Salt-water intrusion mapping by geoelectrical imaging surveys

The geoelectrical imaging method is a tool for mapping the intrusion boundary between fresh water and saline water due to its inherent capability to delineate the lateral changes in pore-water salinity. A new field survey technique that can be used for environmental and geotechnical investigations has been developed. This study evaluates the multiscale survey technique as a tool employed in electrical imaging to detect the salt-water intrusion boundary in Yan, State of Kedah, northwest Malaysia. The technique was incorporated into these surveys, and it has proved to be a robust method for accurately mapping the fresh-water/saline-water boundary. The resulting resistivity sections from these surveys were consistent with both the available geological and borehole information from the area and the previous resistivity surveys conducted by the Geological Survey of Malaysia at those sites.     

Hydrogeochemical evaluation and statistical analysis of groundwater of Sylhet,north-eastern Bangladesh

To investigate the hydrogeochemical characteristics of groundwater 23 shallow, 30 intermediate and 38 deep wells samples were collected from Sylhet district of Bangladesh, and analyzed for temperature, pH, Eh, EC,DO, DOC, Na^+, K^+, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Cl^-, SO_4^2-, NO_3^-,HCO_3^-, SiO_2^-, Fe, Mn and As. Besides, 12 surface water samples from Surma and Kushiyara Rivers were also collected and analyzed to understand the influence into aquifers. Results revealed that, most of the groundwater samples are acidic in nature, and Na–HCO_3 is the dominant groundwater type. The mean value of temperature, EC,Na^+, K^+, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Cl^-, NO_3^- and SO_4^2- were found within the range of permissible limits, while most of the samples exceeds the allowable limits of Fe, Mn and As concentrations. However, relatively higher concentration of Fe and Mn were found in deep water samples and reverse trend was found in case of As. The mean concentrations of As in shallow, intermediate and deep wells were 39.3, 25.3and 21.4 lg/L respectively, which varied from 0.03 to148 lg/L. From spatial distribution, it was found that Fe,Mn and As concentrations are high but patchy in northern,north-western, and south-western part of Sylhet region. The most influential geochemical process in study area were identified as silicate weathering, characterized by active cation exchange process and carbonate weathering, which thereby can enhance the elemental concentrations in groundwater. Pearson's correlation matrix, principal component analysis and cluster analysis were also employed to evaluate the controlling factors, and it was found that, both natural and anthropogenic sources were influencing the groundwater chemistry of the aquifers. However, surface water has no significant role to contaminate the aquifers,rather geogenic factors affecting the trace elemental contamination. Thus it is expected that, outcomes of this study will provide useful insights for future groundwater monitoring and management of the study area.     

Analytical Modeling of Well Design in Riverbank Filtration Systems

Analytical studies for well design adjacent to river banks are the most significant practical task in cases involving the efficiency of riverbank filtration systems. In times when high pollution of river water is joined with increasing water demand, it is necessary to design pumping wells near the river that provide acceptable amounts of river water with minimum contaminant concentrations. This will guarantee the quality and safety of drinking water supplies. This article develops an analytical solution based on the Green's function approach to solve an inverse problem: based on the required level of contaminant concentration and planned pumping time period, the shortest distance to the riverbank that has the maximum percentage of river water is determined. This model is developed in a confined and homogenous aquifer that is partially penetrated by the stream due to the existence of clogging layers. Initially, the analytical results obtained at different pumping times, rates and with different values of initial concentration are checked numerically using the MODFLOW software. Generally, the distance results obtained from the proposed model are acceptable. Then, the model is validated by data related to two pumping wells located at the first riverbank filtration pilot project conducted in Malaysia.     

Structure of the atmospheric surface layer over an industrialized equatorial area

This paper is written to report observations of the structure of the atmospheric surface layer over a coastal industrialized equatorial area. The observations were recorded at Prai Industrial Park, Penang (5° 22′ N, 100° 23′ E) a relatively simple terrain area during the south-west monsoon season in the period of three months using slow response systems. The limitations of the instruments used and its effects on the results are discussed. Wind turbulence and temperature were measured on a 10 m tower and analyzed using eddy correlation method and Monin–Obukhov similarity relations to obtain the normalized standard deviation of longitudinal (σ_u/u), lateral (σ_v/u) and vertical wind velocity fluctuations (σ_w/u) with respect to stability parameter z/L. From the results of the analysis, we found that most of turbulence is generated by shear or mechanical force. It was found that the average neutral value of σ_u/u is 2.35, 1.98 for σ_v/u and 1.47 for σ_w/u with a significantly lower than the proportionality to the power of 1/3 during unstable atmospheric conditions, and thus do not obey Monin–Obukhov similarity theory. It was observed that σ_u/u and σ_v/u values increase linearly in the range of 0 < z/L < 2 and fairly well correlated while σ_w/u does not.     

Spatial patterns and trends of daily rainfall regime in Peninsular Malaysia during the southwest and northeast monsoons: 1975–2004

Model precipitation can be produced implicitly through convective parameterization schemes or explicitly through cloud microphysics schemes. These two precipitation production schemes control the spatial and temporal distribution of precipitation and consequently can yield distinct vertical profiles of heating and moistening in the atmosphere. The partition between implicit and explicit precipitation can be different as the model changes resolutions. Within the range of mesoscale resolutions (about 20 km) and cumulus scale, hybrid solutions are suggested, in which cumulus convection parameterization is acting together with the explicit form of representation. In this work, it is proposed that, as resolution increases, the convective scheme should convert less condensed water into precipitation. Part of the condensed water is made available to the cloud microphysics scheme and another part evaporates. At grid sizes smaller than 3 km, the convective scheme is still active in removing convective instability, but precipitation is produced by cloud microphysics. The Eta model version using KF cumulus parameterization was applied in this study. To evaluate the quantitative precipitation forecast, the Eta model with the KF scheme was used to simulate precipitation associated with the South Atlantic Convergence Zone (SACZ) and Cold Front (CF) events. Integrations with increasing horizontal resolutions were carried out for up to 5 days for the SACZ cases and up to 2 days for the CF cases. The precipitation partition showed that most of precipitation was generated by the implicit scheme. As the grid size decreased, the implicit precipitation increased and the explicit decreased. However, as model horizontal resolution increases, it is expected that precipitation be represented more explicitly. In the KF scheme, the fraction of liquid water or ice, generated by the scheme, which is converted into rain or snow is controlled by a parameter S ₁. An additional parameter was introduced into KF scheme and the parameter acts to evaporate a fraction of liquid water or ice left in the model grid by S ₁ and return moisture to the resolved scale. An F parameter was introduced to combine the effects of S ₁ and S ₂ parameters. The F parameter gives a measure of the conversion of cloud liquid water or ice to convective precipitation. A function dependent on the horizontal resolution was introduced into the KF scheme to influence the implicit and explicit precipitation partition. The explicit precipitation increased with model resolution. This function reduced the positive precipitation bias at all thresholds and for the studied weather systems. With increased horizontal resolution, the maximum precipitation area was better positioned and the total precipitation became closer to observations. Skill scores for all events at different forecast ranges showed precipitation forecast improvement with the inclusion of the function F.     

Halocarbon emissions from marine phytoplankton and climate change

Long-lived and short-lived halocarbons have long been known for their adverse effects on atmospheric chemistry, especially ozone depletion that may be directly or indirectly influenced by global climate change. Marine organisms including phytoplankton contribute shorter-lived halocarbon compounds to the atmosphere. Oceans cover more than 70% of the Earth’s surface making the marine phytoplankton a significant presence. Changes in the environment will inevitably affect this widely distributed group of organisms. Various predictions have been made about how phytoplankton will respond to climate change, but as yet little is known about the interactions between phytoplankton, climate change and halocarbon emissions. We provide a summary of studies on halocarbon emissions by marine phytoplankton isolated from different climatic zones that includes data from our recent studies on tropical marine phytoplankton. It is important to determine and characterize the contribution of the phytoplankton to the halocarbon load in the atmosphere to allow their interaction with the changing global climate to be understood. Using these data, we compare the range of halocarbons emitted by phytoplankton with halocarbon emission data for seaweeds, a well-known biogenic contributor of short-lived halocarbons. Sørensen’s coefficient of similarity of 0.50 was calculated, which suggests that half of the detected halocarbon species present in seaweeds are also present in phytoplankton.     

Metabolic and physiological regulation of Chlorella sp. (Trebouxiophyceae,Chlorophyta) under nitrogen deprivation

Journal of Oceanology and Limnology - A freshwater green microalgae Chlorella sp., UMACC344 was shown to produce high lipid content and has the potential to be used as feedstock for biofuel...     

Countermeasure of river bend scour using a combination of submerged vanes and riprap

A series of laboratory flume experiments were done in a large-scale 180° bend with non-cohesive sediment to find optimal or effective protection works at a bend. Detailed study of the scour and flow field dynamics with and without protection works was done. Spatially dense, high frequency velocity data were collected and analyzed to describe the pattern and magnitude of three-dimensional(3 D)velocity throughout the bend. Characterizing the role of flow field dynamics on the pattern of deposition and erosion through experimental measurements provided valuable data about how such flow features contribute to scour and about the performance of the protection works. From the experimental results, it is revealed that for a perennial river it is not possible to protect from scour either with riprap or with submerged vanes alone. Protection from scour at a bend can be achieved with proper combination of these two works. First, submerged vanes can protect the toe, and, second, riprap can protect the upper part of the slope if it is not damaged through toe erosion. The experiments convincingly demonstrate the efficiency of this bank protection technique.