Density Measurements of Shock Compressed Matter Using Short Pulse Laser Diagnostics

In this paper, experimental results on X-ray and proton radiography of shock compressed matter are presented. It has been performed at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) using three long pulse beams to generate a shock wave in a multi-layer foil and a short pulse beam to create either an X-ray or protons source for a transverse radiography. Depending on the probe material (aluminium or carbon foam) a Molybdenum Kα source or a proton beam are used. Density data of the shocked aluminium, in the multimagabar regime are presented.     

Analyzing the impact of thermal stress on vegetation health and agricultural drought – a case study from Gujarat,India

Although poor precipitation due to delayed arrival and/or early retreat of the southwest monsoon is considered the chief architect of drought in India, heat waves may also play a crucial role in the intensification of droughts. In the Indian subcontinent, occurrence of heat waves during the pre-monsoon and high air-temperature in the subsequent monsoon season imparts thermal stress on vegetation causing degradation of vegetation health (VH). In the present study, various vegetation indices and land-use/land-cover data derived from multi-sensor satellite have been used to assess VH and agricultural drought in Gujarat during 1981–2010. This Geographical Information Systems-based study has also used heat wave and temperature data to analyze the adverse effects of high temperature on VH. The time series of Vegetation Condition Index and Temperature Condition Index (TCI) has shown that the combined influence of moisture-stress and thermal stress determines the occurrence and severity of drought, which is reflected in the Vegetation Health Index (VHI). A strong correlation among aboveground air-temperature, the TCI and the VHI indicates definite influence of thermal stress on VH. Further, a systematic variation and strong resemblance between temperature, crop yield, TCI and VHI has established the impact of thermal stress on agricultural productivity.     

Impact Assessment of GIS Based Land Resource Inventory Towards Optimizing Agricultural Land Use Plan in Dandakaranya and Easternghats Physiographic Confluence of India

GIS based land resource inventory (LRI) with fine resolution imagery is considered as most authentic tool for soil resource mapping. Soil resource mapping using the concept of soil series in a smaller scale limits its wide application and also its impact assessment for crop suitability is controversial. In this study, we attempted to develop LRI at large scale (1:10,000 scale) at block level land use planning (LUP) in Dandakaranya and Easternghats physiographic confluence of India. The concept of land management unit was introduced in this endeavour. The impact assessment of LRI based LUP was exercised to develop efficient crop planning with best possible management practices. The study area comprised six landforms with slope gradient ranging from very gentle (1–3%) to steep slopes (15–25%). The very gently sloping young alluvial plains occupied maximum areas (19.95% of TGA). The single cropped (paddy) land appears to dominate the land use systems (40.0% of TGA). Thirty three landscape ecological units were resulted by GIS-overlay. Eighteen soils mapping units were generated. The area was broadly under two soil orders (Inceptisols and Alfisols); three great group (Haplaquepts, Rhodustalfs and Endoaquepts) and ten soil series. Crop suitability based impact assessment of LRI based LUP revealed that average yield of different crops increased by 39.2 and 14.5% in Kharif (rainy season) and Rabi (winter) seasons respectively and annual net returns by 83.4% for the cropping system, compared to traditional practices. Productivity and net returns can be increased several folds if customized recommended practices are adopted by the farmers. Informations generated from the study emphasized the potentiality of LRI towards optimizing LUP and exhibited an ample scope to use the methodology as a tool to assess in other physiographic regions in India and abroad.     

Analysis of Beams on Pasternak Foundation Using Quintic Displacement Functions

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - Beams supported by elastic foundations one of the complex soil-structure interaction problems and analysis carried out using the concept of “beam on...     

Multiwavelength monitoring of GRS 1915+105

Since its discovery in 1992, the superluminal X-ray transient GRS 1915+105 has been extensively observed in an attempt to understand its behaviour. We present here first results from a multiwavelength campaign undertaken from 1996 July to September. This study includes X-ray data from the RXTE All Sky Monitor and BATSE , two-frequency data from the Nançay radio telescope, and infrared photometry from the 1.8-m Perkins telescope at Lowell Observatory. The first long-term, well-sampled infrared light curve of GRS 1915+105 is presented herein; it is consistent with the interpretation of this source as a long-period binary. We compare the various light curves, searching for correlations in the behaviour of the source at differing wavelengths and for possible periodicities.     

Segmentation-based approach for trend analysis and structural breaks in rainfall time series (1851–2006) over India

ABSTRACT

This study analysed long-term rainfall data (1851–2006) over seven climatic zones of India at seasonal and annual scales based on three techniques: (i) linear regression, (ii) multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MFDFA) and (iii) Bayesian algorithm. The linear regression technique was used for trend analysis of short-term (30 years) and long-term (156 years) rainfall data. The MFDFA revealed small- and large-scale fluctuations, whereas the Bayesian algorithm helped in quantifying the uncertainty in break-point detection from the rainfall time series. Major break points years identified through Bayesian algorithm were 1888, 1904 and 1976. The MFDFA technique identified that high fluctuation years were between 1871–1890, 1891–1910 and 1951–1970. Linear regression-based analysis revealed 1881–1910 and 1971–2006 as break-point periods in the North Mountainous Indian region. A similar analysis was carried out for India as a whole, as well as its seven climatic zones.     

The appropriate dyadic applicable to the lower region of the ionospheric plasma

An expression for the susceptibility dyadic appropriate to the lower regions of the atmospheric plasma is derived using Maxwell's field equations and the equation of conservation of momentum. The contributions due to viscous effect and convection current density are incorporated in the physical processes within the stated medium. Utilizing the approximation of linearized equations, second order coupled wave equations have been derived through the dyadic.     

Feldspar Alteration and Diagenetic Characteristics of the Parsora Sandstones, Son Basin, India

Moderate to poorly sorted immature Parsora sandstones rich in K-feldspar show much of the feldspar during early diagenesis transformed to kaolinite after prolonged interaction with acidic pore solutions. The kaolinitic epimatrix formed and was later partially or wholly converted as an orthomatrix producing chert-phyllosilicate assemblage. Ferric oxide, bleached biotite, kaolinite and quartz cement denote an oxy-acidic early diagenetic environment. Late diagenesis involved neoformation of primary or secondary matrix, illitisation of montmorillonite and muscovite authigenesis. The high pressure-temperature regime required for these transitions resulted from tectonic activity during Triassic-Jurassic times. Carbonate-chlorite appeared late in the sediments denoting an alkaline-reducing condition at the late part of the diagenesis. Finally, the secondary porosity developed through carbonate dissolution was later filled up with allochemical ferric iron cement receiving ions from the percolating meteoric water.     

Land scarcity and land access in a hazard-prone island: Sagar,Indian Sundarbans

The analytical inseparability of natural environment and society is reiterated by the findings of this study which contributes to a genre of studies that centre-stages the socio-ecological system. This study seeks to understand the interplay of state-related and other modes of securing property rights in the context of pervasive coastal hazards through a case study from the Indian Sundarbans region (Sagar Island in West Bengal). This paper also contributes to research pertaining to slow-onset disasters and attempts to examine emerging dimensions of land scarcity as well as diverse modes of access to land in the context of progressive ecological vulnerability. The analysis highlights the varying shades of declining land access and investigates how existing land policies and disaster management mechanisms remain far from extending security to communities experiencing environmental crisis. The paper thereby examines how community and state agencies adopting means to allocate property may in fact refute legality and perpetuate informality.