New pulsar rotation measures and the Galactic magnetic field

We measured a sample of 150 pulsar rotation measures (RMs) using the 20-cm receiver of the Parkes 64-m radio telescope. 46 of the pulsars in our sample have not had their RM values previously published, whereas 104 pulsar RMs have been revised. We used a novel quadratic fitting algorithm to obtain an accurate RM from the calibrated polarization profiles recorded across 256 MHz of receiver bandwidth. The new data are used in conjunction with previously known dispersion measures and the NE2001 electron-density model to study models of the direction and magnitude of the Galactic magnetic field.     

A lumped conceptual approach for modeling hydrological processes: the case of Scopia catchment area,Central Greece

In the catchment area of Scopia, Central Greece, a lumped applied approach of water balance was accomplished, by applying the Zygos model, which delineates an essential water balance forms. The model is in view of Thornthwaite model, in its modified version. It can be adjusted automatically, with the evolutionary annealing-simplex technique for nonlinear optimization, or manually and the input data are precipitation and the potential evapotranspiration. In the present study, both programmed and manual calibration occurred. Programmed calibration took place, utilizing a specimen of measured runoff values from October 2009 to March 2011. Despite the fact that the Nash–Sutcliffe coefficient (NSC) value was high (0.87), the simulated parameters of water balance had abnormal significance for Scopia catchment area. On the contrary, manual calibration uncovered that the actual evapotranspiration constitutes 64.6% (450.1 mm) of the precipitation. Runoff and percolation represent 20.6% (143.6 mm) and 14.8% (102.9 mm) of the precipitation, respectively. The NSC (0.70) and the validation criteria exhibit an ideal adjustment of simulated to measured runoff, while the hydrological parameters appeared to have a physical significance for the study site. Zygos model connects the emergence of springs with the development of the karstification in the carbonate rocks of the region and affirms the predominance of runoff versus percolation due to the hydrolithological structure of the Scopia catchment. This is related to the presence of episodic floods in the area. The yearly precipitation values were found with an error of 0.2% and are viewed as insignificant.     

Hydrochemical changes in a small tropical island’s aquifer: Manukan Island, Sabah, Malaysia

Small islands groundwater are often exposed to heavy pumpings as a result of high demand for freshwater consumption. Intensive exploitation of groundwater from Manukan Island’s aquifer has disturbed the natural equilibrium between fresh and saline water, and has resulted increase the groundwater salinity and leap to the hydrochemical complexities of freshwater–seawater contact. An attempt was made to identify the hydrochemical processes that accompany current intrusion of seawater using ionic changes and saturation indices. It was observed that the mixing between freshwater–seawater created diversity in geochemical processes of the Manukan Island’s aquifer and altered the freshwater and seawater mixture away from the theoretical composition line. This explained the most visible processes taking place during the displacement.     

An empirical model for the beams of radio pulsars

Motivated by recent results on the location of the radio emission in pulsar magnetospheres, we have developed a model which can account for the large diversity found in the average profile shapes of pulsars. At the centre of our model lies the idea that radio emission at a particular frequency arises from a wide range of altitudes above the surface of the star, and that it is confined to a region close to the last open field lines. We assert that the radial height range over which emission occurs is responsible for the complex average pulse shapes rather than the transverse (longitudinal) range proposed in most current models. By implementing an abrupt change in the height range to discriminate between young, short-period, highly energetic pulsars and their older counterparts, we obtain the observed transition between the simple and complex average pulse profiles observed in each group respectively. Monte Carlo simulations are used to demonstrate the match of our model to real observations.     

Application of the chemometric approach to evaluate the spatial variation of water chemistry and the identification of the sources of pollution in Langat River, Malaysia

The current study presents the application of selected chemometric techniques—hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA)—to evaluate the spatial variation of the water chemistry and to classify the pollution sources in the Langat River. The HCA rendered the sampling stations into two clusters (group 1 and group 2) and identified the vulnerable stations that are under threat. Group1 (LY 1 to LY 14) is associated with seawater intrusion, while group 2 (LY 15 to LY 30) is associated with agricultural and industrial pollution. PCA analysis was applied to the water datasets for group 1 resulting in four components, which explained 85 % of the total variance while group 2 extracted six components, explaining 88 % of the variance. The components obtained from PCA indicated that seawater intrusion, agricultural and industrial pollution, and geological weathering were potential sources of pollution to the study area. This study demonstrated the usefulness of the chemometric techniques on the interpretation of large complex datasets for the effective management of water resources.     

Influential factors on the levels of cation exchange capacity in sediment at Langat river

An exploratory study was carried out at 22 sampling stations along the Langat River, Selangor in order to investigate on the vitality of cation exchange capacity (CEC) in sediment (0–5 cm). Parameters such as pH, Eh, salinity, and electrical conductivity (EC) were determined. The CEC in sediment has been calculated by the determination of Ca²⁺, Na⁺, Mg²⁺, and K⁺ using the flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer, while the organic matter content in sediment was ascertained using the loss on ignition method. The characteristic of the sediment shows that pH (3.09–7.46), salinity (0.02–10.71 ppt), EC (3.39–517 μS/cm) and Eh (?16.20–253.10 mV) were substantially high in variation. This study also revealed that exchangeable Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ were controlled by organic matter contents, while exchangeable Na⁺ and K⁺ were influenced by salinity. Salinity was observed to play a major part in controlling all the exchangeable cations, as it gives strong significant correlations with Na⁺, K⁺, Mg²⁺, CEC, and organic matter at p?<?0.01. The presence of seawater, clay mineralogy, and organic matter proves that it does play an important role in determining the CEC and soon relates to the pollution magnitude in the sediment.     

Groundwater Assessment at Manukan Island,Sabah: Multidisplinary Approaches

A rapid increase in the number of tourists has placed a heavy demand for freshwater on Manukan Island, a small island located offcoast of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Hydrochemical and numerical approaches have been applied in this study to evaluate the groundwater quality of unconfined aquifer lying in Manukan Island, Sabah, East Malaysia. This is vital to enhance better understanding about groundwater management. Hydrochemical analysis output indicated NaCl water type in sampling locations. Seawater intrusion is marked by its relatively high Na⁺, Mg²⁺, Cl⁻ and SO₄ ²⁻ concentrations. Hydrochemical analysis output clearly showed the influence of seawater in groundwater of Manukan Island. The numerical model output proved the influence of seawater in groundwater of Manukan Island by indicating the upconing process at the beneath of the pumping well. Current status of seawater intrusion in Manukan Island is about 14.6% of freshwater and seawater mixing ratio in low lying area of Manukan Island as simulated by SEAWAT-2000 model output. Numerical model SEAWAT-2000 output showed clearly that the upconing process is the possible route of seawater to influence the fresh groundwater aquifer chemistry in Manukan Island. The results have enhanced the current understanding of seawater intrusion in the study area. Future studies will focus on using numerical models to simulate and suggest suitable groundwater management plans in Manukan Island.