Mapping soil electric conductivity using Bayesian kriging: A case study from Qasur,Pakistan

Quality of soil data is vital to formulate agricultural policies at different scales. Current agricultural applications in Pakistan depend however, on average values of soil estimates over larger areas. In this work, model-based ordinary kriging (OK) and Bayesian kriging (BK) to interpolate soil data is used. The aim is to compare the two different methods for the accuracy of soil data prediction. For this soils were sampled for Electrical Conductivity (EC, dS m ^–1) at 759 different locations in the rural agricultural areas of Qasur Tehsil, Pakistan. Cross validation was used to compare the performance of OK and BK. Our results show strong skewness and spatial dependency of soil EC values in heterogeneous regions. Box-Cox transformation successfully reduced the level of skewness in the soil EC data (from 14.1 to 0.11). Contrary to OK, under-estimation of soil EC values was not evident in the BK interpolation. Mean square prediction error for BK (1.45) was significantly reduced as compared to that for OK (6.1). Considering these findings, BK is a better model to explain the sub-regional soil EC variability and estimating strategies for sustainable agricultural planning in Pakistan.     

Emission quantification of refrigerant CFCs,HCFCs and HFCs in megacity Lahore (Pakistan) and contributed ODPs and GWPs

An integrated assessment of emissions of some important refrigerant ozone depleting substances (ODSs) (CFC-11, CFC-12, HCFC-141b and HFC-134a) and their contributed ozone depletion potentials (ODPs) and global warming potentials (GWPs) have been made in the megacity Lahore (Pakistan) for the period from 2005 to 2013. During the production of 6.488 million refrigerator units, the cumulative estimated emissions of CFC-11, CFC-12, HCFC-141b and HFC-134a were 129.7, 6.8, 1257 and 104 mega grams (1 Mg = 10⁶ grams). The estimated GWP (CO₂-eq) and ODP (CFC 11-eq) associated with production phase emissions of these four gases were 616.07, 73.52, 910.96, and 87.36 kilotonnes, and 129.7, 6.8, 139.4, and 0 tonnes, respectively. ODP of HFC-134a is considered to be zero. In addition, the repair and maintenance of 81.2 thousand units resulted in 10.8 Mg emissions of CFC-12 with 10.8 tonnes ODP(CFC 11-eq) and 117,802 tonnes GWP (CO₂-eq) that were higher than the HFC-134a emissions recorded at 4.3 Mg causing 4563 tonnes GWP(CO₂-eq). A decrease in ODP (CFC 11-eq) and GWP (CO₂-eq) at the rate of ?8.3% and ?8.2% per year is observed to be contributed by all the selected ODSs during the study period.     

SCOUR MITIGATION AT BRIDGE PIERS USING SACRIFICIAL PILES

To mitigate scour around bridge piers, sacrificial piles are economic method where natural processes are involved. The arrangement should be such that scoured materials from the sacrificial piles should have enough volume to fill the scour hole created upstream of the pier in such a way that sediments are trapped inside the scour hole. This concept differs from earlier study made with sacrificial piles that mainly deals to reduce the strength of horseshoe vortex. To determine the effect of sacrificial piles for scour mitigation, alternative arrangements of piles were tested in front of a rectangular pier under clear-water condition and found that when the group of piles is placed at a distance of twice the projected width of the pier, for which percentage of blockage of the pier width is 60%, the scour volume can be reduced upto 61% while the maximum scour depth can be reduced upto 50%.     

The effect of surface profile, rock strength and pretension load on bending behaviour of fully grouted bolts

Fully encapsulated rock bolting has, in recent years, become a universally accepted system of ground reinforcement in mining and tunnel construction. The application of bolting systems extends both to rebar as well as cable bolting. The effectiveness of the bolt application has been studied in shear, both by laboratory tests as well as by numerical modeling. A specially constructed double shearing apparatus (DSA) was used to examine the shearing behaviour of a bolt installed perpendicularly across two joints. The experimental study was complemented with three-dimensional numerical analysis. Parameters examined include, the effect of reinforced material on tension/compression zones along the sheared bolt, shear resistance, shear displacement and induced strains and stresses during bolt bending process. The study was undertaken at both free load and pretension conditions. The conclusions drawn from the study were the level of bolt resistance to shear was influenced by bolt profile configuration, the strength of the rock or medium influenced the level of load generated on the bolt and the increased bolt pretension contributed to increased shearing load of the bolted medium. The numerical simulation of the bolt/medium interaction and deformational behaviour were found to be in close agreement with the experimental test results.     

Allocative efficiency analysis of wheat and cotton in district Khanewal,Punjab, Pakistan

GeoJournal - To compete in the international market, a farmer in Pakistan needs to decrease its production cost. Agricultural researchers and policymakers are focusing on increasing the...     

Spatiotemporal variability of multifractal properties of fineresolution daily gridded rainfall fields over India

Natural Hazards - This study investigated the multifractal characteristics of fine resolution (0.25ox0.25°) daily gridded rainfall fields of India over the period 1901–2013 to examine...     

Quantifying climate-induced drought risk to livelihood and mitigation actions in Balochistan

Natural Hazards - Climate change-induced disasters show the highest risk for agriculture and livelihoods in rural areas of developing countries. Due to changing rainfall pattern, the arid and...