Seaweed floristic studies along tsunami affected Indian coasts: A litmus test scenario after 26th December 2004

On 26th December 2004, the world witnessed the devastating power of tsunami, affecting many countries, bordering the Indian Ocean region. This has caused significant changes in the shallow and intertidal regions of the Indian coast, especially the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Pondicherry. The baseline data on biomass availability and distribution of benthic intertidal seaweed species were collected immediately after this catastrophic event by spot surveying 11 selected localities of the above-mentioned regions. In all, 45 species belonging to 31 genera were recorded during the present survey, the maximum number of seaweed species were recorded at Thirumullavarum, Kerala with the minimum at Car Nicobar, Andaman and Nicobar Islands. A very different trend was observed in the case of biomass availability at some locations which was due to the influence of habitat suitability over the tsunami damage. The details of this study have been provided in the present communication     

Modelling long-term HFC emissions from India's residential air-conditioning sector: exploring implications of alternative refrigerants,best practices,and a sustainable lifestyle within an integrated assessment modelling framework

India's growing role in the global climate debate makes it imperative to analyse emission reduction policies and strategies across a range of GHGs, especially for under-researched non-CO₂ gases. Hydrofluorocarbons' (HFCs) usage in cooling equipment and subsequent emissions are expected to increase dramatically in India with the phase-out of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) as coolants in air-conditioning equipment. We focus on the residential air-conditioning sector in India and analyse a suite of HFC and alternative coolant gas scenarios for understanding the implications for GHG emissions from this sector within an integrated assessment modelling framework. We find that, if unabated, HFC410A emissions will contribute to 36% of the total global warming impact from the residential air-conditioner sector in India in 2050, irrespective of the future economic growth trajectory, and the remaining 64% is from energy to power residential air-conditioners. A move towards more efficient, low global warming potential (GWP) alternative refrigerants will significantly reduce the cumulative global warming footprint of this sector by 37% during the period 2010–2050, due to gains both from energy efficiency as well as low GWP alternatives. Best practices for reducing direct emissions are important, but only of limited utility, and if a sustainable lifestyle is adopted by consumers with lower floorspace, low GWP refrigerants, and higher building envelope efficiencies, cumulative emissions during 2010–2050 can be reduced by 46% compared to the Reference scenario.

Policy relevance

Our analysis has important implications for Indian climate policy. We highlight that the Indian government's amendment proposal to the Montreal Protocol is a strong signal to the Indian market that the transition away from high GWP refrigerants towards low/zero GWP alternatives will happen sooner or later. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency should extend building energy conservation code policy to residential buildings immediately, and the government should mandate it. Government authorities should set guidelines and mandate reporting of data related to air-conditioner coolant recharge frequency and recovery of scrapped air-conditioner units. For contentious issues like flammability where there is no consensus within the industry, the government needs to undertake an independent technical assessment that can provide unbiased and reliable information to the market.     

Instruments of RT-2 experiment onboard CORONAS-PHOTON and their test and evaluation II: RT-2/CZT payload

Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CZT) detectors are high sensitivity and high resolution devices for hard X-ray imaging and spectroscopic studies. The new series of CZT detector modules (OMS40G256) manufactured by Orbotech Medical Solutions (OMS), Israel, are used in the RT-2/CZT payload onboard the CORONAS-PHOTON satellite. The CZT detectors, sensitive in the energy range of 20 to 150 keV, are used to image solar flares in hard X-rays. Since these modules are essentially manufactured for commercial applications, we have carried out a series of comprehensive tests on these modules so that they can be confidently used in space-borne systems. These tests lead us to select the best three pieces of the ??Gold?? modules for the RT-2/CZT payload. This paper presents the characterization of CZT modules and the criteria followed for selecting the ones for the RT-2/CZT payload. The RT-2/CZT payload carries, along with three CZT modules, a high spatial resolution CMOS detector for high resolution imaging of transient X-ray events. Therefore, we discuss the characterization of the CMOS detector as well.     

Reservoir Sedimentation Assessment Through Remote Sensing and Hydrological Modelling

Reservoir sedimentation is the gradual accumulation of incoming sediments from upstream catchment leading to the reduction in useful storage capacity of the reservoir. Quantifying the reservoir sedimentation rate is essential for better water resources management. Conventional techniques such as hydrographic survey have limitations including time-consuming, cumbersome and costly. On the contrary, the availability of high resolution (both spatial and temporal) in public domain overcomes all these constraints. This study assessed Jayakwadi reservoir sedimentation using Landsat 8 OLI satellite data combined with ancillary data. Multi-date remotely sensed data were used to produce the water spread area of the reservoir, which was applied to compute the sedimentation rate. The revised live storage capacity of the reservoir between maximum and minimum levels observed under the period of analysis (2015–2017) was assessed utilizing the trapezoidal formula. The revised live storage capacity is assessed as 1942.258 against the designed capacity of 2170.935 Mm³ at full reservoir level. The total loss of reservoir capacity due to the sediment deposition during the period of 41 years (1975–2017) was estimated as 228.677 Mm³ (10.53%) which provided the average sedimentation rate of 5.58 Mm³ year¹. As this technique also provides the capacity of the reservoir at the different elevation on the date of the satellite pass, the revised elevation–capacity curve was also developed. The sedimentation analysis usually provides the volume of sediment deposited and rate of the deposition. However, the interest of the reservoir authorities and water resources planner’s lies in sub-watershed-wise sediment yield, and the critical sub-watersheds upstream reservoir requires conservation, etc. Therefore, in the present study, Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used for the estimation of sediment yield of the reservoir. The average annual sediment yield obtained from the SWAT model using 36 years of data (1979–2014) was 13.144 Mm³ year^?1 with the density of the soil (loamy and clay) of 1.44 ton m^?3. The findings revealed that the rate of sedimentation obtained from the remote sensing-based methods is in agreement with the results of the hydrographic survey.     

Impact of city expansion on hydrological regime of Rispana Watershed,Dehradun, India

Rispana River flows through the heart of Dehradun, the capital city of Uttarakhand State, India. Uttarakhand had separated from Uttar Pradesh State in the year 2000; since then, Dehradun City has witnessed numerous changes. Both urban sprawl and densification were noticed, with around a 32% increase in population. The city had faced recurrent high runoff and urban flood situations in these last 2 decades. Therefore, the study was conducted to detect the change in land use/land cover (LULC), especially urbanization, through remote sensing data; and later to determine the impacts of such changes on the Rispana watershed hydrology. The LULC maps for the year 2003 and the 2017 were generated through supervised classification technique using the Landsat Series satellite datasets. The LULC change analysis depicted that mainly the urban settlement class increased with significant area among other classes from the year 2003–2017. It was noticed that majorly agriculture and fallow land (8.18 km², which is 13.52% of total watershed area) converted to urban, increasing the impervious area. Almost all the municipal wards, falling in the Rispana watershed, showed urbanization during the said period, with an increase of as high as 71%. The change in LULC or effect of urbanization on the hydrological response of the watershed was assessed using the most widely used Natural Resources Conservation Services Curve Number method. It was noticed that the area under moderated runoff potential (approx. 10.23 km²) steeply increased during the lean season, whereas, high runoff potential zones (5 km²) increased significantly under wet season. Therefore, it was concluded that an increase in impervious surface resulted in high runoff generation. Further, such LULC change along with climate might lead to high runoff within the watershed, which the present storm drainage network could not withstand. The situation generally led to urban floods and affected urban dwellers regularly. Therefore, it is critical to assess the hydrological impacts of LULC change for land use planning and water resource management. Furthermore, under the smart city project, the local government has various plans to improve present infrastructure; therefore, it becomes necessary to incorporate such observations in the policies.

     

Assessment of land use land cover change impact on hydrological regime of a basin

The sustainability of water resources mainly depends on planning and management of land use; a small change in it may affect water yield largely, as both are linked through relevant hydrological processes, explicitly. However, human activities, especially a significant increase in population, in-migration and accelerated socio-economic activities, are constantly modifying the land use and land cover (LULC) pattern. The impact of such changes in LULC on the hydrological regime of a basin is of widespread concern and a great challenge to the water resource engineers. While studying these impacts, the issue that prevails is the selection of a hydrological model that may be able to accommodate spatial and temporal dynamics of the basin with higher accuracy. Therefore, in the present study, the capabilities of variable infiltration capacity hydrological model to hydrologically simulate the basin under varying LULC scenarios have been investigated. For the present analysis, the Pennar River Basin, Andhra Pradesh, which falls under a water scarce region in India, has been chosen. The water balance components such as runoff potential, evapotranspiration (ET) and baseflow of Pennar Basin have been simulated under different LULC scenarios to study the impact of change on hydrological regime of a basin. Majorly, increase in built-up (13.94% approx.) and decrease in deciduous forest cover (2.44%) are the significant changes observed in the basin during the last three decades. It was found that the impact of LULC change on hydrology is balancing out at basin scale (considering the entire basin, while routing the runoff at the basin outlet). Therefore, an analysis on spatial variation in each of the water balance components considered in the study was done at grid scale. It was observed that the impact of LULC is considerable spatially at grid level, and the maximum increase of 265 mm (1985–2005) and the decrease of 48 mm (1985–1995) in runoff generation at grid were estimated. On the contrary, ET component showed the maximum increase of 400 and decrease of 570 mm under different LULC change scenario. Similarly, in the base flow parameter, an increase of 70 mm and the decrease of 100 mm were observed. It was noticed that the upper basin is showing an increasing trend in almost all hydrological components as compared to the lower basin. Based on this basin scale study, it was concluded that change in the land cover alters the hydrology; however, it needs to be studied at finer spatial scale rather than the entire basin as a whole. The information like the spatial variation in hydrological components may be very useful for local authority and decision-makers to plan mitigation strategies accordingly.     

Implications of climate change on streamflow of a snow-fed river system of the Northwest Himalaya

Air temperature and snow cover variability are sensitive indicators of climate change. This study was undertaken to forecast and quantify the potential streamflow response to climate change in the Jhelum River basin. The implications of air temperature trends (+0.11°C/decade) reported for the entire north-west Himalaya for past century and the regional warming (+0.7°C/decade) trends of three observatories analyzed between last two decades were used for future projection of snow cover depletion and stream flow. The streamflow was simulated and validated for the year 2007-2008 using snowmelt runoff model (SRM) based on in-situ temperature and precipitation with remotely sensed snow cover area. The simulation was repeated using higher values of temperature and modified snow cover depletion curves according to the assumed future climate. Early snow cover depletion was observed in the basin in response to warmer climate. The results show that with the increase in air temperature, streamflow pattern of Jhelum will be severely affected. Significant redistribution of streamflow was observed in both the scenarios. Higher discharge was observed during spring-summer months due to early snowmelt contribution with water deficit during monsoon months. Discharge increased by 5% 40% during the months of March to May in 2030 and 2050. The magnitude of impact of air temperature is higher in the scenario-2 based on regional warming. The inferences pertaining to change in future streamflow pattern can facilitate long term decisions and planning concerning hydro-power potential, waterresource management and flood hazard mapping in the region.     

In‐plane and out‐of‐plane behavior of confined masonry walls for various toothing and openings details and prediction of their strength and stiffness

Eight half‐scale brick masonry walls were tested to study two important aspects of confined masonry (CM) walls related to its seismic behavior under in‐plane and out‐of‐plane loads. Four solid wall specimens tested to investigate the role of type of interface between the masonry and tie‐columns, such as toothing varying from none to every course. The other four specimens with openings were tested to study the effectiveness of various strengthening options around opening to mitigate their negative influence. In the set of four walls, one wall was infilled frame while the other three were CM walls of different configurations. The experimental results were further used to determine the accuracy of various existing models in predicting the in‐plane response quantities of CM walls. Confined masonry walls maintained structural integrity even when severely damaged and performed much better than infill frames. No significant effect of toothing details was noticed although toothing at every brick course was preferred for better post‐peak response. For perforated walls, provision of vertical elements along with continuous horizontal bands around openings was more effective in improving the overall response. Several empirical and semi‐empirical equations are available to estimate the lateral strength and stiffness of CM walls, but those including the contribution of longitudinal reinforcement in tie‐columns provided better predictions. The available equations along with reduction factors proposed for infills could not provide good estimates of strength and stiffness for perforated CM walls. However, recently proposed relations correlating strength/stiffness with the degree of confinement provided reasonable predictions for all wall specimens. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

SARAL/AltiKa Waveform Analysis to Monitor Inland Water Levels: A Case Study of Maithon Reservoir,Jharkhand, India

In the present study, behavior of the SARAL/AltiKa (Satellite with ARgos and ALtiKa) waveforms over Maithon Reservoir (～65 km² of surface area), Jharkhand, India, has been studied. The estimated water level has been compared with the in situ measurements at hydro-gauging station at the dam site. The problem of minimization of errors in the water level retrieval from AltiKa measurements has been resolved by improvement of the retracking method. A real retracking gate detection algorithm based on statistical analysis harnessing various physical parameters of the waveform has been developed, which has been applied to SARAL/AltiKa waveforms over the Maithon reservoir. Comparing the in-situ measurements with altimetry data (from cycle 1, 19 March 2013 to cycle 12, 8 April 2014) showed that it is crucial to improve the retracking method. Results showed accuracy of water level monitoring increased by nearly 76% by the newly developed waveform retracking algorithm over non-retracked water level. We also compared this new method with the existing ice-1 algorithm and found that with the new method there is improvement of ～27% over ice-1 retracked water level. The correlation coefficient values and root mean square values without retracking, with ice-1 algorithm and with newly developed retracking algorithm were 0.87, 0.91, and 0.95, and 8.12 cm, 2.08 cm, and 1.42 cm, respectively. This shows the proposed retracker performed better than ice-1. The retracking procedure helped in outliers' identification and substitution and with waveform fitting and waveform parameter extraction. This algorithm should have good performance capability for retrieving water level over inland water bodies like Maithon reservoir.     

Performance study of various spatial indexes on 3D geo-data in Geo-RDBMS

In the emerging era of information and communication technologies, geotechnology is one of the fastest growing fields. Geo-RDBMS is very important and evolving aspect for GIS, as it can manage large volume of spatial data inside RDBMS. The utilization of RDBMS for geospatial data was one of the important focuses of GIS professionals in last decades to store and manage 2D geo-data. However, the support for 3D geo-data inside RDBMS is still limited and is a challenging task for RDBMS providers. In this study, data organization and performance assessment of 3D geo-data inside RDBMS are carried out. In this process, various file-based 3D data models such as CityGML, COLLADA and KML are migrated to geo-RDBMS to bring entire 3D geo-data in common platform. Various spatial indexing techniques viz. R-Tree, B-Tree, GiST, etc. are applied on these 3D data models and best indexing techniques are studied for 3D GIS operations.