Induced magnetic field of the equatorial electrojet at the surface of the Earth

Summary. The northward component of the induced magnetic field due to the equatorial electrojet at the Earth's surface is calculated using a more realistic local time variaton of the external field due to the electrojet than is provided for by models of the electrojet currently used in induction calculations. It is seen that appreciable induction effects can be expected about an hour before local noon for the kind of local time variation considered. Our results are in qualitative agreement with direct observations of Earth currents in the equatorial region in Nigeria. At local times when observable induction effects are present, the magnetic field due to the electrojet is necessarily three-dimensional; hence in order to obtain the internal part directly from the observed total field due to the electrojet at the Earth's surface, a three-dimensional formulation is required.     

Impact of ‘Chitra’ Oil Spill on Tidal Pool Macrobenthic Communities of a Tropical Rocky Shore (Mumbai,India)

A collision between the ships MSC Chitra and MV Khalijia 3 in the mouth region of Mumbai Harbour led to a leakage of around 800 t of fuel oil in August 2010, affecting the rocky intertidal region of Colaba. To evaluate the impact of this catastrophic event on the resident biota, a 15-month-long sampling programme was initiated in the oil-affected area immediately after the spill. Petroleum hydrocarbons in water and sediment organic carbon values were high just after the oil spill but subsequently decreased in the following months. In total, 70 macrobenthic taxa were identified. Univariate diversity indices indicated that while the ecological status of the site, albeit briefly, was affected during August 2010, a healthy environment prevailed subsequently. Cluster and multi-dimensional scale (MDS) analyses distinctly segregated the oil impacted monsoon months from the other sampling months. BIOENV analyses indicated that petroleum hydrocarbons and organic carbon were the anthropogenic parameters influencing macrobenthic community structure. Benthic Opportunistic Polychaetes Amphipods (BOPA) index was used to evaluate the ecological quality of the study area as the index is sensitive to oil pollution. Low BOPA values throughout the study period indicated that the environment was good with few opportunistic species. Comparison with past data revealed that the oil spill did not have long-term deleterious effects on the macrobenthic species diversity of this rocky beach, and reasons thereof are discussed.     

Isotopic,hydrologic and geomorphologic approach for the rejuvenation of few drying springs in mountainous region of Dhouli Rao and Kandela,Himachal Pradesh,India

Springs are the only available source of water for domestic and agricultural use in mountainous regions of Dhouli Rao and Kandela in the Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh, India. These springs are mainly gravity, contact or fracture and solution tubular (Karst) type. Drying of springs during summer causes much hardship to the inhabitants of this region. Hence, environmental isotopes (²H, ¹⁸O, ³H) were employed along with hydrogeochemistry and geomorphology to identify the recharge zones of the drying springs. From the stable isotope data of rainwater, the altitude effect was estimated (?0.3?‰ for δ¹⁸O per 100 m elevation) and used to determine the recharge zones of the drying springs (+1,000 to +1,430 m amsl). The geo-morphological setting of the valley indicated that either check dam, contour bunding or levees structures with gabion method of rainwater conservation can be implemented to augment the recharge of the springs.     

On the Predictability of Northeast Monsoon Rainfall over South Peninsular India in General Circulation Models

In this study the predictability of northeast monsoon (Oct–Nov–Dec) rainfall over peninsular India by eight general circulation model (GCM) outputs was analyzed. These GCM outputs (forecasts for the whole season issued in September) were compared with high-resolution observed gridded rainfall data obtained from the India Meteorological Department for the period 1982–2010. Rainfall, interannual variability (IAV), correlation coefficients, and index of agreement were examined for the outputs of eight GCMs and compared with observation. It was found that the models are able to reproduce rainfall and IAV to different extents. The predictive power of GCMs was also judged by determining the signal-to-noise ratio and the external error variance; it was noted that the predictive power of the models was usually very low. To examine dominant modes of interannual variability, empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis was also conducted. EOF analysis of the models revealed they were capable of representing the observed precipitation variability to some extent. The teleconnection between the sea surface temperature (SST) and northeast monsoon rainfall was also investigated and results suggest that during OND the SST over the equatorial Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal, the central Pacific Ocean (over Nino3 region), and the north and south Atlantic Ocean enhances northeast monsoon rainfall. This observed phenomenon is only predicted by the CCM3v6 model.     

Laboratory technique for quantitative thermal emissivity measurements of geological samples

Thermal infrared spectroscopy is a powerful technique for the compositional analysis of geological materials. The spectral feature in the mid-IR region is diagnostic of the mineralogy and spectral signatures of mixtures of minerals that add linearly, and therefore, can be used as an important tool to determine the mineralogy of rocks in the laboratory and remotely for planetary exploration. The greatest challenge in the emission measurement lies in the measurement of the weak thermal photons emitted from geological materials in a laboratory setup, and accurately records the temperature of the rock sample. The present work pertains to the details of a new Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) laboratory that has been developed under the ISRO Planetary Science and Exploration (PLANEX) programme, for emission related mineralogical investigations of planetary surfaces. The focus of the paper is on the acquisition and calibration technique for obtaining emissivity, and the deconvolution procedure to obtain the modal abundances of the thermal emission spectra in the range of 6–25 μm using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The basic technique is adopted from the work of Ruff et al (1997). This laboratory at the Department of Earth Sciences, IIT-Bombay is currently developing pure end mineral library of mineral particulates (<65 μm), and adding new end members to the existing ASU spectral library. The paper argues the need for considering Lunar Orbiter Thermal Emission Spectrometer (LOTES) for future Indian Moon mission programme (Chandrayan-II) to determine evidences of varied lithologies on the lunar surface.     

On the photoevaporation,dust polarization and kinematics of two nebulae in Sh2-236

In the work presented here,the impact of magnetic field on the dynamical evolution of cometary globules Sim 129 and Sim 130 in the Sh2-236 HⅡ region and the ionized gas streaming out of their surfaces is investigated.The magnetic field morphology in the region associated with these globules is inferred using optical polarization measurements with the Sampurnanand Telescope at ARIES.The nebular emission is probed through radio continuum mapping at 1.4 GHz with the archival National Radio Astronomy Observatory(NRAO) Very Large Array(VLA) Sky Survey(NVSS) data.The correlation of these measurements suggests that photoevaporated gas from the surfaces of Sim 129 and Sim 130 accumulates in clouds and starts streaming along the magnetic field lines.The ~(12)CO(J=1-0) molecular line observations are performed towards NGC 1893 from the 14-m single dish radio telescope in Taeduk Radio Astronomy Observatory(TRAO).The velocity dispersion in the ~(12)CO(J=1-0) molecular line and the dispersion in polarization angles are considered in the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi formulation to estimate the magnetic field strength towards two Sim nebulae.The average value of field strength is found to be～60 μG with uncertainty of 0.5 times the estimated value.     

Characteristic changes in the long and short spells of different rain intensities in India

In this paper, changes in the long and short spells of different rain intensities are statistically analyzed using daily gridded rainfall data prepared by the India Meteorological Department for the period 1951–2008. In order to study regional changes, analyses have been conducted over nine selected agro-meteorological (agro-met) divisions, five homogeneous zones, and also over the whole of India. Rain events of different intensities with continuous rainfall of more than or equal to 4 days are classified here as long spells. Those with less than 4 days are termed as short spells. Those results which are statistically significant at 95% confidence level are discussed in this paper. Trend analysis shows that during the summer monsoon months of June to September, short spell rain events with heavy intensity have increased over India as a whole. On the other hand, long spell rain events with moderate and low intensities have decreased in numbers. Results further show that the contributions of long spell moderate and short spell low-intensity rain events to the total rainfall have decreased whereas the contributions of short spell heavy and moderate-intensity rain events to the total seasonal rainfall have increased. Percentage changes in various categories of long and short spells in the decade 1991–2000 compared with the earlier decade 1951–1960, highlight the maximum increase in heavy-intensity short spell category and decrease in moderate-intensity long spell category in India as a whole and in most of the homogeneous zones and agro-met divisions. The changes in different types of rain events differ in the six homogeneous zones and nine selected agro-met divisions. However, in three homogeneous zones and three agro-met divisions, the short spell heavy-intensity rain events dominate as in the entire country. There are also changes observed in the monthly occurrences of above categories of rain events during the 4 months of summer monsoon. Such results with details of changes in rain categories in different parts of India have important implications in agriculture sector in the country.     

Identifying potential sites for artificial groundwater recharge in sub-watershed of River Kanhan,India

Groundwater is an important decentralized source of drinking water. Being underground, it is relatively less susceptible to contamination. In addition to domestic needs, it is extensively used for irrigation and industrial purposes. It is therefore necessary to implement groundwater recharge systems by capturing the rainwater runoff. In the present study, GIS-based hydrological assessment of watershed has been used to identify the potential sites for locating the groundwater recharge structures. Based on land use, soil and topography, rainfall runoff modelling was carried out in GIS for a sub-watershed of River Kanhan, in Nagpur District, Maharashtra State, India. Five potential sites with maximum flow accumulation were delineated using the rational method for peak runoff estimation. As the groundwater recharge potential also depends on the geological and geomorphological characteristics of land, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) with expert’s judgement was used for ranking the sites. The criteria considered in AHP were geological features, i.e. lineament density, depth to bedrock and soil cover; geomorphological features, i.e. drainage density, slope, landforms and land use/land cover; and water table level fluctuation. The site P5 with maximum flow accumulation and sandstone rock formation was ranked first. The site P1, where catchment has well-developed drainage and geological formation shows rock with secondary porosity, was ranked second.     

Variability of Summer Monsoon Rainfall in India on Inter-Annual and Decadal Time Scales

Indian Summer Monsoon Rainfall(ISMR)exhibits a prominent inter-annual variability known as troposphere biennial oscillation.A season of deficient June to September monsoon rainfall in India is followed by warm sea surface temperature(SST)anomalies over the tropical Indian Ocean and cold SST anomalies over the western Pacific Ocean.These anomalies persist until the following monsoon,which yields normal or excessive rainfall.Monsoon rainfall in India has shown decadal variability in the form of 30 year epochs of alternately occurring frequent and infrequent drought monsoons since1841,when rainfall measurements began in India.Decadal oscillations of monsoon rainfall and the well known decadal oscillations in SSTs of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans have the same period of approximately 60 years and nearly the same temporal phase.In both of these variabilities,anomalies in monsoon heat source,such as deep convection,and middle latitude westerlies of the upper troposphere over south Asia have prominent roles.