Sensitivity of mass transfer-based evaporation equations to errors in daily and monthly input data

The influence of data errors on the performance of mass transfer-based evaporation equations was investigated for both monthly and daily data from a climatological station in the State of Vaud in Switzerland. Evaporation estimates were found to be particularly sensitive to vapour pressure gradient, less sensitive to wind speed and most insensitive to temperature. A quantitative analysis showed that: (1) systematic errors in vapour pressure data influenced evaporation estimates inversely to more or less the same magnitude for both monthly and daily cases; (2) systematic errors in wind speed and temperature data influenced evaporation estimates inversely to the magnitude of about a half and a quarter of the magnitude of the influence of vapour pressure errors, respectively; and (3) evaporation estimates were much more sensitive to random errors in the case of monthly data than daily data. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

ESTIMATION OF TEMPORAL CHANGES IN SOIL MOISTURE USING RESISTIVITY METHOD

The temporal variation in a soil moisture profile can be studied using resistivity sounding data acquired at different times. The layered earth model based estimation of soil moisture from apparent resistivity data is a two-step non-linear inversion. Firstly, the apparent resistivity data are inverted to derive the layer resistivity variations and thicknesses and, secondly, the moisture content is estimated from these layer resistivity variations using a calibration equation. The soil moisture–resistivity problem was studied using the one-dimensional formulation of resistivity problem. A generalized geoelectric earth model was considered to simulate the soil moisture distribution and its temporal variation in the unsaturated zone. An algorithm (RESMOS) for the interpretation of the apparent resistivity data in terms of soil moisture variations through this two-step inversion process is reported.     

Snow and glacier melt in the Satluj River at Bhakra Dam in the western Himalayan region

Abstract

Streamflow in the Himalayan rivers is generated from rainfall, snow and ice. The distribution of runoff produced from these sources is such that the streamflow may be observed in these rivers throughout the year, i.e. they are perennial in nature. Snow and glacier melt runoff contributes substantially to the annual flows of these rivers and its estimation is required for the planning, development and management of the water resources of this region. The average contribution of snow and glacier melt runoff in the annual flows of the Satluj River at Bhakra Dam has been determined. Keeping in view the availability of data for the study basin, a water balance approach was used and a water budget period of 10 years (October 1986-September 1996) was considered for the analysis. The rainfall input to the study basin over the water budget period was computed from isohyets using rainfall data of 10 stations located at different elevations in the basin. The total volume of flow for the same period was computed using observed flow data of the Satluj River at Bhakra Dam. A relationship between temperature and evaporation was developed and used to estimate the evapotranspiration losses. The snow-covered area, and its depletion with time, was determined using satellite data. It was found that the average contribution of snow and glacier runoff in the annual flow of the Satluj River at Bhakra Dam is about 59%, the remaining 41% being from rain.     

Numerical study of mechanism of fold formation in a laminated rock

A set of large deformation experiments are presented to simulate folding pattern at various energy states during formation. In order to numerically simulate this phenomenon, a rectangular layer of shale is generated and compressed at various strain rates. The results reveal the variation in distribution of stress along the length of the bed. The stress distribution during elastic behaviour of shale bed at low compression rate and the change in stress distribution leading to rupture at high compression rates is discussed. Wavelength, limb length, bulk shortening, stress distribution, displacement of particles along the length of the bed is considered for comparative study of the fold pattern generated at various compression rates. The nature and position of crack generated during the formation of fold is also explained. After rupture in shale bed, the generation of fault and stress distribution in limbs of fold sliding over one another is also described.     

Spectral characterization of soil and coal contamination on snow reflectance using hyperspectral analysis

Snow is a highly reflecting object found naturally on the Earth and its albedo is highly influenced by the amount and type of contamination. In the present study, two major types of contaminants (soil and coal) have been used to understand their effects on snow reflectance in the Himalayan region. These contaminants were used in two categories quantitatively – addition in large quantity and addition in small quantity. Snow reflectance data were collected between 350 and 2500 nm spectral ranges and binned at 10 nm interval by averaging. The experiment was designed to gather the field information in controlled conditions, and radiometric observations were collected. First derivative, band absorption depth, asymmetry, percentage change in reflectance and albedo in optical region were selected to identify and discriminate the type of contamination. Band absorption depth has shown a subtle increasing pattern for soil contamination, however, it was significant for small amounts of coal contamination. The absorption peak asymmetry was not significant for soil contamination but showed a nature towards left asymmetry for coal. The width of absorption feature at 1025 nm was not significant for both the contaminations. The percentage change in reflectance was quite high for small amount of coal contamination rather than soil contamination, however, a shift of peak was observed in soil-contaminated snow which was not present in coal contamination. The albedo drops exponentially for coal contamination rather than soil contamination.     

Well storage effect during pumping tests in an aquifer of low permeability

Abstract

Well storage effect is generally considered while interpreting pumping test data from large diameter wells. However, in an aquifer of low permeability, the well storage is found to be significant during pumping tests conducted on bore wells. The interpretation of such data gives ambiguous results unless well storage effect is taken into account. A field example is presented to illustrate the difficulty in interpretation of the pumping test data. In order to take into account the well storage effect, a finite difference approach of interpreting pumping test data is suggested.     

Nature and composition of interbedded marine basaltic pumice in the ∼52–50 Ma Vastan lignite sequence,western India: Implication for Early Eocene MORB volcanism offshore Arabian Sea

The recognition of pyroclasts preserved in sedimentary environments far from its source is uncommon. We here describe occurrences of several centimetres-thick discontinuous basaltic pumice lenses occurring within the Early Eocene Vastan lignite mine sedimentary sequence, western India at two different levels – one at ～5 m and the other at 10 m above a biostratigraphically constrained 52 Ma old marker level postdating the Deccan Volcanism. These sections have received global attention as they record mammalian and plant radiations. We infer the repetitive occurrence of pumice have been sourced from a ～52–50 Ma MORB related to sea-floor spreading in the western Arabian Sea, most plausibly along the Carlsberg Ridge. Pyroclasts have skeletal plagioclase with horsetail morphologies ± pyroxene ± Fe–Ti oxide euhedral crystals, and typically comprise of circular polymodal (radii ≤10 to ≥30 μm), non-coalescing microvesicles (>40–60%). The pumice have undergone considerable syngenetic alteration during oceanic transport and post-burial digenesis, and are a composite mixture of Fe–Mn-rich clay and hydrated altered basaltic glass (palagonite). The Fe–Mn-rich clay is extremely low in SiO ₂, Al ₂ O ₃, TiO ₂, MgO, alkalies and REE, but very high in Fe ₂ O ₃, MnO, P, Ba, Sr contents, and palagonitization involved significant loss of SiO ₂, Al ₂ O ₃, MgO and variable gain in Fe ₂ O ₃, TiO ₂, Ni, V, Zr, Zn and REE. Bubble initiation to growth in the ascending basaltic magma (liquidus ～1200–1250 ^°C) may have occured in ～3 hr. Short-distance transport, non-connected vesicles, deposition in inner shelf to more confined lagoonal condition in the Early Eocene and quick burial helped preservation of the pumice in Vastan. Early Eocene Arabian Sea volcanism thus might have been an additional source to marginal sediments along the passive margin of western India.