Spectral models for estimation of chlorophyll content, growth and yield of wheat crop

Field experiments were conducted during 1998–99 and 1999–2000 at research farm of the Department of Agricultural Meteorology, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar. Five wheat cultivars: WH 542, PBW 343, UP 2338, Raj 3765 and Sonak were sown on 25^th November, 10^th and 25^th December with four nitrogen levels viz., no nitrogen. 50, 100 and 150% of recommended dose. Leaf area index, dry matter at anthesis, final dry biomass and grain yield were recorded in all the treatments. Chlorophyll and wax contents of wheat leaves were estimated at different growth stages. Multiband spectral reflectance was measured using hand-held radiometer. Spectral indices such as simple ratio, normalized difference, transformed vegetation index, perpendicular vegetation index and greenness index were computed using the multiband spectral data. Values of all the spectral indices were maximum in 25 November sown crop with maximum dose of nitrogen (180 kg N ha^-1). PBW 343 showed higher values of all the spectral indices in comparison with other cultivars. The spectral indices recorded during maximum leaf area index stage were correlated with crop parameters. Using stepwise regression, empirical models for chlorophyll, leaf area index, dry biomass and yield prediction were developed. The ’R²’ values of these models ranged between 0.87 and 0.95.     

Longitudinal profiling and elevation-relief analysis of the Indus

The Indus basin—one of the largest fluvial-controlled landscapes of the world, provides a major agro-economic resource base while showcasing unique morphometry along its course. However, despite its large socio-economic relevance in South Asia, a distinct account of morphometric variations down its course still remains elusive. Here, for the first time a quantitative demarcation of the Indus basin into—upper, middle, and lower basin is proposed based on analyses of critical morphometric parameters (viz. gradient/river length ratio, elevation-relief ratio, channel width, sinuosity, and slope). Geostatistical and hydrological operations performed on digital elevation models, suggest that the highest and lowest relief sectors are tectonically more stable than the middle relief sector, inferred from a convex hypsometric curve. Elevation-relief ratio for the basin indicates tectonic stability with ~?31% of remnant rock still in place. Cross-sectional transects also demonstrate anomalous patterns that deviate from predictive characteristics of youthful, mature, and senile stages of river development. All parameters are spatially coalesced to provide a first-ever holistic morphometric account of the Indus basin while describing fine-scale planform variations of the spectacular dynamics of this enormous river basin.     

Relationship of wheat grain yield with spectral indices

An experiment was conducted during 1996–97 and 1997–98 to study spectral indices and their relationships with grain yield of wheat. Variations of ratio vegetation index (RVI), normalized differences vegetation index (NDVI). difference vegetation index (DVI), transformed vegetation index (TVI), perpendicular vegetation index (PVI) and greenness vegetation index (GVI) have been studied at anthesis stage under different moisture and nitrogen levels. Spectral indices were correlated with crop parameters and it was found that GVI was the best index for yield estimation (r = 0.91 ).     

The Origin and Tectonic Setting of Precambrian Greywacke of Ribandar‐Chimbel,Goa, India: Petrological and Geochemical Evidence

The Precambrian greywacke of Ribandar‐Chimbel belonging to the Sanvordem Formation of the Goa Group, India, has been studied for petrography and analyzed for major trace elements. The greywacke is characterized by angular to sub‐round grains of quartz, feldspar, biotite, chlorite and clay minerals. The abundance of clay in the matrix seems to have influenced the Al₂O₃ content and the K₂O/Al₂O₃ ratio. The variation diagrams indicate a decreasing trend of TiO₂, Al₂O₃, Fe₂O₃ and MgO; whereas Na₂O and CaO exhibit a scatter which could be a result of the variable presence of feldspar within the sediments. The immobile elements, vanadium (25 to 144 ppm), nickel (up to 107 ppm) and chromium (up to 184 ppm), reflect abundance of clay minerals. The greywacke shows strongly fractionated REE patterns with La_N/Yb_N = 8 to 26 and with higher total REE abundances (up to 245 ppm). The low REE enrichment and depletion in heavier REE with prominent negative Eu anomaly (Eu/Eu*= 0.54 to 0.79) suggest a derivation of the greywacke from an old upper continental crust composed chiefly of felsic components. Petrological evidence and geochemical data suggest that the deposition of the greywacke largely took place in a deep to shallow basin that progressively changed from that of a continental island arc to an active continental setting.     

Application of machine learning techniques in groundwater potential mapping along the west coast of India

ABSTRACT

Groundwater potential mapping (GWPM) in the coastal zone is crucial for the planning and development of society and the environment. The current study is aimed to map the groundwater potential zones of Sindhudurg coastal stretch on the west coast of India, using three machine learning models: random forest (RF), boosted regression tree (BRT), and the ensemble of RF and support vector machine (SVM). In order to achieve the objective, 15 groundwater influencing factors including elevation, slope, aspect, slope length (LS), profile curvature, plan curvature, topographical wetness index (TWI), distance from streams, distance from lineaments, lithology, geomorphology, soil, land use, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and rainfall were considered for inter-thematic correlations and overlaid with spring and well occurrences in a spatial database. A total of 165 spring and well locations were identified, which had been divided into two classes: training and validation, at the ratio of 70:30, respectively. The RF, BRT, and RF-SVM ensemble models have been applied to delineate the groundwater potential zones and categorized into five classes, namely very high, high, moderate, low, and very low. RF, BRT, and ensemble model results showed that 33.3%, 35.6%, and 36.8% of the research area had a very high groundwater potential zone. These models were validated with area under the receiver operating characteristics (AUROC) curve. The accuracy of RF (94%) and hybrid model (93.4%) was more efficient than BRT (89.8%) model. In order to further evaluate and validate, four different sites were subsequently chosen, and we obtained similar results, ensuring the validity of the applied models. Additionally, ground-penetrating radar (GPR) technique was applied to predict the groundwater table and validated by measured wells. The mean difference between measured and GPR predicted groundwater table was 14 cm, which reflected the importance of GPR to guide the location of new wells in the study region. The outcomes of the study will help the decision-makers, government agencies, and private sectors for sustainable planning of groundwater in the area. Overall, the present study provides a comprehensive high-precision machine learning and GPR-based groundwater potential mapping.     

The terrace like feature in the mid-continental slope region off Trivandrum and a plausible model for India–Madagascar juxtaposition in immediate pre-drift scenario

Bathymetry of the southwestern continental margin of India reveals the presence of an anomalous terrace like feature in the mid-continental slope region off Trivandrum. The genesis of this terrace of large areal extent ( 9000 sq. km.) is yet to be established. Based on exercises with several existing paleogeographic reconstruction models and updated compilation of identified offshore tectonic elements, this study attempts to identify a plausible model of India–Madagascar juxtaposition in immediate pre-drift scenario, which provides idea about genesis of this terrace. It is inferred that the terrace off Trivandrum and an anomalous bathymetric notch located in the northern Madagascar Ridge are conjugate features related to India–Madagascar separation and the rifted and sheared segments of the pre-drift plate boundary have shaped their outlines. The drifting of India from Madagascar is suggested to have commenced at about 86.5 Ma.