Foregrounds for redshifted 21-cm studies of reionization: Giant Meter Wave Radio Telescope 153-MHz observations

Foreground subtraction is the biggest challenge for future redshifted 21-cm observations to probe reionization. We use a short Giant Meter Wave Radio Telescope (GMRT) observation at 153 MHz to characterize the statistical properties of the background radiation across ∼1° to subarcmin angular scales, and across a frequency band of 5 MHz with 62.5 kHz resolution. The statistic we use is the visibility correlation function, or equivalently the angular power spectrum   C _l   . We present the results obtained from using relatively unsophisticated, conventional data calibration procedures. We find that even fairly simple-minded calibration allows one to estimate the visibility correlation function at a given frequency   V ₂( U , 0)  . From our observations, we find that   V ₂( U , 0)  is consistent with foreground model predictions at all angular scales except the largest ones probed by our observations where the model predictions are somewhat in excess. On the other hand, the visibility correlation between different frequencies  κ( U , Δν)  seems to be much more sensitive to calibration errors. We find a rapid decline in  κ( U , Δν)  , in contrast with the prediction of less than 1 per cent variation across 2.5 MHz. In this case, however, it seems likely that a substantial part of the discrepancy may be due to limitations of data reduction procedures.     

Observations of Giant Pulses of the Crab Pulsar

The Crab Pulsar was observed at 1540 MHz with the 25m radio telescope at Urumqi with a filterbank de-dispersion backend. A total of 2436 giant pulses with pulse energies larger than 4300 Jy μs were detected in two observing sets. All of these giant pulses are located in the main pulse (MP) and inter pulse (IP) windows of the average profile of the Crab Pulsar. The ratio of the numbers of giant pulses detected in the IP and MP windows is about 0.05. Our results show that, at 1540 MHz, the emission in the IP is contributed by giant and normal pulses, while that in the MP is almost dominated by giant pulses. The distribution of energy of the 2436 giant pulses at 1540 MHz can be described by a power-law with index α=3.13±0.09. The intrinsic threshold of giant pulse energy in the MP window is about 1400 Jy μs at 1540 MHz.     

Torrential rainfall-triggered shallow landslide characteristics and susceptibility assessment using ensemble data-driven models in the Dongjiang Reservoir Watershed,China

Natural Hazards - This study investigated the characteristics of rainfall-triggered landslides during the Typhoon Bilis in the Dongjiang Reservoir Watershed, China. The comparative shallow...     

Role of market agents in mitigating the climate change effects on food economy

Natural Hazards - Agriculture’s ability to adapt to the impacts of climate change is critical for agricultural households as well as the general public and policymakers. Economic agents can...     

A study on the effects of soil moisture,air humidity,and air temperature on wind speed threshold for dust emissions in the Taklimakan Desert

Natural Hazards - Soil and the atmospheric conditions are important factors that affect wind speed threshold of surface dust emissions. Based on the observed data of surface dust emissions in the...     

Short-Term Morphological and Shoreline Changes at Trinkat Island,Andaman and Nicobar,India, After the 2004 Tsunami

The tsunami waves generated during the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake of 26 December 2004 devastated the coastal area along Trinkat Island, causing sudden changes to the morphology of the landforms. This study uses a series of satellite images to record the short-term morphological response and shoreline changes as well as the recovery of coastal land after its destruction. Results indicate that the island experienced substantial erosion and a significant reduction in land area. Shoreline erosion is more prevalent than accretion at an average linear regression rate of ～?9 m per year between 2004 and 2013. The major morphological changes at Trinkat Island were observed in coastal inlets, beaches, and bay head-lands. Straight beaches had almost recovered eight years after the tsunami; however, erosion is continually observed in other areas. Our study will help understanding the response and recovery of shorelines in Indian Ocean regions after the 2004 tsunami.     

Late Bronze Age paleogeography along the ancient Ways of Horus in Northwest Sinai,Egypt

The northwest Sinai contained the eastern frontier of New Kingdom Egypt during the Late Bronze Age. The ancient Pelusaic branch of the Nile Delta influenced the environmental setting of this region at that time. Fortresses were built along the coastal byway through the study area known as the Ways of Horus to protect Egyptian‐held territory from immigrants and intruders from Canaan and the Mediterranean Sea. Building on previous geomorphic studies in the region, this paper presents the results of field investigations of Holocene sedimentary deposits, aided by satellite photography, used to create a paleogeographic map that places archaeological sites in their proper environmental context. CORONA satellite photographs from the late 1960s reveal surface features that have been obscured by more recent agricultural development in the region. Canals dug for an agricultural project provided easy access to the shallow subsurface for mapping the extent of Holocene sediments representing barrier coast, lagoon, estuarine, fluvial, and marsh depositional environments. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Numerical Modeling of Tropical Cyclone-Induced Storm Surge in the Gulf of Oman Using a Storm Surge–Wave–Tide Coupled Model

Ocean Science Journal - A storm surge is a complex phenomenon in which current, tide, and waves interact with each other. Even if the wind is the main force of driving the surge, waves and tide are...     

Impact of evaporation on field capacity during water drainage redistribution in a soil

To this day, field capacity (FC) is rarely defined in the context of soil properties, and the use of non-physical simplistic models is the common way to normalize water content at FC. In this study, the problem of water drainage redistribution in a soil column with and without the presence of evaporation (EV) was extensively studied. Analytical solutions for the Richards equation were established for the case of water drainage redistribution through a deeply wetted soil water column with and without EV at FC conditions. Water retention and depth evolution curves were plotted first, using different EV values of (2 $\frac{\mathbf{mm}}{\mathbf{day}}$, 5 $\frac{\mathbf{mm}}{\mathbf{day}}$ and 8 $\frac{\mathbf{mm}}{\mathbf{day}}$) and second, for different drainage redistribution durations of (1 day, 4 days and 6 days) where EV was set to zero for the case with no EV or to a fixed value of 5 $\frac{\mathbf{mm}}{\mathbf{day}}$ for the case with EV. The results suggest that EV plays a significant role in soil water drainage suggesting that, in the presence of EV, the FC drying front reaches much higher depths in the soil water profile than if EV is turned off. It was also concluded that FC reaches deeper depths faster the stronger EV is acting at the surface of a soil water column. Additionally, the results suggest that the texture of the soil receiving drainage controls the amount of water available for EV and as a result, EV was found to play a stronger role the smaller the hydraulic conductivity of the soil is.     

Salt tectonics in a double salt‐source layer setting (Eastern Persian Gulf,Iran): Insights from interpretation of seismic profiles and sequential cross‐section restoration

Salt tectonics in the Eastern Persian Gulf (Iran) is linked to a unique salt‐bearing system involving two overlapping ‘autochthonous’ mobile source layers, the Ediacaran–Early Cambrian Hormuz Salt and the Late Oligocene–Early Miocene Fars Salt. Interpretations of reflection seismic profiles and sequential cross‐section restorations are presented to decipher the evolution of salt structures from the two source layers and their kinematic interaction on the style of salt flow. Seismic interpretations illustrate that the Hormuz and Fars salts started flowing in the Early Palaeozoic (likely Cambrian) and Early Miocene, respectively, shortly after their deposition. Differential sedimentary loading (downbuilding) and subsalt basement faults initiated and localized the flow of the Hormuz Salt and the related salt structures. The resultant diapirs grew by passive diapirism until Late Cretaceous, whereas the pillows became inactive during the Mesozoic after a progressive decline of growth in the Late Palaeozoic. The diapirs and pillows were then subjected to a Palaeocene–Eocene contractional deformation event, which squeezed the diapirs. The consequence was significant salt extrusion, leading to the development of allochthonous salt sheets and wings. Subsequent rise of the Hormuz Salt occurred in wider salt stocks and secondary salt walls by coeval passive diapirism and tectonic shortening since Late Oligocene. Evacuation and diapirism of the Fars Salt was driven mainly by differential sedimentary loading in annular and elongate minibasins overlying the salt and locally by downslope gliding around pre‐existing stocks of the Hormuz Salt. At earlier stages, the Fars Salt flowed not only towards the pre‐existing Hormuz stocks but also away from them to initiate ring‐like salt walls and anticlines around some of the stocks. Subsequently, once primary welds developed around these stocks, the Fars Salt flowed outwards to source the peripheral salt walls. Our results reveal that evolving pre‐existing salt structures from an older source layer have triggered the flow of a younger salt layer and controlled the resulting salt structures. This interaction complicates the flow direction of the younger salt layer, the geometry and spatial distribution of its structures, as well as minibasin depocentre migration through time. Even though dealing with a unique case of two ‘autochthonous’ mobile salt layers, this work may also provide constraints on our understanding of the kinematics of salt flow and diapirism in other salt basins having significant ‘allochthonous’ salt that is coevally affected by deformation of the deeper autochthonous salt layer and related structures.