Opportunities and challenges in rebuilding tornado-impacted Greensburg,Kansas as “stronger,better, and greener”

A May 2007 tornado destroyed 95% of aging, declining Greensburg, Kansas. The city took the opportunity to build back “stronger, better, and greener,” enforcing upgraded codes, requiring city-owned buildings to meet LEED Platinum level standards, and recommending energy-efficiency housing in a new Sustainable Comprehensive Plan. Using information collected from surveys of Greensburg tornado survivors, interviews, and publications, we examined the housing-related recovery, including the emergency provision of temporary shelter and rebuilding permanently. Although temporary shelter kept residents nearby for rebuilding, given the gap between insurance policy limits on the aging housing stock and rebuilding costs, housing affordability is a critical issue in Greensburg’s recovery. Local, state, and federal support have made construction of municipal buildings at LEED Platinum level and some affordable and green housing projects possible. However, far greater public and private sector funding for affordable workforce housing, in conjunction with broader economic and job development, is needed.     

Space borne SAR observations of oceanic internal waves in North Bay of Bengal

Sea surface manifestations of internal waves (IW) in the shallow continental shelf waters of North Bay of Bengal have been observed in almost all seasons imaged by Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images of ERS1/2 and Envisat ASAR missions during the period 1993–2004. Shoreward propagating short-period IW packets are observed particularly in summer stratified coastal waters Off Chilka region. In summer waters, prominent short-period shoreward propagating internal waves of consecutive imageries of ERS-1/2 SAR (12th and 13th April 1996) are studied. On 4th October 2003, Envisat ASAR imaged strong surface manifestations of huge internal wave group wavelengths and those propagations were discussed in detail. In the research, we also made an attempt for temporal distribution of IW signatures on SAR in North Bay of Bengal.     

Hydrogeologic characteristics of groundwater aquifers in Kathmandu Valley,Nepal

This paper reviews, compiles and comprehensively analyzes spatial variations in hydrogeologic characteristics of shallow and deep groundwater aquifers in Kathmandu Valley. To estimate transmissivity (T) (and then hydraulic conductivity) as a function of specific capacity (SC), an empirical relationship between T and SC is developed for shallow and deep aquifer. The results show that T and SC are log linearly related by an equation T = 0.8857(SC)^1.1624 [R ² = 0.79] in shallow and T = 1.1402(SC)^1.0068 [R ² = 0.85] in deep aquifer. The estimated T ranges from 163 to 1,056 m²/day in shallow aquifer and 22.5 to 737 m²/day in deep aquifer. Finally, mapping of spatial distribution in hydrogeologic characteristics (thickness, T, hydraulic conductivity and storage coefficient) in shallow and deep aquifers are accomplished using ArcGIS9.2 and such maps would be useful in delineating potential areas for groundwater development and simulating groundwater flow in the aquifer system.     

The influence of Southern Hemispheric Equatorial Trough on rainfall during southwest monsoon

Summary Monsoon is a complex dynamical system. Interannual and intraseasonal fluctuations have been studied in the regional and global perspective. Southern Hemispheric Equatorial Trough and its activity during the northern summer appears inversely related to the rainfall activity over the Indian sub-continent in general and Central India in particular. During typical active SHET epochs the rainfall activity becomes deficient in the Central parts of the country. The activity of the SHET is fluctuating in nature. Its duration is prolonged and intensity is increased during the years of major failure.With 2 Figures     

Localization of Branchial Enzymes and their Significance in the Detection of Crude Oil Toxicity in Colisa fasciatus

The effect of crude oil on the histochemical localization of branchial enzymes CA, SDH, LDH, Alkpase and Acidpase was investigated in Colisa fasciatus. The activity of all the enzymes experimented here was found to have decreased when treated with the lethal solutions of crude oil except the LDH which showed an increasing trend throughout the experiment. A transitory increase in the CA and SDH was observed in the beginning but reached an almost normal level after 48 h in 1000 ppm. On the basis of sensitiveness towards crude oil toxicity, the enzymes have been arranged in the following order: LDH > SDH > CA > Alkpase > Acidpase. The results suggest that crude oil is capable of impairing the enzyme activity. The decreased or increased level of enzymes may be used as an indicator for assessing the toxicity of oil pollutants.     

Monsoon rainfall and southern oscillation responses in the pressures over the Northern Indian Ocean

The pressure variations over the North Indian Ocean during the summer monsoon season have been exam-ined using the monthly data from June to September for the period 1961 to 1968. It is found that these varia-tions can be described by two significant eigenvectors (EV1 and EV2) which together account for 53% of the total variance.The first eigenvector (EV1) represents in phase variation over both, the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal with higher variations over the northern side of the area. The second eigenvector (EV2) depicts the out-of-phase variation between the pressure anomalies over the north and the south of 15°N latitude with two areas of pronounced variation, viz., the head Bay of Bengal and the equatorial region near 65°E longitude.The coefficients of EV1 show significant association with rainfall of West Coast and Central India for the concurrent months. These coefficients also show significant association with the pressure and temperature indices of the Southern Oscillation. The coefficients of EV2 show significant association with the monsoon rainfall of south peninsular India.     

Fluid-structure interaction effects for offshore structures

Comprehensive analyses are made of the differences in the responses of simple models of offshore structures computed by the standard and extended versions of Morison's equation for the hydrodynamic forces, and of the effects and relative importance of the numerous parameters involved. The responses also are evaluated by the equivalent linearization technique and Penzien's decoupling technique, and the interrelationship and accuracy of these approaches are elucidated. The results are displayed graphically in the form of response spectra for absolute maximum displacement employing dimensionless parameters that are easy to interpret and use. In addition, the decoupling technique is generalized to include consideration of a current of constant velocity, and a simple modification is proposed which improves the accuracy of this approach. A particularly simple approximation is included for the hydrodynamic modal damping values of multi-degree-of-freedom, stick-like systems.     

Late-Quaternary miliolite (biogenic carbonate) deposits and their implications for sea-level fluctuations and climatic variability

The western coast of India (Kachchh) has ubiquitous preservations of Quaternary carbonate deposits popularly known as “miliolites”. Field-based detail documentation of the nature and distribution of miliolites supported by sedimentology and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) microtextural studies indicates that the miliolites were primarily deposited by wind as aeolinites and are termed “primary miliolites (PM)”. These were subsequently fluvially eroded and deposited and such deposits are termed “secondary miliolites (SM)”. The PM are dated between 28 ka to 16 ka largely clustering around the Last Glacial Maxima (LGM). In comparison, the fluvially reworked SM occurs as valley-fill deposits and were deposited episodically during 23 ka to 10 ka before present. Climatically, the deposition of PMs suggests enhanced aridity whereas SMs represent episodic strengthening of the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM). The bedding attitudes of the PMs indicate that they were deposited predominantly by the northeasterly winds whereas the presence of the deflation lag deposits suggests downwind migration of sands during the equilibrium condition (reduced sediment supply). The aeolian parameters (based on the grain size and wind velocities) for PMs indicate high shear velocity (~23 to 48 cm⁻¹) and high transport rate (< 0.1 to 0.2 g/cm s). The short average flying distance implies that the biogenic sands were transported in multiple pulses (from coast to inland) at rates varying from ~200 m/h to ~1 km/h. Comparing our data with related occurrences along the biologically productive coasts in the mid-latitudinal belt indicates that the regional/global aridity during the lowered sea level was responsible for inland occurrences of aeolinites, particularly during the LGM. The strengthened northeast monsoon winds during the LGM was conducive to upwelling and production of biogenic carbonates along the coasts. The subsequent reworking of the aeolinites were mainly the results of local variability in precipitation.     

Site classification of Pondicherry using shear-wave velocity and horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio

Site classification studies play a vital role in earthquake hazard assessment since in situ ground conditions substantially affect the characteristics of incoming seismic waves during earthquakes. Flat areas along the coast and rivers generally consist of thick layers of soft clay and sand. Such deposits amplify certain frequencies of ground motion, thereby attributing to an increase in the damage due to an earthquake. Hence, site classification studies have been carried out using shear-wave velocity, ground response, and corresponding amplification at 83 locations in Pondicherry, a coastal city in India. The present study is aimed at estimating the shear-wave velocity through multichannel analysis of surface waves and to compute the average shear-wave velocity (V _S ³⁰ ), stiffness, and N values using empirical relations. Further, site-response studies (horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio) were conducted to estimate the ground-response frequencies and corresponding amplifications through Nakamura technique. From the results, the study area was classified into three types, i.e., C-class: with V _S ³⁰ in the range of 360–760 m/s, D-class: with V _S ³⁰ in the range of 180–360 m/s, and E-class: with V _S ³⁰  < 180 m/s following the National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Programme norms (BSSC in NEHRP recommended provisions for seismic regulations for new buildings and other structures (FEMA 450), part 1: provisions. Building Seismic Safety Council for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Washington, 2003). Finally, a site classification map for Pondicherry region has been prepared, which can be used in urban planning and strengthening of existing structures against future earthquakes.