Polarisations of quasi-waves in a general anisotropic porous solid saturated with viscous fluid

Wave propagation is studied in a general anisotropic poroelastic solid saturated with a viscous fluid flowing through its pores of anisotropic permeability. The extended version of Biot’s theory is used to derive a system of modified Christoffel equations for the propagation of plane harmonic waves in such media. The non-trivial solution of this system is ensured by a biquadratic equation whose roots represent the complex velocities of four attenuating quasi-waves in the medium. These complex velocities define phase velocity and attenuation of each quasi-wave propagating along a given phase direction in three-dimensional space. The solution itself defines the polarisations of the quasi-waves along with phase shift. The variations of polarisations of quasi-waves with their phase direction, are computed for a realistic numerical model.     

High energy X-γ ray spectrometer on the Chandrayaan-1 mission to the Moon

The Chandrayaan-1 mission to the Moon scheduled for launch in late 2007 will include a high energy X-ray spectrometer (HEX) for detection of naturally occurring emissions from the lunar surface due to radioactive decay of the²³⁸U and²³²Th series nuclides in the energy region 20–250 keV. The primary science objective is to study the transport of volatiles on the lunar surface by detection of the 46.5 keV line from radioactive²¹⁰Pb, a decay product of the gaseous²²²Rn, both of which are members of the²³⁸U decay series. Mapping of U and Th concentration over the lunar surface, particularly in the polar and U-Th rich regions will also be attempted through detection of prominent lines from the U and Th decay series in the above energy range. The low signal strengths of these emissions require a detector with high sensitivity and good energy resolution. Pixelated Cadmium-Zinc-Telluride (CZT) array detectors having these characteristics will be used in this experiment. Here we describe the science considerations that led to this experiment, anticipated flux and background (lunar continuum), the choice of detectors, the proposed payload configuration and plans for its realization     

Morphometric analysis of sub-watersheds in Gurdaspur district, Punjab using remote sensing and GIS techniques

Morphometric analysis of two sub-watersheds was carried using remote sensing and GIS techniques. Detailed drainage map prepared from aerial photographs and SOI toposheets was updated using latest IRS-ID PAN sharpened LISS-III analog data. Updated drainage maps were used for the morphometric analysis of the two sub-watersheds. Both the sub-watersheds show dendritic to sub-dendritic drainage pattern with moderate drainage texture. High bifurcation ratio indicates a strong structural control on the drainage. Logarithm of number of stream vs. stream order show deviation from straight line indicating regional upliftment. In spite of mountainous relief, low drainage density values indicate that the area is underlain by impermeable sub-surface material. Circulatory and elongation ratios show that both the sub-watersheds have elongated shape.     

Village level crop inventory using remote sensing and field survey data

This paper presents results of a pilot study in six villages located in the states of Haryana, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, to evaluate accuracy of crop area at village level estimated by IRS - LISS-I1I data with respect to detailed field survey carried out by National Sample Survey Organization. The selected villages were located in Karnal, Kota and Bhopal districts which represented single dominant wheat crop as well as wheat-mustard and wheat-gram situation, respectively. Accuracy assessment of remote sensing based estimate with field survey of NSSO showed relative deviation in wheat estimate ranging from 3.72 percent for Mainmati village in Karnal district in Haryana to 22.65 percent fo Ranpur village in Kota district of Rajasthan. It was found that relative deviation in area estimation is inversely poportional to the crop proportion in that village. Observations of over estimation at low crop proportion and underestimation at higher crop proportion was explained by simple budgeting of relative proportion of ommision and commision errors. The study demonstrates that on the average, 90 percent crop area accuracy is possible with LISS-II1 data and the adopted approach.     

Effect of initial stress on reflection at the free surface of anisotropic elastic medium

The propagation of plane waves is considered in a general anisotropic elastic medium in the presence of initial stress. The Christoffel equations are solved into a polynomial of degree six. The roots of this polynomial represent the vertical slowness values for the six quasi-waves resulting from the presence of a discontinuity in the medium. Three of these six values are identified with the three quasi-waves traveling in the medium but away from its boundary. Reflection at the free plane surface is studied for partition of energy among the three reflected waves. For post-critical incidence, the reflected waves are inhomogeneous (evanescent) waves. Numerical examples are considered to exhibit the effects of initial stress on the phase direction, attenuation and reflection coefficients of the reflected waves. The phase velocities and energy shares of the reflected waves change significantly with initial stress as well as anisotropic symmetry. The presence of initial stress, however, has a negligible effect on the phase directions of reflected waves.     

Existence and Stability of Libration Points in the Restricted Three-Body Problem When the Primaries are Triaxial Rigid Bodies

This paper deals with the stationary solutions of the planar restricted three-body problem when the primaries are triaxial rigid bodies with one of the axes as the axis of symmetry and its equatorial plane coinciding with the plane of motion. It is seen that there are five libration points, two triangular and three collinear. It is further observed that the collinear points are unstable, while the triangular points are stable for the mass parameter 0 < _crit(the critical mass parameter). It is further seen that the triangular points have long or short periodic elliptical orbits in the same range of .This revised version was published online in October 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Mapping of waterlogged areas and salt affected soils in the IGNP command area

Visual interpretation of IRS LISS-II data authenticated by ground truth was carried out for detection of waterlogged areas and characterization of salt-affected soils. The deep blue tone depicting surface ponding (stagnant ponded zone) resulted from the seepage and accumulation of irrigation water through the course sandy mass. Such unit was mostly confined to the localized low-lying areas. These data have also revealed interdunal seepage lake within the buried paleo-channel of Saraswati possibly due to submerging of excess Ghaggar floodwater. Flood irrigation, sandy soils, cultivation of high water requirement crops and presence of hard gypsiferrous pans in the shallow depths were responsible for development of waterlogged conditions in the area. The grey to yellowish white patch around the waterlogging features represented surface salt efflorescence. The grey to greyish red represented the potential waterlogging zone. Based on the analytical data, soils were characterized as moderate to highly saline and showed the presence of significant amount of CaCO₃ (>2 mm) throughout the solum. The chemical analysis of water samples revealed the presence of high to very high quantity of soluble salts dominated by chlorides and sulfates of sodium, calcium and magnesium.     

Dispersion Pattern of PGE and Ag in Chromiferous Ultramafic Suite of Rocks in Sukinda Valley,India

Potential chromite ore deposits of India are situated in Sukinda, Odisha, which may also be considered as a potential resource for platinum group elements (PGEs). This paper reports on PGE geochemistry in twenty six samples covering chromite ores, chromitites and associated ultramafic rocks of the Sukinda ultramafic complex. Platinum group element contents range from 213 to 487 ppb in the chromite ore body, from 63 to 538 ppb in rocks that have chromite dendrites or dissemination and from 38 to 389 ppb in associated olivine–peridotite, serpentinite, pyroxenite and brecciated rocks. The PGEs are divided into two sub‐groups: IPGE (Ir, Os, and Ru) and PPGE (Pd, Pt, and Rh) based on their chemical behaviour. The IPGE and PPGE in these three litho‐members show a contrasting relationship e.g. average IPGE content decreases from chromite to chromitite and associated rocks while PPGE increases in the same order. Appreciable Ag in chromitite (270–842 ppb) is recorded. Positive correlation between IPGE with Cr₂O₃ and with Al₂O₃ is observed while these are negatively correlated with MgO. Covariant relationships between Au and Mg in rocks devoid of chromite and between Ag and Fe in chromitite sample are observed. Chromite in all seams and some chromitite samples exhibit an IPGE‐enriched chondrite normalized pattern while PPGE are highly fractionated and show a steep negative slope, thereby indicating that PGE in the parental melt fractionates and IPGE‐compatible elements prefer to settle with chromite. The rocks devoid of chromite and rocks containing accessory chromite exhibit a nearly flat pattern in chondrite‐normalized PGE plots and this suggests a limited fractionation of PGE in these rocks. Variation in the distribution pattern of PGE and Ag in three typical litho‐members of the Sukinda Valley may be related to multiple intrusion of ultramafic magma, containing variable volume percentage of chromite.