Use of remote sensing in characterization and management of Dhamni micro-watershed of Chandrapur district of Maharashtra

Soil resource characterization of Dhamni micro-watershed in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra was carried out using IRS-1D LISS-III data in conjunction with field survey and ancillary data. The study indicates that nearly 84.2 per cent of the total geographical area of the watershed is under cultivation. Forest (mainly degraded) occupy only 4.5 per cent area Whereas wasteland with scrub cover 9.4 per cent area of the watershed. Nine soil series were tentatively identified and mapped as soil series association in to five mapping units. These soils belong to order Inceptisol, Vertisol and Mollisol. Except the soils of wasteland with scrub, other soils are moderately suitable for pigeonpea and soybean and have average to good productivity.     

Numerical modelling of deep sea air-lift

Deep sea air-lifting of solid particles from depth of 1600 m is simulated with a mathematical model of the three-phase flow in an upward pipe. The computations are carried out for an axisymmetric domain in a transient way. Phase distributions, pressure and velocity profiles together with flow rates for all phases are presented and analysed. The influence of the pipe diameter on the air-lift efficiency was studied for air-lift pipes of different lengths and found to be significant. The lifting efficiency increases with the increase of the pipe diameter due to the reduction of the wall friction influence on the flow. In addition, the efficiency also increases with the increase of the solid particles volume fraction at the inlet. The presented numerical model can be utilized during various stages of the design of the air-lift pumps to help answer fundamental questions on the process, and during their operation to select optimal process parameters and to address possible problems.     

Use of SPOT 5 and IKONOS imagery for mapping biocenoses in a Tunisian Coastal Lagoon (Mediterranean Sea)

Mapping marine biocenoses is an efficient method for providing useful data for the management and conservation of Mediterranean lagoons. Fused images from two satellites, SPOT 5 and IKONOS, were tested as management tools for identifying specific ecosystems in the El Bibane lagoon, situated in southern Tunisia near the Libyan border. The objectives of this study were to provide a precise map of the entire El Bibane lagoon using fused images from SPOT 5 and to compare fused images from SPOT 5 and IKONOS over a test-area. After applying a supervised classification, pixels are automatically classified in four classes: low seagrass cover, high seagrass cover, superficial mobile sediments and deep mobile sediments. The maps of the lagoon revealed and confirmed an extremely wide distribution of seagrass meadows within the lagoon (essentially Cymodocea nodosa; 19 546 ha) and a large area of mobile sediments more or less parallel to the shore (3 697 ha). A direct comparison of overall accuracy between SPOT 5 over the entire area, SPOT 5 over the test-area and IKONOS over the test-area revealed that these tools provided accurate mapping of the lagoon environment (83.25%, 85.91% and 73.41% accuracy, respectively). The SPOT 5 images provided greater overall accuracy than the IKONOS image, but did not take into account the heterogeneous spatial structure of the seagrasses and sediments present in the lagoon environment. Although IKONOS imagery provided lower overall accuracy than SPOT 5, it proved a very useful tool for the mapping of heterogeneous structures as it enabled the patchiness of formations to be better taken into account. The use of SPOT 5 and IKONOS fused images appears to be very promising for completing the mapping of lagoons in other regions and countries of the Mediterranean Sea.     

长江口及邻近海域表层沉积物中重金属元素含量分布及其影响因素

根据2003和2006年长江口及邻近海域表层沉积物样品的粒度组成和元素铬、铜、镍、铅、锌、铝、钙和锶的含量,分析了重金属元素含量的分布特征,探讨了含量的变化趋势及其对人类活动的响应。自2003年三峡工程一期蓄水完成到2006年6月,长江输沙量逐年减少,长江口海域沉积物中黏土的百分含量明显增加,但是沉积物分布的总体格局并没有发生明显的变化。重金属元素大多在泥质区沉积物中富集,高值区沿岸线呈带状分布,在最大浑浊带和口外羽状锋处达到峰值。在长江大量物质输入的背景下,研究区沉积物中重金属元素含量相对其他类似河口较低。河流的陆源颗粒输入、水动力条件、细颗粒物质的吸附以及絮凝作用是控制沉积物中重金属元素含量分布的主要因素,氧化还原条件也对重金属元素含量变化有一定的影响。人类活动(重大工程的建设和人为污染)对长江口外泥质区中重金属元素含量有重要影响,尤其对铅和锌的含量及其分布的影响显著。自2003年三峡工程一期蓄水以来,长江口海域表层沉积物中重金属元素沉积机制未有明显的变化,但是重金属元素含量有逐渐降低的趋势。     

Causes of rockfalls in Al-Huwayshah area,Yemen

According to topography of Yemen,most areas and villages are located at obligated crest,toe of mountain and under cliffs.Therefore Al-Huwayshah consisting of Tawilah sandstone group is characterized by steep slope reach to 90° in some areas.This area is affected by strong tectonic movements and faults that occurred during the geological epochs.This effect enhances to find out fractures and joints as well as the rocks become brittle and ready to slide depending on the position of area.And there are some frac...     

Analysis of petroleum hydrocarbons in mangrove sediments of Red Sea of Yemen

A field work has been carried out to identify the occurrence of oil and oil products pollution in mangrove sediment from Red Sea of Yemen. The concentration of total petroleum hydrocarbons is from 700ng/g at Kamaran Island station to 400 ng/g at Al-Hodiedah station, and the total organic carbon （TOC） in samples ranges from 0. 07% at Dhubab station to 0. 03% at Kamaran Island station. This pollution is as a result of localized oil pollution and/or heavy ship traffic in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.     

Photoelectric photometry of comets in the system of standard IHW filters and the special case of comet P/Halley

Magnitudes of comets P/Giacobini-Zinner (1984e), P/Halley (1982i), P/Hartley-Good (1985 1), and Thiele (1985 m) in the bandpasses of the standard IHW comet filters are presented. For comet P/Halley production rates for CN, C₃, C₂, and solids were derived. For the gaseous components these show a strong dependence on heliocentric distance. The dependence is less steep for the solids which may be due to relatively pronounced backscattering properties in case of comet P/Halley. During one night (1985 Dec. 22/23) intensity profiles along three sections through the coma of comet P/Halley were measured. Compared with theoretical profiles they show a global anisotropy of the coma and possibly local structure.     

Phase transitions in perturbed stiff-fluid Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmological models

We consider one-soliton perturbations of a flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) cosmological model, with an ideal fluid with pressure equal to the energy density (stiff fluid), in the case where the “pole trajectory” parameter is negative, introducing thereby singularities along certain null hypersurfaces. Starting with a metric that approaches asymptotically the FR W background, we show that it is possible to construct an extension through these hypersurfaces such that the energy momentum tensor T_ab is finite and satisfies the energy conditions. The extension is only C₁, providing a sort of “shock front” with continuity in T_ab, that has an associated phase transition from null dust to stiff fluid, the transition being of the form described by CHANDRASEKHAR and XANTHOPOULOS.     

Sunspot Observations Made by Hallaschka During the Dalton Minimum

We present and analyse the sunspot observations performed by Franz I.C. Hallaschka in 1814 and 1816. These solar observations were carried out during the so-called Dalton minimum, around the maximum phase of Solar Cycle 6. These records are very valuable because they allow us to complete observational gaps in the collection of sunspot group numbers, improving the coverage for this epoch. We have analysed and compared the observations made by Hallaschka with the records made by other contemporary observers. Unfortunately, the analysis of the sunspot areas and positions showed that they are too inaccurate for scientific use. We conclude, however, that the sunspot counts made by Hallaschka are similar to those made by other astronomers of that time. The observations by Hallaschka confirm a low level of solar activity during the Dalton minimum.