RESULTS OF GRAVITY SURVEY OVER RANIGANJ COALFIELD,INDIA*

Results of a gravity survey conducted over Raniganj coalfield, one of the Gondwana basins of Damodar Valley in north-eastern part of India, are presented. The gravity field was separated into regional and residual components. The residual Bouguer anomaly map shows that the coalfield is characterized by a gravity low of about—32 mGal associated with Gondwana sediments. The deepest part of basin is found to be located near Asansole (23° 40’N, 86° 55’E), where the maximum thickness of sediments is estimated to be about 1.3 miles (2.08 km). The faults along the northern as well as the southern boundaries are found to be normal. The Gondwana sediments appear to continue eastward beneath alluvium and laterite of Bengal basin as far as 87° 25’E.     

Trend in Observed and Projected Maximum and Minimum Temperature over N-W Himalayan Basin

Recently, study in past trends of climate variables gained significant consideration because of its contribution in adaptions and mitigation strategies for potential future changes in climate, primarily in the area of water resource management. Future interannual and inter-seasonal variations in maximum and minimum temperature may bring significant changes in hydrological systems and affect regional water resources. The present study has been performed to observe past(1970-2010) as well as future(2011-2100)spatial and temporal variability in temperature(maximum and minimum) over selected stations of Sutlej basin located in North-Western Himalayan region in India. The generation of future time series of temperature data at different stations is done using statistical downscaling technique. The nonparametric test methods, modified Mann-Kendall test and Cumulative Sum chart are used for detecting monotonic trend and sequential shift in time series of maximum and minimum temperature. Sen’s slope estimator test is used to detect the magnitude of change over a period of time on annual and seasonal basis. The cooling experienced in annual TMax and TMin at Kasol in past(1970-2010) would be replaced by warming in future as increasing trends are detected in TMax during 2020 s and 2050 s and in TMin during 2020 s, 2050 s and 2080 s under A1 B and A2 scenarios. Similar results of warming are also predicted at Sunnifor annual TMin in future under both scenarios which witnessed cooling during 1970-2010. The rise in TMin at Rampur is predicted to be continued in future as increasing trends are obtained under both the scenarios. Seasonal trend analysis reveals large variability in trends of TMax and TMin over these stations for the future periods.     

Evaluation of NDWI and MNDWI for assessment of waterlogging by integrating digital elevation model and groundwater level

Accurate information on the extent of waterlogging is required for flood prediction, monitoring, relief and preventive measures. The rule-based classification algorithms were used for differentiating waterlogged areas from other ground features using Resourcesat-2 AWiFS satellite imagery (Indian Remote Sensing Satellite with spatial resolution of 56 m). Two spectral indices normalized difference water index (NDWI) and modified normalized difference water index (MNDWI) were used for extracting waterlogged areas in Sri Muktsar Sahib district of Punjab, India. These indices extracted the waterlogged areas (cropped areas inundated with water) but the water features were less enhanced in the NDWI-derived image (when compared with MNDWI-derived image) due to negative values of NDWI and, mixing of water with built up features. The water features were more enhanced with MNDWI and the values of MNDWI were positive for water features mixed with vegetation. The overall accuracy of waterlogged areas extracted from the MNDWI image was 96.9% with the Kappa coefficient of 0.89. The digital elevation model (DEM) was extracted from ASTER-GDEM. The relationships among depth to the water table recorded before the incessant rain in the region, DEM and classified MNDWI images explained the differences in the extent of waterlogging in various directions of the study area. These results suggest that MNDWI can be used to better delineate water features mixed with vegetation compared to NDWI.     

ESTIMATION OF TEMPORAL CHANGES IN SOIL MOISTURE USING RESISTIVITY METHOD

The temporal variation in a soil moisture profile can be studied using resistivity sounding data acquired at different times. The layered earth model based estimation of soil moisture from apparent resistivity data is a two-step non-linear inversion. Firstly, the apparent resistivity data are inverted to derive the layer resistivity variations and thicknesses and, secondly, the moisture content is estimated from these layer resistivity variations using a calibration equation. The soil moisture–resistivity problem was studied using the one-dimensional formulation of resistivity problem. A generalized geoelectric earth model was considered to simulate the soil moisture distribution and its temporal variation in the unsaturated zone. An algorithm (RESMOS) for the interpretation of the apparent resistivity data in terms of soil moisture variations through this two-step inversion process is reported.     

Efficient two-dimensional magnetotellurics modelling using implicitly restarted Lanczos method

This paper presents an efficient algorithm, FDA2DMT (Free Decay Analysis for 2D Magnetotellurics (MT)), based on eigenmode approach to solve the relevant partial differential equation, for forward computation of two-dimensional (2D) responses. The main advantage of this approach lies in the fact that only a small subset of eigenvalues and corresponding eigenvectors are required for satisfactory results. This small subset (pre-specified number) of eigenmodes are obtained using shift and invert implementation of Implicitly Restarted Lanczos Method (IRLM). It has been established by experimentation that only 15–20% smallest eigenvalue and corresponding eigenvectors are sufficient to secure the acceptable accuracy. Once the single frequency response is computed using eigenmode approach, the responses for subsequent frequencies can be obtained in negligible time. Experiment design results for validation of FDA2DMT are presented by considering two synthetic models from COMMEMI report, Brewitt-Taylor and Weaver (1976) model and a field data based model from Garhwal Himalaya.     

Improvements in medium range weather forecasting system of India

Medium range weather forecasts are being generated in real time using Global Data Assimilation Forecasting System (GDAFS) at NCMRWF since 1994. The system has been continuously upgraded in terms of data usage, assimilation and forecasting system. Recently this system was upgraded to a horizontal resolution of T574 (about 22 km) with 64 levels in vertical. The assimilation scheme of this upgraded system is based on the latest Grid Statistical Interpolation (GSI) scheme and it has the provision to use most of available meteorological and oceanographic satellite datasets besides conventional meteorological observations. The new system has an improved procedure for relocating tropical cyclone to its observed position with the correct intensity. All these modifications have resulted in improvement of skill of medium range forecasts by about 1 day.