20 and correspondingly lower δ13C of –28‰ in the deeper core suggest an aquatic source of carbon in the former and a cellulose-rich land plant source in the latter. This is supported by the abrupt increase in organic carbon content in the deeper core compared to the shallow core, which indicates a hot and wet climatic regime during the early Holocene and dry and cold during the late Holocene period. The amino acid data AA-C/C% and AA-N/N% are higher in shallow sediments compared to deeper sediments, indicating an aquatic plant source in the shallow core and greater supply of land plant sources in the deeper core. The lower percentage of the non-protein amino acids β-alanine (ALA) and γ-amino-butyric acid in the shallow core compared to the deeper core indicates different sources of organic matter in the lake basin. The higher amino acid ratio Asp/β-Ala (16.99 av.) and Glu/γ-Aba (18.18 av.) in the shallow core and lower ratios (10.32 and 12.41 av.) in the deeper core, and Asp/Glu (1.52 av.) and β-Ala/γ-Aba (1.61 av.) ratios in the former, which are potential indicators of the nature of the organic matter, are higher in the shallow core relative to the deeper core (1.33 and 1.23 av.), indicating relative biodegradation of organic matter in deeper sediments. It has been observed that the organic matter associated with the dry season is relatively less biodegraded, as evidenced from their higher ratios, and is more biodegraded in the wet season as their ratios are lower in the river sediments. In the absence of a bacterial contribution of organic matter from the soil source in this lake, since Mansar Lake is a non-drainage type, it is envisaged that the climatic variation may be responsible for biodegradation in the deeper core sediments. Therefore, the C/N ratio and δ13C values supported by amino acid data, the latter being significant in revealing primary productivity and a terrestrial source of organic matter, suggest a hot and wet climatic regime during the early Holocene (ca. 7580 bp) and a dry and cold in the late Holocene period (ca. 4050 bp).     

Infrared emission from X-ray sources

The infrared emission from some X-ray sources is attributed to proton—cyclotron masering process operating near the polar regions of an accreting neutron star in a binary system.     

Some features of the periods contributing specified percentages of rainfall to annual total in Kerala,India

Based on daily rainfall data over a period of 80 years (1901–1980) taken at 75 stations, this paper reports interannual and long term fluctuations of the following parameters of the periods contributing each of 2, 5, 10, 20–90 and 95% rainfall to annual total over each of North Kerala and South Kerala rainfall subregions of India:

Assessment of distortion in watermarked geospatial vector data using different wavelets

With the rapid growth of the Internet, the copyright protection problem occurs frequently, and unauthorized copying and distributing of geospatial data threaten the investments of data producers. Digital watermarking is a possible solution to solve this issue. However, watermarking causes modifications in the original data resulting in distortion and affects accuracy, which is very important to geospatial vector data. This article provides distortion assessment of watermarked geospatial data using wavelet-based invisible watermarking. Eight wavelets at different wavelet decomposition levels are used for accuracy evaluation with the help of error measures such as maximum error and mean square error. Normalized correlation is used as a similarity index between original and extracted watermark. It is observed that the increase in the strength of embedding increases visual degradation. Haar wavelet outperforms the other wavelets, and the third wavelet decomposition level is proved to be optimal level for watermarking.     

A simple surface energy balance to derive evapotranspiration from remote sensing and conventional meteorological observations

Monthly mean measurements of surface temperature, albedo and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) of NOAA AVHRR are processed for Maharashtra. These data are used in combination with monthly average surface meteorological observations in a surface energy balance model to estimate monthly mean actual evapotranspiration (AET) from different climatic zones of Maharasthra,. India. AET is estimated between April and December months for two contrasting monsoons in 1992 and 1995. Estimates reasonably agree with pan evaporation data during growing season and with AET estimated from water balance procedure. AET is low in semi-arid dry land areas of central Maharashtra and significantly high in the humid-perhumid western ghat region and subhumid eastern Maharashtra region. The modeled evapotranspiration show the influence of seasonal vegetation in different climatic zones from the region. The method can be used to obtain large-scale evapotranspiration with minimum ground observations.