Self-organization of electromagnetic waves into vortices in a magnetized electron-positron plasma

This paper presents a new class of well localized dipolar vortex solutions to the newly derived set of coupled nonlinear equations governing the dynamics of low-frequency electromagnetic waves in a strongly magnetized electron-positron plasma.     

混合海气耦合模式的研制和El Ni?o的预告试验

所使用的海气耦合模式是由COLA R15 AGCM和简单的CZ海洋模式耦合而成。使用该混合海气耦合模式完成了15次ENSO试验预报,预告和观测的Ni?o 3指数超前15个月的相关系数达0.6（在0.01有意义水平上该相关系数在统计上是有意义的）,超前一年半的Ni?o 3指数的预告误差大约为0.6～0.9℃。预告结果表明混合海气耦合模式具有预测ENSO的能力达15个月。最后,还讨论了该模式的优点和进一步改进的途径。     

Earthquake hazard zonation of Sikkim Himalaya using a GIS platform

An earthquake hazard zonation map of Sikkim Himalaya is prepared using eight thematic layers namely Geology (GE), Soil Site Class (SO), Slope (SL), Landslide (LS), Rock Outcrop (RO), Frequency–Wavenumber (F–K) simulated Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA), Predominant Frequency (PF), and Site Response (SR) at predominant frequencies using Geographic Information System (GIS). This necessitates a large scale seismicity analysis for seismic source zone classification and estimation of maximum earthquake magnitude or maximum credible earthquake to be used as a scenario earthquake for a deterministic or quasi-probabilistic seismic scenario generation. The International Seismological Center (ISC) and Global Centroid Moment Tensor (GCMT) catalogues have been used in the present analysis. Combining b-value, fractal correlation dimension (Dc) of the epicenters and the underlying tectonic framework, four seismic source zones are classified in the northeast Indian region. Maximum Earthquake of M _W 8.3 is estimated for the Eastern Himalayan Zone (EHZ) and is used to generate the seismic scenario of the region. The Geohazard map is obtained through the integration of the geological and geomorphological themes namely GE, SO, SL, LS, and RO following a pair-wise comparison in an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). Detail analysis of SR at all the recording stations by receiver function technique is performed using 80 significant events recorded by the Sikkim Strong Motion Array (SSMA). The ground motion synthesis is performed using F–K integration and the corresponding PGA has been estimated using random vibration theory (RVT). Testing for earthquakes of magnitude greater than M _W 5, a few cases presented here, establishes the efficacy and robustness of the F–K simulation algorithm. The geohazard coverage is overlaid and sequentially integrated with PGA, PF, and SR vector layers, in order to evolve the ultimate earthquake hazard microzonation coverage of the territory. Earthquake Hazard Index (EHI) quantitatively classifies the terrain into six hazard levels, while five classes could be identified following the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) PGA nomenclature for the seismic zonation of India. EHI is found to vary between 0.15 to 0.83 quantitatively classifying the terrain into six hazard levels as “Low” corresponding to BIS Zone II, “Moderate” corresponding to BIS Zone III, “Moderately High” belonging to BIS Zone IV, “High” corresponding to BIS Zone V(A), “Very High” and “Severe” with new BIS zones to Zone V(B) and V(C) respectively.     

Liquefaction potential evaluation for subsurface soil layers of Delhi region

The study area Delhi is second most populous city and third largest urban area in the world. Though the area lies in seismic high damage risk zone, number of high rise building and construction of mega structure at several sites of the city increase rapidly. In this study field Standard Penetration Test (SPT) values of soil collected from 750 boreholes data were analyzed to identify liquefiable sub-surface soil layers. Finally, liquefaction susceptible sub-surface maps of the region at various depth (20 m, 15 m, 12 m, 9 m, 6 m and 3 m) from ground level is prepared. The outcome of this study will be useful input for preliminary foundation and designing of earthquake resistant high rise building and seismic microzonation studies of Delhi.     

Event-driven flood management: design and computational modules

Flood management is a set of activities that have to be carried out in collaboration with multiple agencies. Advanced flood information with early warning generated using remote sensing satellite technologies can help the agencies to effectively manage the situation on ground. Various environmental parameters and forecasts provided by different agencies can be analyzed and compared with historical flood events for generating probable flood event alerts. The information (environmental parameters) provided by the agencies are heterogeneous and noncompliant to standards and distributed in nature. Synchronization of data from distributed resources and automation of data analysis process for flood management is a primary prerequisite for faster and efficient decision-making. Web 2.0-based web services enable data creation, sharing, communication, and collaboration on web. Spatial data sharing on web 2.0 for making quality of service using open-source software for efficient flood management is a challenge. Available software architectures proposed for risk and environmental crisis management are too generic in nature and needs lot of modification for flood management. An event-driven model coupled with data standardization procedures using service-oriented architecture provides an effective framework for flood management. In this paper, a framework capable of collecting heterogeneous distributed flood-related information for analyzing and alerting probable flood events is proposed. The framework has been implemented to generate automatic flood extent maps, by analyzing the distributed satellite data (as service). The automation of flood delineation process reduces the overall flood product generation time. Open-source web tools have been utilized in development of spatial information system to visualize and analyze the actual situation on ground facilitating overall decision-making process.     

Dynamic passive pressure from c–ϕ soil backfills

This technical note presents an analytical expression for the total passive pressure on a retaining wall from the c–? soil backfill subjected to both horizontal and vertical seismic inertial forces. The developed expression has been analysed for the special cases, and the results have been found identical to those proposed by earlier researchers on the subject. A numerical example, presented to illustrate the steps for the calculation of total dynamic passive pressure using the developed general expression, shows that the design value of total dynamic passive pressure as a resistance to the retaining wall movement should be obtained with upward vertical seismic inertial force in combination with the direction of horizontal seismic force towards the backfill.