017552   Sastry R G;Sonker M K (Earth Sciences Dep, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247 667, Email: rgss1fes@iitr.ac.in) : 3-D grace gravity model for the 2011 japan earthquake. J Earth Syst Sci 2017, 126(1), 1-11.

The GRACE mission has contributed to the seismic characterization of major earthquakes in offshore regions of the world. Here, we isolate satellite gravity signal (μGal range) for the Japan Earthquake of 2011 using a difference method. Contrary to the existing gravity models, we propose a unit vertical pyramid based five-layer 3-D thrust fault model, which extends to the hypocenter and honors the ocean water layer and sea floor upheaval also. Our model partly uses existing seismological information (hypocenter depth of 32 km, rupture length of 300 km and vertical slip of 4 m), provides a snapshot of episodic subduction of the Pacific Plate below the Atlantic Plate and its gravity response closely matches the observed gravity (RMS error of 3.4012x10^-13μGal), fully accounting for co-seismic mass redistribution including sea surface deformation. Our inferred rupture length, rupture velocity, average seismic moment magnitude and momentum, respectively, are 300 km, 4.49 km/s, 1.152x10²¹-1.8816x10²¹ N m and 2.319x10⁶ GNs, which fairly agree with the literature. Further, our model inferred momentum at the sea floor corresponds to an area pulse that led to Tsunami generation.

3 illus, 4 tables, 53 ref

017551   Samant H;Pundalik A;D'souza J;Seth H;Lobo K C;D'souza K;Patel V (Geology Dep, St. Xavier's College, Mumbai-400 001, Email: hcsheth@iitb.ac.in) : Geology of the elephanta island fault zone, western indian rifted margin, and its significance for understanding the panvel flexure. J Earth Syst Sci 2017, 126(1), 1-14.

The Panvel flexure is a 150-km long tectonic structure, comprising prominently seaward-dipping Deccan flood basalts, on the western Indian rifted margin. Given the active tectonic faulting beneath the Panvel flexure zone inferred from microseismicity, better structural understanding of the region is needed. The geology of Elephanta Island in the Mumbai harbour, famous for the ca. mid-6th century A.D. Hindu rock-cut caves in Deccan basalt (a UNESCO World Heritage site) is poorly known. We describe a previously unreported but well-exposed fault zone on Elephanta Island, consisting of two large faults dipping steeply east-southeast and producing easterly downthrows. Well-developed slickensides and structural measurements indicate oblique slip on both faults. The Elephanta Island fault zone may be the northern extension of the Alibag-Uran fault zone previously described. This and two other known regional faults (Nhava-Sheva and Belpada faults) indicate a progressively eastward step-faulted structure of the Panvel flexure, with the important result that the individual movements were not simply downdip but also oblique-slip and locally even rotational (as at Uran). An interesting problem is the normal faulting, block tectonics and rifting of this region of the crust for which seismological data indicate a normal thickness (up to 41.3 km). A model of asymmetric rifting by simple shear may explain this observation and the consistently landward dips of the rifted margin faults.

10 illus, 1 table, 56 ref

017550   Rawat D S;Naithani A K;Patel R;Samuel P A (NO, National Institute of Rock Mechanics, Bengaluru-560 070, Email: ajay_naithani@hotmail.com) : Prediction of adverse geological features based on the construction stage geological mapping: A case study of underground cavern, Karimnagar, Telangana state, India. Indian J Pwr River Valley Dev 2016, 66(7-8), 103-9.

196.8 m long x 25 m wide x 51 m height pump house cavern is being constructed to lift 146.42 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) water from one reservoir to another reservoir. The heading portion of the cavern is under construction. The tunnelling media of pump house cavern is fresh to slightly altered coarse grained granitic rock categorized into good to very good rock classes, but persistent critical twin joints encountered during the geological mapping made the tunnelling work slow and required additional rock support to ensure the stability of cavern. Assessment of rock support system for heading portion of the pump house cavern was recommended based on tunnelling quality index 'Q'. Challenges faced during the heading excavation of cavern due to critical twin joints, excavation methodology applied in these reaches and additional support system are discussed in this paper.

1 illus, 6 table, 8 ref

017549   Ramaraj A P;Geethalakshmi V;Bhuvaneswari K (Agro Climate Research Centre, Tamil Nadu Agricultural Univ, Coimbatore-641 003, Email: apramrajsengundar@gmail.com) : Understanding the uncertainty cascaded in climate change projections for agricultural decision making. Mausam 2017, 68(2), 223-34.

Climate projections have confirmed the need to adapt to a changing climate, but have been less beneficial in guiding how to effectively adapt. The reason is the uncertainty cascade, from assumptions about future emissions of greenhouse gases to what that means for the climate to real decisions on a local scale. Each of the steps in the process contains uncertainty and these uncertainties from various levels of the assessment accumulate. This cascade of uncertainty should be critically analyzed to inform decision makers about the certain range of future changes. Most widely used approaches like Bayesian and Monte Carlo gives specific values of parameters and their confidence, yet for agricultural decision making the range of possible changes itself is required as such to understand impact at every point of these ranges. This paper addresses these issues and examines the uncertainties in climate projections at a local scale. In the study locations (Coimbatore and Thanjavur), irrespective of the models, scenarios and time slices, the maximum and minimum temperatures are projected to increase with seasonal variations. With certainty, the projected increase in maximum and minimum temperature over Coimbatore is 0.2 to 4.1 °C and 0.3 to 5.3 °C and over Thanjavur is 0.3 to 4.6 °C and 0.2 to 5.2 °C, respectively. Rainfall is projected to vary between a decrease of 15.0 to an increase of 73.1 percent for Coimbatore and a decrease of 15.3 to an increase of 80.7 per cent for - 74 - Thanjavur during the 21st century. On comparing the monsoon seasons, southwest monsoon (SWM) is projected to have a higher increase in both maximum and minimum temperature than northeast monsoon (NEM) for both the study locations, similar to their current trends. Rainfall is projected to increase more in NEM than in SWM.

5 illus, 6 tables, 27 ref

017548   Prabaharan S;Subramani T (Mining Engineering Dep, CEG. Anna Univ, Chennai-600 025, Email: geosubramani@annauniv.edu) : Identification of hydrocarbon micro-seeps based on mineral alteration in a part of cauvery basin, south India using hyperion data. Indian J Geomar Sci 2016, 45(9), 1138-47.

Spectral analysis methods were applied for identification of altered minerals by matching the unknown spectra of the purest pixels with the pre-defined (Library) spectra. Three methods, namely Spectral Feature Fitting (SFF), Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM) and Binary Encoding (BE) were used to produce a score between 0 and 1, where the value of 1 equals a perfect match showing the exact mineral type. Four possible altered minerals namely alunite, kaolinite, calcite and siderite were identified based on different scores related to their abundance in the soils. Spectral Feature Fitting (SFF) technique was also used to classify the minerals in the satellite imageries. Based on the spectral analysis and mineral alteration characteristics, the possible hydrocarbon micro seep zones were identified in the Nagapattinam sub-basin of Cauvery Basin, Tamilnadu, India.

7 illus, 1 table, 30 ref

017547   Paul R K (NO, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute, New Delhi-110 012, Email: ranjitstat@gmail.com) : Modelling long memory in maximum and minimum temperature series in India. Mausam 2017, 68(2), 317-26.

Time series analysis of weather data can be a very valuable tool to investigate its variability pattern and, maybe, even to predict short- and long-term changes in the time series. In this study, the long memory behaviour of monthly minimum and maximum temperature of India for the period 1901 to 2007 by means of fractional integration techniques has been investigated. The results show that the time series can be specified in terms of autoregressive fractionally integrated moving average (ARFIMA) process. Both the series were found to be integrated with orders of integration smaller than 0.5 ensuring the long memory stationarity. Wavelet methodology in frequency domain with Haar wavelet filter was applied in order to see the oscillation at different scale and at different time epochs of the series. Multiresolution analysis (MRA) - 73 - was carried out to explore the local as well as global variations in both the temperature series over the years. The variability in minimum temperature is found to be more than maximum temperature. Though there is no clear significance trend in the temperature series in the long run, but there are pockets of change in the temperature pattern. The predictive ability of ARFIMA model was investigated in terms of relative mean absolute percentage error.

10 illus, 4 tables, 29 ref

017546   Neeraj Kumar;Panchal C C;Chandrawanshi S K; Thanki J D (Agricultural Meteorological Cell, Agricultural Engineering Dep, N. M College of Agriculture, Navsari Agricultural Univ, Navsari-396 450, Email: neeraj34012@gmail.com) : Analysis of rainfall by using mann-kendall trend, sen's slope and variability at five districts of south Gujarat, India. Mausam 2017, 68(2), 205-22.

On the basis of past 115 years (1901-2015) rainfall data of five districts of south Gujarat, the Mann-Kendall trend, Sen's slope and regression slope showed that annual and monsoon rainfall at Valsad, Dang and Surat shows the increasing trend while, that of Navsari and Bharuch districts are declining. The monsoon season (summer monsoon) rainfall variability of Valsad, Dang, Surat, Navsari and Bharuch districts was recorded is 30.1%, 30.9%, 35.9%. 33.3% and 38.6%. The high coefficient of variation (CV) denoted that the variability of rainfall is not equally distributed and the amount of rainfall is lowest. The Bharuch district the annual and monsoon CV per cent denoted that the variability of rainfall in both seasons are very high. Valsad was recorded lowest CV with highest rainfall while the data are represent that variability of rainfall which can varies Bharuch to Dang in different districts of south Gujarat. The data shows that Dang district comes under high rainfall and Bharuch under low rainfall on south Gujarat. A low standard deviation indicates that the data points tend to be close to the mean of the set, while a high standard deviation indicates that the data points are spread out over a wider range of values. Similarly high SD is reported at Dang district because of high range of rainfall and lowest SD is found at Bharuch district because of low rainfall variability. The rainfall distribution different season viz., pre monsoon, monsoon post monsoon and winter season, the highest present contribution of rainfall is observed during monsoon season followed by post monsoon in all the five districts of south Gujarat. Rainfall contribution during remaining months was less than one per cent. While month wise analysis shows during monsoon season highest rainfall per cent contribution to annual rainfall is in July followed by August and June months at all the five districts of south Gujarat.

5 illus, 5 tables, 38 ref

017545   Mondal M;Satpati L N (NO, Bhowanipur S.J.Institution, Hasnabad, North 24 parganas, W.B, Email: madhabmondal2009@gmail.com) : Changing character of pool-riffle sequence: A quantitative representation of long profile of Ichamati, India. Indian J Pwr River Valley Dev 2016, 66(1-2), 14-21.

The river Ichamati, which drains the eastern part of the district North 24 Pgs. W.B., India, has been analyzed regarding its long profile of the two years (2004 and 2012) based on two windows. This paper has focused on the character of long profile such as, pool-riffle sequence and deviation index, which reveal the evolutionary tendency of long profile. Bed deformation technique (bdt) has identified the number and position of the pool and riffle on the riverbed. The classification of pool and riffle has been done with the help of tolerance value (T). The magnitude of T values is different in two windows. According to tolerance value (T), the position and number of pool and riffle has been changed significantly in two windows in two years. The threshold value of T has also been - 72 - differed from 2004 to 2012. All these indicate the gradual decay of the river Ichamati.

4 illus, 3 table, 47 ref

017544   Meng Y;Zheng D;Li M (School of Resources and Environment, Henan Polytechnic Univ, Jiaozuo, Henan 454000, China, Email: zhengdeshun@hpu.edu.cn) : Geochemistry evidence for depositional settings and provenance of jurassic argillaceous rocks of jiyuan basin, North China. J Earth Syst Sci 2017, 126(1), 1-14.

This paper aims to discuss the depositional settings and provenances for the Jurassic in Jiyuan basin, North China, based on the rare earth element (REE) and trace element features of 16 Jurassic argillaceous rock samples from the Anyao, Yangshuzhuang and Ma'ao Formations, respectively. Generally, geochemical analysis results show that chondrite-normalised REE distribution patterns of all the three formations are characterised by light-REE (LREE) enrichment, moderately negative Eu anomalies, slightly negative Ce anomalies, and strong fractionation between LREE and heavy-REE (HREE). Trace element proxies V/(V + Ni), Ce_anom index, Ce/La, Sr/Ba, and Sr/Cu indicate a weak oxidation-reduction environment, progressively decreasing reducibility and water depth from the bottom up during Jurassic in Jiyuan basin. Palaeoclimate varied from humid in the Early Jurassic to arid in the Middle Jurassic, corresponding with the variations of palaeoredox and palaeosalinity. The provenances of Jurassic rocks in Jiyuan basin are mainly from felsic sources related to active continental margin and continental island arc. The Early-Middle Jurassic (Anyao and Yangshuzhuang Formations) provenances are mainly derived from North Qinling and partially from the eroded recycled felsic sedimentary covers of Taihang Mountain. In the late stage of Middle Jurassic (Ma'ao Formation), Taihang Mountain has been the primary source to Jiyuan basin. We conclude that the Jurassic rocks of Jiyuan basin reveal the progressive uplift and denudation processes of the Taihang Mountain.

7 illus, 1 table, 81 ref

017543   Maity S K;Maiti R (Geography Dep, Haldia Govt. College, West Bengal, Email: swapan.maity55@gmail.com) : Analysis of sedimentation in connection to grain size and shear stress at lower reach of the Rupnarayan river, West Bengal, India. Indian J Geomar Sci 2016, 45(9), 1128-37.

Bathymetric close grid survey of the lower reach of Rupnarayan River was made using Dumpy Level and Echo sounder interfaced with Position Fixing System (GPS). Simultaneous tidal observations were available at an interval of half-an hour. Velocity during high and low tide is measured by Digital water current meter and floating method. Rate of sedimentation in three seasons (Pre-monsoon, Monsoon and Post-monsoon) was measured by keeping the wooden tray on river bed for few days. Textural analysis of sediment grains by sieving technique reveals that sediments are mainly of fine sand to coarse silt in nature. Moderate to moderately well sorting of sediments indicate low and moderate energy condition in the depositional environment. Predominant positive skewness and mesokurtic to - 71 - leptokurtic nature of the sediments indicate continuous addition of finer or coarser materials and retention of their original characteristics during deposition. Most of the sediments are transported by suspension with rolling, graded suspension and uniform suspension before deposition. Sediments are deposited by combined effects of marine and fluvial processes under shallow agitating environment and carried by turbidity action. Shear stress during swifter and stronger high tide is more than during slower and weaker low tide.

5 illus, 7 tables, 53 ref

017542   Luirei K;Bhakuni S S;Negi S S (NO, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun, Email: ashingmikzoluirei@gmail.com) : Landforms along transverse faults parallel to axial zone of folded mountain front, north-eastern kumaun sub-himalaya, India. J Earth Syst Sci 2017, 126(1), 1-19.

The shape of the frontal part of the Himalaya around the north-eastern corner of the Kumaun Sub-Himalaya, along the Kali River valley, is defined by folded hanging wall rocks of the Himalayan Frontal Thrust (HFT). Two parallel faults (Kalaunia and Tanakpur faults) trace along the axial zone of the folded HFT. Between these faults, the hinge zone of this transverse fold is relatively straight and along these faults, the beds abruptly change their attitudes and their widths are tectonically attenuated across two hinge lines of fold. The area is constituted of various surfaces of coalescing fans and terraces. Fans comprise predominantly of sandstone clasts laid down by the steep-gradient streams originating from the Siwalik range. The alluvial fans are characterised by compound and superimposed fans with high relief, which are generated by the tectonic activities associated with the thrusting along the HFT. The truncated fan along the HFT has formed a 100 m high-escarpment running E-W for <126>5 km. Quaternary terrace deposits suggest two phases of tectonic uplift in the basal part of the hanging wall block of the HFT dipping towards the north. The first phase is represented by tilting of the terrace sediments by <126>30° towards the NW; while the second phase is evident from deformed structures in the terrace deposit comprising mainly of reverse faults, fault propagation folds, convolute laminations, flower structures and back thrust faults. The second phase produced <126>1.0 m offset of stratification of the terrace along a thrust fault. Tectonic escarpments are recognised across the splay thrust near south of the HFT trace. The south facing hill slopes exhibit numerous landslides along active channels incising the hanging wall rocks of the HFT. The study area shows weak seismicity. The major Moradabad Fault crosses near the study area. This transverse fault may have suppressed the seismicity in the Tanakpur area, and the movement along the Moradabad and Kasganj-Tanakpur faults cause the neotectonic activities as observed. The role of transverse fault tectonics in the formation of the curvature cannot be ruled out.

11 illus, 76 ref

017541   Lei L;Chan P W;Tse S M (Shenzhen National Climate Observatory, Meteorological Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality Hong Kong Observatory, 134A Nathan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China, Email: pwchan@hko.gov.hk) : Observation and simulation of mountain wave trains in a tropical cyclone situation. Mausam 2017, 68(2), 253-60.

This paper documents the observations by radar of wave trains downstream of mountains in a tropical cyclone situation. The wind disturbances associated with the wave trains together with the background strong southeasterly flow result in the occurrence of low-level wind shear as detected by the radar. So the case is not just scientifically interesting, but it also has practical application value. The wave trains can be simulated by using a computational fluid dynamics model initialized homogeneously by the upper air ascent data at the time close to that the occurrence of the wave trains. This points to the potential of using such a model in simple setup to forecast the occurrence of low-level wind shear.

11 illus, 1 table, 13 ref

017540   Khosravi Y;Lashkari H;Asakereh H (Faculty of Sciences, Environmental Sciences Dep, Zanjan Univ, 45371-38791, Zanjan, Iran, Email: khosravi@znu.ac.ir) : Water vapor pressure trends in south and southwest Iran. Mausam 2017, 68(2), 335-48.

Recognition and detection of climatic parameters in have an important role in climate change monitoring. In this study, the analysis of one of the most important parameters, water vapor pressure (WVP), was investigated. For this purpose, two non-parametric techniques, Mann-Kendall and Sen's Slope Estimator, were used to analyze the WVP trend and to determine the magnitude of the trends, respectively. To analyze these tests, ground station observations [10 stations for period of 44 years (1967-2010)] and gridded data [pixels with the dimension of 9 x 9 km over a 30-year period (1981-2010)] in South and Southwest of Iran were used. By programming in MATLAB software, the monthly, seasonal and annual WVP time series were extracted and MK and Sen's slope estimator tests were done. The results of monthly MK test on ground station observations showed that the significant downward trends are more considerable than significant upward trends. It also showed that the WVP highest frequency was more in warm months, April to September and the highest frequency of significant trends slope was in February and May. The spatial distribution of MK test of monthly gridded WVP time series showed that the upward trends were detected mostly in western zone and near the Persian Gulf in August. On the other hand, the downward trends through months. The maximum and minimum values of positive trends slope occurred in warm months and cold months, respectively. The analysis of the MK test of the annual WVP time series indicated the upward significant trends in the southeast and southwest zones of study area.

9 illus, 3 tables, 50 ref

017539   Joshi J C;Tankeshwar Kumar;Srivastava S; Sachdeva D (NO, Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment, Sector 37-A, Chandigarh-160 036, Email: joshjagdish@gmail.com) : Optimisation of hidden markov model using baum-welch algorithm for prediction of maximum and minimum temperature over indian himalaya. J Earth Syst Sci 2017, 126(1), 1-9.

Maximum and minimum temperatures are used in avalanche forecasting models for snow avalanche hazard mitigation over Himalaya. The present work is a part of development of Hidden Markov Model (HMM) based avalanche forecasting system for Pir-Panjal and Great Himalayan mountain ranges of the Himalaya. In this work, HMMs have been developed for forecasting of maximum and minimum temperatures for Kanzalwan in Pir-Panjal range and Drass in Great Himalayan range with a lead time of two days. The HMMs have been developed using meteorological variables collected from these stations during the past 20 winters from 1992 to 2012. The meteorological variables have been used to define observations and states of the models and to compute model parameters (initial state, state transition and observation probabilities). The model parameters have been used in the Forward and the Viterbi algorithms to generate temperature forecasts. To improve the model forecasts, the model parameters have been optimised - 69 - using Baum-Welch algorithm. The models have been compared with persistence forecast by root mean square errors (RMSE) analysis using independent data of two winters (2012-13, 2013-14). The HMM for maximum temperature has shown a 4-12% and 17-19% improvement in the forecast over persistence forecast, for day-1 and day-2, respectively. For minimum temperature, it has shown 6-38% and 5-12% improvement for day-1 and day-2, respectively.

4 illus, 2 tables, 28 ref

017538   Jaswal A K;Kore P A;Singh V (NO, , India Meteorological Dep, Shivajinagar, Pune-411 005, Email: jaswal4@gmail.com) : Variability and trends in low cloud cover over India during 1961-2010. Mausam 2017, 68(2), 235-52.

Annual and seasonal variability and trends in low cloud cover over India were analyzed for the period 1961-2010. Taking all period into account, there is a general decrease in mean low cloud cover over most regions of India, but an increase in the Indo-Gangetic plains and northeast India. Long term mean low cloud cover over India has inter-annual variations with highest cloud cover (39.4%) in monsoon and lowest cloud cover (10.5%) in winter season. The annual mean low cloud cover shows significant decreasing trend of -0.45% per decade, mainly contributed by monsoon where declining rate is -1.22% per decade. Out of the total numbers of stations showing decreasing trends, 65%, 47%, 53%, 71% and 37% of the stations show significant decrease in low cloud cover for annual, winter, summer, monsoon and post monsoon respectively, with large trend magnitudes occurring in central India. Spatially, the seasonal patterns of trends in low cloud cover confirm the annual patterns in most cases. Data analyses show that low cloud cover is having a strong negative correlation with maximum temperature and diurnal temperature range and a strong positive correlation with numbers of rainy days during the period of study.

10 illus, 2 tables, 46 ref

017537   Hazarika J;Pathak B;Patowary A N (Statistics Dep, Dibrugarh Univ, Dibrugarh-786 004, Email: a_patowary@yahoo.com) : Studying monthly rainfall over Dibrugarh, Assam: Use of SARIMA approach. Mausam 2017, 68(2), 349-56.

Perceptive the rainfall pattern is tough for the solution of several regional environmental issues of water resources management, with implications for agriculture, climate change, and natural calamity such as floods and droughts. Statistical computing, modeling and forecasting data are key instruments for studying these patterns. The study of time series analysis and forecasting has become a major tool in different applications in hydrology and environmental fields. Among the most effective approaches for analyzing time series data is - 68 - the ARIMA (Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average) model introduced by Box and Jenkins. In this study, an attempt has been made to use Box-Jenkins methodology to build ARIMA model for monthly rainfall data taken from Dibrugarh for the period of 1980- 2014 with a total of 420 points. We investigated and found that ARIMA (0, 0, 0) (0, 1, 1)¹² model is suitable for the given data set. As such this model can be used to forecast the pattern of monthly rainfall for the upcoming years, which can help the decision makers to establish priorities in terms of agricultural, flood, water demand management etc.

7 illus, 16 ref

017536   Han J;Wang Y;Yu C;Chen P (NO, Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing 100037, China, Email: hanjianguan613@163.com) : Angle-domain common-image gathers from anisotropic gaussian beam migration and its application to anisotropy-induced imaging errors analysis. J Earth Syst Sci 2017, 126(1), 1-9.

An approach for extracting angle-domain common-image gathers (ADCIGs) from anisotropic Gaussian beam prestack depth migration (GB-PSDM) is presented in this paper. The propagation angle is calculated in the process of migration using the real-value traveltime information of Gaussian beam. Based on the above, we further investigate the effects of anisotropy on GB-PSDM, where the corresponding ADCIGs are extracted to assess the quality of migration images. The test results of the VTI syncline model and the TTI thrust sheet model show that anisotropic parameters ε, δ, and tilt angle θ, have a great influence on the accuracy of the migrated image in anisotropic media, and ignoring any one of them will cause obvious imaging errors. The anisotropic GB-PSDM with the true anisotropic parameters can obtain more accurate seismic images of subsurface structures in anisotropic media.

9 illus, 53 ref

017535   Han D;Yan D;Xu X;Gao Y (College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal Univ, Beijing, China, Email: h15176078383@163.com) : Effects of climate change on spring wheat phenophase and water requirement in heihe river basin, China. J Earth Syst Sci 2017, , 1-9.

Climate change has significantly altered the temperature rhythm which is a key factor for the growth and phenophase of the crop. And temperature change further affects crop water requirement and irrigation system. In the north-west of China, one of the most important crop production bases is Heihe River basin where the observed phenological data is scarce. This study thus first adopted accumulated temperature threshold (ATT) method to define the phenological stages of the crop, and analysed the effect of climate change on phenological stages and water requirement of the crop during growing season. The results indicated the ATT was available for the determination of spring wheat phenological stages. The start dates of all phenological stages became earlier and the growing season length (days) was reduced by 7 days under climate change. During the growing season, water requirement without consideration of phenophase change has been increased by 26.1 mm, while that with consideration of phenophase change was featured in the decrease of water requirement by 50 mm. When temperature increased by 1°C on average, the changes were featured in the 2 days early start date of growing season, 2 days decrease of growing season length, and the 1.4 mm increase of water requirement, respectively.

2 illus, 8 tables, 35 ref

017534   Debnath G C;Das G K (India meteorological Dep, Regional Meteorological Centre, Alipore, Kolkata-27, Email: gcdebnath@yahoo.com) : Verification of operational rainfall forecast over Eastern India during southwest monsoon season. Mausam 2017, 68(2), 327-34.

The Indian summer monsoon rainfall forecast and its verification has a direct impact on various sectors of public interest besides economy of the country. The present study highlights the verification of distribution forecast of synoptic method issued daily for six met subdivisions, comprising of five states of eastern India namely West Bengal, Sikkim, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha. Three years monsoon season rainfall data from 2011 through 2013 are used for the study area. The distribution-oriented verification is done for different rainfall classes like dry, isolated, scattered, fairly widespread and widespread to understand the usefulness of the synoptic method Statistics are presented for both combined classes of Percentage Correct (PC) and Heidke Skill Score (HSS) of the met subdivision wise forecast and PC, POD and CSI for individual classes. It has been observed that among the met subdivision the efficiency of the method is highest in Sub Himalayan West Bengal (SHWB) & Sikkim followed by Gangetic West Bengal (GWB), Odisha, Jharkhand and Bihar.

9 illus, 4 tables, 5 ref

017533   Das P;Dutta S;Mondal S K (Mathematics Dep, Ramananda College, Bishnupur, Bankura, West Bengal, Email: pdas.math1986@gmail.com) : Mathematical model for the 3-D dynamics of lee wave across a meso-scale mountain corner. Mausam 2017, 68(2), 195-204.

A mathematical model for studying the 3-D dynamical structure of lee wave across a meso-scale mountain corner has been proposed for a mean flow with realistic vertical variation of wind and temperature. The basic flow consists of both zonal wind component (U) and meridional component (V), which are assumed to be dependent of height. The Brunt-Vaisala frequency (N) is also assumed to be dependent of height. This model has been applied to the mountain corner, in the North East India, formed by broadly North-South oriented Assam Burma Hills (ABH) and broadly East-West oriented Khasi Jayantia hills (KJH). The model has been solved following the quasi-numerical approach. The perturbation vertical velocity (w') is expressed as a double integral. Three cases have been studied and in all cases the relation between the possible transverse and divergent lee wave numbers (k, 1) and also the updraft/downdraft regions associated with lee waves at different heights has been mapped and discussed.

19 illus, 32 ref

017532   Chattopadhyay N;Vyas S S;Bhattacharya B K; Tidke N S;Dhangar N G (NO, , Agricultural Meteorology Div, India Meteorological Dep, Pune-411 005, Email: nabansu.nc@gmail.com) : Validation of soil moisture derived from water balance method and satellite observation. Mausam 2017, 68(2), 279-86.

Under the present study estimation of high resolution soil moisture (SM) under Pan India mode using simple water balance method and from satellite data has been explored. It aims at the simple calculation of soil moisture followed by verification with ground truth data of SM on spatial and temporal scale (WC) as climatic input. The model has been verified for winter (January-February), pre-monsoon (March-May), monsoon (June-September) and post-monsoon (October-December) seasons of year 2013. The comparison of model estimates with the in-situ data from 17 ground stations (for 396 paired datasets) over different seasons produced a better correlation coefficient varying from 0.46 to 0.60. The spatial - 66 - comparison of SM estimated from model and satellite SM for the monsoon season shows a greater degree of coherence over most parts of India. Model derived weekly gridded SM combined with higher resolution satellite SM could use simple formulation and minimum inputs in conjunction with geographic information system (GIS). The SM is calculated on weekly basis and using gridded rainfall, potential evapotranspiration (PET) and field capacity (FC) and wilting point be used for better accuracy of the proposed block level agrometadvisoy services.

2 illus, 2 tables, 22 ref

017531   Basak P (NO, Narula Institute of Technology, Kolkata, Email: pijushbasak@rediffmail.com) : Southwest monsoon rainfall in Assam: An application of principal component analysis for understanding of variability. Mausam 2017, 68(2), 357-66.

The principal component analysis (PCA) is applied to understand the spatial and temporal variability of monsoonal rainfall in the state Assam in India. The Southwest Monsoon (SWM) rainfall data over 12 widely spread stations located over the state has been analyzed for a period of 60 years for understanding variability. A statistically significant trend and a above/below transition signal has been observed for a few stations and the corresponding principal components (PCs). Coherent regions of Northern and Southern Assam have been identified through PCA to bring out the possible significant signals. It is observed that some of PCs for state-wise and coherent regions have positive or negative trend and significant above/below transition.

13 illus, 9 tables, 12 ref

017530   Arulmozhi R;Subramani T (NO, , Tamil Nadu Highways Dep, Salem, Tamil Nadu, Email: geosubramani@annauniv.edu) : Ghat road alignment in palamalai hills, Tamil Nadu, India using ghat tracer, GPS and GIS. Indian J Geomar Sci 2016, 45(9), 1162-71.

The study was conducted while fixing alignment in the study area Palamalai hills from Mulakkadai village in the plains to Kemmampatti village on the top of the hill. In this work survey to form road from Mulakkadai to Kemmampatti was conducted using Ghat Tracer, Total Station and GPS. The elevation of the starting point of the road is 320 m and the hill top is 742 m above mean sea level (MSL). Road alignment in the hilly terrain was fixed using Ghat Tracer with a gradient of 6%. Length of the alignment in the ghat section is 6.30 km with eight hairpin bends. Total station and GPS surveys were conducted along the alignment to get the coordinates. Using the data alignment plans and longitudinal sections were prepared for the proposed road. A digital map was prepared for the study area by digitizing contours, drains, roads, forest boundaries and villages. From the elevation data a digital elevation model (DEM) was prepared using GIS software. GIS was further used for creating alignment plans with 6.00 m buffer to represent the road width. The implications of using these modern technologies in time and cost aspects were discussed in this work.

7 illus, 1 table, 23 ref

017529   Anbazhagan P;Bajaj K;Dutta N;Moustafa S S R; Al-Arifi N S N (Civil Engineering Dep, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru-560 012, Email: anbazhagan@civil.iisc.ernet.in) : Region-specific deterministic and probabilistic seismic hazard analysis of Kanpur city. J Earth Syst Sci 2017, 126(1), 1-21.

A seismic hazard map of Kanpur city has been developed considering the region-specific seismotectonic parameters within a 500-km radius by deterministic and probabilistic approaches. The maximum probable earthquake magnitude (M_max) for each seismic source has been estimated by considering the regional rupture characteristics method and has been compared with the maximum magnitude observed (M^obs_max), M^obs_max+0.5 and Kijko method. The best suitable ground motion prediction equations (GMPE) were selected from 27 applicable GMPEs based on the 'efficacy test'. Furthermore, different weight factors were assigned to different M_max values and the selected GMPE to calculate the final hazard value. Peak ground acceleration and spectral acceleration at 0.2 and 1 s were estimated and mapped for worst-case scenario and 2 and 10% probability of exceedance for 50 years. Peak ground acceleration (PGA) showed a variation from 0.04 to 0.36 g for DSHA, from 0.02 to 0.32 g and 0.092 to 0.1525 g for 2 and 10% probability in 50 years, respectively. A normalised site-specific design spectrum has been developed considering three vulnerable sources based on deaggregation at the city center and the results are compared with the recent 2011 Sikkim and 2015 Nepal earthquakes, and the Indian seismic code IS 1893.

11 illus, 6 tables, 81 ref

017528   Amudha B;Raj Y E A;Thampi S B (India Meteorological Dep, Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai-600 006, Email: amudha2308@gmail.com) : Statistical analysis of the differences between rainfall estimated by Chennai DWR and conventional rainfall data on monthly and seasonal scales during the indian northeast monsoon season. Mausam 2017, 68(2), 261-78.

The first Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) of India Meteorological Department has been functional at Chennai since the year 2002 providing various meteorological and hydrological products. Validation and statistical analysis of the DWR estimated rainfall (RERF, x) data with rain gauge measured rainfall (RGRF, y) - 64 - of 34 land based stations located in the semi-circular land area within 100 km radius of Chennai DWR (CDLR100) has been performed for the northeast monsoon (NEM) season of October-November-December (OND) for the 12 year period 2002-13. The monthly and seasonal data have been derived using more than 1.42 lakh discrete daily RERF values available at a high resolution of 333 m x 333 m. The major objective of the study is to compute the various statistical parameters of x and y including the bias between them on monthly and seasonal scales and to draw certain inferences. The analysis was done using three different types of averaging. The yearly means of x and y for OND over CDLR100 manifested both positive and negative epochs with the mean absolute deviation (MAD) computed as 11 cm (17% of mean). The short term normals over CDLR100 are derived as 274.9, 262.6, 96.5 and 629.8 mm for x and 243.8, 254.6, 128.0 and 627.4 mm for y for October, November, December and OND yielding bias values of-31.2, -8.0, 31.5 and -2.4 mm respectively. The MAD for OND rainfall computed by pooling in all the 12 x 34 values is quite substantial at around 19 cm (30% of mean). The RF bias for each month / NEM season is shown to be independent of the geographical locations of the stations using correlation analysis. Based on the raw values of x and a proportional correction technique, estimated values of y (y)at the 1.42 lakh grid points of CDLR100 were derived yielding spatial means of 273.3, 262.2, 92.5 and 628.4 mm for x and 243.4, 254.3, 122.9 and 622.1 mm for y for the three months and OND respectively. The importance of size of the bias in the correct interpretation of x has been discussed. A few suggestions based on certain statistical considerations have been putforth for decreasing the bias.

6 illus, 7 tables, 24 ref

017527   Al-Mohammadi M G A;Al-Sharifi O K (College of Education/ Ibn Rushd for Human Sciences, Baghdad Univ, Baghdad, Iraq, Email: makki19751975@gmail.com) : Digital map of the appropriate route of river navigation in the Tigris river of Baghdad based on the survey data of longitudinal and transverse sections of the river, remote sensing techniques and GIS. Int J Sci Nat 2017, 8(2), 319-29.

In this study, a model of an integrated river navigation database was constructed in Baghdad and applied to regulate the path and assess the river's validity based on the data of the bottom-up bathymetric survey by using the Echo Sounder device. This may help to choose the appropriate signature for the stations of reception and departure near the bridges between Karkh and Rusafa and contribute to the reduction of traffic and the creation of alternative river streets and determine the points of the path of navigation and accessibility by building a set of layers built on detailed corrected maps and images of high and modern spatial accuracy of Ikonos And Quick Bird 2 for the year 2015. Then, a spatial analysis of the geographical database designed for application in the transport sector is conducted. The results of the spatial analysis were linked to the application of Itracking GPRS and Tracking GPS devices that connect to navigational vessels and transmit digital signals either via messages on the mobile or via a digital control system to regulate the navigation path. The study indicates the success of the integration of spatial analysis of field surveys of the river bed and space surveys, and the technique of Geographic information systems in the selection of accurate route for navigation and the selection of transport stations and submarine vehicles and the appropriate load for transport according to the validity of the river.

9 illus, 1 table, 7 ref

017526   Ahidur R (Geography Dep, Poona College of Arts, Science & Commerce Camp, Pune, Maharashtra) : Study of biotic community in an around tamaranga (beel) wetland: A case study of Bongaigaon district, Assam, India. Int J Fauna biol Stud 2017, 4(5), 12-15.

Wetlands are one of the crucial natural - 63 - resources. It is increasingly realized that the planet earth is facing grave environmental problems with fast depleting natural resources and threatening the existence of most of the ecosystems. The present investigation reveals that some biotic community are going to deplete in and around the Tamaranga beel of Bongaigaon district, Assam, India. Tamaranga (beel) wetland is situated 26° 19'08''N latitude and 90°34'19''E longitude in Bongaigaon district of Assam, covering an area of 627 ha. It is one of the inland natural wetlands. The average annual rainfall is 3000mm. with maximum and minimum temperatures of 36 °C and 7 °C respectively. The present study reveals that some species of plants and animals are going to deplete due to the reclaimed for construction of houses, roads, agricultural land, degrading in nature due to the effect of human activities.

17 ref

017525   Acharya T;Prasad R (Geology Dep, Hooghly Mohsin College (Burdwan Univ), Chinsurah-712 101, Email: tacharya3@yahoo.com) : Lithostratigraphic contact - a significant site for hydrogeological investigation in crystalline fractured-rock terrains. J Earth Syst Sci 2017, 126(1), 1-14.

Estimating the hydrogeologic control of fractured aquifers in hard crystalline and metamorphosed rocks is challenging due to complexity in the development of secondary porosity. The present study in the Precambrian metamorphic terrain in and around the Balarampur of Purulia district, West Bengal, India, aims to estimate the hydrogeologic significance of lithostratigraphic contacts using fracture characteristics obtained from surface bedrock exposures supported by hydrological data from the existing dugwells. This study involves the domain-wise analysis of the frequencies of fractures that control the fracture-porosity. The domain-wise study reveals higher fracture-frequencies adjacent to the lithostratigraphic contacts. The concurrence of lithostratigraphic contacts with the occurrences of high-discharging wells and also with the deep weathered zone in low-lying areas is clearly established, thus assigning the lithostratigraphic contact as hydrogeologically significant. An increase in frequencies of the fractures within the 'influence zone' of the lithocontact, is clearly visible. Among those fractures, particularly, which make the angle greater than the 'limiting angle' with the lithocontact are characterised by increased frequencies. However, brittle rocks like quartz biotite granite gneisses, phyllite and epidiorite show high porosity of fracture, within the 'influence zone' of the lithostratigraphic contact. Enhanced deepening of the weathered-zone at lower topographic region may perhaps be a plausible explanation for this increased fracture-porosity at lithocontact to assign it as a hydrogeologically significant transmissive zone within fractured rocks.

10 illus, 3 tables, 34 ref

016673   Vakka M;Nagaraju M;Asha Manjari K G (Studies in Earth Science Dep, Mysore Univ, Manasagangotri, Mysuru-570 006, Email: adonovakha@gmail.com) : Land use land cover mapping using geo-informatics of Kodagu district, Karnataka. Int J Geomatics Geosci 2016, 7(1), 11-23.

In the present day land usage has been dominated by man and thus the land use land cover reflects greatly the interaction between man and its environment. This paper deals with the mapping of land use land cover - 105 - with the help of Geoinformatics. Thus with GIS software it has led to delineation of seven classes of land use land cover. They are built-up, agricultural land, forest, wasteland, water bodies, grassland or grazing land and others. Through the prepared map, it has been noticed that the westernmost part and eastern most part are covered with forest. The built up, agricultural land, wasteland, water bodies majority lies in the central part of the study area which is mainly the valley portion. Several water bodies such as streams, rivers are also found to be present in the forest land. Statistical calculation show that 99.29% of land has been classed as land in use whereas 0.71% are categorized as wasteland as per the usage of land retrieve from the map which has estimated the habitat extend, loss and gains of land. This scenario revealed that not much land is been exploiting or wasted. However the wastelands need to be considered and the best possible solutions can be implemented in order that maximum usage can be guaranteed. It is anticipated that this limited information will be used for conservation or management of land planning issues and can also be used for landslide studies as anthropogenic causes.

7 illus, 4 tables, 15 ref

016672   Tonggiroh A;Jaya A;Irfan U R (Environmental Geochemistry LBE, Hasanuddin University, Indonesia, Email: adi.luthfiah@yahoo.com) : Type of nickel laterization, lasolo fracture and mollase deposits of Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. Ecol Envir Conserv 2017, 23(1), 84-9.

The contact of ultramafic rocks distribution, metamorfpompangeo and mollase deposit are restricted by the structure of lasolo fracture with relatively direction of the northwest to the southeast, produce nickel-lateritic deposit with normal type of laterization, infill fractures and colluviums laterization. Normal type following the principle of horizontal-vertical laterization, infill fractures are characterized by supergene enrichment in ultramafic rock fractures and contamination laterization by collovium deposit. A field observation shows that horizontally the distribution of nickel-lateritic deposit is relatively more in contact with metamorphic rocks, sediments and molasses deposit. This distribution restrict beliefs to interpret the normal type in exploration stage to nickel-lateritic deposit which have perfective value levels quite low (<60>1%), if linked to the needs of the value of nickel content at the time, but on the type of infill fractures and colluviums has an average of Ni over 2%. This research is a study of some exposure data, drill point data and regional geology is closely related to the regional fracture structure Lasolo, it is aimed to determine the statistical correlations of laterization type by applying drilling method, thin section, x-ray fluorescence and cluster analysis approach. The result of research can be concluded that normal laterization following the flow of ground water that penetration is limited by the fracture structure of lasolo, it formed rock fractures and accompanied by the flow of ground water and occurs laterization process, ultramafic rocks when undergoing a laterization process is restricted by the closure of molasses deposit so laterization formed more easily saprophyte layer compared to limonite.

5 illus, 7 ref

016671   Starkel L;Wiejaczka L;Kiszka K (Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization, Street address: Sw. Jana 22, Postcode: 31-018 Cracow, Poland, Email: wieja@zg.pan.krakow.pl) : Role of tributaries in shaping the middle - 104 - course of the himalayan river teesta after the 1968 extreme floods. Curr Sci 2017, 112(9), 1896-903.

Extremely high precipitation is characteristic of the frontal zone of the Himalaya. In this article we studytributaries which supply huge sediment loads to the Teesta river in the Darjeeling Himalaya, India and significantly affect transportation regime downstream the junction of the Great Rangit with the main river. The material supply is also conditioned by 70-80% deforestation of the catchment. Will the deepening of the Teesta river and its tributaries follow tectonic movements? Or will the Teesta follow smaller streams that drain the fringe of the Himalaya, and then will the huge foreland cones penetrate the mountain inte-riors? These questions are important, especially in the context of construction of dams and water reservoirs along the Teesta river and its tributaries.

14 illus, 1 table, 25 ref

016670   Sarwal M I;Billa M;Paul A (Geography Dep and Environmental Studies, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Chittagong-4331, Email: iqbalsrwr@yahoo.com) : Urban land use change analysis using RS and GIS in sulakbahar ward in Chittagong city, Bangladesh. Int J Geomatics Geosci 2016, 7(1), 1-10.

The main aim of the present study is to identify and detect the land use, land cover changes occurred in Chittagong city and to integration of Remote Sensing and GIS data for analyzing, evaluating and changing of land-use in study area. To conduct this study, Sulakbahar Ward of Chittagong City Corporation was selected as the study area. Based on remotely sensed data, the thematic maps and field records have been considered for detail investigation. Rapideye image of 2011 and Landsat TM image of 1989 of the study area were the two important bases of visual classification and change detection study. After making the images geometrically corrected, visual interpretation of the images has been done by generating thematic data layers with the help of ERDAS IMAGINE software. Change detection map is produced by overlaying the data layers of the two study years (1989 and 2011). Highest decrease (79 hectares) and highest increase (91 hectares) have occurred in the category of exposed land and settlement area respectively and about 27% of the total land has undergone changes into different land-uses between 1989 and 2011. Use of RS and GIS technologies are recommended for better planning and sustainable management of urban land use in study area.

4 illus, 3 tables, 15 ref

016669   Pokhrel P;Pathak D (Central Dep of Geology, Tribhuvan Univ, Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal, Email: dpathaktu@gmail.com) : Landslide susceptibility mapping of southern part of Marysangdi river basin, West Nepal using logistic regression method. Int J Geomatics Geosci 2016, 7(1), 24-32.

Landslide susceptibility mapping has been carried out around the Sundar Bajar to Besi Shahar area in the southern part of Marsyangdi river basin covering an area of about 221 Km². Logistic regression model has been used to generate the landslide susceptibility map of the area. This method assumes that the future landslides will have the same causal factors as the landslides initiated in the past. The landslide inventory map was prepared using the Google Earth images with the field identification and verification. Thirteen intrinsic causative factors and one extrinsic factor i.e. rainfall were used in analysis. Slope, aspect, curvature, elevation and relief were the Digital Elevation Model (DEM)-derived parameter whereas the thematic layers like lithology, distance to road, distance to river, lineament density, stream density, wetness index and land-use were prepared in the different GIS environment. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves in SPSS was used to validate the model using the training and validation landslide data. The area is classified into five classes i.e. very low, low, medium, high and very high susceptibility using the ROC curve of the validation data. Most of the area belongs to the very low to low susceptibility class. The prepared susceptibility map can be used for the landslide hazard management.

5 illus, 18 ref

016668   Mukiri D M;Mundia C N (NO, Dedan Kimathi Univ of Technology, Institute of Geomatics, GIS and Remote Sensing, Email: danielmukiri1@gmail.com) : Integrating GIS and remote sensing in environment imapct assessment of Ewaso Nyiro Mega dam in Kenya. Int J Geomatics Geosci 2016, 7(1), 43-55.

GIS is increasingly being used worldwide within Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA); However, the extent has not been well documented and therefore not well appreciated in the scientific fraternity. In this case study the National Water Conservation and Pipeline Corporation (NWCPC) on behalf of the Kenyan government engaged a consultant to identify a suitable site for a mega dam to supply water to the proposed Isiolo resort city. The consultant decision in siting the dam was not based on a comprehensive scientific analysis, as required of such a project. This could be one of the many other projects being implemented in the wrong premise courtesy of politics, and influence of leaders. The objective of this study was to review the E.I.A process carried out by the consultant to determine whether any scientific technique was employed on the identification of the ideal site for the dam. The Ewaso Nyiro basin was identified and the relevant data on dam siting collected and processed. Spatial analysis was used to inform the location of the dam based on weights realized through the Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP). The analysis realized three suitable dam sites that were further subjected to analysis based on the local conditions to finally settle at the most suitable site for the Mega-Dam. The site slightly differs from the one fronted by the consultant in terms of capacity, inundation area, and dam crest length. The study has revealed that the most ideal site was within vicinity to the site identified by the contractor. Decisions taken regarding the length of the dam wall were noted to be misleading since no scientific approach was adopted. There is danger of implementing very noble, gigantic and capital intensive projects in the wrong premise when wrong decisions are made based on unscientific means.

15 illus, 2 tables, 27 ref

016667   Mohapatra M;Geetha B;Sharma M (India Meteorological Dep, Mausam Bhavan, Lodhi Road, New Delhi-110 003, Email: mohapatraimd@gmail.com) : Reduction in uncertainty in tropical cyclone track forecasts over the north Indian ocean. Curr Sci 2017, 112(9), 1826-30.

Over the North Indian Ocean (NIO) basin, the uncertainty in tropical cyclone (TC) track forecast is depicted by constructing a cone of uncertainty (COU) around the forecast track for the benefit of disaster managers in their decision-making, especially with respect to area of evacuation. The COU is constructed by drawing a tangent to the circles with the radii equal to average track fore-cast errors during the past five years for forecast times of 12, 24, 36,..., up to 120h. The COU which is revised periodically to reflect the track forecast accuracy, has been recently revised by India Meteorological Department (IMD) from the post-monsoon season of 2014. Hence, a study has been undertaken to evaluate this newly introduced COU forecast by IMD. The revised radii used to construct the COU have shrunk by 20-30% due to improved TC track forecast in the recent years (2009-2013). For the new COU, the radii of circles for 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120h forecasts are 65, 105, 140, 170 and 200 nm respectively, against 80, 135, 185, 235 and 285 nm for the previous COU (2009-2013). The accuracy of the newly constructed forecast COU is 70-80% and is comparable with those of other leading TC forecasting centres in the world.

3 illus, 2 tables, 11 ref

016666   Mary S C H;Sundaravadivel S;Ramabai R; Lawrence A (Biochemistry PG and Research Dep, St. Joseph's college of arts and science, Cuddalore, Tamilnadu, Email: celinehildamary@yahoo.in ) : Assessment of heavy metals in coastal water and fish samples from Kalapet area, Pondicherry. Int J pharm Sci Res 2017, 8(2), 756-62.

Now days the potential toxic effect of heavy metals in the aquatic organisms has been intensively studied. The present study was aimed to determine the proximate composition and the heavy metal concentrations (Cd, Pb & Cr) of three different marine fish species Grey mullet (Mugil cephalus), Red snapper (Lutjanus sanguineus), and Indian sardine (Sardinella longiceps) along with the water sample collected from the southeast coast region located in Pondicherry state. These results revealed that the proximate composition of L. sanguineus had higher protein content (19.98%) and S. longiceps had higher fat content (10.03%), Fresh M. cephalus had higher moisture content (84.04%) whereas L. sanguineus had the highest ash content (2.59%) respectively. The metal concentration in seawater was found in the following order: Cr 0.91°0.04 <62> Cd 80°0.03 <62> Pb 0.08°0.01. The biomonitoring of the heavy metal concentration in the fish falls in the following order: Chromium 1.62°0.57 (Mugil cephalus) <62> 1.12°0.32 (Sardinella longiceps) <62> 0.90°0.04 (Lutjanus sanguineus). Lead 0.17°0.04 (Sardinella longiceps) <62> 0.33°0.07 (Lutjanus sanguineus) <62> 0.33°0.07 (Mugi cephalus). Cadmium 1.87°0.25 (Mugi cephalus) <62> 0.43°0.28 (Sardinella longiceps)<62> 0.14°0.09 (Lutjanus sanguineus). This investigation indicates that there was a significant difference (p<60>0.05) in the concentration of lead (Pb), chromium (Cr) and cadmium (Cd) in different fish species and sea water. The results of sea water analysis shows that the heavy metals concentration was present within the permissible level recommended by WHO and FAO.

37 ref

016665   Mallika K B;Maheshwara Babu;Rajesh N L; Polisgowdar B S;Srinivasareddy G V (Soil and Water Engineering Dep, College of Agriculture, University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur-584 104, Email: mallika496@gmail.com) : Quantitative morphometric analysis of Rangapur watershed using remote sensing and geographical information system (GIS) in middle Krishna basin of Raichur District, India. Ecol Envir Conserv 2017, 23(1), 451-9.

Rangapur watershed is a constituent of the middle Krishna river basin, Raichur district, Karnataka state, India, - 101 - covering an area of 2079 ha, representing seasonally dry tropical climate. The study area boundary was extracted from Survey of India (SoI) topomap of 1:50000 scale, by joining the ridge points. The recent changes are updated with the help of IRS-P6 LISS-III (DoA; 16 Nov 2011) satellite imagery. The drainage map is prepared with the help of Geographical Information System (GIS) tool and then morphometric parameters such as linear, areal and relief aspects of the watershed were determined. These dimensionless and dimensional parametric values are inerpreted to understand the watershed characteristics. The dendritic drainage pattern is identified and drainage density of the watershed is 2.79 km km^-2 indicating moderate drainage density and also found elongation ratio of 0.70, and circularity ratio 0.75, which indicates that the watershed is elongated in shape with low discharge runoff and has high permeability in subsoil.

7 illus, 7 tables, 29 ref

016664   Maina W;Mundia C N (Institute of Geomatics, GIS and Remote Sensing, Dedan Kimathi Univ of Technology, PO Box 657-10100. Njeri, Kenya, Email: annembu@gmail.com) : Impact of land use land cover change and climate variability on pastoral grazing resources in Kajiado county, Kenya. Int J Geomatics Geosci 2016, 7(1), 104-15.

In the recent past, important land tenure changes have occurred in marginal land in Kenya occupied by pastoralists, characterized by sub-division and fragmentation of communal grazing into individual smaller parcels. Overgrazing of the grazing lands has led to further vegetation degradation in form of bush encroachment and thickening. These types of vegetation degradation have had an overall effect of loss of grass cover and hence loss of grazing capacity by livestock. The objective of this study was to analyze land use/land cover change and climate variability and their relationship and their effect on grazing resources. Gis and Remote sensing are effective tools for characterizing land cover and analyzing change in biomass. This study identifies the relationship between NDVI, rainfall and temperature. Supervised classification was carried out with change detection to evaluate the changes that have taken place in the last 30 years and different land cover classes were identified. NDVI values were calculated and temperature and rainfall surfaces were generated to understand their performance in the three decades and how they have affected pastoral resources. The overall results indicated that there has been a downward trend in vegetation condition over the last 30 years which has affected the livestock productivity of the area. There has been reduction of pastoral resources while the temperatures have increased with low records of rainfall. This has given rise to low vegetation index values which show that the remaining grassland have poor performance. This implies that well defined policies ought to be formulated to help secure pastoral livelihoods since a continuation of this trend could mean collapse of pastoralists as a means of livelihood.

11 illus, 1 table, 11 ref

016663   Kuswara K M;Dirawan G D (Study Program of Civil Engineering Education, Faculty of Teachers Trai, University of Nusa Cendana, Kupang, Indonesia, Email: bolly_mahendra@yahoo.co.id) : Prediction on the population and land need for housing using dynamic models. Ecol Envir Conserv 2017, 23(1), 118-28.

This research is about prediction on population and land the need applying dynamic model as a result of building outside circle main road. The research therefore aims to predict 1) the population increase due to road building, and 2) the need of land for housing building, by using Sim Power Program. The obtained result is, there is population increase at 4.4%, and the very main factor that has made the population increase is in migrating people (immigrants), where the prediction of population number of Sikumana (an administrative village) at the initial year is 15.791, while at the ending year, that is after 30 years, is 58.466 people. The prediciton on land need for house - 100 - building, based on actual population growth after 30 years, is 168,4547 ha. The minimum scenario predicts that population growth at 2,1% is still able to provide land until the year of 75th. The optimum scenario at 3,5%, Sikumana is still able to provide land need for housing until the year of 46th. It is far different from maximum scenario at 6,41% that Sikumana is able to provide land need 234 ha for housing until the year 25th, that is in 2037, including the dry field (for secondary crops like vegetables) of 242,5 ha. The road building, population growth, land need, and land lack (limitation) are integral components which are dynamic. The very important thing to be considered is the process of balanced or unbalanced change from time to time, so it is very necessary to have holistic and comprehensive policy and planning.

10 illus, 8 tables, 16 ref

016662   Khare U;Thakur P (Geograpy Research Centre and Post Graduate Dep, Nowrosjee Wadia College, Pune, Email: khare.ujjwala@gmail.com) : Assessing the impact of it parks on surrounding villages using GIS: A case study of Hinjewadi and Talwade IT park Pune. Int J Geomatics Geosci 2016, 7(1), 93-103.

The expansion of urban areas is common in metropolitan cities on India. Pune also has experienced rapid growth in the fringe areas of the city. This is mainly on account of the development of the Information Technology (IT) Parks. These IT Parks have been established in different parts of Pune city. They include Hinjewadi, Kharadi, Talwade and others like the IT parks in Magarpatta area. This area has been undergoing rapid changes in land use in the last few years. The changes in the land use that have occurred in areas surrounding Hinjewadi and Talwade IT parks during the last two decades have been studied by analyzing the LANDSAT images of different time periods. The satellite images of the 1992, 2001, 2011 and 2015 were analyzed to detect the temporal changes in the land use and land cover. This paper attempts to study the changes in land use/land cover which has taken place in these villages in the last two decades. Such a study can be done effectively with the help of remote sensing and GIS techniques. The tertiary sector has experienced a rapid growth especially during the last decade near the IT Park. The land use of study area has been analysed using the ground truth applied to the satellite images for these years. Using the digital image processing techniques, the satellite images were then classified and land use/land cover maps were derived, some of which include agricultural land, water bodies, barren land, fallow land and settlements. There has been a major change in the area under cultivation due to the establishment of the IT Park. There is also a phenomenal change in the percentage of area under settlements and barren land. These changes will have an impact on the socio-economic landscape of the region.

7 illus, 5 tables, 9 ref

016661   Jyotishi M;Singh R K;Sonwane K;Padegaonkar S (Remote Sensing Applications Centre, Madhya Pradesh Council of Science & Technology, Bhopal, Email: mjyotishi@hotmail.com) : Role of remote sensing & GIS in forest fire zonation in pachmarhi biosphere reserve of Madhya Pradesh. Ultra Scient phys Sci-Sect B 2017, 29(1-4), 42-5.

Forest fires are a big threat to physical environment. It not only change the land use/ land cover pattern, vegetation type and cover, ecosystem, biodiversity of the area, but also harm the wealth, property, money, health even the life of the people in that area. In total, forest fire has great concern on human health and on the socio-economic situation of affected countries. It also has profound impacts on the chemical environment too by changing the composition of air, formation of clouds, increase in degree and duration of global temperature and all these in total, effect the climate change by producing toxic and harmful gasses in the environment. Remote sensing data is most promising data for such work as it have synoptic and repetitive coverage and mapping can be done at a lesser cost and shortest time than any conventional methods. Remote sensing technique together with GIS has been emphasized for mapping variables and integrating the same for generation of fire risk zonation maps in representative wildlife habitats of Madhya Pradesh. Satty's Analytical Hierarchical Approach (AHP) is very effective for the development of models as it is a multi-parametric and logical one. Various spatial and non-spatial layers can be utilized analyzed in it and effective result can be synthesis. - 99 - Overall 2.5% of the study area comes under very high risk zone and 53.8% as high risk zone, which shows a high need for fire aversion. Easily accessible areas which are more vulnerable of fire and most of them are deliberate because of anthropogenic reasons. Vegetation is in better condition at high elevations in contrast with the lower elevations, purely because of accessibility. An ggregate are of 7.1% is either under low or low fire hazard.

3 illus, 29 ref

016660   Jain S K;Nayak P C;Singh Y;Chandniha S K (NO, National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee-247 667, Email: s_k_jain@yahoo.com) : Trends in rainfall and peak flows for some river basins in India. Curr Sci 2017, 112(8), 1712-26.

The aim of the present study is to examine the trends in magnitude and intensity of precipitation and peak floods of different magnitudes for seven major river basins in India. Data pertaining to daily flows for about 30-odd years and precipitation for 61 years (from 1951 to 2012) were analysed. Linear trends were calculated for the number of rainy days, rainfall intensity and occurrence of flood peaks for all basins. Using the Sen's slope estimator, it was found that annual peak rainfall increases for most of the basins in India. From the Mann-Kendall test and Sen's slope, it was found that the Cauvery and Brahamani and Baitarani basins show a rising trend in the number of rainy days, but the trend was falling for five other basins. When the basins were classified as mountains and plains, it was found that the number of daily rainfall events of different magnitudes was more in the mountains compared to the plains. The rivers which flow from west to east direction have more rainy days compared to those which flow towards the west. It was observed that in general the number of rainy days was falling while the number of intense events was increasing. The number of flood peaks of smaller magnitude in different decades showed slight falling trend. It was also found that there was falling or no trend for severe floods. Anthropogenic activities (construction of storage reservoirs, diversions, urbanization, land-use change, and soil and water conservation measures, etc.) have probably affected the generation of peak floods in the rivers of India. River regulation through storage reservoirs in the past 50 years has resulted in the reduction of peak flows. Hence with the same rainfall, the flood peaks would have increased under virgin conditions.

12 illus, 5 tables, 62 ref

016659   Islam M S;Nasreen M;Huq H (Institute of Disaster Management and Vulnerability Studies, Univ of Dhaka and Assistant Professor, Center for Sustainable Development, Univ of Liberal Arts Bangladesh, Email: shafiqul.islam@ulab.edu.bd) : Local knowledge and practices can help in drought prediction and extreme weather management. Indian J Tradl Knowledge 2017, 16(3), 448-53.

Local knowledge and practices can help people in drought prediction and extreme weather management. The study was carried out to elicit and document local knowledge use in drought prediction and weather extremes management. Focus group discussions were used for this study. The appearance of certain insects, birds, animals and indication of weather are all seen as important signals of change with respect to timing and seasonality of natural phenomena that are well understood in traditional knowledge systems. The lying of pigeon on the ground by spreading its feathers is considered as the sign of drought. The sound of wild cat with dhul was also indicates the notice of drought. If the west sky appeared with bright red colour during sunset, that also warn the drought. Termites den and mound in dry soil was thought as the hint of immense drought and termites den and mound in wet soil was looked as the indication of immediate rainfall. People from Hindu families organized frog's marriage to end drought. They find that local knowledge and practices are very much useful in drought prediction and management.

4 tables, 24 ref

016658   Hema S;Subramani T (Civil Engineering Dep, Sri Krishna College of Technology, Coimbatore-641 042, Email: hemaenvironment@gmail.com) : Application of remote sensing & Gis for demarcation of groundwater potential zones in a part of Cauvery river basin, South India. Ecol Envir Conserv 2017, 23(1), 217-27.

Surface water sources are rather inadequate in peninsular India to fulfil the demand and have to be supplemented with groundwater. Productivity through groundwater is quite high as compared to surface water. Cauvery basin is one of the best regulated and fully exploited basins and no documented estimates of groundwater are available for the basin in the central part of Tamil Nadu region. The present study is an attempt to delineate the groundwater potential zones in the central part of Cauvery river basin, South India using integrated approach of Remote Sensing and GIS techniques. Various geological and geo-morphological factors play a major role in the occurrence, movement and potential of groundwater sources. Survey of India (SOI) Topographic maps and LANDSAT TM satellite images were used to prepare various thematic layers such as geology, geomorphology, drainage pattern, lineaments, soil and slope, which influence the occurrence, movement, yield and quality of groundwater. All these themes and their individual features were then assigned weights according to their relative importance in groundwater occurrence. The thematic layers are then integrated using ERDAS image processing software and by employing raster calculator tools in ArcGIS platform, a composite groundwater potential index (GWPI) for the study area was generated on the basis of which the overall groundwater potential map was produced. Three categories of groundwater potential zones were delineated as poor; moderate and high. Groundwater occurrence is categorized as 'poor' in 63.34% of the study area which substantiates artificial recharge to augment groundwater in the region.

11 illus, 1 table, 29 ref

016657   Garg S;Singh S K (Research Scholar, Environmental Engineering Dep, Delhi Technological Univ, Delhi, Email: shuchitagarg92@gmail.com) : Modeling of arsenic transport in groundwater using MODFLOW: A case study. Int J Geomatics Geosci 2016, 7(1), 56-81.

Analysis of groundwater flow and transport processes of arsenic in English Bazar block of Malda district, located in West Bengal is presented in this study. The objectives of the analysis are: to simulate water and arsenic movement using a 3D solute transport model, to study variation of hydraulic heads in the groundwater of English Bazar Block, Malda district, West Bengal using MODFLOW and to study distribution and movement of arsenic in the groundwater of English Bazar Block, Malda district, West Bengal using MT3D. The objectives are addressed by simulation of steady and transient groundwater flow using the US Geological Survey three-dimensional finite difference code, MODFLOW, and the threedimensional advective-dispersive transport code, MT3D.

24 illus, 2 tables, 89 ref

016656   Gantait V V (NO, Zoological Survey of India, M-Block, New Alipur, Kolkata-700 053, Email: v.gantait@rediffmail.com) : Antarctica: the southernmost continent of the planet earth. J envir Sociobiol 2016, 13(1), 81-90.

Antarctica is the last wilderness of our planet and the southernmost continent of the earth. This pristine and beautiful continent is the fifth largest one in the world. It is surrounded by the Southern Ocean, comprising of three Oceans: the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. It is an icy continent of the earth because more than 98% of its land area is covered by ice and remaining 2% is only the exposed area occupied by rocks and lakes. Almost 70% of the worlds freshwater are accumulated within this ice-cap which may as thick as 4 km. So it is nothing but a white landmass of the globe and may called as the 'White Continent of the Earth'. It is the highest continent of the planet with an average elevation of about 2300 meter. It is the coldest and windiest continent, practically a desert due to very little amount of snowfall and without any rainfall, really inaccessible for all practival purposes. Antarctica is a unique place of the earth having 6 months continuous day and another 6 months continuous night in a year. It is a continent for all but for none without any permanent inhabitants and a place of peace, tranquillity and science. It controls the key of the global climate pattern. Due to thick blanket of ice covering the huge landmass of the continent and its inaccssible and inhospitable climate Antarctica has remained as an unexplored area of immense curiosity, always stimulating the adventurous instinct of mankind. Antarctica provides a unique environment to study the interactions of glaciations and climate without human interferences. The mixing process between cold and warm waters in the Southern Ocean demarcates the 'Antarctic Convergence' having the unique physical, chemical and biological characteristics. The natural resources of Antarctica are the common heritage of mankind. Becoming a more or less unexplored part of the world, Antarctica holds promising possibilities and challenges for scientific investigations and economic gains. The continent holds scientific interests for global research projects. It is nothing but a 'Mysterious Continent of the Earth' and for all practical purposes is still 'A Terra Incognita'.

18 illus, 6 ref

016655   Das T;Chakraborty S;Samanta K (School of Eceanographic Studies, Jadavpur Univ, Jadavpur, Raja S.C. Mallick Road, Kolkata-700 032, Email: samanta.kaberi@gmail.com) : Urban sprawl and urban growth detection analysis: A comparative study: A comparative study of Kolkata municipal corporation and Haora municipal corporation. Int J Geomatics Geosci 2016, 7(1), 82-92.

The present paper highlights a comparative study between Kolkata and Haora Municipal Corporation on the basis of urban issues urban growth and urban sprawl. This study aims to quantify the urban sprawl and growth using some statistical techniques and GIS and Remote Sensing techniques. In this study built-up area of Kolkata and Haora is derived from three temporal satellite imageries on which several statistical techniques like Shannon Entropy, Weights of Evidence and Pearson's Chi-Square Method are applied to analyze the urban growth and sprawl. The result shows overall increasing urban sprawl for the city of Kolkata and Howrah with time.

10 illus, 7 tables, 7 ref

016654   Bazarbayev A;Bayekenova M;Nabiollina M; Zulpykharov B;Amanbayev A (NO, Non-Profit Joint-Stock Company Kazakh National Agrarian University Alm, Abay Prospect 8 050010, Kazakhstan, Email: abazarbayev48@mail.ru) : Damage assessment from the wave of break along the Bartogay Reservoir. Ecol Envir Conserv 2017, 23(1), 470-7.

The article represents a brief analysis of the calculation methods of the wave of break of the water reservoir earth dam and the engineering and technical characteristics of the Bartogay Reservoir. The internal reasons of failures of hydraulic structure (HS) were revealed according to the results of the field studies and the main scenarios of occurrence of the wave of break and the possible consequences of the dam break of the Bartogay Reservoir are provided. The calculation of the wave of break of the Bartogay Reservoir was made according to the method of the Military and Engineering Academy of the Russian Federation Ministry of Civil Defence and Dmergency Response. According to the results of the field studies performed in the downstreams of the water reservoir, and also using the large scale maps of the scale 1:25,000 and the materials of satellite photographs, the flood zones from the wave of break were marked on the map and the list of flooded objects in the downstream of the Bartogay Reservoir was specified.

2 illus, 1 table, 13 ref

016653   Abach R O;Ngigi M M (NO, Institute of Geomatics, GIS and Remote Sensing, Dedan Kimathi Univ of Technology, Email: wuodnam@gmail.com) : Land suitability study for rice growing in Kisumu county. Int J Geomatics Geosci 2016, 7(1), 33-42.

Best use of available land resources for long term agricultural practice for analysis is a basic necessity to attain optimum agricultural production. In Kenya, rice being among consumed food crops but with low production rate does not meet the demands; and to alleviate this deficit there is need to identify more sites to cultivate rice crop. In locating more sites for rice - 95 - farming, climate, physical and soil factors were considered. The study seeks to create a GIS model for use in locating suitable sites for rice farming. In order to achieve this goal, both remote sensing, geographical information system (GIS) tools based on multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) approach and analytical hierarchy process (AHP) were employed. Criteria variables for calculating the weights are climate, topography, soil pH, soil nutrients, soil depth, soil drainage and soil texture based on agronomist experts' opinions. The analysis was carried out using application of analysis tools in the ArcGIS and obtained results indicate that 21.05% of the agricultural land is highly suited for rice farming, 41.06% is moderately suitable and 18.46% is marginally suitable. The model developed if adopted could improve the planning, locating and precisely recognizing the additional sites for rice planting.

11 illus, 2 tables, 6 ref

015783   Wang Q;Wang Y;Liu Z;Guo S (NO, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China, Email: wangqing@mail.iggcas.ac.cn) : Anisotropic multi-component seismic identification of gas hydrate in deep water environments of Shenhu area in South China sea. Indian J Geomar Sci 2017, 46(3), 453-61.

Gas hydrate bearing zone are significantly affected by anisotropy in Shenhu area, South China Sea. The research takes the changing velocity field of sea water and anisotropic elastic parameters into account to models for simulation. Full-wave field forward simulation data with different saturation of gas hydrate has been generated. Anisotropy field separation method is used to provide more accurate seismic data of pp and ps waves. Study shows that anisotropy has a significant impact on multi-component AVA characteristics, the values of gradient and polarity reversal angle. In addition, multi-component sweetness seismic attribute can be used as significant seismic attribute to identify gas hydrate reservoirs.

14 illus, 2 tables, 26 ref