Advanced oxidation of catechol in reverse osmosis concentrate generated in leather wastewater by Cu–graphite electrode

Reverse osmosis (RO) concentrate generated from tannery was treated by advanced electrochemical oxidation using graphite electrodes. Catechol was selected as model organic pollutant in the RO concentrate. The influence of applied current density, catechol concentration, pH, temperature and inner electrode space of electrodes was investigated in electrochemical oxidation system. The optimized conditions were found to be current density (j), 100 mA/cm²; electrolysis time (t _eco), 60 min; pH, 7.0; and temperature, 25 °C at an inner electrode space, 2 cm. The average mass transport coefficient for the removal of catechol as COD was found to be 3.0 × 10^?5 m/s at optimum conditions. Faradic efficiency and specific energy consumption were also calculated for the applied current density. Further, the treatment of catechol was confirmed through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Theoretical evaluation of current density suggested that the removal of catechol was controlled when supplied at above limiting applied current densities and mass transport controlled at lower of limiting current densities.     

Mapping rice-fallow cropland areas for short-season grain legumes intensification in South Asia using MODIS 250 m time-series data

The goal of this study was to map rainfed and irrigated rice-fallow cropland areas across South Asia, using MODIS 250?m time-series data and identify where the farming system may be intensified by the inclusion of a short-season crop during the fallow period. Rice-fallow cropland areas are those areas where rice is grown during the kharif growing season (June–October), followed by a fallow during the rabi season (November–February). These cropland areas are not suitable for growing rabi-season rice due to their high water needs, but are suitable for a short -season (≤3 months), low water-consuming grain legumes such as chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), black gram, green gram, and lentils. Intensification (double-cropping) in this manner can improve smallholder farmer’s incomes and soil health via rich nitrogen-fixation legume crops as well as address food security challenges of ballooning populations without having to expand croplands. Several grain legumes, primarily chickpea, are increasingly grown across Asia as a source of income for smallholder farmers and at the same time providing rich and cheap source of protein that can improve the nutritional quality of diets in the region. The suitability of rainfed and irrigated rice-fallow croplands for grain legume cultivation across South Asia were defined by these identifiers: (a) rice crop is grown during the primary (kharif) crop growing season or during the north-west monsoon season (June–October); (b) same croplands are left fallow during the second (rabi) season or during the south-east monsoon season (November–February); and (c) ability to support low water-consuming, short-growing season (≤3 months) grain legumes (chickpea, black gram, green gram, and lentils) during rabi season. Existing irrigated or rainfed crops such as rice or wheat that were grown during kharif were not considered suitable for growing during the rabi season, because the moisture/water demand of these crops is too high. The study established cropland classes based on the every 16-day 250?m normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) time series for one year (June 2010–May 2011) of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data, using spectral matching techniques (SMTs), and extensive field knowledge. Map accuracy was evaluated based on independent ground survey data as well as compared with available sub-national level statistics. The producers’ and users’ accuracies of the cropland fallow classes were between 75% and 82%. The overall accuracy and the kappa coefficient estimated for rice classes were 82% and 0.79, respectively. The analysis estimated approximately 22.3?Mha of suitable rice-fallow areas in South Asia, with 88.3% in India, 0.5% in Pakistan, 1.1% in Sri Lanka, 8.7% in Bangladesh, 1.4% in Nepal, and 0.02% in Bhutan. Decision-makers can target these areas for sustainable intensification of short-duration grain legumes.     

The 2007 Bengkulu earthquake, its rupture model and implications for seismic hazard

The 12 September 2007 great Bengkulu earthquake (M _w 8.4) occurred on the west coast of Sumatra about 130 km SW of Bengkulu. The earthquake was followed by two strong aftershocks of M _w 7.9 and 7.0. We estimate coseismic offsets due to the mainshock, derived from near-field Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements from nine continuous SuGAr sites operated by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) group. Using a forward modelling approach, we estimated slip distribution on the causative rupture of the 2007 Bengkulu earthquake and found two patches of large slip, one located north of the mainshock epicenter and the other, under the Pagai Islands. Both patches of large slip on the rupture occurred under the island belt and shallow water. Thus, despite its great magnitude, this earthquake did not generate a major tsunami. Further, we suggest that the occurrence of great earthquakes in the subduction zone on either side of the Siberut Island region, might have led to the increase in static stress in the region, where the last great earthquake occurred in 1797 and where there is evidence of strain accumulation.     

Lunar Water: A Brief Review

One of the most exciting recent developments in the field of lunar science has been the unambiguous detection of water (either as OH or H₂O) or water ice on the Moon through instruments flown on a number of orbiting spacecraft missions. At the same time, continued laboratory-based investigations of returned lunar samples by Apollo missions using high-precision, low-detection, analytical instruments have for the first time, provided the absolute abundance of water (present mostly as structurally bound OH⁻ in mineral phases) in lunar samples. These new results suggest that the Moon is not an anhydrous body, questioning conventional wisdom, and indicating the possibility of a wet lunar interior and the presence of distinct reservoirs of water on the lunar surface. However, not all recent results point to a wet Moon and it appears that the distribution of water on the Moon may be highly heterogeneous. Additionally, a number of sources are likely to have contributed to the water inventory of the Moon ranging from primordial water to meteorite-derived water ice through to the water formed during the reaction of solar-wind hydrogen with the lunar soil. Water on the Moon has implications for future astrobiological investigations as well as for generating resources in situ during future exploration of the Moon and other airless bodies in the Solar System.     

Stratigraphical and palynological appraisal of the Late Quaternary mangrove deposits of the west coast of India

The organic deposits derived from the mangrove swamps form reliable stratigraphic markers within the Late Quaternary sequence of Kerala–Konkan Basin. Three generations of such deposits have been identified. The older one is dated to around 43,000–40,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P., with a few dates beyond the range of radiocarbon. The younger ones date from the Middle Holocene to latest Pleistocene (10,760–4540 ¹⁴C yr B.P.) and the Late Holocene (<4000 ¹⁴C yr B.P.). Pollen analyses confirm that the deposits are mostly derived from the mangrove vegetation. Peat accumulation during the period 40,000–28,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. can be correlated with the excess rainfall, 40–100% greater than modern values, of the Asian summer monsoon. The low occurrence of mangrove between 22,000 and 18,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. can be attributed to the prevailing aridity and/or reduced precipitation associated worldwide with Last Glacial Maximum, because exposure surfaces and ferruginous layers are commonly found in intervals representing this period. The high rainfall of 11,000–4000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. is found to be the most significant as the mangrove reached an optimum growth around 11,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. but with periods of punctuated weaker monsoons. From the present and previous studies, it has been observed that after about 5000 or 4000 ¹⁴C yr B.P., the monsoons became gradually reduced leading to drying up of many of the marginal marine mangrove ecosystems. A case study of Hadi profile provided an insight to the relevance of magnetic susceptibility (χ) to record the ecological shift in Late Holocene.     

Exploring the Moon in the 21st century

Ian Crawford and Mahesh Anand report on a wide-ranging RAS Discussion Meeting on the future of lunar exploration, held in the Geological Society Lecture Theatre at Burlington House on Friday 11 November 2005.     

In-orbit Performance of UVIT and First Results

The performance of the ultraviolet telescope (UVIT) on-board AstroSat is reported. The performance in orbit is also compared with estimates made from the calibrations done on the ground. The sensitivity is found to be within \(\sim \)15% of the estimates, and the spatial resolution in the NUV is found to exceed significantly the design value of \(1.8^{\prime \prime }\) and it is marginally better in the FUV. Images obtained from UVIT are presented to illustrate the details revealed by the high spatial resolution. The potential of multi-band observations in the ultraviolet with high spatial resolution is illustrated by some results.     

Potassium and Residue Management Options to Enhance Productivity and Soil Quality in Zero Till Maize–Wheat Rotation

Crop residue burning and imbalanced use of chemical fertilizers in intensive cereal–cereal rotations are present ecological threats in any agro‐ecosystem of the world. Therefore, identification of best suitable agricultural practices can be a feasible option. The present experiment was initiated in 2013 and consisted of four residue levels (0, 2, 4, and 6 Mg ha^?1) and five potassium (K) levels (0, 50, 100, 150% recommended dose of K and 50%RDK+K solubilizing bacteria, KSB). Crop residue (CR) and K management significantly improve crop and soil quality associated parameters. Among the treatments, maximum increase in crop growth, physiological parameters, grain yield, quality aspects, and water productivity are recorded with the application of 4–6 Mg ha^?1 CR. Application of 50%RDK+KSB also significantly increases crop and soil related parameters. Soil quality indicators (bulk density, pH, electrical conductivity, and available micronutrients) do not vary significantly with CR and K management. Change in soil organic carbon status, soil enzymes, and potassium‐solubilizing bacterial count are significantly increased with 4–6 Mg ha^?1 CR and application of 50%RDK+KSB, and this is in accordance with correlation study carried out. Therefore, it is concluded that CR retention (4–6 Mg ha^?1) and reduction of inorganic K fertilizer by 50% and inoculation of KSB enhance the soil quality indicators and thereby improve crop growth, physiological parameters, grain yield, and quality aspects along with water productivity under zero till maize–wheat rotation.     

Application of tank,NAM, ARMA and neural network models to flood forecasting

Two lumped conceptual hydrological models, namely tank and NAM and a neural network model are applied to flood forecasting in two river basins in Thailand, the Wichianburi on the Pasak River and the Tha Wang Pha on the Nan River using the flood forecasting procedure developed in this study. The tank and NAM models were calibrated and verified and found to give similar results. The results were found to improve significantly by coupling stochastic and deterministic models (tank and NAM) for updating forecast output. The neural network (NN) model was compared with the tank and NAM models. The NN model does not require knowledge of catchment characteristics and internal hydrological processes. The training process or calibration is relatively simple and less time consuming compared with the extensive calibration effort required by the tank and NAM models. The NN model gives good forecasts based on available rainfall, evaporation and runoff data. The black‐box nature of the NN model and the need for selecting parameters based on trial and error or rule‐of‐thumb, however, characterizes its inherent weakness. The performance of the three models was evaluated statistically. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A hybrid deterministic and stochastic approach for tsunami hazard assessment in Iquique,Chile

Natural Hazards - This paper presents an investigation of the collapse of a 325-year-old multi-tiered heritage temple during the 2015 Gorkha earthquake in Kathmandu, Nepal. The research comprises a...