Modeling of a jointed rock mass under triaxial conditions

One of the most important aspects of designing a structure on or in a rock mass is based on the strength response of a jointed rock mass. Understanding this important aspect, the present study was undertaken to understand the strength response of a jointed rock mass with the help of a finite difference package FLAC^3D. In the present work, an attempt has been made to understand the effect of discontinuity angle on the failure mode and strength of the rock mass. For this purpose, stress and displacement in the model were studied and various stress–strain histories were recorded at constant strain loading rate. Rock discontinuity plays a critical and vital role to understand physico-mechanical characteristics of a rock mass. It has wider application in the rock excavation engineering, e.g., caverns, tunnels, slope stability, dams, etc. Simulated rock results are compared with the analytically calculated results of the jointed rock mass and found in good agreement.     

Terrestrial heat flow in various parts of India

Results of heat flow studies made in different parts of India including Kolar Gold Field, Cuddapah basin, Singhbhum thrust zone, Aravalli mountain system of Precambrian age, Godavary valley of Mesozoic age and Cambay basin of Cenozoic age are discussed. Heat flow has been found to be low in the southern part of the Preambrian shield. Relatively higher values have been obtained along the northeastern (Singhbhum) and the northwestern parts of the shield (Aravallies). High heat flow has been found along the southeastern part of the Godavary valley and the Cambay basin. The correlation of heat flow with geology and tectonic history in the respective areas is discussed.     

Sugarcane crop identification from LISS IV data using ISODATA,MLC, and indices based decision tree approach

Image classification is one of the crucial techniques in detecting the crops from remotely sensed data. Crop identification and discrimination provide an important basis for many agricultural applications with various purposes, such as cropping pattern analysis, acreage estimation, and yield estimation. Accurate and faster estimation of crop area is very essential for projecting yearly agriculture production for deciding agriculture policies. Remote sensing is a technique that allows mapping of large areas in a fast and economical way. In many applications of remote sensing, a user is often interested in identifying the specific crop only while other classes may be of no interest. Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS-P6) LISS IV sensor image of spatial resolution 5.8 m has been used to identify the sugarcane crop for the Chhapar village of Muzaffarnagar District, India. Classification of satellite data is one of the primary steps for information extraction for crop land identification. In recent years, decision tree approach to image analysis has been developed for the assessment and improvement of traditional statistically based image classification. In this study, ISODATA, MLC, and vegetation indices based decision tree approaches are used for classifying LISS IV imagery. The 11 vegetation index images have been generated for decision tree classification. All the three methods are compared and it is found that the best performance is given by the decision tree method. Vegetation indices based decision tree method for sugarcane classification, the user’s accuracy, producer’s accuracy, overall accuracy, and kappa coefficient were found 88.17, 86.59, and 87.93% and 0.86 respectively.     

Modeling the effects of controlled drainage at a watershed scale using SWATDRAIN

The recently developed SWATDRAIN model was employed to assess the impact of controlled drainage on the water table dynamics, subsurface drainage, and surface runoff in an agricultural watershed in Ontario, Canada. Controlled drainage was defined with a depth of 1.0 m to restrict flow at the drain outlet to maintain the water table at 0.5 m below the surface level during the winter (November–April) and at 0.6 m during the summer (June–August) months. The effects of the absence, or implementation, of drainage water management were predicted for the 3-year period of 1991–1993. Implementing controlled drainage resulted in a 16 % reduction in the mean annual drain flow, while increasing surface runoff by as much as 71 %. This indicates that overall watershed hydrology could be significantly impacted by the implementation of controlled drainage. This research demonstrates the SWATDRAIN model’s ability to predict the controlled drainage in small agricultural watersheds.     

Simplified SMA-inspired 1-parameter SCS-CN model for runoff estimation

This study proposes a simplified 1-parameter SCS-CN model (M5) based on Mishra-Singh (2002) model and soil moisture accounting (SMA) procedure for surface runoff estimation and compares its performance with the existing SCS-CN method (SCS, 1956) (M1), Michel 1-P model (Water Resour Res 41:1-6, 2005) (M2), Sahu 1-P model (Hydrol Process 21:2872-2881, 2007) (M3), and Ajmal et al. model (J Hydrol 530:623-633, 2015) (M4) using large rainfall–runoff dataset of 48,763 events from123 USDA-ARS watersheds. The performance of models was evaluated using three statistical error indices such as Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE), root mean square error (RMSE), percentage bias (PBIAS), and rank and grading system (RGS). Based on the results obtained, the models can be ranked as follows: M5?>?M4?>?M3?>?M1?>?M2, i.e., model M5 outperformed all the remaining four models M1–M4 and hence is recommended for field applications.     

Eddy correlation measurements of CO2, latent heat,and sensible heat fluxes over a crop surface

Eddy correlation equipment was used to measure mass and energy fluxes over a soybean crop. A rapid response CO₂ sensor, a drag anemometer, a Lyman-alpha hygrometer and a fine wire thermocouple were used to sense the fluctuating quantities.Diurnal fluxes of sensible heat, latent heat and CO₂ were calculated from these data. Energy budget closure was obtained by summing the sensible and latent heat fluxes determined by eddy correlation which balanced the sum of net radiation and soil heat flux. Peak daytime CO₂ fluxes were near 1.0 mg m^–2 (ground area) s^–1.The eddy correlation technique was also employed in this study to measure nocturnal CO₂ fluxes caused by respiration from plants, soil, and roots. These CO₂ fluxes ranged from - 0.1 to - 0.25 mg m^–2s^–1.From the data collected over mature soybeans, a relationship between CO₂ flux and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) was developed. The crop did not appear to be light-saturated at PAR flux densities < 1800 Ei m^–2 s^–1. The light compensation point was found to be about 160 Ei m^–2 s^–1.Published as Paper No. 7402, Journal Series, Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station. The work reported here was conducted under Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station Project 27-003 and Regional Research Project 11–33.Post-doctoral Research Associate, Professor and Professor, respectively. Center for Agricultural Meteorology and Climatology, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583-0728.     

Analysis of Folding in the Proterozoic Sedimentary Sequence of Bagalkot Group Exposed around Yadwad,N Karnataka,India: a Study Based on Remote Sensing Techniques and Field Investigations

The deformed sedimentary sequence exposed in the core of Precambrian Kaladgi Basin, North Karnataka India, has given rise to prominent regional basinal structures with intervening anticlines. Deformation ceases away from the core part. The basinal structures are recognised on satellite images, aerial photographs and toposheets because of resistant segmented ridges of quartzite. A closure view of Bhuvan images around Yadwad village, North Karnataka, the core portion of Kaladgi Basin also revealed presence of folded geometry in the older carbonates of Bagalkot Group seen along the margins of the regional folds. Though folding in the sequence exposed in the region around Yadwad and further west is described by many authors, no detailed analysis of structures is available in published literature. An attempt is made here to map, analyse and integrate the structures in carbonates of Yadwad region on different scales observed in the field to find out their possible origin. It is suggested that the structures are syntectonic in origin formed in the presence of circulating fluids in high pressure and low temperature during the post depositional phase the Bagalkot sequence in which gravity played an important role in the formation of regional structures. The sequence also has recorded low grade of metamorphism as seen from the thin section observations.     

Identifying threshold storm events and quantifying potential impacts of climate change on sediment yield in a small upland agricultural watershed of Ontario

Agricultural zones are significant sediment sources, but it is crucial to identify critical source areas (CSAs) of sediment yield within these zones where best management practices (BMPs) can be applied to the best effect in reducing sediment delivery to receiving water bodies rather than the economically nonviable alternative of randomly or sweepingly implementing BMPs. A storm event of a specific magnitude and hyetograph profile may, at different times, generate a greater or lesser sediment yield. The widely used agricultural nonpoint source (AGNPS) model was used to identify CSAs for sediment losses in Southwestern Ontario's agriculture‐dominated 374‐ha Holtby watershed. A storm threshold approach was adopted to identify critical periods for higher sediment losses. An AGNPS model for the Holtby watershed was set up, calibrated, and validated for run‐off volume, peak flow rate, and sediment yield for several storms. The calibrated and validated model was run for storms of increasing return periods to identify threshold storm events that would generate sediment yield greater than an acceptable value for early and late spring, summer, and fall seasons. Finally, to evaluate the potential impacts of climate change, we shifted shorter duration summer storms into spring conditions and quantified the changes in sediment yield dynamics. A 6‐hr, 7.5‐year early spring storm would generate sediment losses exceeding the acceptable limit of 0.34 t ha^?1 for the season. However, summer storms (2 hr, up to 100 years) tended to generate sediment yields below those of an identifiable threshold storm. If such shorter duration summer storms occurred in spring, the sediment yield would increase by more than fivefold. A 5‐year future storm would generate an equivalent effect of a 100‐year current spring event. The high sediment delivery to be expected will have significant implications regarding the future management of water quality of receiving waters. Appropriate placement of BMPs at CSAs will thus be needed to reduce such high sediment delivery to receiving waters.     

Speculation on the causes of continuing seismicity near Koyna reservoir,India

The cause for continuous induced seismicity at Koyna is not well understood. A heuristic model based on various physical parameters observed at Koyna is being proposed to explain the ongoing seismicity. This model contains two essential elements: (i) Intersecting faults near Koyna provide means of stress build-up in response to plate tectonic forces. (ii) The annual reservoir loading cycle and changes in the ground water table perturb this stress build-up by an influx of pore pressure in a fluid infiltrated medium. Hence, the spatial and temporal pattern of the pore prussure distribution and the seismicity will be governed by the location and hydromechanical properties of the faults and fractures. The predictions of the model can be tested by comparing the temporal and spatial pattern of seismicity with the changes in lake level and water table.     

Studies on the Toxieity of Pulp and Paper Factory Wastes to the Fish Notopterus Notopterus (PALLAS)

Studies are performed on the toxicity for 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours in the static test with dilutions of 10 … 32 vol.% of wastewaters from the pulp and paper production as well as of the mixed wastewater. The pulp waste shows the highest toxic effect, the LC₅₀ of the three types of wastewater being between 15 and 27% in dependence on the test conditions. A general increase of the toxic effect is caused by a rise in temperature from 26 °C to 36 °C and an increase of the pH value from 7.5 to 8.2. The increase of the oxygen concentration from 5.2 to 7.2 mg/1 results in a reduction of the toxicity of the pulp and mixed wastes, the size of fishes having a significant effect only for the pulp waste. Concentrations of wastes of 6 … 9% may be regarded to be harmless for long periods of time.