Rain induced attenuation studies for V-band satellite communication in tropical region

Satellite communications operating at 10 GHz and above in the tropics suffer severe signal degradation due to rain. Attenuation due to rain at 38 GHz had been measured for a period of 20 months in Malaysia. Analyses carried out include seasonal variations, diurnal effects and the annual cumulative distributions. Obtained results were compared with several established prediction models including the ITU-R. The rain fade characteristics were also investigated in determining the levels of signal loss and fading. In addition, the studies highlight several potential fade mitigation techniques that can be embarked. These fundamental aprehensions are very critical for future earth space communication link design and can be exploited as preliminary groundwork plan for the researchers as well as engineers.     

Stability Behavior and Thermodynamic States of Iron and Manganese in Sandy Soil Aquifer,Manukan Island,Malaysia

A total of 20 soil samples were collected from 10 boreholes constructed in the low lying area, which included ancillary samples taken from the high elevation area. Redox processes were investigated in the soil as well as groundwater in the shallow groundwater aquifer of Manukan Island, Sabah, Malaysia. Groundwater samples (n = 10) from each boreholes were also collected in the low lying area to understand the concentrations and behaviors of Fe and Mn in the dissolved state. This study strives to obtain a general understanding of the stability behaviors on Fe and Mn at the upper unsaturated and the lower-saturated soil horizons in the low lying area of Manukan Island as these elements usually play a major role in the redox chemistry of the shallow groundwater. Thermodynamic calculations using PHREEQC showed that the groundwater samples in the study area are oversaturated with respect to goethite, hematite, Fe(OH)₃ and undersaturated with respect to manganite and pyrochroite. Low concentrations of Fe and Mn in the groundwater might be probably due to the lack of minerals of iron and manganese oxides, which exist in the sandy aquifer. In fact, high organic matters that present in the unsaturated horizon are believed to be responsible for the high Mn content in the soil. It was observed that the soil samples collected from high elevation area (BK) comprises considerable amount of Fe in both unsaturated (6675.87 mg/kg) and saturated horizons (31440.49 mg/kg) compared to the low Fe content in the low lying area. Based on the stability diagram, the groundwater composition lies within the stability field for Mn²⁺ and Fe²⁺ under suboxic condition and very close to the FeS/Fe²⁺ stability boundary. This study also shows that both pH and Eh values comprise a strong negative value thus suggesting that the redox potential is inversely dependent on the changes of pH.     

Uranium and boron distributions related to metamorphic microstructure-evidence for metamorphic fluid activity

The distribution of uranium and boron in polymetamorphosed, granulite facies schists and gneisses has been studied using particle track methods. The concentration and distribution of these elements when examined in relation to mineralogy and microstructure provide an insight into: (1) the behaviour of U and B in metamorphism, (2) the activity of a fluid phase in the metamorphic processes and (3) the nature of chemical processes during schistosity development. A low concentration of primary U occurs in micro-inclusions of apatite and zircon (many are metamict) in the granulite facies M₁ assemblage. This assemblage which lacks B, except for zoned sillimanite, has undergone a localized retrograde metamorphism RM₁ characterised by hydrous alteration products containing abundant U and B. The RM₁ metamorphism is attributed to fluids generated during granulite facies dehydration reactions. A schistosity S₂ defined by M₂ fibrolite aggregates overprints the M₁ events. It is associated with (1) intragranular U concentrated in M₂ apatite and titanium bearing minerals and (2) abundant intergranular U within the fibrolite aggregates. High B contents also occur with the fibrolite. The S₂ schistosity appears to develop in a metamorphic environment containing a fluid enriched in U and B.     

Modeling the Influence of Groundwater Exploitation on Land Subsidence Susceptibility Using Machine Learning Algorithms

Natural Resources Research - Groundwater over-exploitation in arid and semiarid environments has led to many land subsidence cases. Immense economic losses incurred from land subsidence occurrences...     

Effects of environmental factors on classification of loessderived soils and clay minerals variations,northern Iran

Land-use type under different topographic conditions and human activities affects soil development. We investigated the effects of land-use, topography and human activity on soil classification changes in the Toshan watershed in northern Iran. Seven representative pedons derived from loess parent materials were studied on different land-uses and topographic positions. The studied pedons in forest (FO) on backslopes and footslope were classified as Calcic Haploxeralfs and Typic Haploxeralfs, respectively. The soils in abandoned lands (AB) and orchards (OR), where formerly under natural forests, located on the shoulder and backslopes positions were classified as Calcic Haploxeralfs and Vertic Haploxeralfs, respectively. Well-developed argillic horizons as indicators for higher degrees of soil evolution were observed in more-stable areas under the natural forest or less disturbed areas. Clay lessivage through these soil profiles have led to formation of Typic or Calcic Haploxeralfs, while under croplands (CP) were classified as Typic Calcixerepts. Conversion of sloping deforested areas to CP along with inappropriate management have accelerated soil erosion, resulting in unstable conditions in which decalcification and formation of developed soils cannot occur. Paddy cultivation in flat areas has caused to reduced conditions and formation of Typic Haplaquepts. Because of unfavorable conditions for chemical weathering (e.g. lower water retention compared to more-stable areas) no vermiculite was detected in the CP. The results showed that evolution and classification of the studied soils were strongly affected by land-use type, topography and management.     

Using large‐scale climatic patterns for improving long lead time streamflow forecasts for Gunnison and San Juan River Basins

In a water‐stressed region, such as the western United States, it is essential to have long lead times for streamflow forecasts used in reservoir operations and water resources management. Current water supply forecasts provide a 3‐month to 6‐month lead time, depending on the time of year. However, there is a growing demand from stakeholders to have forecasts that run lead times of 1 year or more. In this study, a data‐driven model, the support vector machine (SVM) based on the statistical learning theory, was used to predict annual streamflow volume with a 1‐year lead time. Annual average oceanic–atmospheric indices consisting of the Pacific decadal oscillation, North Atlantic oscillation (NAO), Atlantic multidecadal oscillation, El Niño southern oscillation (ENSO), and a new sea surface temperature (SST) data set for the ‘Hondo’ region for the period of 1906–2006 were used to generate annual streamflow volumes for multiple sites in the Gunnison River Basin and San Juan River Basin, both located in the Upper Colorado River Basin. Based on the performance measures, the model showed very good forecasts, and the forecasts were in good agreement with measured streamflow volumes. Inclusion of SST information from the Hondo region improved the model's forecasting ability; in addition, the combination of NAO and Hondo region SST data resulted in the best streamflow forecasts for a 1‐year lead time. The results of the SVM model were found to be better than the feed‐forward, back propagation artificial neural network and multiple linear regression. The results from this study have the potential of providing useful information for the planning and management of water resources within these basins. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

COMPARISON OF HEAVY METAL CONCENTRATIONS IN SURFACE SEDIMENT OF TANJUNG PIAI WETLAND WITH OTHER SITES RECEIVING ANTHROPOGENIC INPUTS ALONG THE SOUTHWESTERN COAST OF PENINSULAR MALAYSIA

1 INTRODUCTIONOur sampling trip to Tanjung Piai wetland in2002 showed that the site had not been developed andrecognized yet as a wetland of international importance(Ramsar). Recently, our field trip in January 2005to the same site to collect sediment sam…     

Hyperspectral satellite data analysis for pure pixels extraction and evaluation of advanced classifier algorithms for LULC classification

The study was carried out for Indian capital city Delhi using Hyperion sensor onboard EO-1 satellite of NASA. After MODTRAN-4 based atmospheric correction, MNF, PPI and n-D visualizer were applied and endmembers of 11 LCLU classes were derived which were employed in classification of LULC. To incur better classification accuracy, a comparative study was also carried out to evaluate the potential of three classifier algorithms namely Random Forest (RF), Support Vector Machines (SVM) and Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM). The results of this study reemphasize the utility of satellite borne hyperspectral data to extract endmembers and also to delineate the potential of random forest as expert classifier to assess land cover with higher classification accuracy that outperformed the SVM by 19% and SAM by 27% in overall accuracy. This research work contributes positively to the issue of land cover classification through exploration of hyperspectral endmembers. The comparison of classification algorithms’ performance is valuable for decision makers to choose better classifier for more accurate information extraction.     

Glacial to Holoceneδ 13C variations in intermediate depth water masses of North Indian Ocean

The ¹⁸O and ¹³C compositions of glacial- to Holocene-aged benthic foraminifera in a core collected from the eastern Arabian sea (water depth 1230 m) were determined to investigate glacial—interglacial variations in the intermediate depth water chemistry of the North Indian Ocean. In addition, we determined the ¹³C composition of Holocene benthic foraminifera from seven cores for which the ¹⁸O and ¹³C of benthic foraminifera from last glacial maximum (LGM) were reported by Kallel et al. (1988). The ¹³C_DIC in the intermediate waters was generally depleted by 0.3–0.4 during the last glacial maximum compared to Holocene.