Equatorial electrojet parameters and the relevance of Electromagnetic Drifts (EMD) over Thumba

The thermal imbalance in theE-region heights is inescapable and an undisputed fact. The equatorial electrojet parameters are being evaluated for an Indian Equatorial station of Thumba, making use of the observed electron density, electron temperature, and current density profiles for two rocket flights on 3 March, 1973 and 7 April, 1972 around local noon, corresponding to low and medium solar active conditions. The computed Joule heating due to Equatorial Electrojet Current (EEC) does not account for the observed difference between the electron and neutral gas temperatures. The discrepancy of about 6 km in the peaks of the observed and computed current density profiles may be attributed to the presence of the Electromagnetic Drifts (EMD). In order to see whether or not EMD plays an important role, the photoionization balance between production and loss rates have been computed by making use of the latest available solar flux and cross sections and chemical reaction rate constants for the appropriate solar epoch conditions including the transport term due to EMD. There is an excellent agreement between the observed and computed electron density profiles indicating its relevance.     

Thermal structure of the equatorialE-region over Thumba

Photoionization and absorbed energy rates have been computed by making use of the latest available semi-empirical solar XUV fluxes and cross-sections for two rocket flights for electron density measurements on 3 March, 1973 and 7 April, 1972 corresponding to low and medium solar active conditions over Thumba. Various heating and cooling rate profiles have been computed by making use of the latest available information. Various efficiency parameters such as photoelectron heating efficiency, photoionization efficiency, and ultraviolet heating efficiency, that are extremely important in understanding the thermal structure of the ionosphere, are clearly defined and distinguished.     

A possible crust-mantle configuration near Trivandrum deduced from Indian geomagnetic data

Anomalies in H and Z, primarily attributable to subsurface features, were obtained from the annual mean values at five Indian magnetic stations for the period 1965–1973, after correcting for the secular and normal variations. When the average anomaly at each station over the nine years chosen, after projecting on to a reference longitude (78°E), was plotted against its geographic latitude, the resulting ΔZ and ΔH latitudinal profiles were found to reach their maximum values near Trivandrum (TRV). This rise in anomaly near TRV has been interpreted in terms of a probable plutonic dyke-like structure, superposed on the general upwarp of the mantle known to be associated with a land-to-ocean transition. A Bouguer gravity profile along the same reference longitude, supporting this inference, is also presented. A sample calculation has been done with assumed parameters for the model and the theoretical and observed anomalies are compared.     

A new natural,super-hard,transparent polymorph of carbon from the Popigai impact crater,Russia

A natural shockwave event led to the formation of a new crystalline polymorph of carbon in gneisses from the Popigai crater, Russia. The new species occupies the interior of a multiphase assemblage and is entirely enveloped by lonsdaleite and graphite. Polishing hardness of this new phase is greater than that of lonsdaleite. Micro-beam synchrotron X-ray diffraction, imaging and fluorescence studies revealed a pure transparent carbon phase. The diffraction pattern is indexed in terms of a cubic cell (a=14.697 Å, space group Pm3m.). This species was neither encountered in static or dynamic high-pressure experiment nor predicted by theoretical calculations. To cite this article: A. El Goresy et al., C. R. Geoscience 335 (2003).     

Heat energy exchange over a large water body under stable atmospheric conditions

The surface heat budget over the Riband reservoir covering 300 km² is investigated making use of hydrometeorological data collected at a number of stations during May and June 1983. The observations had to be restricted to 0800–1400 hr for operational reasons in this remote part of India. The winds were weaker, and in general the temperature and humidity gradients were stronger at that time of day than during the afternoon.The mean albedo between 0700–1200 hr is found to be about 34% which could be due to the high turbidity of the water. A simple relation of the form, R = (1 – )Q _i – 85 is proposed to estimate net radiation over the water body from the global radiation. This relation is useful for the computation of net radiation since it avoids the computation of effective back radiation, which requires data on humidity, cloud amount and surface water temperature. The overall means of net radiation, latent and sensible heat fluxes were found to be 420, 96 and -11 W/m², respectively. A net heat gain of about 335 W/m² was observed during the study period. The measured effective back radiation agreed reasonably well with the value computed from the theoretical formula.     

A coupled model analyses on the interaction between oceanic eddies and tropical cyclones over the Bay of Bengal

Ocean Dynamics - The Bay of Bengal (BOB) region of Indian Ocean is affected by numerous tropical cyclones during pre- and post-monsoon seasons when various eddies are generated in the central and...     

Atmospheres of extreme metal-deficient stars

Atmospheric models have been constructed for effective temperatures 4000°, 4500° and 5000° and for hydrogen-to-metal ratios of 1, 10², 10³ and 10⁴ times the solar values, and for surface gravities of 2×10⁴ and 2×10². The effect of metal deficiency on the atmospheric structure of these stars are studied.National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council Postdoctoral Research Associate.     

The detection of the 5577.3å line of [OI] in comets

The spectral synthesis of C ₂ Swan band sequence V = – 1 indicates the intensity of the forbidden green oxygen line of 5577.3 to be about 3 to 5% of the 6300 line. Therefore, it appears that the green line should be observable in high-resolution spectra of a bright comet. Festou and Feldman suggest red/green >/ 10 means a water parent origin.