Spatiotemporal trends of temperature extremes in Bangladesh under changing climate using multi-statistical techniques

Theoretical and Applied Climatology - The rise in the frequency and magnitude of extreme temperature phenomena across the globe has led to the recurrent incidence of global climate hazards, which...     

Urban flood vulnerability assessment in a densely urbanized city using multi-factor analysis and machine learning algorithms

Theoretical and Applied Climatology - Flood is considered as the most devastating natural hazards that cause the death of many lives worldwide. The present study aimed to predict flood...     

Envelope solitons and their modulational instability in dusty plasmas with two-temperature superthermal electrons

The modified ion-acoustic envelope solitons and their modulational instability in a multi-component unmagnetized plasma (consisting of negatively charged immobile dusts, inertial ions and superthermal electrons of two distinct temperatures) are theoretically investigated. A multiple scale (in space and time) perturbation technique is used to derive the cubic nonlinear Schrödinger equation (which describes the evolution of a slowly varying wave envelope with space and time). It is observed that the plasma system under consideration supports two types (bright and dark) envelope solitons. It is also found that the dark (bright) envelope solitons are modulationally stable (unstable). The variation of the growth rate of the unstable bright envelope solitons with various plasma parameters (e.g. wave number, temperature of superthermal electrons, etc.) are found to be significant. The modulational instability criterions of the modified ion-acoustic envelope solitons are also seen to be influenced due to the variation of the intrinsic plasma parameters. The implications of the results of this theoretical investigations in some space plasma systems (viz. Saturn’s magnetosphere) are briefly mentioned.     

Simulating and predicting river discharge time series using a wavelet‐neural network hybrid modelling approach

Accurate simulation and prediction of the dynamic behaviour of a river discharge over any time interval is essential for good watershed management. It is difficult to capture the high‐frequency characteristics of a river discharge using traditional time series linear and nonlinear model approaches. Therefore, this study developed a wavelet‐neural network (WNN) hybrid modelling approach for the predication of river discharge using monthly time series data. A discrete wavelet multiresolution method was employed to decompose the time series data of river discharge into sub‐series with low (approximation) and high (details) frequency, and these sub‐series were then used as input data for the artificial neural network (ANN). WNN models with different wavelet decomposition levels were employed to predict river discharge 48 months ahead of time. Comparison of results from the WNN models with those of the ANN models alone indicated that WNN models performed a more accurate prediction. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Combined use of dimensional analysis and modern experimental design methodologies in hydrodynamics experiments

In this paper, a combined use of dimensional analysis (DA) and modern statistical design of experiment (DOE) methodologies is proposed for a hydrodynamics experiment where there are a large number of variables. While DA is well-known, DOE is still unfamiliar to most ocean engineers although it has been shown to be useful in many engineering and non-engineering applications. To introduce and illustrate the method, a study concerning the thrust of a propeller is considered. Fourteen variables are involved in the problem and after dimensional analysis this reduces to 11 dimensionless parameters. Then, a two-level fractional factorial design was used to screen out parameters that do not significantly contribute to explaining the dependent dimensionless parameter. With the remaining five statistically significant dimensionless parameters, various response surface methodologies (RSM) were used to obtain a functional relationship between the dependent dimensionless thrust coefficient, and the five dimensionless parameters. The final model was found to be of reasonable accuracy when tested against results not used to develop the model. The methodologies presented in the paper can be similarly applied to systems with a large number of control variables to systematically derive approximate mathematical models to predict the responses of the system economically and accurately.     

Spatial and seasonal distribution of intertidal macrobenthos with their biomass and functional feeding guilds in the Naf River estuary,Bangladesh

The Naf River estuary is one of the most productive ecological ecosystems in Bangladesh providing an important feeding area for fishes and other aquatic animals. However, detailed information on macrobenthic communities is rarely available in this area. Our study focused on the seasonal and spatial variability of macrobenthic community structure with their biomass and functional guilds. In total, fortyseven taxa were identified under nine major groups and seven functional feeding guilds. Among macrobenthic taxa, Polychaeta was dominant in both seasons and all over the estuary contributing 60% of total benthos.The mean abundance of macrobenthos was higher during the pre-monsoon(2 972±1 994 inds./m~2) than the monsoon(1 572±361 inds./m~2) being maximum at mid-estuary region and minimum at upper and lower estuary regions. Of the diversity indices, density(P=0.01, P=0.003), the number of taxa(P=0.000 3,P=0.000 9) and Margalefs Index(P=0.000 4, P=0.001) of macrobenthos were significantly different among stations and seasons. Shannon-Weiner index(P=0.009, P=0.12) and Pielou's evenness index(P=0.03,P=0.14) had significant differences among stations but not among seasons. Cluster analysis suggested that distribution of macrofauna is strongly influenced by seasonality. Among the feeding types, carnivorous were found to be dominant at the upper and mid-estuarine regions, and herbivorous were at lower estuarine regions. Carnivorous species were dominant in both seasons. Omnivores have shown to be the most abundant feeding type in terms of biomass though herbivores were highest during monsoon.     

Biodiverse rotifer assemblage(Rotifera: Eurotatoria) of floodplain lakes of the Brahmaputra basin of lower Assam,northeast India: composition and ecosystem diversity

The study aims to ascertain the hypothesis on the rich rotifer biodiversity of the floodplain lakes(beels) of the Brahmaputra river basin and to use these metazoans to assess trophic status or to characterize habitat variations of wetlands. The plankton samples collected from four beels of lower Assam revealed 160 Rotifera species belonging to 35 genera and 19 families. The richness is of biodiversity value as ~38.0% and ~57.0% of the rotifer species known till date from India and northeast India(NEI), respectively. One species each is new to the Oriental region and NEI, and three species are new to Assam; 23 species merit global biogeography interest and several exhibit distribution values in the Indian sub-region. The diverse Lecanidae Brachionidae Lepadellidae Trichocercidae and speciose littoral-periphytic L ecane Lepadella Trichocerca, and richness of Brachionus spp. following removal of aquatic macrophytes are noteworthy. Overall rotifer composition showed homogeneity amongst beels while lower monthly richness and community similarities affirmed heterogeneity within individual beels. We propose L/B quotient based on L ecane : Brachionus species ratios to characterize habitat variations of the sampled wetlands. Sláde?ek's B/T quotient based on B rachionus : T richocerca species ratios affirmed general 'meso-trophic' status of diff erent beels. Our results provided little insight on the influence of individual abiotic factors but the canonical correspondence analyses asserted higher cumulative influence of ten abiotic parameters on Rotifera richness in each beel.     

Paleozoic glaciation in NE Africa: field and remote sensing-based evidence from the South Eastern Desert of Egypt

ABSTRACT

Exhumed Paleozoic glacial deposits and landforms of the North Gondwana are reported here for the first time from the South Eastern Desert (SED) of Egypt. Using field observations and remote sensing datasets (Advanced Land Observing Satellite [ALOS], Phased Array L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar [PALSAR] radar, multispectral Landsat TM datasets, and digital elevation models [DEMs]), we mapped the distribution of Paleozoic glacial features (i.e. deposits and landforms) in the SED. Two main glaciogenic facies were identified in three locations in the SED: (1) massive, poorly sorted, matrix supported, boulder-rich diamictites in Wadi El-Naam and Korbiai, and (2) moderately-sorted, occasionally bedded outwash deposits in Betan area. Inspection of radar, DEMs, and Landsat Operational Land Imager (OLI) images revealed previously unrecognized ENE-WSW trending glacial megalineations (MLs) over the peneplained Neoproterozoic basement rocks in the central sections of the SED, whose trends align along their projected extension with those of glacial features (tunnel valleys and striation trends) reported from Saudi Arabia. The glaciogenic features in the SED are believed to be largely eroded during the uplift associated with the Red Sea opening, except for those preserved as basal units beneath the Nubia Sandstone Formation or as remnant isolated deposits within paleo-depressions within the basement complex. The apparent spatial correlation of the SED glacial features with well-defined Late Ordovician deposits in North Africa and in Saudi Arabia, and the reported thermochronometric analyses and fossil records are consistent with a Late Ordovician age for the SED glaciogenic features and support models that call on the continuation of the Late Ordovician (Hirnantian) ice sheet from the Sahara into Arabia through the SED of Egypt.