Sub-daily variations observed in Tropical Easterly Jet (TEJ) streams

To investigate the sub-daily variation in Tropical Easterly Jet (TEJ), a few special experiments have been conducted with mesosphere–stratosphere–troposphere (MST) radar located at Gadanki(13.5°N, 79.2°E) under Study on Atmospheric Forcing and Responses (SAFAR) campaign during 2008–2009. Large sub-daily changes in the TEJ characteristics are observed within a day in addition to day-to-day changes. Based on this observational study, three possible mechanisms for the sub-daily variations are proposed i.e., (1) motion of TEJ core, (2) large updrafts and downdrafts, and (3) strong wave activity. Interestingly, TEJ peak altitude is seen above the Cold Point Tropopause altitude for about 42% of the days.     

Nonlinear Excitation of Fast Waves by Dispersive Alfvén Waves and Solar Coronal Heating

This paper presents the study of a nonlinear process in the solar corona where dispersive Alfvén waves (DAWs) may lead to coronal heating. We present the model equations governing the nonlinear excitation of the fast waves (FWs) by DAWs in low-β plasmas (β≪m _e/m _i as applicable to the solar corona). By properly considering the ponderomotive nonlinearity, we have derived the equations for the decay waves, namely the FWs and other DAWs. The expressions for the coupling coefficients of the three-wave interaction have been derived. The growth rate of the instability is also calculated; we have found that the value of the decay growth time turns out to be of the order of milliseconds at the pump DAW amplitude B _0y /B ₀=10⁻³. This time scale is much shorter than the observed time scales (a minute or less) for coronal heating, as inferred from images obtained by instruments on board Yohkoh and the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO).     

Modeling of groundwater draft based on satellite-derived crop acreage estimation over an arid region of northwest India

Over-exploitation of groundwater for agricultural crops puts stress on the sustainability of natural resources in the arid region of Rajasthan state, India. Hydrogeological study of groundwater levels of the study area during the pre-monsoon (May to June), post-monsoon (October to November) and post-irrigation (February to March) seasons of 2004–2005 to 2011–2012 shows a steady decline of groundwater levels at the rate of 1.28–1.68 m/year, mainly due to excessive groundwater draft for irrigation. Due to the low density of the groundwater observation-well network in the study area, assessment of groundwater draft, and thus groundwater resource management, becomes a difficult task. To overcome the situation, a linear groundwater draft model (LGDM) has been developed based on the empirical relationship between satellite-derived crop acreage and the observed groundwater draft for the year 2003–2004. The model has been validated for a decade, during three year-long intervals (2005–2006, 2008–2009 and 2011–2012) using groundwater draft, estimated through a discharge factor method. Further, the estimated draft was validated through observed pumping data from random sampled villages (2011–2012). The results suggest that the developed LGDM model provides a good alternative to the estimation of groundwater draft based on satellite-based crop area in the absence of groundwater observation wells in arid regions of northwest India.     

Mineralogy,geochemistry, and genesis of co-genetic granite-pegmatite-hosted rare metal and rare earth deposits of the Kawadgaon area,Bastar craton,Central India

Co-genetic pegmatites associated with the granite of the Kawadgaon area in the Bastar craton, Central India, contain a wide range of ore minerals of Nb, Ta, Be, Sn, Zr, Ti, and REE, including columbite-tantalite, ixiolite, pseudo-ixiolite, wodginite, tapiolite, microlite, fersmite, euxenite, aeschynite, beryl, cassiterite, monazite, xenotime, zircon, ilmenite, triplite, and magnetite. There is a distinct vertical zonation between the rare metal and tin pegmatites in apical parts of the host granite. Geochemically, these are LCT-S type, beryl-columbite-phosphate pegmatites that have notably high contents of SiO₂ (av. 73.80%), Rb (av. 381 ppm), and Nb (av. 132 ppm). The investigated granites probably were derived from the melting of older crustal rocks, as indicated by a high initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr isotopic ratio, and the major-element geochemistry of the granites and pegmatites. Plots of mol. CaO/(MgO+FeO^t) vs. mol. Al₂O₃/(MgO+FeO^t) suggest that the source rock was pelitic metasediments. Based on the available data, it is postulated that the derivation of pegmatites from the parent granite occurred shortly after granite emplacement in the late Archaean-early Proterozoic (~2500 Ma). The K/Rb, Ba/Rb, and Rb/Sr ratios of the felsic bodies reveal that a substantial part of the granite formed from evolved melts, and further fractionation produced the co-genetic pegmatites and associated rare metal and rare earth deposits.     

Determination of focal depths of moderate earthquakes in Northeast Indian region using depth phase sPn

Natural Hazards - The precise focal depth of earthquakes is a crucial parameter for better characterising of complex tectonic zones, especially where seismogenic faults occur at different depths....     

Evolution of hydroinformatics at a state water management agency

ABSTRACT

Maintaining a positive cost–benefit ratio for hydrologic data collection is challenging for public water management and regulatory agencies given budgetary constraints. We examine and discuss the evolution of a government agency in the last 20 years to identify the best practices for collecting, managing, and disseminating hydrologic data. The best practices include (1) developing in-house field data collection systems and integrating them with commercial, off-the-shelf software for the enterprise database, (2) standardizing hardware and data acquisition software, (3) collaborating with other agencies and tracking their data collection efforts to avoid redundancy, (4) utilizing open-source programming languages for data quality assurance, (5) rationalizing data collection network, and (6) taking a proactive approach with data collection to better prepare for hydroclimatic variability. Transforming data into easily understandable information and its near-real-time dissemination can add value to the data (e.g. providing inundation instead of water level above mean sea level) in the future.     

Long-term rainfall trends and change points in hot and cold arid regions of India

This study examined trends and change points in 100-year annual and seasonal rainfall over hot and cold arid regions of India. Using k-means clustering, 32 stations were classified into two clusters: the coefficient of variation for annual and seasonal rainfall was relatively high for Cluster-II compared to Cluster-I. Short-term and long-term persistence was more dominant in Cluster-II (entirely arid) and Cluster-I (partly arid), respectively. Trend tests revealed prominent increasing trends in annual and wet season rainfall of Cluster-II. Dry season rainfall increased by 1.09 mm year^?1 in the cold arid region. The significant change points in annual and wet season rainfall mostly occurred in the period 1941–1955 (hot and cold), and in the dry season in the period 1973–1975 (hot arid) and in 1949 (cold arid). The findings are useful for managing a surplus or deficiency of rainwater in the Indian arid region.

EDITOR A. Castellarin; ASSOCIATE EDITOR S. Kanae     

Absence of initial singularities in superstring cosmology

In a universe whose elementary constituents are point particles there does not seem to be any obvious mechanism for avoiding the initial singularities in physical quantities in the standard model of cosmology. In contrast in string theory these singularities can be absent even at the level where spacetime is treated classically. This is a consequence of the basic degrees of freedom of strings in compact spaces, which necessitate a reinterpretation of what one means by a very small universe. We discuss the basic degrees of freedom of a string at the classical and quantum level, the minimum size of strings (string uncertainty principle), the t-duality symmetry, and string thermodynamics at high energy densities, and then describe how these considerations suggest a resolution of the initial singularity problem. An effort has been made to keep this writeup self-contained and accessible to non-string theorists.