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     

Campanian stage of granite formation in the south of the Sredinnyi Range in Kamchatka: New U-Pb SHRIMP Data

This article gives an account of the results of the U-Pb-SHRIMP study of zircons derived from gneissoid and equigranular granitoids of the Malka Uplift of the Sredynnyi Range in Kamchatka. It was established that intrusion and crystallization of granitoids occurred in the time interval from 76.2 ± 1.5 to 83.1 ± 2.0 Ma. The texture of zircon crystals suggests their magmatic origin. The obtained data reliably confirm that granite formation and emplacement of the recently formed continental crust in Kamchatka took place in the Late Cretaceous (Campanian).     

Oxygen and Sulfides in Bottom Sediments of the Coastal Sevastopol Region of Crimea

Spatial variations in the distribution and fluxes of dissolved oxygen and sulfide in bottom sediments of Omega and Sevastopol bays have been studied. The results of analysis reveal that the distribution of dissolved oxygen and sulfide in pore water depends mostly on seasonal variations in the oxygen concentration in bottom water, grain size, the organic carbon content in bottom sediments, and, additionally for Sevastopol Bay, the iron content. The oxygen flux at the bottom of Sevastopol Bay is 20 times larger in winter–spring compared to that of Omega Bay. Anaerobic conditions in Sevastopol Bay sediments are observed much closer to the surface, with their subsequent development in bottom water.     

A Multifrequency Study of Five Large Radio Galaxies

We present the results of GMRT and VLA observations of five large radio sources over a wide frequency range to investigate their structural and spectral asymmetries. The hot-spot brightness ratios suggest intrinsic source asymmetries, while the spectral indices show evidence of re-acceleration of particles.     

Variation in the flare activity of the star UV Ceti

This is an analysis of the dependence of the flare activity of the well known flare star UV Ceti on the linear distance between the components of this binary system. It is shown that its flaring activity clearly depends on the mutual distance of the components, while this kind of variability is not seen in isolated flare stars.     

The star-formation rate and turbulent dissipation in galactic models

We suggest a model for the star-formation function and the dissipation of turbulent energy of the interstellar medium. The star-formation function takes into account the effect of turbularization of the ISM. Applying the derived relations to a hierarchical scenario for the formation of galaxies makes it possible to explain the observed delay of star formation in the Galaxy, which corresponds to a range of stellar ages from 8–9 to 10–12 Gyr.     

An integral description of the propagation of steady-state perturbations of the heavy liquid surface

The system of equations of motion describing the gravity wave propagation in a perfect heavy liquid layer is transformed into a new integral equation for the free surface elevations. In the limit cases, this integral equation describes the linear and nonlinear periodic waves as well as the known types of solitary waves. In this case a dispersion equation arises because perturbations of the second and higher orders of smallness are neglected. The integral equation allows for the propagation of invariable surface perturbations of arbitrary forms if their spatial spectrum is concentrated near small wave numbers (compared to the inverse wave amplitude). Several examples of solutions are presented.     

Spatial correlation of unidentified gamma-ray sources with flaring and Wolf-Rayet stars

The spatial positions of unidentified gamma-ray sources ( E>100 MeV) were analyzed. This analysis shows that gamma-ray sources with fluxes >5×10^?7 cm^?2 s^?1 correlate with Wolf-Rayet stars, while gamma-ray sources with fluxes <5×10^?7 cm^?2 s^?1 may be associated with flaring stars.     

Beschaffenheitslängsschnitt eines Flußgebietes mittels Regressionsanalyse

Following a general representation of the regression analysis, especially concerning the relations between flow and concentrations of matter and loads, these relations are represented and discussed for the suspended solids, nitrate concentration, chloride content and oxygen concentration for seven sections of the Spree river. There result clear connections to the structure and utilizations of all of the parts of the river basin. Finally, the covering of the total river basin by models of water quality management in the form of regression, self-purification and eutrophication models-and their coupling is represented.