Fast Transients with the Square Kilometre Array and its Pathfinders: An Indian Perspective

In the rapidly developing field of study of the transient sky, fast radio transients are perhaps the most exciting objects of scrutiny at present. The SKA, with its wide field-of-view and significant improvement in sensitivity over existing facilities, is expected to detect a plethora of fast transients which, in addition to help resolve the mysteries surrounding their nature and origin, will also lead to other interesting applications in astrophysics. We explore some of these possibilities here, and also emphasize the current status and future plans of the Indian community working in this area, in the context of ongoing work and extension of this to the SKA.     

Elemental variations in glacier cryoconites of Indian Himalaya and Spitsbergen,Arctic

Cryoconite samples were collected from two different climatic domains i.e., the Sutri Dhaka glacier, western Himalaya India and Svalbard glaciers, the Spitsbergen, Arctic, to understand the elemental source and elemental deposition patterns. The data of geochemical analysis suggest that the Himalayan cryoconite samples accumulate higher concentrations as compared to the cryoconite samples of the Arctic glaciers. The concentration of lithophile elements (Cs, Li, Rb and U) was recorded higher in the cryoconite holes of the Himalayas, especially, in the lower to the higher parts of the glacier, whereas, lower concentrations were recorded in the Arctic samples. Chalcophile elements in the Himalayan cryoconites are enriched in As and Bi while the Arctic cryoconite samples show a higher concentration of Bi, Pb and As. The higher concentrations are responsible for influencing the ecosystem and in human health related issues. Siderophile elements (Co, Fe, Mn and Ni) show high concentrations in the Himalayan samples, whereas, the Arctic samples show minor variations and low elemental concentration in these elements, respectively. In addition, a few elements, such as Ag, Mg, and Ca show higher concentration in the Himalayan glacier samples. Ca also occurs in high concentrations in Arctic glacier samples. R-mode factor analysis of the Himalayas (Arctic) samples indicate that the elements are distributed in four (three) factors, explaining 89% (90%) of the variance in their elemental distribution. The Factor 1 suggests statistically significant positive loadings for most of the lithophile, chalcophile and siderophile elements of the “Himalayan” and the Arctic cryoconite samples. The sample-wise factor score distribution shows a considerable variation in the sampling locations along the glaciers of both the regions. Factors 2 and 3, demonstrate insignificant loading for most of the elements, except statistically significant positive loading in some of the elements of the both, Himalayan and Arctic “cryoconites”. The higher elemental concentration in the cryoconites of the Himalayan region may be an indicator of the natural processes and/or attributed to the rapid industrialization in the Asian countries.     

Classical Orbital Paramagnetism in Non-equilibrium Steady State

We report the results of our numerical simulation of classical-dissipative dynamics of a charged particle subjected to a non-Markovian stochastic forcing. We find that the system develops a steady-state orbital magnetic moment in the presence of a static magnetic field. Very significantly, the sign of the orbital magnetic moment turns out to be paramagnetic for our choice of parameters, varied over a wide range. This is shown specifically for the case of classical dynamics driven by a Kubo–Anderson type non-Markovian noise. Natural spatial boundary condition was imposed through (1) a soft (harmonic) confining potential, and (2) a hard potential, approximating a reflecting wall. There was no noticeable qualitative difference. What appears to be crucial to the orbital magnetic effect noticed here is the non-Markovian property of the driving noise chosen. Experimental realization of this effect on the laboratory scale, and its possible implications are briefly discussed. We would like to emphasize that the above steady-state classical orbital paramagnetic moment complements, rather than contradicts the Bohr–van Leeuwen (BvL) theorem on the absence of classical orbital diamagnetism in thermodynamic equilibrium.     

Evaluation of NDWI and MNDWI for assessment of waterlogging by integrating digital elevation model and groundwater level

Accurate information on the extent of waterlogging is required for flood prediction, monitoring, relief and preventive measures. The rule-based classification algorithms were used for differentiating waterlogged areas from other ground features using Resourcesat-2 AWiFS satellite imagery (Indian Remote Sensing Satellite with spatial resolution of 56 m). Two spectral indices normalized difference water index (NDWI) and modified normalized difference water index (MNDWI) were used for extracting waterlogged areas in Sri Muktsar Sahib district of Punjab, India. These indices extracted the waterlogged areas (cropped areas inundated with water) but the water features were less enhanced in the NDWI-derived image (when compared with MNDWI-derived image) due to negative values of NDWI and, mixing of water with built up features. The water features were more enhanced with MNDWI and the values of MNDWI were positive for water features mixed with vegetation. The overall accuracy of waterlogged areas extracted from the MNDWI image was 96.9% with the Kappa coefficient of 0.89. The digital elevation model (DEM) was extracted from ASTER-GDEM. The relationships among depth to the water table recorded before the incessant rain in the region, DEM and classified MNDWI images explained the differences in the extent of waterlogging in various directions of the study area. These results suggest that MNDWI can be used to better delineate water features mixed with vegetation compared to NDWI.     

Dynamic analysis of dams with nonlinear slipjoints

A nonlinear, slip-joint element for analyzing the effect of discontinuities on a concrete, arch dam's seismic response is developed. The joint element has been incorporated into a finite-element-based, solution for predicting dynamic structural response. This joint model, plus the numerical procedure incorporated into the incremental solution, models inter-element impact across a joint when adjacent, structural elements separate and later collide. Collision is incorporated into the incremental analysis by calculating the exchange of momentum and energy with the equations describing eccentric, rigid-body impact. Joint material's force-deflection relations are multi-linear with hysteresis. Coulomb friction is also modeled. The joint element and numerical procedure have been tested with two models. The first is a segmented arch of seven, straight beam elements connected to one another. The arch dam has been experimentally tested. Analytical results are compared with experimental results from the sealed model. Second is a rectangular plate model subject to lateral base accelerations. One horizontal edge is fixed and the opposite edge is free. The vertical edges may be fixed or connected to the base by joint elements.     

Integration of hydrological factors and demarcation of groundwater prospect zones: insights from remote sensing and GIS techniques

The study demonstrates the potential of geographical information system and statistical-based approaches to identify the hydrological processes and demarcate the groundwater prospect zones of the Gangolli basin, Karnataka State, India. The basin is situated in humid tropical climate and influenced by three major rivers viz. Kollur (6th order stream), Chakra (6th order stream) and Haladi (7th order stream) which cover an area of ~1,512 km² and cumulative length of ~84 km. Various thematic maps—drainage, geomorphology, geology, slope, soil, lineament and lineament density—were prepared using Survey of India topographic maps, Indian remote sensing (IRS-P6) images and other published maps. Hydrogeomorphologic characteristics were correlated with different morphometric parameters to identify the hydrological processes and demarcate the groundwater potential zones of the basin. All the hydrological units and morphometric parameters were assigned suitable weightages according to their relative importance to groundwater potentiality to identify the most deficit/surplus zones of groundwater. Based on hydrological characteristics, integrated thematic maps reveal that ~14 % (~217 km²) of basin area falls under very good, ~32 % (~486 km²) under good, ~23 % (~353 km²) under moderate, and 30 % (~443 km²) under poor zones for groundwater potential. From the sub-basin-wise prioritisation, it has been inferred that SB-III scored highest groundwater potential, followed by SB-X. Result of morphometric analyses with the hydrologic parameters indicates that ~99 % area of SB-III and SB-X are under very good to moderate groundwater potential zone. This study clearly demonstrates that hydrological parameters in relation with morphometric analyses are useful to demarcate the prospect zones of groundwater.     

Validation of RMR-based support design using roof bolts by numerical modeling for underground coal mine of Monnet Ispat, Raigarh, India—a case study

In underground coal mines, a lot of major fatalities have occurred due to roof fall in the newly developed faces or galleries of coal mines during the development or production of coal. There are around 500 underground coalmines in India, and continuous production or development or exploitation of coal depends upon the stability of the gateways developed in the form of galleries, which are supported in such a manner so that they can last up to that period, unless it has been finally extracted out with an operation called depillaring. A system of support design with roof bolting, resin bolting, and cable bolting for the aforesaid galleries is presently being decided on the basis of rock mass rating (RMR). The same support design has been attempted with the use of 3D numerical modeling technique—a tool nowadays very extensively used in geotechnical engineering to predict the stability of structures to be built or for the structures which are built against nature, i.e., underground mines. In this study, the support design system on the basis of RMR has also been validated with a numerical modeling technique for three locations of Monnet Ispat underground coalmine. After the study, it has been found that the numerical modeling technique can give better design of support system in underground coal mines in comparison with RMR-based support design system, and it will also play a major role in reducing the total cost incurred in coal exploitation from the underground coal mines.     

Seismic fragility assessment on the post-mainshock damaged shield building considering aftershock duration and damage ratio

In general, historical earthquake events have shown that a strong mainshock might trigger several aftershocks, which can cause additional damage and seismic risk to the structures. This work tries to investigate the aftershock duration on seismic fragility of the shield building in consideration of initial damage. For this purpose, a three-dimensional finite element model of shield building is established using a concrete damage plastic model. A series of mainshock-aftershock sequences with different durations are selected and scaled to match the target spectrum. A damage ratio of tensile damage is developed to evaluate the additional damage caused by mainshock and aftershocks. Aftershocks with three durations, namely, 20 s, 40 s, and 60 s, are used to study the effect of initial damage levels and aftershock durations on the accumulative damage and seismic fragility of the shield building. The results indicate that those aftershocks with longer durations may wreak more worse cumulative damage to the post-mainshock damaged structure and significantly affect the probability of exceedance. It is also indicated that the initial damage levels have a significant impact on the fragility curves of the shield building. This work can directly incorporate the influence of mainshock-damaged states into the fragility assessment for Nuclear Power Plant.