Estimation of carbon stock for greenhouse gas emissions from hydropower reservoirs

The identification and accurate quantification of sources or sinks of greenhouse gas (GHG) have become a key challenge for scientists and policymakers working on climate change. The creation of a hydropower reservoir, while damming a river for power generation, converts the terrestrial ecosystems into aquatic and subsequently aerobic and anaerobic decomposition of flooded terrestrial soil organic matter resulting in the emission of significant quantity of GHG to the atmosphere. Tropical/subtropical hydropower reservoirs are more significant sources of GHG compared to boreal or temperate one. This paper aims to estimate the emission factor (gCO₂eq./kWh) and net GHG emission from Koteshwar hydropower reservoir in Uttarakhand, India. Further, estimated GHG are compared with those from global reservoirs located in the same eco-region so that its impact could be timely minimized/mitigated. Results have shown that emission factor and net GHG emission of Koteshwar reservoir are, respectively, estimated as 13.87 gCO₂eq./kWh and 167.70 Gg C year^?1 which are less than other global reservoirs located in the same eco-region. This information could be helpful for the hydropower industries to construct reservoirs in tropical eco-regions.     

Drought parameters in relation to truncation levels

Drought parameters, namely the longest duration, largest severity and the intensity have been calculated in relation to the truncation levels ranging from 0 to −0\5 in the standardized domain for the normal, gamma and log‐normal probability distribution functions (PDFs) of the drought variables. The drought variables taken in the investigation are the annual rainfall and runoff time‐series evolving randomly and obeying the Markovian dependence. The analysis showed that the assumption of independence of the drought duration and intensity works well in deriving the expression for drought severity at various truncation levels. An estimate of drought intensity has been realized from the concept of the truncated normal distribution of the standardized form of the time‐series of drought variables in the normalized domain. Furthermore the non‐normality and the dependence in the time‐series have a significant effect on the drought parameters at the truncation levels under consideration. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Integrating terrain and vegetation indices for identifying potential soil erosion risk area

The present paper offers an innovative method to monitor the change in soil erosion potential by integrating terrain and vegetation indices derived from remote sensing data. Three terrain indices namely, topographic wetness index (TWI), stream power index (SPI) and slope length factor (LS), were derived from the digital elevation model. Normalized vegetation index (NDVI) was derived for the year 1988 and 2004 using remote sensing images. K-mean clustering was performed on staked indices to categorize the study area into four soil erosion potential classes. The validation of derived erosion potential map using USLE model showed a good agreement. Results indicated that there was a significant change in the erosion potential of the watershed and a gradual shifting of lower erosion potential class to next higher erosion potential class over the study period.     

Paleostress and Fluid Pressure Analysis of Vein Opening Using 3D Mohr Circle from the Quartz Vein Orientation Data of the South Delhi Terrane,Ambaji Area,NW India

Geotectonics - In many instances the sulphide mineralization is associated with quartz vein-related hydrothermal alteration zone. The syntectonic quartz veins display preferred orientation as their...     

Suggestion for Search of Malononitrile (CH2(CN)2) in a Cosmic Object: Potential Spectral Lines

Astronomy Reports - Though accurate laboratory studies of malononitrile (CH2(CN)2), a dinitrile molecule, have been carried out from time to time, and it has large electric dipole moment $$\mu =...     

Finite element analysis of reinforced embankment foundation

A finite element analysis of a reinforced embankment-foundation system has been conducted using a coupled formulation and elastoplasticity theory. Such important factors as type of reinforcement, the type of clay, depth of foundation and drainage condition affecting the system have been systematically investigated using appropriate constitutive models to depict various components of the system and material parameters of two typical soft clay deposits found in India. The displacements, reinforcement force and maximum heights of the embankments are among the aspects presented and discussed. It is shown that the effectiveness of the reinforcement is dependent on its stiffness and the shear strength of the clay deposit. The foundation depth has significant effect on the nature and magnitude of displacement, the reinforcement force and the height of embankment. Drainage conditions are shown to markedly influence the effectiveness of reinforcement. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Statistical study of spatial variation of response spectrum using free field records of dense strong motion arrays

Spatial variation of acceleration response spectra is examined using strong motion records for a large number of events from dense accelerometer arrays at Chiba in Japan and SMART-1 in Lotung, Taiwan. The effects of earthquake component, structural damping, earthquake magnitude, focal depth, epicentral distance, structural time period, and station separation on the intra-event variation of response spectra are examined first through an empirical analysis and then through a least-square regression fit for parametric study. A very large scatter of the response spectra ratio is observed for both arrays, especially for SMART-1 array. The mean values of the ratio vary from 10 to 20 per cent for Chiba array while they vary from 25 to 50 per cent for SMART-1 array. The coefficients of variation of the ratio range from 5 to 25 per cent for Chiba array and 30 to 50 per cent for SMART-1 array. The correlation among response spectra is found to be inversely proportional to station separation and shows frequency dependence. For larger time periods, the correlation is lower and not higher. The correlation is also lower for UD earthquake component as compared to the two horizontal components. For higher damping ratio, the correlation among spectra is higher. The effect of the earthquake magnitude, focal depth and epicentral distance on the spatial variation is complex. The three parameters having implicit interdependence, considering their combined effect, a positive contribution to the value of ratio of response spectra is observed in the case of larger earthquake events. Furthermore, as mentioned above, the spatial variation for SMART-1 array is much larger than that for Chiba array. This difference can be attributed mainly to the difference in distance between the instruments in the two arrays. However, some of the difference is considered to be due to site specific characteristics. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Textural characteristics and morphosedimentary environment of foreshore zone along Ganpatipule,Maharashtra, India

The cross-shore profile and the textural distribution of foreshore sediments of Ganpatipule beach along Maharashtra coast covering two annual cycles are examined. Ganpatipule beach depicts erosion and accretion of the berm, reduction and widening of foreshore widths during the monsoon (June–September) and post-monsoon (October–May), respectively with net sediment accretion during the study period due to the changes in the wave characteristics. A direct correlation is observed between the median sediment grain size and beach-face slopes signifying high wave energy ensuing to a gentle to very gentle slope. The sediments are mainly medium grain size, moderately well sorted, bimodal, very fine skewed to very coarse skewed and very platykurtic to very leptokurtic in nature. The binary plots of the textural parameters (mean, skewness, kurtosis, and standard deviation) depicted a characteristic beach environment of deposition. The study shows that the sediment is concentrated in the environment of rolling and bottom suspension. The study on grain size distribution of sediments could be used to assess the wave energy condition prevailing along the coastal area.     

Swelling behaviour of expansive soil treated with fly ash–GGBS based binder

In this article, the potential of a binder developed by admixing fly ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) to stabilise expansive soils is evaluated. Laboratory tests included determination of free swell index, swell potential and swelling pressure tests of the soil/binder mixtures at different mixing ratio. The test results showed decrease in the swelling behaviour of the soil with increase in binder content. The percent swell–time relationship was observed to fit the hyperbolic curves enabling us to predict the ultimate percent swell from few initial test results. Addition of 1% of lime to the binder showed further improvement in reducing swelling. A good linear relationship is established between percent oedometer swell and modified free swell index (MFSI) for soil/binder mixtures without lime but the same has not been observed in the presence of lime. The compressibility characteristics of the soil/binder mixtures reduced nominally with increase in binder content but in the presence of lime, the compressibility reduced significantly. Binder used in this study has been found to be effective and economic to stabilise expansive soils with lesser amount of chemical additives such as lime.