Quantitative analysis of physical and geotechnical factors affecting methane emission in municipal solid waste landfill

The amount of methane that vent from landfills is dependent on the physical, chemical and biological components of the soil cover. Especially moisture content and temperature of the soil are known as the major controlling factors. In situ moisture content measurement is very critical because the moisture content of the soil continuously changes within minutes to hours as a result of change in temperature. The presented study used time domain reflectometry to measure in situ moisture content and analyzed moisture content, temperature and methane data of the landfill soil cover in a quantitative manner. Geotechnical factors including soil grain size and uniformity coefficient of the soil were analyzed and their influence on moisture content and methane emission was examined. The authors used kriging and polynomial regression methods to characterize the spatial distribution of moisture content and methane emission. Methane emission showed good temporal correlation with soil temperature, however, no significant relationship between moisture content and methane emission was observed. Spatial distribution of soil attributes was also analyzed to examine its effect on those variables. The spatial pattern of moisture content was quite similar to that of uniformity coefficient, C _u and that of clay content of the soil but strongly contrasted to that of methane emission.     

Assessment of groundwater quality with special emphasis on nitrate contamination in parts of Gautam Budh Nagar district,Uttar Pradesh,India

Progressive developments in industrial and agricultural activities are causing a critical stress on groundwater quality in developing countries. The objective of this paper is to assess and evaluate the contamination level of groundwater caused by leachate in 11 villages of the Gautam Budh Nagar district in Uttar Pradesh, India. We systematically sampled 22 groundwater samples and 13 leachate samples to ascertain the source of pollution on groundwater quality. The standard analytical methods given by the American Public Health Association (APHA) (Standard methods for examination of water and wastewater, 23rd edn. APHA, AWWA, WPCF, Washington, 2017) were used for quantitative estimation of hydrochemical parameters of collected samples. The results of the analysis of groundwater samples indicate that pH values range from 7.31 to 8.97. The mean magnesium concentration in groundwater samples is 58.93 ± 21.44 mg/L. Out of the groundwater samples taken, approximately 41% and 73% of samples analysis results have been found beyond the acceptable limit with respect to the parameters of turbidity and total dissolved solids, respectively, according to the Bureau of Indian Standards (Indian standard specification for drinking water (IS:10500). BIS, Manak Bhawan, New Delhi, 2012) for drinking water. Around 95.4% of groundwater samples and 92.3% of leachate samples have high nitrate concentrations above the standard limit of BIS (45 mg/L), respectively. The Piper plot shows that 50% of the samples belong to the Ca²⁺–Mg²⁺–HCO₃⁻ type. Ternary and Durov’s diagrams indicate that the mean concentrations of ions are in the order of Na⁺ > Mg²⁺ > Ca²⁺ > K⁺ (for cations) and HCO₃⁻> NO₃⁻ > Cl⁻ > SO₄²⁻ > CO₃²⁻ > F⁻ (for anions) in groundwater of the study area. The spatial variation of the hydrochemical parameters shows that groundwater is heavily contaminated with respect to nitrate. Analytical results indicate that the groundwater of villages Achheja, Bisrakh road, Dujana, Badalpur and Sadopur is not suitable for drinking.

     

Number Counts,Confusion, Mapping Issues,and Sky Coverage Analysis for Radio Continuum Surveys through Emu Early Science,EMU-ASKAP,and WODAN Especially for Cosmology Science Goals

In this study, we discuss the challenges radio astronomers face while observing radio continuum sources. We consider issues related to rms noise, confusion, position accuracy, shot noise and how these issues affect observation results, data analysis and the science goals we are trying to achieve. We mainly focus on the Evolutionary Map of the Universe (EMU-ASKAP) sky survey, EMU Early science survey and Westerbork Observations of the Deep APERTIF Northern sky (WODAN). The study will also be useful for future surveys like with possible continuum surveys through MeerKAT (e.g., MIGHTEE) and SKA-1. The late time Integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) effect detection is one of the major areas of research related to dark energy cosmology. We will particularly discuss how technical, data analysis and mapping issues, affect galaxy over/under density dependent science goals like the detection of the late time Integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) effect through wide-field radio continuum surveys.

     

Geology and Mineral Chemistry of the Deosai Volcanics, Baltistan, N. Pakistan

GEOLOGY AND MINERAL CHEMISTRY OF THE DEOSAI VOLCANICS, BALTISTAN, N. PAKISTAN     

Asymptotic behavior of an n-species stochastic Gilpin–Ayala cooperative model

An n-species stochastic Gilpin–Ayala cooperative model was investigated in this study. The Lyapunov function and the M-matrix method were applied to study the stability of the solutions. Sufficient conditions for the existence of a global positive solution of the Gilpin–Ayala cooperative model were established. Certain asymptotically stable results of a global positive solution of the cooperative model and its domain of attraction were estimated. That main objective of this study is to provide corrections for errors in some theorems given in the work of Lian et al. (2007). The errors of Theorems 2, 3, 5, and 6 from the published work appeared in the parameters θ _i and p _ii .     

SMART-1 mission description and development status

SMART-1 is the first of the Small Missions for Advanced Research in Technology of the ESA Horizons 2000 scientific programme. The SMART-1 mission is dedicated to testing of new technologies for future cornerstone missions, using Solar-Electric Primary Propulsion (SEPP) in Deep Space. The chosen mission planetary target is the Moon. The target orbit will be polar with the pericentre close to the South-Pole. The pericentre altitude lies between 300 and 2000 km, while the apocentre will extend to about 10,000 km. During the cruise phase, before reaching the Moon, the spacecraft thrusting profile allows extended periods for cruise science. The SMART-1 spacecraft will be launched in the spring of 2003 as an auxiliary passenger on an Ariane 5 and placed into a Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO). The expected launch mass is about 370 kg, including 19 kg of payload. The selected type of SEPP is a Hall-effect thruster called PPS-1350. The thruster is used to spiral out of the GTO and for all orbit maneuvers including lunar capture and descent. The trajectory has been optimised by inserting coast arcs and the presence of the Moon's gravitational field is exploited in multiple weak gravity assists.The Development Phase started in October 1999 and is expected to be concluded by a Flight Acceptance Review in January 2003. The short development time for this high technology spacecraft requires a concerted effort by industry, science institutes and ESA centres. This paper describes the mission and the project development status both from a technical and programmatic standpoint.     

Genotypic and environmental interaction in advanced lines of wheat under salt-affected soils environment of Punjab

Wheat cultivars of diverse origin including approved varieties of different provinces of Pakistan i.e. Punjab, NWFP and Sindh were tested against different salinity levels in laboratory as well as in naturally saline fields in different ecological zones. Initially, 16 genotypes were studied for germination test at 6 different salinity levels ranging from 0–25 dS/m (2, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, EC= dS/m). Then, out of 16 cultivars, 11 were studied for the relative growth rate at different levels of salinity and after their study in the laboratory, 9 genotypes were selected for testing in the naturally saline areas of Punjab province. Under germination percentage study, the varieties viz. Pasban-90, Sarsabz, Bakhtawar, 93032 and 933118 were less affected than other varieties. As regards the relative plant growth, varieties viz. Sarsabz, Bakhtawar, and Pasban-90 were tolerant to salinity at seedling stage while Inqlab was graded as sensitive to salt stress. Regarding field performance, significant differences were observed in the varieties grown under different saline environments and varieties x environment interaction. Varieties x environment (Lin) interaction was non significant while nonlinear interaction (pooled deviation) was significant. Based on overall yield performance, the Sarsabz variety produced the highest seed yield (4.37 T/ha) followed by Bakhtawar (4.24 T/ha) and Pasban-90 (3.93 T/ha). Regression coefficient values showed non significant differences to unity while standard deviation to regression showed significant differences to zero. These results indicated that the genotypes viz. Sarsabaz, Bakhtawar and Pasban-90 are better tolerant to saline environment as compared to others. The two genotypes, Marvi and 25219 had low regression values and can fit under stress environment.