Groundwater modelling to quantify the effect of water harvesting structures in Wagarwadi watershed,Parbhani district,Maharashtra, India

Marathwada Agricultural University, Pharbani, has developed about 560 hectares of Wagarwadi watershed in Pharbani district since 1987. Groundwater monitoring on 16 observations wells at weekly intervals commenced in January 1992, and rainfall and pan evaporation has been measured daily at a hydrometeorological station situated in the nearby university campus. Aquifer parameters, namely, transmissivity and specific yield, have been estimated by carrying out a pumping test on a large diameter well. Groundwater recharge resulting from rainfall has been estimated using a water balance model of the soil moisture zone considering soil zone thickness and crops grown. The SCS (Soil Conservation Service) curve number method was used for surface runoff estimation. The groundwater flow model has been constructed using the nested squares, finite difference method. Nested square meshes of sizes 160 m×160 m and 80 m×80 m have been used and the steady-state condition of aquifer system was simulated in the model assuming the June 1992 water level configuration under equilibrium conditions. The model has been calibrated for transient conditions incorporating additional seepage from the water harvesting structures and their contribution to the groundwater regime has been assessed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of linear and non-linear mixing on hyper-spectral signatures of snow in the optical region (350–2500 nm)

Study of hyper-spectral behaviour of snow is important to interpret, analyse and validate optical remote sensing observations. To map and understand response of snow-mixed pixels in RS data, field experiments were conducted for linear mixing of external materials (i.e. Vegetation, Soil) with snow, using spectral-radiometer (350–2500 nm). Further, systematic non-linear mixing of snow contaminants (soil, coal, ash) in terms of size and concentration of contaminants is analysed to imitate and understand spectral response of actual field scenarios. Sensitivity of band indices along with absorption peak characteristics provide clues to discriminate the type of contaminants. SWIR region is found to be useful for discriminating size of external contaminants in snow e.g. Avalanche deposited snow from light contaminated forms. Present research provide inputs for mapping snow-mixed pixels in medium/coarse resolution remote sensing RS data (in terms of linear mixing) and suitable wavelength selections for identification and discriminating type/size of snow contaminants (in terms of non-linear mixing).     

Relative Radiometric Correction of Multitemporal Satellite Imagery Using Fourier and Wavelet Transform

Remotely sensed multitemporal, multisensor data are often required in Earth observation applications. A common problem associated with the use of multisource image data is the grey value differences caused by non-surface factors such as different illumination, atmospheric, or sensor conditions. Image normalization is required to reduce the radiometric influences caused by non-surface factors and to ensure that the grey value differences between temporal images reflect actual changes on the surface of the Earth. This paper proposes new approaches to radiometric correction of multitemporal satellite imagery using wavelet analysis and Fourier transform. The results obtained are compared with commonly used NO-change regression (NC) normalization and Histogram Matching spatial domain methods. Both visual inspection and statistical accuracy assessment show that proposed transform domain approaches are valid.     

OSCILLATIONS IN THERMALLY-CONDUCTING POLYTROPIC ATMOSPHERES IN THE PRESENCE OF A VERTICAL MAGNETIC FIELD

We have investigated the normal modes of subadiabatic and superadiabatic polytropic atmospheres with constant vertical magnetic field and constant thermal conductivity. In the subadiabatic case, we found the lowest, third and fifth modes were always damped, however overstability was detected in the second and fourth modes at low values of the background magnetic field. In the superadiabatic case, instability was detected in several modes, however the effect of the change from sub to superadiabatic had little effect on the frequencies of the modes. The introduction of a variety of boundary conditions varying the degree of thermal and mechanical isolation altered the decay rates of the modes from moderately damped with rigid boundary conditions toward zero decay with the less restrictive conditions, again with essentially no effect on the oscillation frequencies. In both types of atmosphere, modes with periods in the 3-min and 5-min bands were present with magnetic fields around 3000 G, whereas only the 5-min modes were present at 2000 G.     

Geomorphic covariance structure of a confined mountain river reveals landform organization stage threshold

Significant growth in mountain rivers research since 1990 has promoted the concept that canyon-confined mountain rivers have complex topographic features nested from base- to flood-stages due to canyon structure and abundant large bed elements. Nesting means literally structures inside of structures. Mathematically, nesting means that multiple individual features and repeating patterns exist at different frequency, amplitude, and phasing, and can be added together to obtain the complete structure. Until now, subreach-scale landform structure, including nesting, has not been quantified sufficiently to understand morphodynamic mechanisms that control and respond to such organization. Geomorphic covariance structure analysis offers a systematic framework for evaluating nested topographic patterns. In this study, a threshold stage in mountain river inundation was hypothesized to exist. Above this stage landform structure is organized to be freely self-maintaining via flow convergence routing morphodynamics. A 13.2 km segment of the canyon-confined Yuba River, California, was studied using 2944 cross-sections. Geomorphic covariance structure analysis was carried out on a meter-resolution topographic model to test the hypothesis. River width and bed elevation had significantly less variability than previously reported for lower slope, partially confined gravel/cobble river reaches. A critical stage threshold governing flow convergence routing morphodynamics was evident in several metrics. Below this threshold, narrow/high “nozzle” and wide/low “oversized” were the dominant landforms (excluding “normal channel”), while above it wide/high “wide bar” and narrow/low “constricted pool” were dominant. Three-stage nesting of base-bankfull-flood landforms was dictated by canyon confinement, with nozzle–nozzle–nozzle nesting as the top permutation, excluding normal channel.     

Collaborative governance and territorial rescaling in the UK: a comparative study of two EU Structural Funds programmes

Contemporary capitalist development facilitates the large-scale geographical reorganization of economic activity, involving both spatial clustering and decentralization. In the European Union the resulting regional disparities have provoked concerns about growing inequality on the one hand and poor competitiveness on the other. The concept of ‘territorial cohesion’ has been adopted to address such issues, with the need for co-operation across local, regional and national boundaries encouraged as a means of constructing more effective economic zones. This then raises the question whether the European Union’s own Structural Funds programme has been able to contribute to such collaborative working. Evidence from South Yorkshire/Sheffield in England and the Central Valleys/Cardiff in Wales suggests that any contribution is likely to be modest. Both areas were covered by Objective 1 programmes between 2000 and 2006, but differed markedly in the extent to which collaborative governance structures and processes developed. Key factors were the extent to which moves in this direction were already under way, and the extent to which management and decision-making were devolved from the centre to local and sub-regional actors.     

Oscillations in a Magnetized Model Atmosphere with Non-Constant Coefficient of Thermal Conductivity

This paper extends previous investigations of non-adiabatic, oscillatory motions in plane-parallel, gravitationally stratified, magnetized atmospheres by replacing the simple polytropic equilibrium atmosphere with the detailed umbral model atmosphere of Thomas and Scheuer (1982). A normal mode analysis is performed on three cavities defined within the vertical extent of the model. For this work, the coefficient of thermal conductivity is taken to be a function of the temperature and the constant magnetic field is aligned with the direction of gravity. This significantly alters the structure of the eigenspectrum from that of the simpler models using a constant coefficient of thermal conductivity. When evaluated with physical parameters relevant to sunspot umbrae, 5-min and several 3-min oscillations are detected in the cavity from the upper photosphere to the temperature minimum whereas only 3-min oscillations are found in the spatially larger cavity from the upper photosphere to the chromosphere/corona transition region.     

Fuzzy–frequency ratio model for avalanche susceptibility mapping

Avalanche activities in the Indian Himalaya cause the majority of fatalities and responsible for heavy damage to the property. Avalanche susceptibility maps assist decision-makers and planners to execute suitable measures to reduce the avalanche risk. In the present study, a probabilistic data-driven geospatial fuzzy–frequency ratio (fuzzy–FR) model is proposed and developed for avalanche susceptibility mapping, especially for the large undocumented region. The fuzzy–FR model for avalanche susceptibility mapping is initially developed and applied for Lahaul-Spiti region. The fuzzy–FR model utilized the six avalanche occurrence factors (i.e. slope, aspect, curvature, elevation, terrain roughness and vegetation cover) and one referent avalanche inventory map to generate the avalanche susceptibility map. Amongst 292 documented avalanche locations from the avalanche inventory map, 233 (80%) were used for training the model and remaining 59 (20%) were used for validation of the map. The avalanche susceptibility map is validated by calculating the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC-AUC) technique. For validation of the results using ROC-AUC technique, the success rate and prediction rate were calculated. The values of success rate and prediction rate were 94.07% and 91.76%, respectively. The validation of results using ROC-AUC indicated the fuzzy–FR model is appropriate for avalanche susceptibility mapping.     

The effects of the Arctic haze as determined from airborne radiometric measurements during AGASP II

The interaction of the Aretic winter aerosol (Arctic haze) with solar radiation produces changes in the radiation field that result in the enhancement of scattering and absorption processes which alter the energy balance and solar energy distribution in the Arctic atmosphere-surface system. During the second Arctic Gas and Aerosols Sampling Project (AGASP II) field experiment, we measured radiation parameters using the NOAA WP-3D research aircraft as a platform. State-of-the-art instrumentation was used to measure in situ the absorption of solar radiation by the Arctic atmosphere during severe haze events. Simultaneously with the absorption measurements, we determined optical depths, and total, direct, and scattered radiation fields. All optical measurements were made at spectral bands centered at 412, 500, 675, and 778 nm and with a bandpass of 10 nm. With this selection of spectral regions we concentrated on the measurement of the radiative effects of the aerosol excluding most of the contributions by the gaseous components of the atmosphere. An additional measurement performed during these experiments was the determination of total solar spectrum fluxes. The experimentally determined parameters were used to define an aerosol model that was employed to deduce the absorption by the aerosols over the full solar spectrum and to calculate atmospheric heating rate profiles. The analyses summarized above allowed us to deduce the magnitude of the change in some important parameters. For example, we found changes in instantaneous heating rate of up to about 0.6 K/day. Besides the increased absorption (30 to 40%) and scattering of radiation by the atmosphere, the haze reduces the surface absorption of solar energy by 6 to 10% and the effective planetary albedo over ice surfaces by 3 to 6%. The vertical distribution of the absorbing aerosol is inferred from the flux measurements. Values for the specific absorption of carbon are found to be around 6 m²/g for externally mixed aerosol and about 11.7 m²/g for internally mixed aerosol. A complete study of the radiative effects of the Arctic haze should include infrared measurements and calculations as well as physics of the ice, snow, and water surfaces.