An Algorithm to Determine the Slope of the Spectral Absorption of Colored Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM) and Detritus

A simple method to determine the slope of spectral variations of combined absorption of the colored dissolved organic matter and detritus (CDM) is presented. This method uses the slope of total absorption spectrum excluding contribution of waters in lieu of slope for the CDM. The errors in slopes using the new method decreased with increase in contributions of CDM to the total absorption. The relative errors were less than 10% when CDM contributions were above 60% and even at very low contributions of CDM of 25%, errors in the slopes were less than 40%. For estuarine and coastal waters rich in CDM, the errors in the slopes for CDM were less than 10% using this simple method. Absorption of CDM derived using the slope with the new method in a semi-analytical algorithm QAAV6 showed improved performance with RMSE of 0.07, 0.0119 and 0.0027 at 405, 555 and 665 nm respectively and with R² > 0.95 at all spectral range. The method provided values of spectral absorption due to CDM with fewer errors when validated with the satellite derived data from MODIS and SeaWiFS. This method to determine the slope of CDM could be easily implemented in any model, as it was very generic in nature, simple, did not involve any mathematical model and avoids empirical methods. Since the method is also independent of any specific bands, it can be used for most ocean color satellites. Considering the performance of this new method and applicability for most water types, it was considered as a better option to derive the slope of CDM than using a constant value or deriving the slope with empirical method.     

Radioactivity monitoring in the vicinity of Jawalamukhi thrust NW Himalaya,India for tectonic study

Natural Hazards - This work reports radon-thoron monitoring at two depths (60 and 90 cm) and at 82 sites around Jawalamukhi thrust of NW Himalaya, India using Solid State Nuclear Track...     

High-Energy Astronomy From The International Space Station

The European Space Agency, ESA, is currently studying 3 high-energy astronomy missions that use the International Space Station (ISS). These are Lobster-ISS, an all-sky imaging X-ray monitor, the Extreme Universe Space Observatory (EUSO) which will study the highest energy cosmic rays by using the Earth's atmosphere as a giant detector and XEUS — the X-ray Evolving Universe Spectroscopy Mission, a potential successor to ESA's XMM-Newton X-ray observatory. These first 2 missions will he attached to the external platforms on the Columbus module, while XEUS will visit the ISS to attach additional X-ray mirrors to enlarge the original 4.5 m diameter mirrors to the 10 m diameter required to observed redshifted iron lines from massive black holes in the early Universe. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Nonlinear analysis of traffic jams in an anisotropic continuum model

This paper presents our study of the nonlinear stability of a new anisotropic continuum traffic flow model in which the dimensionless parameter or anisotropic factor controls the non-isotropic character and diffusive influence. In order to establish traffic flow stability criterion or to know the critical parameters that lead, on one hand, to a stable response to perturbations or disturbances or, on the other hand, to an unstable response and therefore to a possible congestion, a nonlinear stability criterion is derived by using a wavefront expansion technique. The stability criterion is illustrated by numerical results using the finite difference method for two different values of anisotropic parameter. It is also been observed that the newly derived stability results are consistent with previously reported results obtained using approximate linearisation methods. Moreover, the stability criterion derived in this paper can provide more refined information from the perspective of the capability to reproduce nonlinear traffic flow behaviors observed in real traffic than previously established methodologies.     

Real-time database for geochemical earthquake precursory research

Natural Hazards - In the present research for the first time, an effort has been made to create an online real-time database for geochemical earthquake precursory research. The manually operating...     

A MATLAB™ code to perform weighted linear regression with (correlated or uncorrelated) errors in bivariate data

MATLAB™ is a powerful, easy to use, software package suitable for many mathematical operations, which finds plenty of scientific applications. One such application is the fitting of trend lines for a given data set so as to interpret the relationship of the variance of the parameters involved. We provide here a code in MATLAB™ that performs the weighted linear regression with (correlated or uncorrelated) errors in bivariate data which can handle ‘force-fit’ regression as well.     

Suspended sediment yield modeling in Mahanadi River,India by multi-objective optimization hybridizing artificial intelligence algorithms

River sediment produced through weathering is one of the principal landscape modification processes on earth.Rivers are an integral part of the hydrologic cycle and are the major geologic agents that erode the continents and transport water and sediments to the oceans.Estimation of suspended sediment yield is always a key parameter for planning and management of any river system.It is always challenging to model sediment yield using traditional mathematical models because they are incapable of handling the complex non-linearity and non-stationarity.The suspended sediment modeling of the river depends on the number of factors such as rock type,relief,rainfall,temperature,water discharge and catchment area.In this study,we proposed a hybrid genetic algorithm-based multi-objective optimization with artificial neural network(GA-MOO-ANN)with automated parameter tuning model using these factors to estimate the suspended sediment yield in the entire Mahanadi River basin.The model was validated by comparing statistically with other models,and it appeared that the GA-MOO-ANN model has the lowest root mean squared error(0.009)and highest coefficient of correlation(0.885)values among all comparative models(traditional neural network,multiple linear regression,and sediment rating curve)for all stations.It was also observed that the proposed model is the least biased(0.001)model.Thus,the proposed GA-MOOANN is the most capable model,compared to other studied models,for estimating the suspended sediment yield in the entire Mahanadi river basin,India.The results also suggested that the proposed GA-MOO-ANN model is unable to estimate suspended sediment yield satisfactorily at gauge stations having very small catchment areas whereas performing satisfactorily on locations having moderate to the large catchment area.The models provide the best result at Tikarapara,the gauge station location in the extreme downstream,having the largest catchment area.     

Solar mass ejections and coronal holes

In this paper we present observations of two types of solar mass ejections, which seem to be associated with the location of coronal, holes. In the first type, a filament eruption was observed near a coronal hole, which gave rise to a strong interplanetary scintillations. as detected by IPS observations. In the second type, several large scale soft X-ray blow-outs were observed in the YOHKOH SXT X-ray movies, in all the cases they erupted from or near the boundary of coronal holes and over the magnetic neutral line. It is proposed that the open magnetic field configuration of the coronal hole provides, the necessary field structure for reconnection to take place, which in turn is responsible for filament eruption, from relatively lower heights. While, in the case of X-ray blow-outs, the reconnection takes place at a greater height, resulting in high temperature soft X-ray emission visible as X-ray blow-outs.     

Urban Built-up Area Assessment of Ranchi Township Using Cartosat-I Stereopairs Satellite Images

In the present study, the Cartosat-I digital elevation model (DEM) was utilized to deduce the vertical characteristics of Ranchi urban area and its relation to long term built-up expansion (1927–2010). The DEM represents moderate variation in terrain relief ranging from 595 m to 754 m with majority of area exhibiting upto 3° of slope and 3° to 6° indicating flat to undulating nature of terrain in Ranchi township. The DEM was used to generate location of sinks within urban area, which are generally delineated along the drainage channels, adjacent to high-rise built-up land and along the elevated road network. The pattern of urban sprawl over the eight decades (1927–2010) were examined with reference to terrain relief zones, which indicated that the built-up growth was mainly taken place over the elevation range of moderate (620–660 m) (67.0%) and high relief (660–680 m) (19.8%) zones. Although earlier preference for built-up development was more in high elevation zones (660–680 m), the low elevation zones (<600–620 m) are now preferred for multistoried built-up land development where better groundwater availability occur. The spatial pattern of vertical growth of built-up land was assessed using contour density obtained from Cartosat-I DEM. The results show that the high density contours predominately correspond to hilly area and high-rise buildings at majority of locations. The urban sprawl pattern and population trend exhibited rapid increase in vertical built-up growth after 1996 indicating beginning of urban densification in Ranchi township.