Monitoring growth of built-up areas in indo-gangetic plain using multi-sensor remote sensing data

This paper provides an approach for rapid and accurate estimation of built-up areas on a per pixel-basis using a integration of two coarse spatial resolution remote sensing data namely DMSP-OLS and MODIS NDVI. The DMSP-OLS data due to its free availability, high temporal resolution and wide swath was used for regional level mapping of built-up areas. However, due to its low radiometric resolution, the built-up areas cannot be estimated accurately from the DMSP-OLS data. In present study, the DMSP-OLS data was combined with MODIS NDVI data to develop an Human Settlement Index (HSI) image, which estimated the fraction of built-up area on a per pixel basis. The resultant HSI image conveys more information than both the individual datasets. These temporal HSI images were then used for monitoring urban growth in Indo-Gangetic plains during the 2001–2007 time period. Thus, the present research can be very useful for regional level monitoring of built-up areas from coarse resolution data within limited time and minimal cost.     

Smart Semi-active PID-ACO control strategy for tower vibration reduction in Wind Turbines with MR damper

Wind turbine technology is well known around the globe as an eco-friendly and effective renewable power source. However, this technology often faces reliability problems due to structural vibration. This study proposes a smart semi-active vibration control system using Magnetorheological (MR) dampers where feedback controllers are optimized with nature-inspired algorithms. Proportional integral derivative (PID) and Proportional integral (PI) controllers are designed to achieve the optimal desired force and current input for MR the damper. PID control parameters are optimized using an Ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm. The effectiveness of the ACO algorithm is validated by comparing its performance with Ziegler-Nichols (Z-N) and particle swarm optimization (PSO). The placement of the MR damper on the tower is also investigated to ensure structural balance and optimal desired force from the MR damper. The simulation results show that the proposed semi-active PID-ACO control strategy can significantly reduce vibration on the wind turbine tower under different frequencies (i.e., 67%, 73%, 79% and 34.4% at 2 Hz, 3 Hz, 4.6 Hz and 6 Hz, respectively) and amplitudes (i.e. 50%, 58% and 67% for 50 N, 80 N, and 100 N, respectively). In this study, the simulation model is validated with an experimental study in terms of natural frequency, mode shape and uncontrolled response at the 1st mode. The proposed PID-ACO control strategy and optimal MR damper position is also implemented on a lab-scaled wind turbine tower model. The results show that the vibration reduction rate is 66% and 73% in the experimental and simulation study, respectively, at the 1st mode.

     

Wave breaking and bubble formation associate energy dissipation and wave setup

Ocean Dynamics - In this work, theoretical development of void fraction effect over wave energy dissipation and wave setup in a surf zone is made. The formulation incorporates simple energy...     

Probabilistic analysis for wave‐induced submarine landslides

Abstract

When waves propagate over the ocean floor, they induce a change of hydrodynamic pressure, positive under the crest and negative under the trough. These pressure changes may cause shear failure in soft sediments and lead to submarine landslides. This paper presents a general analytical procedure for evaluating the probability of wave‐induced failure in offshore clay sediments. Both the wave and the un‐drained shear strength of clay sediments are considered random. Numerical results of some analyses are also presented.     

Wave‐induced pore pressure in relation to ocean floor stability of cohesionless soils

One of the important geotechnical considerations for many engineering installations, such as pipelines and anchors, in an oceanic environment involving sand deposits is that of potential ocean floor instability due to the development of high pore pressures caused by the direct action of waves. This article presents a procedure for evaluating the magnitude and distribution of wave‐induced pore pressures in ocean floor deposits. The method takes into account the distribution of wave‐induced pore pressures in ocean floor deposits. The method takes into account the distribution of cyclic shear stresses in the soil profile as well as the important factor of pore‐pressure dissipation. The variation of properties within the soil profile can also be easily incorporated into the analytical procedure. The analysis provides the complete time history of pore‐pressure response and shows clearly that failure to include the pore‐pressure dissipation effects would lead to radically conservative design. The results also provide a basis for designing remedial measures, if required, to avert the development of high pore pressures and their deleterious effects.     

Geospatial and geostatistical approach for groundwater potential zone delineation

Over the past few decades, groundwater has become an essential commodity owing to increased demand as a result of growing population, industrialization, urbanization and so on. The water supply situation is expected to become more severe in the future because of continued unsustainable water use and projected change in hydrometeorological parameters due to climate change. This study is based on the integrated approach of remote sensing, geographical information system and multicriteria decision‐making techniques to determine the most important contributing factors that affect the groundwater resources and to delineate the groundwater potential zones. Ten thematic layers, namely, geomorphology, geology, soil, topographic elevation (digital elevation model), land use/land cover, drainage density, lineament density, proximity of surface water bodies, surface temperature and post‐monsoon groundwater depth, were considered for the present study. These thematic layers were selected for groundwater prospecting based on the literature; discussion with the experts of the Central Ground Water Board, Government of India; field observations; geophysical investigation; and multivariate techniques. The thematic layers and their features were assigned suitable weights on Saaty's scale according to their relative significance for groundwater occurrence. The assigned weights of the layers and their features were normalized by using the analytic hierarchy process and eigenvector method. Finally, the selected thematic maps were integrated using a weighted linear combination method to create the final groundwater potential zone map. The final output map shows different zones of groundwater potential, namely, very good (16%), good (35%), moderate (28%) low (17%) and very low (2.1%). The groundwater potential zone map was finally validated using the discharge and groundwater depth data from 28 and 98 pumping wells, respectively, which showed good correlation. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An automated 3D modeling of topological indoor navigation network

Indoor navigation is important for various applications such as disaster management, building modeling, safety analysis etc. In the last decade, indoor environment has been a focus of wide research that includes development of indoor data acquisition techniques, 3D data modeling and indoor navigation. In this research, an automated method for 3D modeling of indoor navigation network has been presented. 3D indoor navigation modeling requires a valid 3D model that can be represented as a cell complex: a model without any gap or intersection such that two cells (e.g. room, corridor) perfectly touch each other. This research investigates an automated method for 3D modeling of indoor navigation network using a geometrical model of indoor building environment. In order to reduce time and cost of surveying process, Trimble LaserAce 1000 laser rangefinder was used to acquire indoor building data which led to the acquisition of an inaccurate geometry of building. The connection between surveying benchmarks was established using Delaunay triangulation. Dijkstra algorithm was used to find shortest path in between building floors. The modeling results were evaluated against an accurate geometry of indoor building environment which was acquired using highly-accurate Trimble M3 total station. This research intends to investigate and propose a novel method of topological navigation network modeling with a less accurate geometrical model to overcome the need of required an accurate geometrical model. To control the uncertainty of the calibration and of the reconstruction of the building from the measurements, interval analysis and homotopy continuation will be investigated in the near future.