Estimation of Partial Pressure of Carbon Dioxide and Air-Sea Fluxes in Hooghly Estuary Based on In Situ and Satellite Observations

An empirical model is developed and used with remotely sensed predictors: sea surface temperature (SST) and chlorophyll-a concentration (Chl-a), to compute surface water partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO_2w) and air-sea fluxes of CO₂ in the Hooghly estuary and its adjacent coastal oceans. In situ observations used here were based on measurements carried out in this region during winter and summer periods in 2008. The estimated pCO_2w compares well with the in situ observations at root mean square error ±18 μatm. In winter, estimated pCO_2w ranges between 320 and 500 μatm with large values (>400 μatm) on the south-western and south-eastern flanks of the coastal domain and lower values (340–375 μatm) on the main-channel. In summer, it remained spatially uniform at 450 μatm. Extrapolation of the results over the study region based on the Moderate Imaging Specroradiometer (MODIS) measured SST and Chl-a suggests that the region is a strong source of atmospheric CO₂ during the summer with net release of 0.095 Tg C year^?1 (equivalent to mean flux of 90 molC m^?2 year^?1) and is a weak source during the winter with net release of 0.006 Tg C yr^?1 (0.5 molC m^?2 year^?1) from the geographical extent of 6000 Km² area.     

Seismic hazard monitoring in Kamchatka and its applications to the M = 6.6 earthquake of 6 October 1987

The earthquake of 6 October 1987 (M = 6.6), which occurred near the Shipunsky Cape, Kamchatka, was the largest crustal event in the vicinity of the main city of Kamchatka — Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky — during the last three decades. It was followed by numerous aftershocks. This earthquake allowed us to test the effectiveness of the seismic hazard monitoring in Kamchatka, including the seismological, geodetic and hydrogeochemical surveys. The seismic survey provided the location and source nature of the main shock and aftershocks and the seismic environment of the main shock. The geodetic and hydrogeochemical surveys have yielded data on the response to earthquakes of the Earth's surface deformations, water level, and chemical elements concentration in the underground water. As a result, the following data were obtained:

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The earthquake of 6 October had a seismic moment 4–10 E18 Nm, thrust type of faulting and the source volume of 20 × 20 × 10 km³. The maximum intensity was VI–VII (MSK-64 scale) and maximum acceleration 88 cm/s².

Before this event, a relative increase in the number of the upper mantle (depth more than 100 km) moderate magnitude earthquakes during 5 years and a one-year period of seismic quiescence for small shallow earthquakes, were recognized. Significant anomalies in HCO₃ and H₃BO₃ concentrations in the underground waters were observed in the wells a week before the main shock.

     

Eddies and planetary waves in the Central Arabian Sea

Eddies and planetary waves are identified as one of the important factors that control the dynamics of the Arabian Sea. During 10–14 January 1990, Ignat, Paulyuchenkov (USSR ship) conducted an experiment in the central Arabian Sea and of late TOPEX/POSEIDON satellites collected data on sea surface height (SSH) anomalies of the Arabian Sea. These data sets give an opportunity to understand the characteristic of eddies and planetary waves in this region during winter. The geostrophic flow revealed three anticyclonic and two cyclonic eddies of diameters ranging from 75 to more than 150 km from surface to subsurface levels. Current speeds around different eddies were maximum at surface and varied from 9 cm/s to 25 cm/s (at the middle point between the center and periphery). The occurrence of eddies were further investigated with the TOPEX/POSEIDON altimetry for the years 1993–97. The analysis revealed multiple eddies of diameter 100 to 550 km occur every year with maximum number of eddies during 1997 and minimum during 1995. The calculated speed varied between 8–30 cm/s around various eddies. Longitude-Time plots showed annual Rossby waves generating at the eastern Arabian Sea and propagating westwards with a phase speed of ~ 10 cm/s along 16° N. Further, it was observed that these waves arrived in the study area by January. In addition, another positive anomaly of SSH was found generating at the western Arabian Sea simultaneously and extended up to the study region by April–June. Time series of SSH at selected locations along 16°N revealed many small-scale oscillations and their spatial variability. These oscillations were delineated using the FFT analysis. Other than the Rossby wave, the major components at the study region were 40–60 and 26–32 day oscillations. The implications of these long period waves associated with eddies are discussed.     

Simulating the effect of Nitrogen application on Wheat Yield by linking remotely sensed measurements with wtgrows simulation model

A field experiment was conducted on wheat at New Delhi with five treatments of Nitrogen (N) fertilizer application (0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 kgha^-1). Relationship has been established between observed leaf area index (LAI) and remotely sensed vegetation indices. These relationships are inverted and used for predicting LAI from vegetation indices on different days after sowing. The “re-initialization” strategy is implemented in model WTGROWS in which initial conditions of model are changed so that the model simulated LAI match remote sensing predicted LAI. The model performance with re-initialization has been evaluated by comparing the simulated grain yield and total above-ground dry matter (TDM) values with the actual observations. The results show that in-season re-initialization is effective in model course correction by improving the simulated results of yield and TDM for different N treatments even though the model was run with no N stress condition. Model re-initialization at different days shows that the closer is the day of re-initialization to crop anthesis the more effective is model course correction. Also, the treatment showing maximum error in yield simulation without re-initialization shows maximum reduction in error by re-initialization. The approach shows that the remote sensing inputs can substitute for some of the inputs or errors in inputs required by crop models for yield prediction.     

Check dam positioning by prioritization of micro-watersheds using SYI model and morphometric analysis — Remote sensing and GIS perspective

Sediment Yield Index (SYI) model and results of morphometric analysis have been used to prioritize watersheds and to locate sites for checkdam positioning in Tarafeni watershed in Midnapur district. West Bengal. Various thematic maps such as land use/land cover, slope, drainage, soil etc. were prepared from 1RS ID LISS III digital data, SOI toposheets of 1:50,000 scale and other reference maps. Morphometric parameters such as bifurcation ratio (R_b). drainage density (D_d), texture ratio (T), length of overland flow (L_o), stream frequency (F_u), compactness coefficient (C_c), circularity ratio (R_c), elongation ratio (E_r), shape factor (B_s) and form factor (R_f) were computed. Automated demarcation of prioritization of micro-watersheds was done by using GIS overlaying technique by assigning weight factors to all the identified features in each thematic map and ranks were assigned to the morphometric parameters. Five categories of priority viz., very high, high, medium, low and very low, were given to all the watersheds in both the methods. Sixty-two micro-watersheds using SYI method and twenty-three micro-watersheds using morphometric have been prioritized as very high priority. Final priority map was prepared by considering the commonly occurred very high-prioritized micro-watersheds in both SYI model and morphometric analysis. Twenty-four suitable sites were identified for check dam construction in 21 highly prioritized watersheds. It is proved that integrated study of SYI model and morphometric analysis yield good result in prioritization of watersheds.     

Cloud bottom altitude determination from a satellite

The letter is devoted to the introduction of a new technique to derive the cloud bottom height (CBH) from satellite measurements of the cloud reflectance in the oxygen A-band. The information on the cloud top height needed in the retrieval of the CBH must be obtained from separate measurements to insure small biases in the retrieved CBH. Such measurements can be performed by a space-based lidar.