On love waves in heterogeneous media

Summary Love waves in a half space with one homogeneous elastic layer overlying a semiinfinite medium having elastic properties varying with depth has been considered. The frequency equation for small wave lengths has been obtained, considering general variation, and has been shown to involve the first three derivatives of the rigidity of the heterogeneous medium at its interface with the homogeneous layer.     

Remote sensing application in the study of migration and offset of coastal inlets

The coastal zone of Kerala with moderate energy, monsoonal-storm-dominated wave climate, together with a microtidal range, falls under the major tectonic class of the Amerotrailing edge coasts. In order to have an effective management of this coastal zone, one requires detailed information on various types of coastal landforms and the related processes acting on them. Coastal inlets are one among such landforms, which are relatively short and narrow tidal channels connecting bays and lagoons to the ocean. Coastal inlets and the related landforms form an important type of coastal feature. An examination of coastal maps from any area in the world will reveal that coastal inlets are of migratory and offset in nature. In the present study the migration pattern and offset behaviour of some of the inlets of Kerala coast have been examined using IRS-IA LISS II data and Survey of India topographic sheets. The study reveals that geocoded IRS-IA LISS II data could provide accurate geometrical information which may considerably minimise the field check.     

On the prognostics of growth profile based yield modelling

In order to improve the prognostics of yield forecasts two approaches have been explored using NDVI-based growth profiles for wheat crop of 1987-88 and 1990-91 seasons for some districts of Punjab and Haryana. Correlation of yield with variables based on profile area segments and with product of profile segment area and time to peak occurrence of growth cycle have been investigated. While the correlations are low and inconsistent for area variables, the îndex time product moment (IIPM) variable shows consistent and significant correlations and advances the date of forecast by 45-50 days over other approaches.     

An elegant coupled model

This paper deals with a new family of coupled wave equations which are basically nonlinear in nature. An analyt-ical study enables us to show that these equations exhibit solitary wave profiles. Finally some remarks are drawn from the standpoint of atmospheric problem.     

Accuracy assessment in cotton acreage estimation using Indian remote sensing satellite data

The accuracy of cotton crop classification using satellite data has been assessed with respect to a detailed land cover map prepared by field survey. The effect of spatial resolution on classification accuracy was studied using LISS-I (spatial resolution 72.6 m) and LISS-II data (spatial resolution 36.25 m) of the Indian remote sensing satellite IRS-1B. The performances of the maximum likelihood and the minimum distance to mean as classifiers have also been assessed. LISS-II data have been found to give a higher classification accuracy. The estimate of cotton acreage using LISS-II data was closer to that obtained from the base map. The maximum likelihood classifier (MXL) and the minimum distance to mean (MDM) classifier performed equally well.     

Accidental torsion in buildings due to stiffness uncertainty

Discrepancies between the computed and actual values of the structural element stiffness imply that a building with nominally symmetric plan is actually asymmetric to some unknown degree and will undergo torsional vibration when subjected to purely translational ground motion. Such accidental torsion leads to increase in structural element deformations which is shown to be essentially insensitive to the uncoupled lateral vibration period of the system but is affected strongly by the ratio of uncoupled lateral and torsional vibration periods. The structural deformations increase, in the mean, by at most 10 and 5 per cent for R/C and steel buildings, respectively, and by much smaller amounts for a wide range of system parameters. The increase in structural deformations due to stiffness uncertainty is shown to be much smaller than implied by the accidental torsional provisions in the Uniform Building Code and most other building codes.     

Quantitative precipitation forecasting over Narmada Catchment

Quantitative precipitation forecasting (QPF) has been attempted over the Narmada Catchment following a statistical approach. The catchment has been divided into five sub-regions for the development of QPF models with a maximum lead-time of 24 hours. For this purpose the data of daily rainfall from 56 raingauge stations, twice daily observations on different surface meteorological parameters from 28 meteorological observatories and upper air data from 11 aerological stations for the nine monsoon seasons of 1972–1980 have been utilized. The horizontal divergence, relative vorticity, vertical velocity and moisture divergence are computed using the kinematic method at different pressure levels and used as independent variables along with the rainfall and surface meteorological parameters. Multiple linear regression equations have been developed using the stepwise procedure separately with actual and square root and log-transformed rainfall using 8-year data (1972–1979). When these equations were verified with an independent data for the monsoon season of 1980, it was found that the transformed rainfall equations fared much better compared to the actual rainfall equations. The performance of the forecasts of QPF model compared to the climatological and persistence forecasts has been assessed by computing the verification scores using the forecasts for the monsoon season of 1980.     

A note on wave propagation in granular medium

Summary The body wave propagation in granular medium is discussed in two sections. In Section I, the solutions of general equations of granular medium involving displacement vector and rotation vector are shown to be dependent on the solutions of four different equations. In Section II, the plane wave propagation is studied, showing the dispersion and dissipation of body waves in the granular medium.     

Mapping salt-affected soils in Sangrur district (Punjab) using aerial photo-interpretation technique

A detailed-reconnaissance soil survey of the Sangrur district was undertaken through systematic aerial photo-interpretation technique and a soil map on 1: 50,000 scale showing the association of soil series prepared. The salt-affected soils have been grouped into 4 soil associations and 8 soil series based on the diffrences in texture, drainge, profile development and degree of deterioration. The salt-affected soils are found both in plains and Channels. The piain unit without distinct parcelling (barren) white and fine textured tones represented the association of salic Natraqualfs (Ghabdan series) and Aquic Natruststalfs (Kaheru series). The piain units partly cultivated whitish-gray, fine to medium textured tones consisted of a association of Natraquic Calciorthids (Langrian and Narikc series) and Natraquic Camborthids (Isri Series). Lastly, the piain units with pattern of dark-tone and light mottles (mottled-iones,) distinct parceiling, cultivated consists of Typic Ustochrepts (Balewal series), Aquic Camborthids (Phaguwala series) and Natraquic Calciorthids (Marike series). The filled up Channels whitish-gray tones, concave relief, cultivated comprise wet soils (Jatwan series) which have been classified as Aeric Halaquepts. It is found that about 17% of the mapped area in Sangrur district is salt-affected, out of which 12% consisiing Ghabdan, Kaheru, Langrian and Isri series is severely salt-affected and rest 5% consisting, Phaguwala, Narike and Jatwan series is moderately to slightly affected.