Principal Components Analysis of Rainfall and Associated Synoptic Models of the Southwest Monsoon over India

Summary  The summer monsoon circulation shows various spatial and temporal oscillations and often a combination of systems produces an integrated effect. In this study phases of the southwest (SW) monsoon have been identified in an objective manner with the help of T-mode principal component analysis (PCA) of weekly rainfall anomalies. Mean composite charts have been prepared utilising all available upper air data (1977–1986) for each category of the SW monsoon epochs identified by the PCA. These sets of charts have been constructed for both the strong and weak phases associated with the first four significant principal components (PCs). A well defined east-west oriented trough system, extending from about 28° N Latitude/65° E Longitude to 20° N Latitude/90° E Longitude, in the lower levels, has been the main feature associated with the strong phase of the monsoon corresponding to PC I. The trough in the lower levels is more marked in the eastern half compared to the western half in both the sets of charts associated with strong phases of the monsoon related to the PC II and PC III. With PC II, the position of the troughs in the lower levels is further north of its location in PC III. The east-west trough system associated with the strong phase of PC IV has a large southward tilt with height. The charts corresponding to the weak phases of these PCs have synoptic features, such as the position of the trough close to the foothills of the Himalayas, and the shifting of middle and upper tropospheric anticyclones to the south. The study suggests an objective method of interpretation of principal components by utilising synoptic data. In addition, synoptic models and data sets corresponding to different phases of the monsoon can also be prepared in an objective manner by such PCA. Received July 18, 1997 Revised April 30, 1999     

Arsenic anomalies in shallow Venetian Plain (Northeast Italy) groundwater

A pilot area within the Venetian Plain was selected to assess the arsenic (As) contamination of groundwater. The area represents a typical residential, industrial and agricultural organization representative of most western countries, and is also devoid of lithologies with high or anomalous As content. Hydrogeological and chemical data have been collected, the latter spatialized by a geostatistical approach. The unconfined aquifer reservoir varies from a predominantly gravel composition in the north to a sandy and silt–clay composition further south, including peat layers. The hydrochemical features of the waters are rather homogeneous, featuring low mineral content and a Ca-bicarbonate signature. In contrast, the redox state is highly variable; oxidizing conditions are predominant in the northern and coarse parts of the aquifer, whereas reducing potentials prevail in the southern and silt–clay parts. Several well waters contain arsenic in excess of drinkable limits (=10 ppb), and most of these wells are located in the southern area. A large portion of the studied area has a high probability of containing non-potable water (up to 150 ppb As). Remarkably, As “hot spots” (As > 300 ppb, up to 431 ppb) were identified at the transition from gravel to silt–clay sediments. No industrial or agricultural source of As has been found.     

Space-time interaction amongst clusters of mining induced seismicity

Elementary cluster analysis of induced seismicity in a South African gold mine has shown that there is a clear interaction amongst the clusters; and that the level of the interaction is a function of the distance. The clusering algorithm used is an adaptation of the single-link cluster analysis which considers both three-dimensional space and time. A high level of interaction between the clusters is demonstrated from the cross-correlation analysis of seismic activity rates and radiated energy. A distinct decrease in the value of correlation coefficients was detectable as distance increased. This was somewhat surprising, considering the simplicity of the technique used. Since no attempt is made to study the physical mechanisms of interaction, these results are very preliminary, but interesting from an observational point of view.     

VERTICAL SEISMIC PROFILING IN COAL*

The intellection of seismic wave propagation in coal measures demands direct observation of the wavefield progression. Two vertical seismic profiles with high spatial and temporal sampling, were recently recorded in the Sydney Basin coalfields as part of an experimental coal seismic program. Static corrections and interval velocities were obtained by an automated system to determine first kicks and pulse rise times. Upgoing and downgoing waves were separated in the f—k-plane using a novel technique of contour slice filtering. The isolated upgoing waves clearly display reflections from the major coal seams within the stratigraphic sequence. The downgoing wave spectra were subjected to attenuation analysis. The deduced specific quality factor Q for Permian coal measure rocks lies in the range 20–70. Similar estimates were obtained in the time domain from measurements of pulse broadening. Synthetic VSP seismograms, computed using an exact recursive formulation, are an indispensable aid to interpretation. They illustrate the filtering effects of coal seams and sequences, and the effects of the contribution of internal and free-surface multiple reflections in the recorded wavetrains.     

Models of travel demand with endogenous preference change and heterogeneous agents

In the literatures of regional science, urban economics, and urban development planning, a working assumption is that individuals respond to incentives and regulations, given their preferences. Models for planning and policy analyses are used to consider what might occur if the incentives or regulations were different. In these models, however, preferences are usually assumed to be given and stable, and agents are usually assumed to be homogeneous. This paper focuses on the implications of making preferences in models of policy implementation endogenously determined and time varying heterogeneous agents. We consider first the recent literature on intertemporal choice and preference change, which cuts across many disciplines, and more briefly the literature on norm-regarding behavior. We then elaborate a simple model of transportation demand—from a static to a dynamic orientation, from fixed and exogenously given preferences of strictly self-regarding agents to endogenously determined and policy-induced preferences of heterogeneous agents—and illustrate its characteristics with simple numerical examples.     

Biosorption of Rare-Earth Elements and Yttrium by Heterotrophic Bacteria in an Aqueous Environment

This paper reports the results of the experimental determination of the coefficient of sorption of rare-earth elements and yttrium (REY) under conditions of acidic pH using several strains of heterotrophic bacteria (Microbacterium sp., Curtobacterium sp., Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas putida, and Bacillus pumilis) that are widespread in natural and technogenic waters of the Far East (Russia). Insignificant fractionation between heavy and light rare-earth elements, negative cerium and dysprosium anomalies, and a positive europium anomaly were revealed. The selectivity of REY biosorption by gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, as well as inertia of the biosorption process under more acidic conditions of the medium, were shown.     

Is there a fuelwood crisis in rural Mali?

The study takes a conventional supply and demand approach to the study of fuelwood use. It compares estimated wood production in West African bush and forest formations based on an available equation using rainfall data with own collected data on local wood consumption in a village in southern Mali. To allow comparison, data from 49 other villages in the same area are analysed. This study, toget her with an earlier study in northern Mali, indicates that locally induced deforestation caused by fuelwood use does not represent an immediate problem in rural Mali. Local use of fuelwood does not seem to be exceeding forest regeneration. However, where there is external pressure on the forest represented by commercial exploitation of wood for sale in the urban centres, fuelwood depletion might occur.     

Impact of Earth radiation pressure on GPS position estimates

GPS satellite orbits available from the International GNSS Service (IGS) show a consistent radial bias of up to several cm and a particular pattern in the Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) residuals, which are suggested to be related to radiation pressure mismodeling. In addition, orbit-related frequencies were identified in geodetic time series such as apparent geocenter motion and station displacements derived from GPS tracking data. A potential solution to these discrepancies is the inclusion of Earth radiation pressure (visible and infrared) modeling in the orbit determination process. This is currently not yet considered by all analysis centers contributing to the IGS final orbits. The acceleration, accounting for Earth radiation and satellite models, is introduced in this paper in the computation of a global GPS network (around 200 IGS sites) adopting the analysis strategies from the Center for Orbit Determination in Europe (CODE). Two solutions covering 9 years (2000–2008) with and without Earth radiation pressure were computed and form the basis for this study. In previous studies, it has been shown that Earth radiation pressure has a non-negligible effect on the GPS orbits, mainly in the radial component. In this paper, the effect on the along-track and cross-track components is studied in more detail. Also in this paper, it is shown that Earth radiation pressure leads to a change in the estimates of GPS ground station positions, which is systematic over large regions of the Earth. This observed “deformation” of the Earth is towards North–South and with large scale patterns that repeat six times per GPS draconitic year (350 days), reaching a magnitude of up to 1 mm. The impact of Earth radiation pressure on the geocenter and length of day estimates was also investigated, but the effect is found to be less significant as compared to the orbits and position estimates.     

Seismic response of light internal equipment in base-isolated structures

The seismic response of light secondary systems in a building is dependent on the response of the primary structural system to the seismic ground motion with the result that very high accelerations can be induced in such secondary systems. This response can be reduced through the use of aseismic base isolation which is a design strategy whereby the entire building can be decoupled from the damaging horizontal components of seismic ground motion by the use of some form of isolation system. The paper presents a theoretical analysis of the response of light equipment in isolated structures and a parallel experimental programme both of which show that the use of base isolation can not only attenuate the response of the primary structural system but also reduce the response of secondary systems. Thus, the design of equipment and piping in a base-isolated building is very much simpler than that for a conventionally founded structure: inelastic response and equipment-structure interaction need not be considered and multiple support response analysis is rendered unnecessary. Although an isolation system with linear elastic bearings can reduce the acceleration of the structure, it may be accompanied by large relative displacements between the structure and the ground. A system using lead-rubber hysteretic bearings, having a force-displacement relation which is approximately a bilinear loop, can reduce these displacements. A parallel experimental programme was carried out to investigate the response of light equipment in structures isolated using lead-rubber bearings. The experimental results show that these bearings can dissipate energy and limit the displacement and acceleration of the structure but are less effective in reducing the accelerations in the internal equipment. The results of both the analysis and the tests show that base isolation is a very effective method for the seismic protection of light equipment items in buildings.