Place-making and environmental change in a Hindu pilgrimage site in India

Many Hindu pilgrimage sites in India experience heavy influxes of pilgrims and are subject to considerable environmental impact. Existing literature on the study of the environment in pilgrimage sites, however, appears to follow two divergent directions: one emphasizes degradation of the physical environment while the other highlights the sacred character of the place and how that is compromised by contemporary visitor flows. The aim of this paper is to move beyond this divergence and to demonstrate how contemporary environmental problems are outcomes related to a historical process of environmental change that accompanies the making of a sacred place. This paper is based on a case study of Vrindavan, a Hindu pilgrimage site associated with Krishna worship in northern India. More than 6 million visitors visit Vrindavan annually. Using a historical geography approach and socio-spatial dialectic conceptual framework, the paper explains how this pilgrimage landscape was established in the 15th century, and how since then it has evolved into a religious-urban place comprising more than 5500 temples. Its development is categorized into three periods: pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial. In each period, the socio-spatial fabric showed significant transformations that resulted from the interaction of three critical factors: the influence of local and global socio-economic processes on the cultural economy of pilgrimage, the relationship of this economy to spatial change, and institutional controls that regulated the other two factors. It is argued that the environment of pilgrimage is simultaneously social, economic, cultural and religious and shaped by the need to maintain the place as sacred. This insight is useful for a better understanding of contemporary environmental problems so that they may be addressed effectively.     

Simulation of tornado over Orissa (India) on March 31, 2009, using WRF–NMM model

A severe thunderstorm produced a tornado (F3 on the Fujita-Pearson scale), which affected Rajkanika block of Kendrapara district of Orissa in the afternoon of March 31, 2009. The devastation caused by the tornado consumed 15 lives and left several injured with huge loss of property. The meteorological conditions that led to this tornado have been analyzed. An attempt is also made to simulate this rare event using Non-hydrostatic Mesoscale Model (NMM) core of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) system with a spatial resolution of 4 km for a period of 24 h, starting at 0000 UTC of March 31, 2009. The atmospheric settings resulted from synoptic, surface, upper air, satellite and radar echo studies were favorable for the occurrence of a severe thunderstorm activity over Rajkanika. The model-simulated meteorological parameters are consistent with each other, and all are in good agreement with the observation in terms of the region of occurrence of the intense convective activity. The model has well captured the vertical motion. The core of the strongest winds is shown to be very close to the site of actual occurrence of the event. The wind speed is not in good agreement with the observation as it has shown the strongest wind of only 20 ms⁻¹, against the estimated wind speed of 70 ms⁻¹. The spatial distributions as well as intensity of rainfall rates are in good agreement with the observation as model simulated 35.4 mm against the observed rainfall of 41 mm over Chandbali. The results of these analyses demonstrated the capability of high-resolution WRF–NMM model in simulation of severe thunderstorm events.     

Lithological mapping of central part of Mare Moscoviense using Chandrayaan-1 Hyperspectral Imager (HySI) data

We conducted spectral analysis of central region of the Mare Moscoviense area on the far side of the Moon using the Hyperspectral Imager (HySI) data from the Chandrayaan-1 mission in an effort to identify and map the major lithological units present in the area. Various spectral band parameters, namely, band curvature, band tilt and band strength have been used for lithological discrimination based on the nature of the spectral profile. These band parameters essentially measure the shape, position and strength of the absorption feature near 1000 nm arising due to electronic transition of Fe²⁺ in crystallographic sites of major rock forming silicates. Spectral band parameters have been used for generating rock type composite image. Based on spectral studies and rock type composite image as obtained using band parameters, five major compositional units have been identified: highland basin soils, ancient mature mare, highland contaminated mare, buried unit with abundant low-Ca pyroxene (LCP), and youngest mare unit. In the present study, a multispectral approach in the form of spectral band parameters has been adopted for analysing the HySI hyperspectral data from Chandrayaan-1 mission. Present study clearly shows that the spectral band parameters obtained using selected HySI channels could efficiently be used to discriminate and delineate the major litho-units present across the central part of Mare Moscoviense and the same approach can thus be used for lithological mapping of other parts of lunar surface using HySI data.     

Near Infrared Observations of Sakurai's Object during 1998–99

We present new near-infrared observations of Sakurai's Object obtainedduring 1998–99 when this final helium shell flash object was in the dustcondensation phase. The infrared colours have reddened compared to earlierepochs, indicating increased dust condensation. The infrared spectrareveal all the features of a carbon star superposed on a dust continuum.     

FAO 56 Model and Remote Sensing for the Estimation of Crop-Water Requirement in Main Branch Canal of the Bhadra Command area, Karnataka State

Remote sensing and FAO 56 crop water model are used for estimating crop water requirement for paddy crop located in the main branch canal of Bhadra Command Area in Karnataka, India. The estimation of crop-water requirement depends on the meteorological factors, soil type and crop coefficients. The result obtained showed that water requirements of rabi crops higher than those of the kariff crops. The total irrigated area estimated from the IRS image is 29,353 ha. It is found that the total paddy crop acreage is 18,257 ha covering 62 % in the total irrigated area of the command area, Arecanut 20 %, coconut 15 % and sugarcane with other crops 3 %. The water requirement for paddy is 1180.4 mm for its entire growth period. The total water requirement for irrigation supply for crops in the entire command area is 5,790 at a demand of 0.10501 cusecs per ha.     

Emissions from grassland burning in Kaziranga National Park,India – analysis from IRS-P6 AWiFS satellite remote sensing datasets

Biomass burning from vegetation fires is an important source of greenhouse gas emissions. In this study, we quantify biomass burning emissions from grasslands from the highly sensitive Kaziranga National Park, Assam, Northeast India. Most of the fires in the park are ‘controlled burning fires’ set by the park officials for management purposes. We evaluated the short-term impacts of fires and the resulting air pollution through integrating biomass burnt information from satellite remote sensing datasets. IRS-P6 Advanced Wide Field Sensor (AWiFS) data during March and April corresponding to dry season were evaluated to delineate the burnt areas. These burnt area estimates were then integrated with biomass data and emission factors for quantifying the greenhouse gas emissions. Results suggested that of the total study area of 37,822 ha, nearly 3163.282 ha has been burnt during March, 2005. Within one month, the burnt area increased to 7443.92 ha by April, i.e., from 8.36% to 19.68%. In total, biomass burning from the grasslands contributed to 29.65 Tg CO₂, 1.19 Tg CO, 0.071 Tg NOx, 0.042 Tg CH₄, 0.0625 Tg total non-methane hydrocarbons, 0.152 Tg of particulate matter, and 0.062 Tg of organic carbon and 0.008 Tg of black carbon during April. The importance of ‘fire’ as a management tool for maintaining the wildlife habitat has been highlighted in addition to some of the adverse affects of air pollution resulting from such management practices. The results from this study will be useful to forest officials as well as policy makers to undertake some sustainable forest management practices to maintain an ideal habitat for Kaziranga's wildlife.     

Vertical structure of sea-breeze circulation over Thumba (8.5°N,?76.9°E,?India) in the winter months and a case study during W-ICARB field experiment

This research article aims at characterization of the sea-breeze circulation over Thumba (8.5°N,?76.9°E,?India) in the winter season from December 2008 to February 2009, when this mesoscale circulation over the study domain was prominent. The characteristics of sea-breeze circulation cell comprising sea-breeze and compensatory return flow are investigated for clear-sky and cloudy days. The study indicated delayed onset of sea-breeze on the cloudy days as compared to the clear-sky days and the vertical thickness of sea-breeze circulation cell was found to be larger for the clear-sky days. Vertical thickness of the return flow for both clear-sky and cloudy days was larger than that of the sea-breeze flow. Simultaneous observations of upper-air meteorological parameters obtained through balloon-borne GPS sonde ascents carried out from Thumba and its adjoining coastal ocean on 29 January 2009 as part of the Winter phase of Integrated Campaign for Aerosols, gases and Radiation Budget (W-ICARB) are utilized for a case study towards investigation of diurnal evolution of the sea-breeze circulation cell. Results obtained from this study indicated systematic evolution of sea-breeze circulation over Thumba, however, it was not very clear over ocean which is attributed to cloudy conditions that prevailed on the day of measurement.     

Hydrodynamic control of microphytoplankton bloom in a coastal sea

The influence of hydrodynamics on phytoplankton bloom occurrence/formation has not been adequately reported. Here, we document diurnal observations in the tropical Bay of Bengal’s mid-western shelf region which reveal microphytoplankton cell density maxima in association with neap tide many times more than what could be accounted for by solar insolation and nutrient levels. When in summer, phytoplankton cells were abundant and the cell density of Guinardia delicatula reached critical value by tide caused zonation, aggregation happened to an intense bloom. Mucilaginous exudates from the alga due to heat and silicate stress likely promoted and stable water column and weak winds left undisturbed, the transient bloom. The phytoplankton aggregates have implication as food resource in the benthic region implying higher fishery potential, in carbon dioxide sequestration (carbon burial) and in efforts towards improving remote sensing algorithms for chlorophyll in the coastal region.     

Explosive felsic volcanism at Palaeo-Mesoproterozoic boundary from Vindhyan Supergroup,Son Valley,Central India—Evidences of crustal contamination

Vindhyan basin witnessed a widespread explosive type of felsic volcanism at Palaeo-Mesoproterozoic boundary which is manifested as Chopan porcellanite shale. This is exposed as a linear belt along the Son valley in Central India. Porcellanite shale is pyroclastics deposit comprising strongly welded to unwelded ignimbrites. CIA values coupled with A–CN–K systematics provide strong evidence regarding their igneous origin and proximity of the source. The pyroclastics are rhyodacitic to rhyolitic in nature. The enriched LREE, LILE, depleted HFSE and incompatible element ratios such as Nb/Th, La/Sm and Zr/Nb indicate contamination and mixing between mantle-derived rocks and the average continental crust. Five distinct phases of volcanic activity have been identified based on field observations and petrological evidences. Pyroclastics at various stratigraphic levels indicate repeated occurrences of intrabasinal felsic volcanism, pointing to episodic extension, rifting and eruption over a period of time. The present studies have suggested that volcanic activity in Son valley and pyroclastic detritus resulted from a common chamber due to the rejuvenation and activation of deep seated faults like Son-Narmada lineament.     

Using the Relative Operating Characteristic to Quantify Certainty in Prediction of Location of Land Cover Change in India

This paper describes a methodology by which modelers, ecologists and planners can quantify the certainty in predicting the location of change for a given quantity of change. The specification of the quantity of a land cover category and the specification of the location of a land cover category are two distinct fundamental concepts in geographical analysis. It is crucial that scientists have appropriate quantitative tools to analyze each of these two concepts independently of one another. This paper gives methods whereby a scientist can convert a map of relative propensity for disturbance to a map of probability of future disturbance, based on a quantifiable validation of a map's predictive ability. The required inputs are: (1) maps that show a Boolean categorical variable at times 0, 1 and 2, (2) a technique to create a map that shows the relative propensity for membership in the Boolean category, and (3) a predicted proportion of the category at time 3.