Some anisotropic dark energy models in Bianchi type-V space-time

The paper deals with Bianchi type V Universe, which has dynamical energy density. We consider Bianchi type V space-time, introducing three different skewness parameters along spatial directions to quantify the deviation of pressure from isotropy. To study the anisotropic nature of the dynamical dark energy, we assume that the skewness parameters are time dependent. It is found that the Universe achieves flatness in quintessence model. The physical behavior of the Universe has been discussed in detail.     

Bulk viscous LRS Bianchi-I Universe with variable G and decaying Λ

The present study deals with spatially homogeneous and totally anisotropic locally rotationally symmetric (LRS) Bianchi type I cosmological model with variable G and Λ in presence of imperfect fluid. To get the deterministic model of Universe, we assume that the expansion (θ) in the model is proportional to shear (σ). This condition leads to A=ℓB ⁿ , where A, B are metric potential. The cosmological constant Λ is found to be decreasing function of time and it approaches a small positive value at late time which is supported by recent Supernovae Ia (SN Ia) observations. Also it is evident that the distance modulus curve of derived model matches with observations perfectly.     

Dark energy model with variable q and ω in LRS Bianchi-II space-time

The present study deals with spatial homogeneous and anisotropic locally rotationally symmetric (LRS) Bianchi-II dark energy model in general relativity. The Einstein’s field equations have been solved exactly by taking into account the proportionality relation between one of the components of shear scalar $(\sigma^{1}_{1})$ and expansion scalar (?), which, for some suitable choices of problem parameters, yields time dependent equation of state (EoS) and deceleration parameter (DP), representing a model which generates a transition of universe from early decelerating phase to present accelerating phase. The physical and geometrical behavior of universe have been discussed in detail.     

Fuzzy Based Approach for Moist Deciduous Forest Identification Using MODIS Temporal Data

Fuzzy based soft classification have been used immensely for handling the mixed pixel and hence to extract the single class of interest. The present research attempts to extract the moist deciduous forest from MODIS temporal data using the Possibilistic c-Means (PCM) soft classification approach. Temporal MODIS (7 dates) data were used to identify moist deciduous forest and temporal AWiFS (7 dates) data were used as reference data for testing. The Simple Ratio (SR), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI), and Transformed Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (TNDVI) were used to generate the temporal vegetation indices for both the MODIS and the AWiFS datasets. It was observed from the research that the MODIS temporal NDVI data set1, which contain the minimum number of images and avoids the temporal images corresponding to the highest frequency stages of onset of greenness (OG) and end of senescence (ES) activity of moist deciduous forest have been found most suitable data set for identification of moist deciduous forest with the maximum fuzzy overall accuracy of 96.731 %.     

Self-similar adiabatic flow headed by a magnetogasdynamic cylindrical shock wave in a rotating non-ideal gas

Similarity solutions are obtained for one-dimensional adiabatic flow behind a magnetogasdynamic cylindrical shock wave propagating in a rotating non-ideal gas in presence of an azimuthal magnetic field. The density of the medium ahead of the shock is assumed to be constant. In order to obtain the similarity solutions the angular velocity of the ambient medium is assumed to be obeying a power law and to be decreasing as the distance from the axis increases. It is found that the similarity solutions exist, in both the cases, when the initial magnetic field is constant or obeying a power law. The effects of an increase in the value of the index for variation of angular velocity of the ambient medium, in the value of the parameter of the non-idealness of the gas and in the strength of the initial magnetic field are obtained.     

Implication and hazard of radiation level in the building materials

The natural radioactivity due to radium, thorium, and potassium in building material samples contribute to the radiation dose received by human beings significantly. It is essential to evaluate the activity levels of these nuclides for the assessment of natural radiation dose. Activity concentrations of the gamma emitting primordial radionuclides ²³²Th, ²²⁶Ra, and ⁴⁰K were measured using high resolution gamma spectrometry technique with high purity germanium (HPGe) detector in building materials: sand, brick, granite, cement and rock, collected from various areas of Gulbarga and Koppal districts. The standard ASTM procedure was followed for the sample preparation. The distribution of radionuclides and variation in activity concentration depend upon the rock formation and the geological properties of the region. The activity of the three radionuclides, ²³²Th, ²²⁶Ra, and ⁴⁰K, were found to be in the range of 3.1–227.1, 1.6–111, and 23.2–1505 Bq/kg, respectively. The dose related radiological parameters were also calculated for all the samples and the observations show that the activity concentrations of the radionuclides are well within the UNSCEAR limits.     

Glacial lakes and glacial lake outburst flood in a Himalayan basin using remote sensing and GIS

Glacial hazards relate to hazards associated with glaciers and glacial lakes in high mountain areas and their impacts downstream. The climatic change/variability in recent decades has made considerable impacts on the glacier life cycle in the Himalayan region. As a result, many big glaciers melted, forming a large number of glacial lakes. Due to an increase in the rate at which ice and snow melted, the accumulation of water in these lakes started increasing. Sudden discharge of large volumes of water with debris from these lakes potentially causes glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) in valleys downstream. Outbursts from glacier lakes have repeatedly caused the loss of human lives as well as severe damage to local infrastructure. Monitoring of the glacial lakes and extent of GLOF impact along the downstream can be made quickly and precisely using remote sensing technique. A number of hydroelectric projects in India are being planned in the Himalayan regions. It has become necessary for the project planners and designers to account for the GLOF also along with the design flood for deciding the spillway capacity of projects. The present study deals with the estimation of GLOF for a river basin located in the Garwhal Himalaya, India. IRS LISSIII data of the years 2004, 2006 and 2008 have been used for glacial lake mapping, and a total of 91 lakes have been found in the year 2008, and out of these, 45 lakes are having area more than 0.01?km². All the lakes have been investigated for vulnerability for potential bursting, and it was found that no lake is vulnerable from GLOF point of view. The area of biggest lake is 0.193, 0.199 and 0.203?km² in the years 2004, 2006 and 2008, respectively. Although no lake is potentially hazardous, GLOF study has been carried out for the biggest lake using MIKE 11 software. A flood of 100-year return period has been considered in addition to GLOF. The flood peak at catchment outlet comes out to be 993.74, 1,184.0 and 1,295.58 cumec due to GLOF; 3,274.74, 3,465.0 and 3,576.58 cumec due to GLOF; and 100-year return flood together considering breach width of 40, 60 and 80?m, respectively.     

CO-Kriging Approach for Cartosat-1 Height Product with ICESat/GLAS Data for Digital Elevation Surface Generation

Nowadays, Geostatistics and its various interpolation techniques have become a major threshold area in the field of research in GIS. In this research work poorly sampled (less accurate height data relative to ICESat/GLAS height data) Cartosat-1 height data has been used with well sampled (more accurate height data relative to Cartosat-1 height data) ICESat/GLAS LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) height point data using Cokriging Interpolation technique, to study the effect of ICESat/GLAS on Cartosat-1 height data. Space borne LiDAR data has led researchers to explore its utilities in many applications. Space borne LiDAR data can be acquired through space borne LiDAR sensors also, like; GLAS (Geoscience Laser Altimeter System) system onboard ICESat (Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite) satellite. In this study, it has been tried to apply Cokriging interpolation on two different sources of data sets, with a common variable (elevation) to generate DES and assessment of this surface has been conducted by DGPS data. After optimizing Cokriging parameters, results of digital elevation surface (DES) generated using Cokriging showed that RMSE has been second least than global polynomial in comparison to Kriging interpolation RMSE after being evaluated by GPS values. So, global polynomial as well as cokriging interpolation technique out performs while comparing with kriging technique for DES generation.     

Evaluation of ground motion selection and modification procedures using synthetic ground motions

This study presents a novel approach for evaluating ground motion selection and modification (GMSM) procedures in the context of probabilistic seismic demand analysis. In essence, synthetic ground motions are employed to derive the benchmark seismic demand hazard curve (SDHC), for any structure and response quantity of interest, and to establish the causal relationship between a GMSM procedure and the bias in its resulting estimate of the SDHC. An example is presented to illustrate how GMSM procedures may be evaluated using synthetic motions. To demonstrate the robustness of the proposed approach, two significantly different stochastic models for simulating ground motions are considered. By quantifying the bias in any estimate of the SDHC, the proposed approach enables the analyst to rank GMSM procedures in their ability to accurately estimate the SDHC, examine the sufficiency of intensity measures employed in ground motion selection, and assess the significance of the conditioning intensity measure in probabilistic seismic demand analysis. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Authors' reply to the discussion by Brendon A. Bradley of ‘A framework for the evaluation of ground motion selection and modification procedures’

In this short communication, we respond to the comments made by Dr Brendon A. Bradley and provide additional context to our paper under discussion.Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.