Spectral analysis of local climatic fluctuations

This paper employs spectral analysis to detect regular cyclical patterns or periodicities of local climate parameters of five major cities of Pakistan. Our calculations show that the temperature of all major climate stations may be affected by ENSO or QBO or Sunspot Cycles. As for the rainfall, what we find is that Pakistan summer monsoon exhibits a fairly similar bienniality with that of the Indian monsoon.     

Mineralogy and palynology of the Mesopotamian plain sediments, Central Iraq

This work was done on the representative section (230 cm) in Dora site which located in Baghdad in the central of the Mesopotamian Plain. Eleven soil samples were examined mineralogically and palynologically. Grain size analyses showed that silt is the higher fraction (61%), clay is the least (9%), whereas sand forms 30%. Translucent and opaque heavy minerals contributed 57% from the sand fraction, whereas the light minerals formed just 43%. The type of heavy minerals and its maturity defined four provenances—they are granitic, basic igneous and metamorphic rocks—that belong to the high lands of south Turkey and north of Iraq. The fourth provenance is the sedimentary rocks which are located north of Mesopotamian Plain around the Tigris River and their tributaries. Dinoflagellate within thin bed of marine origin clearly indicated the transgression of the Arabian Sea northward through Tigris and Euphrates valleys or high marine waves reached to Baghdad before 10,000 years P.B. approximately. This means that the marine sediments were also an additional source of the Mesopotamian Plain. Three specific climatic features are identified via palynological interpretation; a temperate-wet climate extended from 10,000 to 5,000 years P.B. followed by dry period extended from 5,000 to 3,500 years P.B. and the last climatic feature is characterized by oscillation of wet to dry periods which is dominant since 3,500 till now.     

Ionic liquid as a medium to remove iron and other metal ions: a case study of the North Kelantan Aquifer,Malaysia

An alternative iron removal treatment method using liquid-liquid extraction with the room-temperature ionic liquid, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide, as a solvent medium was studied. The chelating agent 1,10-phenanthroline was used as the extractant. The extraction of Fe(III) and Fe(II) was influenced significantly by the pH of the aqueous phase. The successful removal of iron was achieved; more than 95 % of the initial iron concentration was removed from the groundwater samples. However, detailed research is needed before the ionic liquid method can replace the conventional groundwater treatment protocol because the recovery rate was very low upon reuse (approximately 25–60 %). This low recovery was due to the ion exchange process; the appearance of anions from ionic liquids was also detected in groundwater samples.     

Adaptive state estimation of groundwater contaminant boundary input flux in a 2-dimensional aquifer

In many circumstances involving heat and mass transfer issues, it is considered impractical to measure the input flux and the resulting state distribution in the domain. Therefore, the need to develop techniques to provide solutions for such problems and estimate the inverse mass flux becomes imperative. Adaptive state estimator (ASE) is increasingly becoming a popular inverse estimation technique which resolves inverse problems by incorporating the semi-Markovian concept into a Bayesian estimation technique, thereby developing an inverse input and state estimator consisting of a bank of parallel adaptively weighted Kalman filters. The ASE is particularly designed for a system that encompasses independent unknowns and /or random switching of input and measurement biases. The present study describes the scheme to estimate the groundwater input contaminant flux and its transient distribution in a conjectural two-dimensional aquifer by means of ASE, which in particular is because of its unique ability to efficiently handle the process noise giving an estimation of keeping the relative error range within 10% in 2-dimensional problems. Numerical simulation results show that the proposed estimator presents decent estimation performance for both smoothly and abruptly varying input flux scenarios. Results also show that ASE enjoys a better estimation performance than its competitor, Recursive Least Square Estimator (RLSE) due to its larger error tolerance in greater process noise regimes. ASE’s inherent deficiency of being slower than the RLSE, resulting from the complexity of algorithm, was also noticed. The chosen input scenarios are tested to calculate the effect of input area and both estimators show improved results with an increase in input flux area especially as sensors are moved closer to the assumed input location.     

Ambient indoor/outdoor gamma radiation dose rates in the city and at high altitudes of Muzaffarabad (Azad Kashmir)

Preliminary results of ambient indoor/outdoor gamma dose rates measured for Muzaffarabad city, the state capital of Azad Kashmir, are presented. Measurements of indoor/outdoor environmental exposures were carried out using a portable Ludlum Model 19 Micrometer. Effect of altitude on measured values of gamma dose rates has also been investigated. Besides measuring the gamma dose rates for indoor and open environment, measurements have also been taken within two coal mines. Effects of lithology on gamma dose rates have also been investigated. For outdoor measurements, minimum and maximum gamma dose rates were found as 533 ± 4.33 and 1,143 ± 2.96 μGy y^?1, while for indoor environment minimum and maximum gamma dose rate value were found as 533 ± 4.33 and 979 ± 3.2 μGy y^?1. Average values of indoor and outdoor gamma dose rates were found as 761 ± 3.62 and 710 ± 3.75 μGy y^?1. Gamma dose rates have also been calculated with altitude variations. Measured values of gamma dose rates show a weak positive correlation with altitude. For measurements made in coal mines, maximum gamma doses rate value was found as 3,490 ± 1.69 μGy y^?1, situated at a height of 1,098 m, located at Sangri Mera. Results obtained from the current study show that annual effective doses from gamma radiation exposure does not pose health threat to the population of district Muzaffarabad.     

Dominant impact of South Asian low heat on summer monsoon rainfall over Central India

Although previous literature have considered Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), Indian Dipole, and SST as the major teleconnection patterns to explain the variability of summer monsoon rainfall over India. South Asia low pressure and Indian Ocean high are the centers of action that dominates atmospheric circulations in Indian continent. This paper examines the possible impact of South Asian low pressure distribution on the variability of summer monsoon rainfall of India using centers of action approach. Our analysis demonstrates that the explanation of summer monsoon rainfall variability over Central India is improved significantly if the SOI is replaced by South Asian low heat. This contribution also explains the physical mechanisms to establish the relationships between the South Asian low heat and regional climate by examining composite maps of large-scale circulation fields using NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis data.     

Distribution, classification, petrological and related gochemical (SRA) characteristics of a tropical lowland peat dome in the Kota Samarahan-Asajaya area, West Sarawak, Malaysia

Petrographic studies indicate that lateral variations in the decomposition levels of peat are associated with the predominantly occurring peat macerals. Source Rock Analyzer (SRA) results indicate lateral variation in peat organic matter types from type II to III and back again to type II, occurring laterally within the top 0-m to 0.5-m layer at the basin margin to the midsection and further towards the near-center areas of the peat dome. This variation is most likely caused by a combination of factors: (a) Horizontal zonation and lateral variation of the dominant species of plant assemblages (b) Fibric (marginal) peats and hemic to sapric peats associated with type II organic matter (kerogen). Sample organic matter (coal-equivalent kerogen) typing indicates that the relative abundance of phytoclasts and palynomorphs generally supports the organic matter classification obtained by the SRA method. Lateral variations in the peat organic matter types may support the lateral vegetation variation concept. The classification of peat organic matter types (interpreted from visual analyses of palynological slides) occurring from the basin periphery to the mid-section and further towards the basin center yields organic matter of type II to type III and mixed types II to III (coal kerogen-equivalent), respectively.     

Equilibria of a charged artificial satellite subject to gravitational and Lorentz torques

The attitude dynamics of a rigid artificial satellite subject to a gravity gradient and Lorentz torques in a circular orbit are considered. Lorentz torque is developed on the basis of the electrodynamic effects of the Lorentz force acting on the charged satellite's surface. We assume that the satellite is moving in a Low Earth Orbit in the geomagnetic field, which is considered to be a dipole. Our model of torque due to the Lorentz force is developed for an artificial satellite with a general shape, and the nonlinear differential equations of Euler are used to describe its attitude orientation. All equilibrium positions are determined and conditions for their existence are obtained.The numerical results show that the charge q and radius ρ0of the center of charge for the satellite provide a certain type of semi-passive control for the attitude of the satellite. The technique for this kind of control would be to increase or decrease the electrostatic screening on the satellite. The results obtained confirm that the change in charge can affect the magnitude of the Lorentz torque, which can also affect control of the satellite. Moreover, the relationship between magnitude of the Lorentz torque and inclination of the orbit is investigated.