A T-shaped four-electrode configuration for resistivity profiling over thin vertical conducting veins

A new variant of the four-electrode system is proposed for geophysical resistivity investigations, particularly for profiling over conductive bodies. Model tank resistivity profiling experiments with Wenner, Schlumberger and the proposed T-shaped four-electrode arrays were carried out over a thin conducting vein type model to evaluate the efficacy of the new array. The proposed array appears to possess a larger response, a greater depth of investigation and a higher vertical resolution in detecting conducting bodies, as compared to the two-conventional arrays.     

Remote sensing and gis applications in the identification of aquaculture hotspots at village level

Interpretation of IRS LISS II and LISS III imagery has revealed the various landforms as well as land use/land cover features in a part of the Godavari delta coastal belt. A comparative analysis of geomorphological vs. land use/land cover maps suggested that the landforms exert a certain degree of control over human land use activities even in this monotonously plain area. Further, an analysis of the sequential imagery pertaining to 1992 and 2001 aimed at detecting the land use/land cover change has indicated that the aquaculture has phenomenally increased by 9,293.5 ha during the 9-year period. At the same time, the cropland which occupied about 29,104 ha in 1992 has been reduced to 19,153.9 ha by 2001 mainly due to the encroachment of aquaculture. Village level data on temporal variation in land use/land cover extracted through GIS analysis revealed that in 14 out of the total 39 villages in the area, the conversion of cropland into aquaculture ponds was more than 30% with the highest conversion rate of 89.8% in Gondi village. These fourteen villages, which are designated as ‘aquaculture hotspots’ are grouped into 4 priority classes based on the intensity of conversion.     

Prediction of shoreline behaviour for Madras, India-a numerical approach

A satellite port has been proposed about 14.8 km north of Madras port on the east coast of India. As the interference of a satellite port with the existing pattern of longshore sediment transport will generate coastal imbalance in the region, a numerical model study involving sediment transport and combined wave refraction-diffraction was conducted to predict the shoreline behaviour. A realistic approach to the study was made to meet the objectives by considering wave height-wave period distributions in the region and duration and sequence of their occurrence during major monsoon seasons. This method of analysis enabled us to predict: (i) the extent of general shoreline advancement, particularly in front of a tidal inlet—a source of the cooling water requirement for an existing thermal power plant; (ii) the extent of the coastal region that will be affected owing to recession of shoreline and its impact on: (a) the fishing community living along the coastal stretch; (b) the national highway running along the coast; and (c) the changes in nearshore bathymetry. Based on the studies, management plans were drawn to safeguard the coastal region from imbalances that will arise out of construction of the satellite port. This paper highlights the effects of a satellite port on the coastal region and the need for proper management.     

Empirical estimation of magnetite/liquid distribution coefficients for some transition elements

Magnetite/liquid distribution coefficients have been calculated that are consistent with observed variations in contents of V, Sc, Cr, and Ti in lavas from Craters of the Moon lava field, Idaho. In particular, our average distribution coefficient for V (27±8) is in close agreement with that determined experimentally at the temperature and oxygen fugacity appropriate for crystallization of these lavas. Although this value is not very precise, it shows that V contents of at least some calcalkaline series are consistent with generation of andesitic and related magmas from basaltic parental magmas by crystal fractionation, involving removal of appreciable amounts of magnetite.Current address: Geology Department, Rice University. Houston, Texas 77001, USA     

Spatial analysis software testing tool based on object-oriented techniques

Object-oriented (OO) programming and system design have become the scalable methodology for large-scale enterprise and technology system designs. Spatial and geographic information system (GIS)-based systems are not exempt from this trend and have widely adopted object-oriented methodology. Testing strategies for systems developed with OO technologies need to be carefully evaluated. Specific features of OO technologies such as information hiding and close tying of data structures with class structures and the natural peculiarities of the spatial data require revisiting of test strategies for spatial applications built on OO technology. This article focuses on object-oriented testing trends and the development of associated tools in the GIS industry.     

Mapping rice-fallow cropland areas for short-season grain legumes intensification in South Asia using MODIS 250 m time-series data

The goal of this study was to map rainfed and irrigated rice-fallow cropland areas across South Asia, using MODIS 250?m time-series data and identify where the farming system may be intensified by the inclusion of a short-season crop during the fallow period. Rice-fallow cropland areas are those areas where rice is grown during the kharif growing season (June–October), followed by a fallow during the rabi season (November–February). These cropland areas are not suitable for growing rabi-season rice due to their high water needs, but are suitable for a short -season (≤3 months), low water-consuming grain legumes such as chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), black gram, green gram, and lentils. Intensification (double-cropping) in this manner can improve smallholder farmer’s incomes and soil health via rich nitrogen-fixation legume crops as well as address food security challenges of ballooning populations without having to expand croplands. Several grain legumes, primarily chickpea, are increasingly grown across Asia as a source of income for smallholder farmers and at the same time providing rich and cheap source of protein that can improve the nutritional quality of diets in the region. The suitability of rainfed and irrigated rice-fallow croplands for grain legume cultivation across South Asia were defined by these identifiers: (a) rice crop is grown during the primary (kharif) crop growing season or during the north-west monsoon season (June–October); (b) same croplands are left fallow during the second (rabi) season or during the south-east monsoon season (November–February); and (c) ability to support low water-consuming, short-growing season (≤3 months) grain legumes (chickpea, black gram, green gram, and lentils) during rabi season. Existing irrigated or rainfed crops such as rice or wheat that were grown during kharif were not considered suitable for growing during the rabi season, because the moisture/water demand of these crops is too high. The study established cropland classes based on the every 16-day 250?m normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) time series for one year (June 2010–May 2011) of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data, using spectral matching techniques (SMTs), and extensive field knowledge. Map accuracy was evaluated based on independent ground survey data as well as compared with available sub-national level statistics. The producers’ and users’ accuracies of the cropland fallow classes were between 75% and 82%. The overall accuracy and the kappa coefficient estimated for rice classes were 82% and 0.79, respectively. The analysis estimated approximately 22.3?Mha of suitable rice-fallow areas in South Asia, with 88.3% in India, 0.5% in Pakistan, 1.1% in Sri Lanka, 8.7% in Bangladesh, 1.4% in Nepal, and 0.02% in Bhutan. Decision-makers can target these areas for sustainable intensification of short-duration grain legumes.     

A global map of rainfed cropland areas (GMRCA) at the end of last millennium using remote sensing

The overarching goal of this study was to produce a global map of rainfed cropland areas (GMRCA) and calculate country-by-country rainfed area statistics using remote sensing data. A suite of spatial datasets, methods and protocols for mapping GMRCA were described. These consist of: (a) data fusion and composition of multi-resolution time-series mega-file data-cube (MFDC), (b) image segmentation based on precipitation, temperature, and elevation zones, (c) spectral correlation similarity (SCS), (d) protocols for class identification and labeling through uses of SCS R²-values, bi-spectral plots, space-time spiral curves (ST-SCs), rich source of field-plot data, and zoom-in-views of Google Earth (GE), and (e) techniques for resolving mixed classes by decision tree algorithms, and spatial modeling. The outcome was a 9-class GMRCA from which country-by-country rainfed area statistics were computed for the end of the last millennium. The global rainfed cropland area estimate from the GMRCA 9-class map was 1.13 billion hectares (Bha). The total global cropland areas (rainfed plus irrigated) was 1.53 Bha which was close to national statistics compiled by FAOSTAT (1.51 Bha). The accuracies and errors of GMRCA were assessed using field-plot and Google Earth data points. The accuracy varied between 92 and 98% with kappa value of about 0.76, errors of omission of 2–8%, and the errors of commission of 19–36%.     

A simple dynamic method for the evaluation of the piezoelectric activity of rock samples

Laboratory determination of the piezoelectric activity (PEA) of geological samples is a prerequisite for the piezoelectric method of geophysical prospecting in the search for mineral deposits associated with quartz. The more commonly used laboratory methods, both static and dynamic, are not convenient from several considerations. A simple method for PEA estimation of rocks which retains the advantages of both dynamic as well as static methods while dispensing with their drawbacks is described in this paper. It is well suited for large and representative geological samples, while the experimental conditions are comparable to those met with under field conditions.     

Genesis of the Angra dos Reis and other achondritic meteorites

Major, minor and trace element abundances were determined in seven Angra dos Reis samples including whole rocks, fassaite (clinopyroxene), olivine and whitlockite separates via sequential instrumental neutron activation analysis. The chondritic normalized rare earth element (REE) abundance pattern for the Angra dos Reis clinopyroxene separates shows a concave downward shape with a small negative Eu anomaly. The strong fractionation between the light and the heavy REE in olivine separates could be attributed to the presence of islands of kirschsteinite in the olivines. The large-ion lithophile trace elements were highly enriched in the whitlockite separate as expected (e.g. La ≈ 370 ppm). The lower Hf and Sc abundances in whitlockite compared to that in the equilibrium “magma” could be the result of favorable partitioning of Hf and Sc in baddeleyite, which may have crystallized prior to or with whitlockite in the interstitial liquid. Comparison of whole rock with mineral separate data shows the presence of ～3% olivine, ～2.6% spinel and small amounts of metallic Ni-Fe and troilite in the whole rock.The trace element abundances in the derivative magma from which the Angra dos Reis clinopyroxene crystallized were estimated from the clinopyroxene data and the clinopyroxene mineral-liquid partition coefficients. From the derivative magma, the trace element abundances in the possible parent magmas were calculated by assuming that these parent magmas have undergone different degrees of clinopyroxene fractional crystallization to yield the Angra dos Reis derivative magma. Using the trace element abundances in these possible parent magmas, a two-stage crystal-liquid fractionation model with source material containing olivine, orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene is presented for the genesis of Angra dos Reis. Possible combinations of the degree of equilibrium non-modal partial melting, the source mineral composition and the initial element abundances required to generate possible Angra dos Reis parent magmas are calculated by the multilinear regression analysis method. Favorable solutions for this two-stage crystal-liquid fractionation model could be that Angra dos Reis crystallized at ～70% fractional crystallization of clinopyroxene from magmas generated by reasonable degrees of equilibrium partial melting (～7–10%) of deep-seated primitive source materials (olivine ～54–30%, orthopyroxene ～33–53%, and clinopyroxene ～13–17%) with trace element (Ba, Sr, REE and Sc) abundances ～3.5–4.7 × chondrites. These calculated REE abundances in the Angra dos Reis parent body are very similar to those suggested for the primordial moon (～3–5 × chondrites).Possible genetic relationships between Angra dos Reis and other achondrites, especially cumulate eucrites and nakhlites, are studied. Apparently, the unique Angra dos Reis could not be related to those achondrites by crystal-liquid fractionation of the same parent body.