Hydrogeochemistry of the Koyna River basin,India

Hydrogeochemistry of the Koyna River basin, famous for the Koyna earthquake (magnitude 7) of 1967, has been studied. Basalt is the primary aquifer; laterites, alluvium, and talus deposits form aquifers of secondary importance. Groundwater generally occurs under water table conditions in shallow aquifers. Deeper aquifers are associated only with basalts. One hundred and 87 water samples were collected from various sources, such as dugwells, borewells, springs, and surface water, including 40 samples for analysis of iron. Only major constituents were analyzed. Analyses show that the concentrations of Ca²⁺ exceed that of Mg²⁺ in almost all water samples; the concentrations of Na⁺ are generally next to Ca²⁺ and are always higher than that of K⁺; and CO₃ ^2– and SO₄ ^2– are very low and are often negligible. Groundwater in borewells tapping deeper aquifers has higher mineralization compared to that in dugwells representing shallow aquifers. Majority of the water samples are dominated by alkaline earths (Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺) and weak acids (HCO₃ ⁻, CO₃ ^2–). Groundwater from shallow aquifers is generally calcium-bicarbonate type (53%) and calcium-magnesium-bicarbonate type (27%). In case of deeper aquifer, it is mostly calcium-magnesium-bicarbonate type (29%), sodium-bicarbonate type (24%), calcium-bicarbonate type (19%), calcium-magnesium-sodium-bicarbonate type (19%) and sodium-calcium-bicarbonate type (9%). Groundwater water is generally fit for drinking and irrigation purposes, except in the lower reaches of the Koyna River basin, which is affected by near water logging conditions.     

Flow behind an attached shock wave in a radiating gas

A simple method is used to determine the curvature of an attached shock wave and the flow variable gradients behind the shock curve at the tip of a straight-edged wedge placed symmetrically in a supersonic flow of a radiating gas near the optically thin limit. The shock curvature and the flow variable gradients along the wedge at the tip are computed for a wide range of upstream flow Mach numbers and wedge angles. Several interesting results are noted; in particular, it is found that the effect of an increase in the upstream flow Mach number or the radiative flux is to enhance the shock wave curvature which, however, decreases with an increase in the specific heat ratio or the wedge angle.     

Probabilistic Assessment of Tsunami Recurrence in the Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is one of the most tsunamigenic regions of the world and recently experienced a mega-tsunami in the Sumatra region on 26 December 2004 (M _W 9.2 earthquake) with tsunami intensity I (Soloviev-Imamura intensity scale) equal to 4.5, causing heavy destruction of lives and property in the Indian Ocean rim countries. In this study, probabilities of occurrences of large tsunamis with tsunami intensities I ≥ 2.0 and I ≥ 3.0 (average wave heights H ≥ 2.83 m and H ≥ 5.66 m, respectively) during a specified time interval were calculated using three stochastic models, namely, Weibull, gamma and lognormal. Tsunami recurrence was calculated for the whole Indian Ocean and the special case of the Andaman-Sumatra-Java (ASJ) region, excluding the 1945 Makran event from the main data set. For this purpose, a reliable, homogeneous and complete tsunami catalogue with I ≥ 2.0 during the period 1797–2006 was used. The tsunami hazard parameters were estimated using the method of maximum likelihood. The logarithm of likelihood function (ln L) was estimated and used to test the suitability of models in the examined region. The Weibull model was observed to be the most suitable model to estimate tsunami recurrence in the region. The sample mean intervals of occurrences of tsunamis with intensity I ≥ 2.0 and I ≥ 3.0 were calculated for the observed data as well as for the Weibull, gamma and lognormal models. The estimated cumulative and conditional probabilities in the whole Indian Ocean region show recurrence periods of about 27–30 years (2033–2036) and 35–36 years (2039–2040) for tsunami intensities I ≥ 2.0 and I ≥ 3.0, respectively, while it is about 31–35 years (2037–2041) and 41–42 years (2045–2046) for a tsunami of intensity I ≥ 2.0 and I ≥ 3.0, respectively, in the ASJ region. A high probability (>0.9) of occurrence of large tsunamis with I ≥ 2.0 in the next 30–40 years in the Indian Ocean region was revealed.     

Damping of slow magnetoacoustic waves in an inhomogeneous coronal plasma

We study the propagation and dissipation of slow magnetoacoustic waves in an inhomogeneous viscous coronal loop plasma permeated by uniform magnetic field. Only viscosity and thermal conductivity are taken into account as dissipative processes in the coronal loop. The damping length of slow-mode waves exhibit varying behaviour depending upon the physical parameters of the loop in an active region AR8270 observed by TRACE. The wave energy flux associated with slow magnetoacoustic waves turns out to be of the order of 10⁶ erg cm^?2 s^?1 which is high enough to replace the energy lost through optically thin coronal emission and the thermal conduction below to the transition region. It is also found that only those slow-mode waves which have periods more than 240s provide the required heating rate to balance the energy losses in the solar corona. Our calculated wave periods for slow-mode waves nearly match with the oscillation periods of loop observed by TRACE.     

Investigation on spectral character of ELF electromagnetic radiations during Leonid 2009 meteor shower

The problem of solitary electron acoustic (EA) wave propagation in a plasma with nonthermal hot electrons featuring the Tsallis distribution is addressed. A physically meaningful nonextensive nonthermal velocity distribution is outlined. It is shown that the effect of the nonthermal electron nonextensivity on EA waves can be quite important. Interestingly, we found that the phase speed of the linear EA mode increases as the entropic index q decreases. This enhancement is weak for q>1, and significant for q<1. For a given nonthermal state, the minimum value of the allowable Mach numbers is lowered as the nonextensive nature of the electrons becomes important. This critical limit is shifted towards higher values as the nonthermal character of the plasma is increased. Moreover, our plasma model supports rarefactive EA solitary waves the main quantities of which depend sensitively on q. This dependency (for q>1) becomes less noticeable as the nonthermal parameter decreases. Nevertheless, decreasing α yields for q<0 a different result, a trend which may be attributed to the functional form of the nonthermal nonextensive distribution. Our study (which is not aimed at putting the ad hoc Cairns distribution onto a more rigorous foundation) suggests that a background electron nonextensivity may influence the EA solitons.     

Seasonal extreme rainfall variability over India and its association with surface air temperature

Theoretical and Applied Climatology - Spatial variability in catchment processes is crucial for hydrologic and water resources planning and management. The spatial density of ground-based rain...     

Mudbank regime off the Kerala coast during monsoon and non-monsoon seasons

Field experiments conducted in the nearshore ocean to understand the dynamics of mudbank off Kerala, south-west coast of India, are highlighted. Real time monitoring of the nearshore ocean off Purakkad, Kerala was accomplished using pressure transducers for nearshore surface wave measurements, and current sensors for nearshore velocity measurements. Comprehensive information on the spatial structure of mudbank was obtained from aerial surveys. Extensive data collected on surface waves and currents in the nearshore ocean, indicate that the infra-gravity (IG) waves (leaky modes and trapped edge wave modes), and far infra-gravity (FIG) waves coupled with strong shoreline reflections and undertow play an important role in the dynamics associated with the mudbanks off Kerala during the monsoon season. During the non-monsoon season evidence for progressive edge waves in the infragravity frequency band, an energetic gravity wave band and a strong undertow with weak reflections was observed.     

Numerical Simulation of North Indian Ocean State Prior to the Onset of SW Monsoon Using SSM/I Winds

The Sea Surface Temperatures (SST) and currents are simulated over the north Indian Ocean, during the onset phase of southwest monsoon for the three years 1994, 1995, and 1996, using daily Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) winds and National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) heat fluxes as forcings in the 2½ layer thermodynamic numerical ocean model. The results are discussed for the 30-day period from 16 May to 13 June for all the three years, to determine the ocean state during the onset phase of SW monsoon. The maximum variability in the simulated SST is found along the Somali coast, Indian coasts, and equatorial regions. The maximum SST in the North Arabian Sea is found to be greater than 30°C and minimum SST in the west equatorial region is 25°C during the onset phase of all three years. Model SSTs are in agreement with Reynolds SST. SST gradients in the north-south as well as in the east-west directions, west of 80°E are found to change significantly prior to the onset. It can be inferred from the study that the SST gradient of 2.5°C/2000 km is seen due north and due west of the region 2° - 7°S, 60° - 65°E, about 8 to 10 days prior to the arrival of SW monsoon near Kerala coast. Upper and lower layer circulation fields do not show prominent interannual variability.