Planetary waves in the mesosphere lower thermosphere during stratospheric sudden warming: observations using a network of meteor radars from high to equatorial latitudes

Climate Dynamics - In the present communication, characteristics of mean winds and planetary waves in the mesosphere lower thermosphere (MLT) region during sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) events...     

Analysis of fractures inferred from DBTM and remotely sensed data for groundwater development in godavari sub-watershed, Giridih, Bihar

Godavari sub-watershed is a part of buried pediplain developed over ‘Chotanagpur’ granite gneiss. Aquifer is unconfined in nature and groundwater occurs under water table condition. In the study area, groundwater is being exploited only through dugwells which are not capable of sustaining long duration pumping. Groundwater exploration involves the investigation of depth and nature of weathered and fractured horizon. To understand the groundwater storage and retrieval in the area, the basement topography derived from Digital Basement Topography Modelling (DBTM), the lineaments identified on remotely sensed data and geohydrological and physiographic data have been analysed. From DBTM, fracture zones have also been inferred. Lineaments (probable fractures) identified with the help of remotely sensed data are linear features representated on a planner surface. Lineaments in the area are subtle in expression due to deeply buried pediplian. Correlation of lineaments with DBTM reveals that a few lineaments/fractures are deep seated and a few have no sub-surface extensions. Also some sub-surface fractures inferred from DBTM have no expressions on the image. Attempt has been made to delineate more authentic lineaments/fractures with the help of remotely sensed data and DBTM. Correlation of probable fractures inferred from remotely sensed data and fracture zones inferred from DBTM indicated that 40 per cent of lineaments seems to be real fractures. Higher correlation may be achieved where lineaments are prominent and reproducible. It has also been observed that those lineaments which correlate with the fracture zones inferred from DBTM, are also not completely traceable in their linear extent. The exaggeration in length of lineaments may be due to subtle nature of lineaments. Correlation shows that remotely sensed lineaments are improtant for groundwater exploration and its authenticity can be further ascertained with DBTM.     

Sustainable Utilisation of Water Resource in Watershed Perspective - A Case Study in Alaunja Watershed, Hazaribagh, Bihar

Alaunja watershed, located on ‘Chotanagpur’ plateau of Bihar, is mainly under single cropping. The area receives more than 1000 mm of rainfall but it has not been utilised properly to increase the agricultural output. The remote sensing, geophysical, DBTM (Digital Basement Terrain Model) and GIS (Geographic information System) techniques were used for providing scientific database for sustainable utilisation of water resources in watershed perspective. The landuse, soil and surface water body maps have been prepared using remotely sensed data. DBTM has been generated based on depth of basement information derived from geophysical data to provide information regarding aquifer geometry, fracture zones and sub-surface basins. Analysis indicated that surface and groundwater resources have potential to irrigate 53 per cent of geographical area of the watershed. But at present, this available potential has been utilised only to irrigate 7.03 per cent area of the watershed. Feasibility for large scale development of groundwater through dugwell is possible only in 2 per cent area of the watershed. The available groundwater potential to irrigate 28 per cent area of watershed can not be utilised through dugwells. The surface water potential is also poorly utilised. The present study also helped in prioritising the water resource development activities.     

Mudbank regime off the Kerala coast during monsoon and non-monsoon seasons

Field experiments conducted in the nearshore ocean to understand the dynamics of mudbank off Kerala, south-west coast of India, are highlighted. Real time monitoring of the nearshore ocean off Purakkad, Kerala was accomplished using pressure transducers for nearshore surface wave measurements, and current sensors for nearshore velocity measurements. Comprehensive information on the spatial structure of mudbank was obtained from aerial surveys. Extensive data collected on surface waves and currents in the nearshore ocean, indicate that the infra-gravity (IG) waves (leaky modes and trapped edge wave modes), and far infra-gravity (FIG) waves coupled with strong shoreline reflections and undertow play an important role in the dynamics associated with the mudbanks off Kerala during the monsoon season. During the non-monsoon season evidence for progressive edge waves in the infragravity frequency band, an energetic gravity wave band and a strong undertow with weak reflections was observed.     

Municipal Wastewater Treatment Using Moringa oleifera Seed and Press Cake Powder: A Comparative Analysis

Moringa oleifera (MO), also known as drumstick tree, has gained worldwide attention among researchers and policy makers, for showing its remarkable potential in environmental management. Recently, MO seed or press cake (a by-product of oil extraction industry) powder has also emerged as an alternative and promising coagulant for environmental remediation. In this view, attempts have been made in this study to evaluate the efficacy of MO seed and press cake powder (MSP & PCP) for the treatment of municipal wastewater. Both MSP and PCP are characterized by using swelling ratio, scanning and transmission electron microscopy analysis. The effect of various operational parameters such as coagulation–flocculation pH (2–10), coagulant dosage (0.1–1 g L⁻¹), and sedimentation time (0–180 min), etc., is investigated to understand the potential of MSP and PCP. At optimized operational conditions, sedimentation kinetics is also performed suggesting that the treatment process is being governed by the second-order kinetic model. The chemical and biological oxygen demand removals at optimized conditions are observed as follows: ≈38 and ≈73% for MSP and ≈47 and ≈85% for PCP. Overall, the results of the present study elucidated that PCP can be employed as a promising alternative of MSP for municipal wastewater with improved treatment efficiencies.     

A Comprehensive Review on Microalgae-Based Biorefinery as Two-Way Source of Wastewater Treatment and Bioresource Recovery

In the past few years, microalgae have gained huge recognition from the scientific community due to their potential applications in the production of a broad array of bio-based products varying from biofuels to nanoparticles. Due to their elevated growth rate, high tolerance to various types of abiotic stresses, and complex metabolic capacity, microalgae can be used as promising tools for the attainment of a circular bioeconomy. Moreover, they can simply utilize nutrients from wastewater for biorefinery purposes, resulting in resource recovery coupled with wastewater treatment. However, due to their sub-optimal yields and high production costs, microalgae-based bio-products have not yet been commercialized. This review provides insights into the employment of microalgae as an efficient bioresource for the treatment of wastewater with simultaneous enactment as a biorefinery to produce biofuels, biochar, bioplastic, fertilizers, and other high-value bioproducts. Furthermore, the application of microalgal nanoparticles in wastewater treatment and prospects for genetic modification of microalgae for enhanced biorefinery capabilities have also been briefly highlighted.     

尼泊尔波哈拉谷地若干湖泊的营养状况：过去、现在与将来

Harnessing the natural resources is one of the basis of natural economy in developing countries. The wise use of such resources is very important to sustain the balance between immediate benefits and maintenance of the ecosystem. In Phewa, Begnas and Rupa lakes of Pokhara Valley, plankton feeding fish farming in net cage,enclosure and open water stocking is one of the effective example of natural resources utilisation which sustains a number of households in surrounding lakes for economic activities. These lakes are also used for drinking water, hydroelectricity, irrigation and recreation etc. However, the understanding of trophic status of the lakes is very important for long term sustainable use of the lakes in harmony with human activities. Here, we present the trophic status of three lakes of Pokhara Valley and discuss the impacts of human and natural activities on the trophic status of the lake. The study shows that heavy rain fall in the valley during monsoon is one of the strongest natural forces which flush out the accumulated nutrients from the lakes and migrate the eutrophication processes. Recommendations for sustainable use of lake water have also been discussed.     

Parameterization of synoptic weather systems in the South Atlantic Bight for modeling applications

An event based, long-term, climatological analysis is presented that allows the creation of coastal ocean atmospheric forcing on the coastal ocean that preserves both frequency of occurrence and event time history. An algorithm is developed that identifies individual storm event (cold fronts, warm fronts, and tropical storms) from meteorological records. The algorithm has been applied to a location along the South Atlantic Bight, off South Carolina, an area prone to cyclogenesis occurrence and passages of atmospheric fronts. Comparison against daily weather maps confirms that the algorithm is efficient in identifying cold fronts and warm fronts, while the identification of tropical storms is less successful. The average state of the storm events and their variability are represented by the temporal evolution of atmospheric pressure, air temperature, wind velocity, and wave directional spectral energy. The use of uncorrected algorithm-detected events provides climatologies that show a little deviation from those derived using corrected events. The effectiveness of this analysis method is further verified by numerically simulating the wave conditions driven by the characteristic wind forcing and comparing the results with the wave climatology that corresponds to each storm type. A high level of consistency found in the comparison indicates that this analysis method can be used for accurately characterizing event-based oceanic processes and long-term storm-induced morphodynamic processes on wind-dominated coasts.     

Evolution of the 2015/16 El Nio and historical perspective since 1979

The 2015/16 El Nio developed from weak warm conditions in late 2014 and NINO3.4 reached 3℃ in November 2015. We describe the characteristics of the evolution of the 2015/16 El Nio using various data sets including SST, surface winds,outgoing longwave radiation and subsurface temperature from an ensemble operational ocean reanalyses, and place this event in the context of historical ENSO events since 1979. One salient feature about the 2015/16 El Nio was a large number of westerly wind bursts and downwelling oceanic Kelvin waves(DWKVs). Four DWKVs were observed in April-November 2015 that initiated and enhanced the eastern-central Pacific warming. Eastward zonal current anomalies associated with DWKVs advected the warm pool water eastward in spring/summer. An upwelling Kelvin wave(UWKV) emerged in early November 2015 leading to a rapid decline of the event. Another outstanding feature was that NINO4 reached a historical high(1.7℃), which was 1℃(0.8℃) higher than that of the 1982/83(1997/98) El Nio . Although NINO3 was comparable to that of the 1982/83 and 1997/98 El Nio , NINO1+2 was much weaker. Consistently, enhanced convection was displaced 20 degree westward, and the maximum D20 anomaly was about 1/3.1/2 of that in 1997 and 1982 near the west coast of South America.     

A model‐based data‐driven dictionary learning for seismic data representation

Planar waves events recorded in a seismic array can be represented as lines in the Fourier domain. However, in the real world, seismic events usually have curvature or amplitude variability, which means that their Fourier transforms are no longer strictly linear but rather occupy conic regions of the Fourier domain that are narrow at low frequencies but broaden at high frequencies where the effect of curvature becomes more pronounced. One can consider these regions as localised “signal cones”. In this work, we consider a space–time variable signal cone to model the seismic data. The variability of the signal cone is obtained through scaling, slanting, and translation of the kernel for cone‐limited (C‐limited) functions (functions whose Fourier transform lives within a cone) or C‐Gaussian function (a multivariate function whose Fourier transform decays exponentially with respect to slowness and frequency), which constitutes our dictionary. We find a discrete number of scaling, slanting, and translation parameters from a continuum by optimally matching the data. This is a non‐linear optimisation problem, which we address by a fixed‐point method that utilises a variable projection method with ?₁ constraints on the linear parameters and bound constraints on the non‐linear parameters. We observe that slow decay and oscillatory behaviour of the kernel for C‐limited functions constitute bottlenecks for the optimisation problem, which we partially overcome by the C‐Gaussian function. We demonstrate our method through an interpolation example. We present the interpolation result using the estimated parameters obtained from the proposed method and compare it with those obtained using sparsity‐promoting curvelet decomposition, matching pursuit Fourier interpolation, and sparsity‐promoting plane‐wave decomposition methods.