Seismic Site Classification of Recording Stations in Tarai Region of Uttarakhand,from Multiple Approaches

Repeated earthquakes (EQs) are clear indication of alarming seismicity which can be witnessed across Indian subcontinent. Increase in population density with inappropriate construction practice repeatedly rise alarm that in comparison to damage scenarios experienced during previous major to great EQs in India, future catastrophes would be manifold. Performing regional seismic hazard as well as site response studies can possibly help in accurate estimation of probable future seismic scenario. Site class (SC) of EQ recording stations is an important part of both seismic hazard as well as site response analyses. In seismic hazard analysis, suitable attenuation relations are often selected based on comparison of recorded ground motion with proposed ground motion as per selected attenuation relation for the same SC. Thus, unless SC of recorded ground motions is known, suitability of selected attenuation relation cannot be validated. In addition, recent studies suggest that for same soil column, ground motion may amplify at the surface from minimal to very high depending upon input motion characteristics. Thus again, unless SC of recording station is not known, recorded ground motion cannot be considered with confidence as outcrop or base motion for region specific site response studies. In the present work, SC of eight recording stations located in Tarai region of Uttarakhand, India located adjacent to the Himalayan belt and which are part of PESMOS database, are established by three different methods namely; equivalent linear ground response analysis, generalized inversion technique and horizontal to vertical spectral ratio method. Collectively all these three methods suggest same SC for each of the eight recording stations including Roorkee, Rishikesh, Dehradun etc. Further, obtained SC based on the present study is considerably different from available SC as per PESMOS database. However, present findings are matching with recent published work. Obtained results can be very helpful in developing surface seismic hazard using regional ground motion records towards minimizing future EQ induced damages.     

Seismic behaviour of steel plate shear wall systems with staggered web configurations

Unstiffened steel plate shear walls (SPSWs) are used as lateral load‐resisting systems in building structures. The energy dissipation mechanism of SPSWs consists of the tension yielding of web plates and the formation of plastic hinges at the ends of horizontal boundary elements. However, vertical boundary elements (VBEs) of high‐rise SPSWs may experience high axial forces under lateral loading. This study explores the effectiveness of staggering of web plates on the reduction of VBE forces and drift response of SPSWs during an earthquake event. An analytical study has been conducted to determine the base shear reduction factor so as to match the overstrength of staggered systems with conventional SPSWs. A design methodology has been proposed for staggered SPSWs. Six‐, 9‐, and 20‐storey staggered and conventional SPSWs with varying aspect ratios are considered in this study to compare their seismic response. These study frames are modelled and analysed in OpenSEES platform. Nonlinear static and dynamic analyses are performed to compare the drift response, hinge mechanisms, and steel tonnage. Staggered SPSWs showed uniform drift distribution and reduction in interstorey drift and axial force demand on the VBEs.     

Reflection and transmission of inhomogeneous waves in a composite porous solid saturated by two immiscible fluids

This paper is concerned with reflection and transmission of a plane, elastic, and inhomogeneous wave striking obliquely at some discontinuity inside a porous medium composed of two distinct solids and saturated by two immiscible fluids. It is found that four P‐ and two SV‐waves are reflected, whereas four P‐ and two SV‐waves are transmitted at the interface. All reflected and transmitted waves are inhomogeneous in nature and specified with different directions of propagation and attenuation vectors. An expression for the Umov–Poynting energy flux vector is derived for the system. Continuity of energy flux along normal to the interface gives 12 required boundary conditions. Expressions of amplitude and energy ratios of various reflected and transmitted waves are derived. Variations in amplitude and energy coefficients of reflected and transmitted waves with angle of incidence are numerically studied for a porous matrix composed of shaley sandstone and clay, saturated with water and oil. The effects of change in oil saturation and volume fraction of clay are also observed on amplitude ratios. Numerical simulation reveals that the change in sign in the difference of capillary pressure across the interface causes jump in the values of amplitude ratios of all waves.     

Seismic source characterization for the Shillong Plateau in Northeast India

The present study aims at understanding the seismotectonic province of the Shillong Plateau (SP) by identifying the potential seismic source zones within a radius of 500 km from the centre of the SP. From existing literature and earthquake (EQ) data, the seismotectonic region is found to vary in terms of seismicity, tectonic features, geology, thickness of overburden, rupture characteristics and rate of movement. Thus, entire 500-km-radius seismotectonic region is divided into four seismic source zones: namely (1) the Shillong Plateau–Assam Valley Zone (SP-AVZ), (2) the Indo-Burma Ranges Zone (IBRZ), (3) the Bengal Basin Zone (BBZ) and (4) the Eastern Himalaya Zone (EHZ). EQ catalogues for each source zone is analysed for completeness of magnitude and time. Seismic parameter b estimated using a maximum likelihood method is found to be 0.91 ± 0.03, 0.94 ± 0.02, 0.80 ± 0.03 and 0.89 ± 0.03 for the SP-AVZ, IBRZ, BBZ and EHZ, respectively. In addition, the maximum likelihood method is used to estimate the mean annual activity rate, maximum possible magnitude (m _max), return period and probability of exceedance for the four zones. The b values estimated suggest that the BBZ is seismically more active; however, the rate of occurrence of EQs is highest in the IBRZ. Findings from this study are an indication of the relative contribution from each of the four seismic source zones towards a seismic hazard of the SP.     

Trend Analysis of Groundwater Levels and Assessment of Regional Groundwater Drought: Ghataprabha River Basin,India

Natural Resources Research - Groundwater drought is a relatively new concept, particularly in the Indian subcontinent, where groundwater levels are declining rapidly. The present study focuses on...     

Superpenumbral chromospheric flare

We observed a C-class flare at the outer boundary of the superpenumbra of a sunspot. The flare was triggered by an emerging magnetic bipolar region that was obliquely oriented with respect to the superpenumbral fibrils. The flare started due to the low height magnetic reconnection of emerging magnetic flux with a superpenumbral field resulting in hot multi-temperature plasma flows in the inverse Evershed flow channel and its overlying atmosphere. Inverse Evershed flows in the chromosphere start from the superpenumbra towards the sunspot that end at the outer boundary of the penumbra. The hot plasma flow towards the sunspot in the inverse Evershed channels show about 10 km s~(-1) higher velocity in Hα wavelengths compared to the plasma emissions at various temperatures as seen in different AIA filters. Even though these velocities are about seven times higher than the typical inverse Evershed flow speeds, the flow is diminished at the outer boundary of the sunspot's penumbra. This suggests that the superpenumbral field lines that carry inverse Evershed flows are discontinued at the boundary where the penumbral field lines dive into the sun and these two sets of field lines are completely distinct. The discontinuity in the typical magnetic field and plasma properties at the adjoining of these two sets of field lines further leads to discontinuity in the characteristic magnetoacoustic and Alfv′en speeds, thereby stopping the plasma flows further on. The multi-temperature plasma in the inverse Evershed channels exhibits possible longitudinal oscillations initially during the onset of the flare, and later flows towards the sunspot. In the multi-temperature view, the different layers above the flare region have a mixture of supersonic as well as subsonic flows.     

Impact of India’s new map policy on accuracy of GIS theme

With the declaration of India’s new map policy (NMP), user community is looking towards its impact on spatial accuracy of GIS theme maps arising out of transformation from existing system (Polyconic Projection on Everest 1830 spheroid datum) to Open series maps (OSM in UTM projection on WGS 84 ellipsoid) and vice versa. This results in registration error of existing maps with new maps. This study aims at finding out the impact of transformation on the spatial location and to determine the extent to which the existing theme layers can be used along with the new series maps without losing accuracy. Results show that there are some geographic regions in India whose GIS database can be used as it is available, depending on the scale and within the acceptable positional accuracy. For other region, depending on the scale of theme layers, a detail analysis of the situation will be required depending on project requirements.     

A study of secondary cosmic ray flux variation during the annular eclipse of 15 January 2010 at Rameswaram, India

The gamma ray flux was measured during the annular solar eclipse on January 15, 2010 at Rameswaram, India using NaI (Tl) scintillator detectors and the variation in charged particles and gamma rays was monitored using Geiger Mu¨ller (GM) counters. The gamma ray flux variation was studied in energy range of 0.1–3.5 MeV. Weather parameters (temperature and humidity) were continuously recorded throughout the duration of the eclipse at the site and correlation between gamma ray flux and weather parameters was examined. Analysis of the secondary cosmic ray flux using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) was carried out to study the impact of the eclipse on the flux modulation. An overall decrease in flux was observed by both GM counters and scintillator detectors. A relative enhancement observed for short time during the eclipse which could be associated with the presence of counter electrojet observed at Rameswaram. This is suggestive of an increase in secondary cosmic ray flux at the geomagnetic equator during every counter electrojet due to decrease in geomagnetic rigidity.     

Era-interim Forced Simulation of the Indian Summer Monsoon

Abstract

In the present study, mean rainfall for the months of June-July-August-September (JJAS) during summer monsoon is simulated over India and its adjoining regions for a period between 1982 and 2006. The study was carried out using Regional Climate Model (RegCM) version 4.6 at a resolution of 25?km. The simulated mean JJAS monsoon rainfall was validated against the observational IMD data. Comparison of JJAS seasonal mean summer rainfall for the first decade 1982–1991, with the later decade 1997–2006 indicate that the intensity of rainfall increases over Indian land-mass during the later decade under the forced conditions of Era-Interim. The observed JJAS mean rainfall indicates two maximum rainfall areas i.e. the Western Ghats and the Himalayan region. A significant bias is observed in the central and Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) region. The JJAS mean seasonal surface air temperature distribution at 0.25?×?0.25-degree grids resolution shows a decreasing trend of temperature over the Indian landmass.     

Seismic Site Classification and Correlation between Standard Penetration Test N Value and Shear Wave Velocity for Lucknow City in Indo-Gangetic Basin

Subsurface lithology and seismic site classification of Lucknow urban center located in the central part of the Indo-Gangetic Basin (IGB) are presented based on detailed shallow subsurface investigations and borehole analysis. These are done by carrying out 47 seismic surface wave tests using multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) and 23 boreholes drilled up to 30 m with standard penetration test (SPT) N values. Subsurface lithology profiles drawn from the drilled boreholes show low- to medium-compressibility clay and silty to poorly graded sand available till depth of 30 m. In addition, deeper boreholes (depth >150 m) were collected from the Lucknow Jal Nigam (Water Corporation), Government of Uttar Pradesh to understand deeper subsoil stratification. Deeper boreholes in this paper refer to those with depth over 150 m. These reports show the presence of clay mix with sand and Kankar at some locations till a depth of 150 m, followed by layers of sand, clay, and Kankar up to 400 m. Based on the available details, shallow and deeper cross-sections through Lucknow are presented. Shear wave velocity (SWV) and N-SPT values were measured for the study area using MASW and SPT testing. Measured SWV and N-SPT values for the same locations were found to be comparable. These values were used to estimate 30 m average values of N-SPT (N ₃₀) and SWV (V _s ³⁰ ) for seismic site classification of the study area as per the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) soil classification system. Based on the NEHRP classification, the entire study area is classified into site class C and D based on V _s ³⁰ and site class D and E based on N ₃₀. The issue of larger amplification during future seismic events is highlighted for a major part of the study area which comes under site class D and E. Also, the mismatch of site classes based on N ₃₀ and V _s ³⁰ raises the question of the suitability of the NEHRP classification system for the study region. Further, 17 sets of SPT and SWV data are used to develop a correlation between N-SPT and SWV. This represents a first attempt of seismic site classification and correlation between N-SPT and SWV in the Indo-Gangetic Basin.