Spatial data for landslide susceptibility, hazard, and vulnerability assessment: An overview

The aim of this paper is to discuss a number of issues related to the use of spatial information for landslide susceptibility, hazard, and vulnerability assessment. The paper centers around the types of spatial data needed for each of these components, and the methods for obtaining them. A number of concepts are illustrated using an extensive spatial data set for the city of Tegucigalpa in Honduras. The paper intends to supplement the information given in the “Guidelines for Landslide Susceptibility, Hazard and Risk Zoning for Land Use Planning” by the Joint ISSMGE, ISRM and IAEG Technical Committee on Landslides and Engineered Slopes (JTC-1). The last few decades have shown a very fast development in the application of digital tools such as Geographic Information Systems, Digital Image Processing, Digital Photogrammetry and Global Positioning Systems. Landslide inventory databases are becoming available to more countries and several are now also available through the internet. A comprehensive landslide inventory is a must in order to be able to quantify both landslide hazard and risk. With respect to the environmental factors used in landslide hazard assessment, there is a tendency to utilize those data layers that are easily obtainable from Digital Elevation Models and satellite imagery, whereas less emphasis is on those data layers that require detailed field investigations. A review is given of the trends in collecting spatial information on environmental factors with a focus on Digital Elevation Models, geology and soils, geomorphology, land use and elements at risk.     

Remote sensing and gis applications in the identification of aquaculture hotspots at village level

Interpretation of IRS LISS II and LISS III imagery has revealed the various landforms as well as land use/land cover features in a part of the Godavari delta coastal belt. A comparative analysis of geomorphological vs. land use/land cover maps suggested that the landforms exert a certain degree of control over human land use activities even in this monotonously plain area. Further, an analysis of the sequential imagery pertaining to 1992 and 2001 aimed at detecting the land use/land cover change has indicated that the aquaculture has phenomenally increased by 9,293.5 ha during the 9-year period. At the same time, the cropland which occupied about 29,104 ha in 1992 has been reduced to 19,153.9 ha by 2001 mainly due to the encroachment of aquaculture. Village level data on temporal variation in land use/land cover extracted through GIS analysis revealed that in 14 out of the total 39 villages in the area, the conversion of cropland into aquaculture ponds was more than 30% with the highest conversion rate of 89.8% in Gondi village. These fourteen villages, which are designated as ‘aquaculture hotspots’ are grouped into 4 priority classes based on the intensity of conversion.     

A Leaky Aquifer Model For Hard Rock Aquifers

A comparison is made between the unsteady parallel fracture model using the double porosity approach and the anisotropic aquifer-water table aquitard system. The presence of a moving water table in the weathered zone (unconfined block), influenced by recharge from rainfall or other sources and leakage to the fracture zone, is discussed. The effect of fracture skin on the block-fracture interface is studied for both double-porosity and aquifer-water table aquitard systems. Typical type curves are presented. It is found that the effect of both fracture skin and water table is to lead to a flat drawdown behaviour for a large time. The applicability of the present model for parameters estimation is illustrated on a field pumping test of 7 days duration.

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Résumé: Une comparaison a étéétablie entre le modèle de fractures non constamment parallèles utilisant l'approche de la double porosité et une système composé d'un aquifère anisotrope et un bloc de faible perméabilité avec une surface libre. La présence d'une surface libre variable dans la zone d'altération (bloc non captif), inflluencée par la recharge (pluie ou autre) et par l'écoulement vers la zone fracturée, est discutée. L'effet d'une conche superficielle à l'interface bloc-fracture est étudié pour les deux systèmes, celui à double porosité et celui composé d'un aquifère et d'un bloc de faible perméabilité. Des combes typiques sont montrées. Les résultats montrent que les effets d'une conche superficielle et de la surface de la nappe conduisent à une evolution constante en rabattement pour un temps long. L'application du modèle pour l'estimation des paramètres est justifiée par les résultats d'un pompage d'essai de 7 jours.

     

Influence of climatic teleconnections on the temporal isotopic variability as recorded in a firn core from the coastal Dronning Maud Land,East Antarctica

Ice and firn core studies provide one of the most valuable tools for understanding the past climate change. In order to evaluate the temporal isotopic variability recorded in ice and its relevance to environmental changes, stable isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen were studied in a firn core from coastal Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. The annual δ ¹⁸O profile of the core shows a close relation to the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability. The ENSO indices show significant correlation with the surface air temperatures and δ ¹⁸O values of this region during the austral summer season and support an additional influence related to the Southern Annular Mode (SAM). The correlation between the combined ENSO-SAM index and the summer δ ¹⁸O record seems to have been caused through an atmospheric mechanism. Snow accumulation in this region illustrates a decreasing trend with opposite relationships with δ ¹⁸O data and surface air temperature prior and subsequent to the year 1997. A reorganization of the local water cycle is further indicated by the deuterium excess data showing a shift around 1997, consistent with a change in evaporation conditions. The present study thus illustrates the utility of ice-core studies in the reconstruction of past climate change and suggests possible influence of climatic teleconnections on the snow accumulation rates and isotopic profiles of snow in the coastal regions of east Antarctica.     

Generation of Vegetation Fraction and Surface Albedo Products Over India from Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) Data Onboard Oceansat-2

The use of Local Area Coverage (LAC) data from Ocean Color Monitor (OCM) sensor of Oceansat-2 with its high radiometric resolution (12 bits/pixel) and 2-day repeat cycle for rapid monitoring of vegetation growth and estimating surface albedo for the Indian region is demonstrated in this study. For the vegetation monitoring, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and vegetation fraction (VF) products were estimated by maximum value composite approach fortnightly and were resampled to 1 km. The surface albedo products were realized by converting narrow-band eight-band spectral reflectance OCM data to a) visible (300–700 nm) and b) broad band (300–3,000 nm) data. For validation, the derived products were compared with respective MODIS global products and found to be in good agreement.     

Spectral properties of the X-ray binary pulsar LMC X-4 during different Intensity states

We present spectral variations of the binary X-ray pulsar LMC X-4 observed with the RXTE/PCA during different phases of its 30.5 day long third period. Only out-of-eclipse data were used for this study. The 3–25 keV spectrum, modeled with high energy cut-off power-law and iron line emission is found to show strong dependence on the intensity state. Correlations between the Fe line emission flux and different parameters of the continuum are presented here.     

Chemical,isotopic and amino acid composition of Mukundpura CM2.0(CM1) chondrite: Evidence of parent body aqueous alteration

The carbonaceous chondrites are intriguing and unique in the sense that they are the only rocks that provide pristine records of the early solar nebular processes. We report here results of a detailed mineralogical, chemical, amino acid and isotopic studies of a recently observed fall at Mukundpura, near Jaipur in Rajasthan, India. Abundance of olivines in this meteorite is low and of serpentine minerals is high. FeO/SiO_2 = 1.05 in its Poorly Characterized Phases(PCP) is similar to that observed in other CM2.0 chondrites. The water content of ～9.8 wt.% is similar to that found in many other CM chondrites.Microscopic examination of matrix shows that its terrestrial weathering grade is WO but aqueous parent body alteration is high, as reflected in low abundance of identifiable chondrules and abundant remnants of chondrules(～7%). Thus, most of the chondrules formed initially have been significantly altered or dissolved by aqueous alterations on their parent bodies. The measured bulk carbon(2.3%) and nitrogen content and their isotopic(δ¹³C =-5.5‰, δ¹⁵N = 23.6%0) composition is consistent with CM2.0 classification probably bordering CM1. Several amino acids such as Alanine, Serine, Proline, Valine, Threonine,Leucine, Isoleucine, Asparagine and Histamine are present. Tyrosine and Tryptophan may occur in trace amounts which could not be precisely determined. All these data show that Mukundpura chondrite lies at the boundary of CM2.0 and CM1 type carbonaceous chondrites making it one of the most primitive chondrites.     

Hydrothermal fabrication of WO<Subscript>3</Subscript>-modified TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> crystals and their efficiency in photocatalytic degradation of FCF

WO₃-modified TiO₂ polyscale crystals were fabricated successfully using the hydrothermal technique. The as-prepared samples were characterized using powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy and UV–vis spectroscopy. The photocatalytic application of these synthesized samples was confirmed by photocatalytic degradation of fast green dye solution under sunlight and UV irradiation. The degradation efficiency was analyzed by measuring the parameters such as percent transmittance, chemical oxygen demand and percent decomposition of the dye solution. It was noted that the photodegradation efficiency of the samples varies with added amounts of WO₃ content. The highest photodegradation efficiency was obtained using 2WT sample where the pace of decomposition was 70.5% under UV light and 81.3% under sunlight.     

Influence of dynamic soil-pile raft-structure interaction: an experimental approach

Traditionally seismic design of structures supported on piled raft foundation is performed by considering fixed base conditions, while the pile head is also considered to be fixed for the design of the pile foundation. Major drawback of this assumption is that it cannot capture soil-foundation-structure interaction due to flexibility of soil or the inertial interaction involving heavy foundation masses. Previous studies on this subject addressed mainly the intricacy in modelling of dynamic soil structure interaction(DSSI) but not the implication of such interaction on the distribution of forces at various elements of the pile foundation and supported structure. A recent numerical study by the authors showed significant change in response at different elements of the piled raft supported structure when DSSI effects are considered. The present study is a limited attempt in this direction, and it examines such observations through shake table tests. The effect of DSSI is examined by comparing dynamic responses from fixed base scaled down model structures and the overall systems. This study indicates the possibility of significant underestimation in design forces for both the column and pile if designed under fixed base assumption. Such underestimation in the design forces may have serious implication in the design of a foundation or structural element.