Evaluation of irrigation management in a Canal Command area based on Agrometeorology and Remote Sensing

Efficacy of irrigation management of wheat and mustard crops grown in Western Yamuna Canal Command area was determined in the present study from agro-climatic data merged with Maximum Likelihood Classified (MXL) satellite image and from irrigation scheduling efficiencies obtained through FAO model CROPWAT. For computing irrigation scheduling efficiencies, amount of water supplied at different growth stages, soil water depletion and crop water need have been taken into account. Agro-meteorological data in combination with MXL classified crop map approximated the deficiency of applied irrigation amount compared to requirement. Irrigations at 35-80 Days After Sowing (DAS) for two times of applications, 30-60-90 DAS for three, 21-50-80-110 DAS in case of four and 20-45-70-90-120 DAS in case of five irrigations have yielded better scheduling efficiencies for wheat than other times of applications in all soil associations.     

Landuse/Landcover change detection through remote sensing and its climatic implications in the godavari delta region

Interpretation of multi-date satellite imagery has revealed changes in land use/land cover pattern in the Godavari deltaic region during the past 26 years. The area under intensive agriculture has increased from 1459 to 3500 km² and the extent of wetland from 368 to 648 km² during the period 1973-1999, while the seasonal fallow has decreased by 2321 km². Analysis of the climatic data of 1970-1998 from different stations covering the entire 5100 km² area of the delta indicated that the day time temperatures have decreased by 0.2° C to 0.7° C, while the night time temperatures have increased by 0.5° C to 0.6° C during the past three decades. At the same time the rainfall has increased by about 75 to 479 mm. These trends in the climatic parameters arc attributed to the increased vegetation cover and wetland extent in the Godavari deltaic region.     

Topographic effects on telluric field measurements

Using the Schwartz-Christofel transformation and numerical integration, the effect of a sloping topographic irregularity on the telluric field measurements in a sedimentary basin is estimated. Results show that in the vicinity of the topographic feature, the distortion introduced would increase with the angle of inclination of the sloping feature. It is noticed that, for moderate inclinations (20°–50°), the telluric field measured near the topographic feature is within 10% of its undisturbed value for distance greater than 0.1H–0.3H from the topographic feature, whereH is the thickness of the sedimentary column overlying the resistive basement. Suitable charts are prepared to aid as means to arrive at the estimates of errors for various angles of inclinations of such topographic feature and also to help in formulating approximate rules of thumb for selection of station sites in a field survey to minimize such topographic effects.     

Effect of Single Species or Mixed Algal (Chlorella vulgaris and Scenedesmus acutus) Diets on the Life Table Demography of Brachionus calyciflorus and Brachionus patulus (Rotifera: Brachionidae)

We tested the effect of two algal diets (Chlorella vulgaris at 1 · 10⁶ cells mL^?1and Scenedesmus acutus at 0.57 · 10⁶ cells mL^?1) offered alone or in combination (50 % each, 75 % or 25 % of either alga), at a total dry weight of 14.2 μg mL^?1on the life table demography of two rotifer species, Brachionus calyciflorus and Brachionus patulus. Data on fecundity indicated that, for any given algal food type or combination of food types, B. calyciflorus had a higher rate of offspring production than B. patulus. Regardless of the rotifer species, the average lifespan varied from 4 to 6 days. The gross and net reproductive rates were higher for B. calyciflorus than for B. patulus. These values ranged from 45 to 71 offspring female^?1 lifespan^?1 and 15 to 24 offspring female^?1 lifespan^?1, respectively, for B. calyciflorus. Generation times (around 4…5 days) were similar for both rotifer species in most of the treatments. Whatever the algal food combination, the rate of population increase (d^?1) of B. patulus was less than half (i.e. 45 %) of that for B. calyciflorus. The observed differences in the life history variables of Brachionus probably explain species‐specific adaptations to the changing phytoplankton composition occurring seasonally in natural waterbodies.     

Physical constraints in engineering seismic hazard analysis

In engineering seismic hazard probabilistic analysis, physical constraints are generally overlooked. We formulate such constraints for the general case of a site within an annular seismogenic zone. This configuration provides a first approximation of seismic hazard analysis within a broad zone undergoing crustal deformation; such zones are a common expression of continental tectonics. Applications are restricted to medium size earthquakes (M_s < 7). The formulation is applied to two cases reflecting the mid-plate (case I) and plate boundary (case II) seismotectonic environments. It is found that, for a given strain rate and for an upper bound magnitude of 6 3/4, the extreme hazard in both the environments is the same but of different character. In the plate boundary example, it is associated with widespread ground deformation while in the mid-plate example, it involves more intense ground motion. On the other hand, if the upper bound magnitude is 5 3/4, the extreme hazard is likely to be an order of magnitude less in case I than in case II. Moreover, when the extreme hazard is associated with singular conditions generated by a single fault, the assumption of a Poissonian process may not be safe for earthquake resistant design decisions.     

Split-collar, tensile test grips for short rock cores

A simple test facility for the determination of the tensile strength of rocks by the direct-pull method is described. It is based on the use of two split-collar grips suitable for the testing of even very short rock cores. Full details of the tensile test grips are presented. The grips do not require the use of bonding media, either on the cores or in the grips, and obviate excessive stress concentration at the gripping ends. The results obtained due to the use of the grips on a number of granites, schists, dolomites and vein quartz samples are presented and compared with the Brazilian test results.     

Longshore grain size trends in the Kakinada-Mulapeta Beach,east coast of India

Shore-normal and shore-parallel variations in grain size statistics of beach sand have been studied over a period of one year along the Kakinada-Mulapeta coast. The southern beaches of this coast have been accretionary while the northern ones erosional since 125 years. The grain size gradings, beach and nearshore processes help in identifying (i) the Groins-fishing harbour beach influenced predominantly by the tidal regime. (ii) the Mulapeta-Vakalapudi beach influenced by refracted wave regime and (iii) the Vakalapudi-fishing harbour beach affected by both wave and tidal regimes at relatively subdued levels.     

The Kinematics, Physical Condition and Magnetic Field of the W3 Irs5 Region

We have independently investigated water masers associated with the star-forming region W3 IRS5 with the VLBA. Imai et al., found that the maser 3-D motions exhibit outflows, which likely originate from two of the hyper-compact HII regions in this source. Sarma et al., have detected the Zeeman effect in water masers toward W3 IRS5 and measured line-of-sight magnetic field strengths of between 14 and 42 mG. The directions of maser linear polarization are well aligned in the whole maser region and perpendicular to the estimated magnetic field. These polarimetric results are consistent with an hourglass model of the magnetic field in W3 IRS5. Imai et al., also have analyzed the microstructures found in the individual maser features (1AU), which exhibit the fractal fashion and express turbulence on very small scales. Together, we have demonstrated that observations of water masers enable us to comprehensively enhance our understanding of the early stages of the formation of massive stars in clusters.     

Equations for the Estimation of Strong Ground Motions from Shallow Crustal Earthquakes Using Data from Europe and the Middle East: Vertical Peak Ground Acceleration and Spectral Acceleration

This article presents equations for the estimation of vertical strong ground motions caused by shallow crustal earthquakes with magnitudes M_w 5 and distance to the surface projection of the fault less than 100km. These equations were derived by weighted regression analysis, used to remove observed magnitude-dependent variance, on a set of 595 strong-motion records recorded in Europe and the Middle East. Coefficients are included to model the effect of local site effects and faulting mechanism on the observed ground motions. The equations include coefficients to model the observed magnitude-dependent decay rate. The main findings of this study are that: short-period ground motions from small and moderate magnitude earthquakes decay faster than the commonly assumed 1/r, the average effect of differing faulting mechanisms is similar to that observed for horizontal motions and is not large and corresponds to factors between 0.7 (normal and odd) and 1.4 (thrust) with respect to strike-slip motions and that the average long-period amplification caused by soft soil deposits is about 2.1 over those on rock sites.