Use of shredded tyre waste in improving the geotechnical properties of expansive black cotton soil

In recent years, geotechnical engineers are using tyre waste to alter the properties of soil for providing sustainable solutions to complex engineering problems. It is noted that black cotton soil, which is expansive in nature, covers a major portion of the Indian sub-continent, such as the Deccan plateau, Malwa plateau and a portion of Gujarat and poses challenging problems to infrastructural development in the region. In the present study, authors have characterised the geotechnical properties of black cotton soil, which is partially replaced with 4.75 mm passing – 2 mm retained (coarse fraction) and 2.0 mm passing - 75 micron retained (fine fraction) shredded tyre waste. The results of the experimental studies clearly show that partial replacement of black cotton soil with shredded tyre waste alters the geotechnical properties favourable to engineering applications and greatly reduces the swelling potential of the black cotton soil. It is noted that instead of fine fraction (2.0–0.075 mm), replacement with coarse fraction (4.75–2.00 mm) of shredded tyre waste can better be used for light weight fill behind the retaining walls as well as for embankment construction as it helps in reducing swelling pressure as well as improving the strength properties.     

Precision pulsar timing with the ORT and the GMRT and its applications in pulsar astrophysics

Radio pulsars show remarkable clock-like stability, which make them useful astronomy tools in experiments to test equation of state of neutron stars and detecting gravitational waves using pulsar timing techniques. A brief review of relevant astrophysical experiments is provided in this paper highlighting the current state-of-the-art of these experiments. A program to monitor frequently glitching pulsars with Indian radio telescopes using high cadence observations is presented, with illustrations of glitches detected in this program, including the largest ever glitch in PSR B0531+21. An Indian initiative to discover sub-\(\mu \)Hz gravitational waves, called Indian Pulsar Timing Array (InPTA), is also described briefly, where time-of-arrival uncertainties and post-fit residuals of the order of \(\mu \)s are already achievable, comparable to other international pulsar timing array experiments. While timing the glitches and their recoveries are likely to provide constraints on the structure of neutron stars, InPTA will provide upper limits on sub-\(\mu \)Hz gravitational waves apart from auxiliary pulsar science. Future directions for these experiments are outlined.     

Towards a Flux-Partitioning Procedure Based on the Direct Use of High-Frequency Eddy-Covariance Data

Scanlon and Sahu (Water Resour Res 44(10):W10418, 2008) proposed an interesting method to estimate assimilation, respiration, evaporation and transpiration directly using high-frequency eddy-covariance measurements. In this note we critically revise this method and, in particular, using the Descartes’ rule of sign, we show that one branch of solutions can be directly neglected reducing the analytical complexity of the procedure. We also discuss the stability of the results of the method with respect to the input parameters, especially to the water-use efficiency.     

Estimate of Ablation Rate of Glacier Ice under a Supraglacial Debris Layer

The ablation rate under a debris layer is very difficult to measure directly at debris-covered glaciers, because the surface is highly heterogeneous, and the ablation rate varies tremendously from place to place. Heat budget considerations with a debris layer on top of glacier ice suggested that 'thermal resistance' of the debris layer could be estimated from surface temperature and the heat fluxes at the debris surface, and the ablation rate of the underlying glacier ice from the thermal resistance and meteorological data. The method was tested at the Lirung Glacier in Langtang Valley, Nepal Himalayas, using the thermal band of LANDSAT satellite for estimating surface temperature distribution of the debris top surface. The amount of melt water thus estimated was compatible with the observed discharge data from the glacier basin for periods of the monsoon season in 1985 and the pre-monsoon to the monsoon season in 1996. The investigation also revealed that the amount of discharge was much larger than the amount of precipitation over the basin, and it was suggested that the melt water from the debris-covered glacier contributes significantly to the river flow as a result of the shrinkage of the glacier.     

Trend analysis for rainfall in Delhi and Mumbai, India

Urbanisation has burdened cities with many problems associated with growth and the physical environment. Some of the urban locations in India are becoming increasingly vulnerable to natural hazards related to precipitation and flooding. Thus it becomes increasingly important to study the characteristics of these events and their physical explanation. This work studies rainfall trends in Delhi and Mumbai, the two biggest Metropolitan cities of Republic of India, during the period from 1951 to 2004. Precipitation data was studied on basis of months, seasons and years, and the total period divided in the two different time periods of 1951–1980 and 1981–2004 for detailed analysis. Long-term trends in rainfall were determined by Man-Kendall rank statistics and linear regression. Further this study seeks for an explanation for precipitation trends during monsoon period by different global climate phenomena. Principal component analysis and Singular value decomposition were used to find relation between southwest monsoon precipitation and global climatic phenomena using climatic indices. Most of the rainfall at both the stations was found out to be taking place in Southwest monsoon season. The analysis revealed great degree of variability in precipitation at both stations. There is insignificant decrease in long term southwest monsoon rainfall over Delhi and slight significant decreasing trends for long term southwest monsoon rainfall in Mumbai. Decrease in average maximum rainfall in a day was also indicated by statistical analysis for both stations. Southwest monsoon precipitation in Delhi was found directly related to Scandinavian Pattern and East Atlantic/West Russia and inversely related to Pacific Decadal Oscillation, whereas precipitation in Mumbai was found inversely related to Indian ocean dipole, El Ni?o- Southern Oscillation and East Atlantic Pattern.