000373   NIAN X, LIU X, GUO H, LIU Z, LU B, HAN F (Environment and Geography Dep, Macquarie Univ, NSW 2109, Australia, Email: xiuminglxm@163.com) : Zebra layers and palaeoenvironment of late miocene stratum in the Linxia basin, northwestern China. J Earth Syst Sci 2019, 128(1), 10.

Miocene strata in the Linxia Basin (Gansu, China) are usually interpreted as lacustrine sediments. However, the red–grey inter-beds known as ‘Zebra layers’ commonly tilt with respect to the terrain on the side slopes of the modern valley, which may be due to mantling palaeotopography (similar to aeolian loess). The anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility, which reflects the original arrangement of magnetic particles in sediments, was applied to investigate this phenomenon. The results showed that the tilting of the inter-beds in the side slope was due to mantle palaeotopography rather than soil creep, and that they were not deposited in a subaqueous environment. The grain sizes of sediments showed similar features as aeolian loess. We speculate that Miocene sediments were deposited by mantling the palaeotopography where aeolian materials accumulated. After deposition, flowing water submerged these strata, which caused the side slope to become gradually thinner from top to bottom and stirred the magnetic particles in these sediments. The grey colour of the Zebra layers may not be original, as it may be due to waterlogging and deoxidation after deposition; finally, when the iron oxides in these sediments were transformed or removed, their colours became grey. The formation of Zebra layers indicates that the Late Miocene palaeoenvironment of northwestern China was similar to that in which Quaternary aeolian loess was deposited.

5 illus, 37 ref

000389   ZHANG Y, ZHU S, ZHANG W, LIU H (China Univ of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou- 221116, China, Email: shyzhuqiao@163.com) : Analysis of deformation characteristics and stability mechanisms of typical landslide mass based on the field monitoring in the Three Gorges reservoir, China. J Earth Syst Sci 2019, 128(1), 9.

Based on a large number of data including GPS monitoring of surface deformation and inclinometer monitoring of internal deformation over 7 years, we find that the displacement of a typical landslide mass has the stepped evolution characteristics as: the variation of the reservoir water level under the different years and months in the Three Gorges Reservoir and the deformation of landslide mass surges in the flood season. On the contrary, the deformation of landslide mass slows down in the non-flood season. Especially, in 2007, 2009 and 2011, the fluctuation of the surface monitoring displacement is more intense than that in the other years. In addition, the whole landslide mass has a characteristic of the trial-type sliding. The surface displacement is greater than the internal displacement. Based on that, deformation characteristics, stability mechanisms and the influencing factors of landslide mass are studied deeply. The results show that the drawdown of the water level of the Three Gorges Reservoir region is the main controlling factor of the deformation of the landslide mass. The results of the study have a significant value of reference on the stability analysis of landslide mass under the similar engineering geological conditions.

12 illus, 28 ref

000368   MANDAL P, BISWAS K, PRASAD A (CSIR – National Geophysical Research Institute, Telangana - 500 007, Email: prantik@ngri.res.in) : Source characteristics of the upper mantle 21 May, 2014 Bay of Bengal earthquake of M_w5.9. J Earth Syst Sci 2019, 128(1), 8.

We measure source parameters for the 21 May, 2014 Bay of Bengal earthquake through inversion modeling of S-wave displacement spectra from radial–transverse–vertical (RTZ) components recorded at ten broadband stations in the eastern Indian shield. The average source parameters are estimated using estimates from seven near stations (within epicentral distances ≤500 km). The average seismic moment and source radius are determined to be 1.0×10¹⁸ N-m and 829 m, respectively, while average stress drop is found to be 76.5 MPa. The mean corner frequency and moment magnitude are calculated to be 1.6 ± 0.1 and 5.9 ± 0.2 Hz, respectively. We also estimated mean radiated energy and apparent stress, which are found to be 6.1×10¹³ joules and 1.8 MPa, respectively. We observe that mean E_s/M_o estimate of 5.5×10⁻⁵ is found to be larger than the global average for oceanic strike-slip events. This observation along with large stress drop and apparent stress estimates explains the observed remarkably felt intensity data of the 2014 event. The full waveform moment tensor inversion of the band-passed (0.03–0.12 Hz) broadband displacement data suggests the best fit for the multiple point sources on a plane located at 65 km depth, with a moment magnitude 6.4, and a focal mechanism with strike 318^o, dip 87^o, and rake 34^o.

7 illus, 3 tables, 47 ref

000361   HUSSAIN Z, KHAN S, KHAN M A, WASEEM M, AHMED W (Peshawar Univ, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa- 25130, Pakistan, Email: sarfraz_qau@yahoo.com) : Mapping sediment thickness of the Abbottabad basin, Pakistan. J Earth Syst Sci 2019, 128(1), 7.

The Abbottabad basin is mainly composed of different loose and indurated sediments such as fine to medium grain silt and clay and large to medium sized boulders and cobbles, occupying a low land between the hills. These sediments are primarily stream deposits and variably compacted in the form of rock, suggested name Havelian group after their maximum thickness into Havelian area. Numerous streams converge at the Abbottabad intermontane basin from the north–northeast and join to form a single channel that passes through a narrow gorge on the western side of the Sirban hill. Geomorphically, the Abbottabad city is underlain by a thick sequence of loose Quaternary–Recent alluvial sediments, making it vulnerable to seismic hazards. This research determines the sediment thickness for the Abbottabad basin using a geophysical approach. In this regard, thirteen lithologic profiles were developed in the Abbottabad basin at different locations. These profiles were ultimately combined to develop a Fence diagram showing a generalized stratigraphic pattern of the Quaternary–Recent unconsolidated sediments in the basin. Standard Penetration Test (SPT) and H/V analysis were used to characterize the site and shear wave velocity at a different location of Abbottabad basin and surrounding area. Based on H/V data (using Tromino Engy Plus instrument) Abbottabad basin and immediate surroundings have an average fundamental frequency from 0.5 to 9 Hz, which represents the deposition of alluvial sediments (i.e., stiff and dense soil).

7 illus, 1 table, 16 ref

000365   KHALIQ A H, WASEEM M, KHAN S, AHMED W, KHAN M A (Peshawar Univ, Peshawar, KP 25130, Pakistan, Email: sarfraz_qau@yahoo.com) : Probabilistic seismic hazard assessment of Peshawar District, Pakistan. J Earth Syst Sci 2019, 128(1), 6.

The seismic provisions for the Building Code of Pakistan were revised after the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and these have resulted in the introduction of a macrozonation ground motion hazard map in the seismic provisions. The macrozonation map proposes a peak ground acceleration (PGA) for the return period of 475 yr for Pakistan for flat rock sites. After the macrozonation, the next step is to develop the surface ground motion assessment studies for the cities, districts and tehsils of Pakistan. In this study, the probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) approach is used for the Peshawar District. The PSHA, consistent with the classical Cornell approach, is carried out to obtain the seismic hazard curves and uniform hazard spectra of PGA values for the return periods of 150, 475, 975 and 2475 yr at a grid spacing of 0.1^◦ × 0.1^◦. The PGA for Peshawar at 150, 475, 975 and 2475 yr return period is estimated as 0.23, 0.34, 0.39 and 0.45 g, respectively, for rock flat outcrop site conditions. The surface ground motion maps proposed in this study incorporate the local soil effects using amplification factors based on shear wave velocity obtained as a proxy to the topographic slope. The resultant ground surface hazard assessment proposes the PGA value of 0.63 g for the return period of 475 yr and 0.89 g for the return period of 2475 yr. The maps developed in the current study are important inputs for the structural designing, risk assessment and land use planning of the Peshawar District.

13 illus, 8 tables, 70 ref

000376   PUTTY M R Y, KAVYA B M (The National Institute of Engineering, Mysuru - 570 008, Email: puttyyadupathi@gmail.com) : The worthiness of using information on land-use–land-cover in watershed models for Western Ghats: A case study. J Earth Syst Sci 2019, 128(1), 5.

The variable source area (VSA) theory of runoff generation mechanisms has been proved to hold good in many wet mountainous areas, decades ago. According to this theory, infiltration-excess overland flow is limited to very small areas in mountainous and forested catchments. But, the perception that the land surface characteristics, including land-use–land-cover (LULC), form the major factors influencing the response of the catchment to rainfall has dominated the thought in hydrology to such an extent that models based on the overland flow theory continue to be used even in such areas. The present study was taken up in order to understand the worthiness of using parameters, including the curve number (CN), that are based on the physiographic characteristics of the catchment in a watershed model designed to estimate runoff in the wet mountainous areas of the Western Ghats in southern India, where the VSA theory has been proved to hold good. The study has been accomplished by applying the NITK model developed for estimating runoff using daily rainfall data. This model is believed to estimate reliably the streamflow in the region using parameter values that can be computed from catchment characteristics. In the present study, it is applied on three gauged streams in the region of Western Ghats in Karnataka. Initially, the performance of the model has been studied with the parameters fixed using the catchment characteristics. Later, the model has been used as a tool to test hypotheses concerning the catchment response, by varying the parameter values, adopting a trial and error procedure. Initial results showed that the model performance is poor as the coefficients of efficiency vary between –66.9 and 82 %. The sensitivity analysis carried out subsequently showed that the model parameters are required to be altered greatly for good performance and that the model simulations are not sensitive to the parameter CN. Further, the performance of this model was compared with that of a VSA model, known to suit the region well. This showed that even after all the changes in the model parameters, the model results are not highly reliable. Hence, in order to understand the reasons for the poor performance of the model, a technique was developed to compute the CN values that would be actually necessary to simulate daily direct runoff (DRO) reliably in this method, the daily values of CN are computed by applying backwards the expression for runoff on the DRO estimated by the VSA model. The variations in the values of CN computed using this method are then studied. It is found that the variations in daily CN are high and highly random too, whereas the NITK model uses only three fixed values of CN. It is thus concluded that factors other than those on which the CN is popularly believed to depend control the runoff generation in the region and that influence of LULC on runoff is not discernible at all from the kind of data that is commonly available.

6 illus, 7 tables, 34 ref

000381   SHARMA K, ASHRIT R, EBERT E, MITRA A, BHATLA R, IYENGAR G, RAJAGOPAL E N (National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting, Sector-62, Noida - 201 309, Email: kuldeep@ncmrwf.gov.in) : Assessment of met office unified model (UM) quantitative precipitation forecasts during the Indian summer monsoon: Contiguous rain area (CRA) approach. J Earth Syst Sci 2019, 128(1), 4.

The operational medium range rainfall forecasts of the Met Office Unified Model (UM) are evaluated over India using the Contiguous Rainfall Area (CRA) verification technique. In the CRA method, forecast and observed weather systems (defined by a user-specified rain threshold) are objectively matched to estimate location, volume, and pattern errors. In this study, UM rainfall forecasts from nine (2007–2015) Indian monsoon seasons are evaluated against 0.5^◦ × 0.5^◦ IMD–NCMRWF gridded observed rainfall over India (6.5^◦−38.5^◦N, 66.5^◦−100.5^◦E). The model forecasts show a wet bias due to excessive number of rainy days particularly of low amounts (<1 mm d⁻¹). Verification scores consistently suggest good skill the forecasts at threshold of 10 mm d⁻¹, while moderate (poor) skill at thresholds of <20 mm d⁻¹ (<40 mm d⁻¹). Spatial verification of rainfall forecasts is carried out for 10, 20, 40 and 80 mm d⁻¹ CRA thresholds for four sub-regions namely (i) northwest (NW), (ii) southwest (SW), (iii) eastern (E), and (iv) northeast (NE) sub-region. Over the SW sub-region, the forecasts tend to underestimate rain intensity. In the SW region, the forecast events tended to be displaced to the west and southwest of the observed position on an average by about 1^◦ distance. Over eastern India (E) forecasts of light (heavy) rainfall events, like 10 mm d⁻¹ (20 and 40 mm d⁻¹) tend to be displaced to the south on an average by about 1^◦ (southeast by 1−2^◦). In all four regions, the relative contribution to total error due to displacement increases with increasing CRA threshold. These findings can be useful for forecasters and for model developers with regard to the model systematic errors associated with the monsoon rainfall over different parts of India.

11 illus, 2 tables, 44 ref

000366   KHAN Z A, TEWARI R C (Geology Dep, Sri Jai Narain P.G. Coll, Lucknow - 226 010, Email: ram.tewari9@gmail.com) : Lithofacies correlation in Early Permian fluvial Gondwana stratigraphy of southeastern India using cross-association statistics. J Earth Syst Sci 2019, 128(1), 3.

The cross-association statistical technique is used to correlate major and minor lithofacies and the corresponding facies areas in the widely separated two borehole log profiles of Early Permian succession from the Kaghaznagar and Kothagudem sub-basins of Pranhita–Godavari Graben (PGG) of southeastern India. The one-to-one correspondence of the cross-association of major lithofacies and facies areas is strikingly similar and matches significantly more than expected. It indicates the continuity of single homogenous succession deposited under an identical depositional environment in the widely separated two sub-basins of PGG. However, the dissimilarity between the micro-lithofacies, on the other hand, suggests a different sub-environment through space and time. The significant correlation of major lithofacies and facies areas of the two sub-basins suggests meandering stream depositional facies model of the Early Permian Barakar succession in PGG. It may also provide information regarding the exploration of coal. The dissimilarities of cross-association at the micro-lithofacies level may reflect the differential subsidence through space and time.

2 illus, 2 tables, 22 ref

000372   NAGAVENI C, KUMAR K P, RAVIBABU M V (National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRD&PR), Hyderabad, Telangana, Email: mvravibabu.nird@gov.in) : Evaluation of TanDEMx and SRTM DEM on watershed simulated runoff estimation. J Earth Syst Sci 2019, 128(1), 2.

In hydrological models, digital elevation models (DEMs) are being used to extract stream network and delineation of the watershed. DEMs represent elevation surfaces of earth landscape. Spatial resolution refers to the dimension of the cell size representing the area covered on the ground. Spatial resolution is the main parameter of a DEM. The grid cell size of raster DEM has significant effects on derived terrain variables such as slope, aspect, curvature, the wetness index, etc. Selection of appropriate spatial resolution DEM depends on other input data being used in the model, type of application and analysis that needs to be performed, the size of the database and response time. Each DEM contains inherent errors due to the method of acquisition and processing. The accuracy of each DEM varies with spatial resolution. The present paper deals with Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), TerraSAR-X add-on for Digital Elevation Measurements (TanDEM DEMs) and compares their watershed delineation, slope, stream network and height with ground control points. It was found that the coarse resolution DEMderived attributes and terrain morphological characteristics were strongly influenced by DEM accuracy. The objective of the present study is to investigate the impact of DEM resolution on topographic parameters and runoff estimation using TanDEM-12, TanDEM-30 and SRTM-90 m with the Soil and Water Assessment Tool. The analysis of the results using different DEM resolutions gave a varied number of sub-basins, Hydrological Response Units (HRUs) and watershed areas. The results were optimum at a specific threshold value as extraction of drainage network has a significant influence on simulated results. The accuracy of DEM is important, as the source of construction of DEM is the main factor causing uncertainty in the output. The results showed variable amounts of runoff at the watershed level, which may be attributed to varied stream lengths, minimum and maximum elevations and sub-basin areas.

7 illus, 5 tables, 31 ref

000371   MESHRAM R R, DORA M L, NAIK R, SHAREEF M, GOPALAKRISHNA G, MESHRAM T, BASWANI S R, RANDIVE K R (Petrology Div, Geological Survey of India, Nagpur, Maharastra, Email: dorageol@gmail.com) : A new find of calc-alkaline lamprophyres in Thanewasna area, Western Bastar Craton, India. J Earth Syst Sci 2019, 128(1), 1.

Lamprophyre dykes within the granitoid and charnockite are reported for the first time from the Western Bastar Craton, Chandrapur district, Maharashtra. It shows porphyritic–panidiomorphic texture under a microscope, characterised by the predominance of biotite phenocrysts with less abundance of amphibole and clinopyroxene microphenocryst. The groundmass is composed more of K-feldspars over plagioclase, amphiboles, clinopyroxene, biotite, chlorite, apatite, sphene and magnetite. The mineral chemistry of biotite and magnesio-hornblende is indicative of minette variety of calc-alkaline lamprophyre (CAL), which is further supported by preliminary major oxides and trace element geochemistry. This unique association of CAL with granitoid provides an opportunity to study the spatio-temporal evolution of the lamprophyric magma in relation to the geodynamic perspective of the Bastar Craton.

4 illus, 2 tables, 25 ref

000369   MANPOONG C, TRIPATHI S K (Forestry Dep, Mizoram Univ, Aizawl - 796 004, Email: chowlani18@gmail.com) : Soil properties under different land use systems of Mizoram, North East India. J Appl Nat Sci 2019, 11(1), 121-5.

Changes in land use and improper soil management have led to severe land degradation around the globe through the modification in soil physicochemical and biological process-es. This study aimed to assess the soil properties of different land-use system types. Soil samples (0-15 cm depth) were collected from five land uses; Rubber Plantation (RP), Oil Palm Plantation (OPP), Bamboo Forest (BF), Fallow Land (FL) and Natural Forest (NF) and analyzed for bulk density, soil texture, soil pH, soil moisture, soil carbon, total nitrogen, ammonium, nitrate, soil microbial biomass carbon, soil respiration. Soil pH was lower than 4.9 in all the sites indicating that the surface soil was highly acidic. Soil organic carbon  (SOC)  and total  nitrogen  (TN) values  ranged  from 2.02%  to  2.81% and  0.22%  to 0.3% respectively. Soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen  (TN)  and soil microbial biomass (SMBC) were highly affected by soil moisture. NH4⁺-N and NO3^--N ranged from 5.6 mg kg^-1  to  10.2  mg kg^-1 and  1.15  mg kg^-1 to 2.81 mg  kg^-1  respectively. NF soils  showed the  maximum  soil  microbial  biomass  carbon  (SMBC)  whereas  the  minimum  was  observed in BF with values ranging from 340  mg kg^-1 to 345 mg kg^-1. Basal respiration was highest in RP (375 mg CO₂ m^-2 hr^-1) and lowest in BF (224 mg CO₂ m^-2 hr^-1). The findings demonstrated  significant  effect  (p < 0.05)  of  land  use change  on soil  nutrient status  and organic  matter.  Findings  also  indicated  that  land  use  change  deteriorated  native  soil physicochemical  and  biological  properties,  but  that  land  restoration  practices  through longer fallow  period  (> 10 years) likely are  successful  in promoting the  recovery of some soil characteristics.

1 tables, 38 ref

000364   JOSEPH J, REDDY J, SAYANTAN D (Botany Dep, Bharathiar Univ, Coimbatore - 641 046, Email: johny.joseph@christuniversity.in) : Comparative study of soil properties and vegetation at various open dump and non-dumpsites in the Bengaluru city of Karnataka, India. J Appl Nat Sci 2019, 11(1), 76-87.

A comparative field studies on seven municipal dumpsites namely Agara 1 (12.917°N , 77.639°E), Agara 2 (12.922°N, 77.639°E), HSR depot (12.919°N, 77.644°E) , Koramangala Church (12.934°N, 77.626°E) , Koramanagla BDA (12.931°N, 77.625°E), Garvebhayipalya (12.897°N, 77.638°E) and Sanjay Gandhi hospital  (12.891°N, 77.601°E), and its adjoining non-dump sites were conducted to understand their soil characteristic features and the vegetation pattern. Soil characteristics were presented in terms of the physicochemical parameters and the vegetation patterns were presented in terms of the dominance using the ecological parameter Important Value Index (IVI). Soils at the dump sites showed higher mean electrical conductivity and pH values as compared to the non-dump sites. Though the mineral content showed higher mean value in the dump sites (except chloride), there is no significant variation in the higher total soluble solutes between dump and non-dump sites(P > 0.05) As per ANNOVA there was highly significant variation  in the heavy metal content between dump and non dumpsites (P < 0.01). With respect to vegetation analysis though 50 different species found across locations only 10 species viz Alternatheria sessile, Amaranthus spinose, Caesalpinia pulcherima, Ipomea acumilanata, Ipomea evolvulus, Parthenium hysterophorous Pisum sativum, Ricinis communis, Sida rombifolia and Solanum lycopersicum were found consistent across all locations irrespective of the seasons. Among these, A. sessile, R. communis and A. spinosa were found dominant based on the IVI values across seven locations which further can be studied for their potential for phyto remediating the land pollutants such as heavy metals. 

14 illus, 11 tables, 23 ref

000358   DWIVEDI D K, KALAIYA J H, SHARMA G R (Navsari Agricultural Univ, Navsari, Gujarat, Email: dhavaldwivedi42@gmail.com) : Forecasting monthly rainfall using autoregressive integrated moving average model (ARIMA) and artificial neural network (ANN) model: A case study of Junagadh, Gujarat, India. J Appl Nat Sci 2019, 11(1), 35-41.

The onset, withdrawal and quantity of rainfall greatly influence the agricultural yield, economy, water resources, power generation and ecosystem. Time series modelling has been extensively used in stochastic hydrology for predicting various hydrological processes. The principles of stochastic processes have been increasingly and successfully applied in the past three decades to model many of the hydrological processes which are stochastic in nature. Time lagged models extract maximum possible information from the available record for forecasting. Artificial neural network has been found to be effective in modelling hydrological processes which are stochastic in nature. The ARIMA model was used to simulate and forecast rainfall using its linear approach and the performance of the model was compared with ANN. The computational approach of ANN is inspired from nervous system of living beings and the neurons possess the parallel distribution processing nature. ANN has proven to be a reliable tool for modelling compared to conventional methods like ARIMA and therefore ANN has been used in this study to estimate rainfall. In this study, rainfall estimation of Junagadh has been attempted using monthly rainfall training data of 32 years (1980-2011) and testing data of 5 years (2012-2016). A number of ANN model structures were tested, and the appropriate ANN model was selected based on its performance measures like root mean square error and correlation coefficient. The correlation coefficient Seasonal ARIMA (1,0,0) (3,1,1) 12 and ANN back-propagation model (5-12-1) on the testing data was found to be 0.75 and 0.79 respectively. Seasonal ARIMA (1,0,0)(3,1,1)12 and ANN back-propagation model (5-12-1) were used for forecasting rainfall of 5 years (2017-2021).

13 illus, 5 tables, 11 ref

000367   KUMAR Y, SINGH R, KUMAR A, DAGAR C S (Agricultural Meteorology Dep, CCS Haryana Agricultural Univ, Hisar-125 004, Email: yogeshgujjar62@gmail.com) : Quantification of crop weather relationship and the effect of different planting dates on growth and yield of potato cultivars in a sub-tropical environment at Hisar. J Appl Nat Sci 2019, 11(1), 17-22.

Field experiments were carried out at research farm of Department of Agricultural Meteorology, CCSHAU, Hisar during Rabi seasons of 2016-17 to quantify crop weather relationship and the effect of different planting dates on growth and yield of potato cultivars in a sub-tropical environment at Hisar. The experimental field was adjacent to Agro-meteorological observatory at 29º 10' N latitude, 75º 46' E longitude and altitude of 215.2 m. The main plots treatments consisted four date of sowing viz. D₁- 8^th Oct., D₂-22^th Oct., D₃- 5^th Nov. and D₄- 23^rd Nov. The sub-plots treatment consisted of three varieties (V₁- Kufri Bahar, V₂- Kufri Pushkar and V₃- Kufri Surya). The forty eight treatment combinations were tested in split plot design with four replications. The results revealed that various growth and yield observations were recorded higher in second sown crop (22^th Oct.) as followed by other planting dates. The maximum tuber yield were produced in D₂ (20810.45 kg/ha) and it was least in D₄ (14525.46 kg/ha). Among the varieties, Kufri Pushkar recorded highest tuber yield (21478.06 kg/ha) followed by Kufri Bahar (17432.26 kg/ha) and Kufri Surya (15378.11 kg/ha). In crop weather relationship, Tuber yield and plant height were significantly positively correlated with rainfall (0.80 and 0.92) and rainy days (0.50 and 0.53). Evening relative humidity was also positively correlated with LAI (0.59) and tuber yield (0.78) of potato. Vegetables production is considered to be particularly important in satisfying world food demand. Specific research therefore is needed in order to evaluate the effects of environmental factors that crop encounters during its growth period and its production.

4 illus, 6 tables, 11 ref

000363   JENA S S, GHARAI M, MANDRE N R, VENUGOPAL R (Fuel and Mineral Engineering Dep, IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, Dhanbad, Jharkhand, Email: jenasilpasweta@gmail.com) : Mineralogical characterization and gravity separation of lean grade mixed copper ore of Malanjkhand deposit. Trans Indian Inst Met 2019, 72(1), 245–55.

An in-depth mineralogical characterization has been carried out to develop a suitable beneficiation process route for a low-grade copper ore. Characterization and preliminary gravity separation studies were undertaken on low-grade Malanjkhand mixed copper ore to remove siliceous gangue and improve the copper grade. The characterization results indicated that the mixed copper ore was of very low grade (0.48 % Cu) with a predominant amount of Quartz (74.12 %) and with a moderate amount of feldspar and mica. The presence of chalcopyrite and pyrite in minor quantity along with malachite in traces was noted. Preliminary experiments were performed in a Mozley mineral separator by varying flow rate, amplitude and time to discard maximum quantity of liberated quartz. The optimum values of the variables for the efficient pre-concentration were determined based on the separation efficiency. The characterization and preliminary separation studies indicated that gravity-based separation could be opted for the pre-concentration of such mixed copper ore.

5 illus, 4 tables, 31 ref

000374   PARVEEN S, TRIPATHI A K, PUNDIR A K (Bundelkhand Univ, Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, Email: arvindtripathi766@gmail.com) : Comparative study of physico-chemical properties of soil under different canopies in Jhansi. Int J Pharm Life Sci 2019, 10(1), 6025-30.

Soil properties and different land use system based on the result of study, variation in soil physic-chemical properties were observed. This variation in soil physic-chemical properties could be related to accumulation of organic matter due to leaf litter, frequent tillage properties, crop residues during harvesting process and use of organic manures etc. It is therefore recommended that appropriate and integrated land management options for different land use systems are required to sustain agricultural productivity with indulgence of trees to maintain environment and ecological balance as well. The information generated from the present study can lead to development of sustainable and ecologically stable land use system for Jhansi district of Bundelkhand region.

7 tables, 8 ref

000385   VARSHNEY R, JAMAL A (Mining Engineering Dep, Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu Univ), Varanasi-221 005, Email: ramita25j@gmail.com) : A multivariate statistical analysis approach for the assessment of water quality in Govind Ballabh Pant Sagar Reservoir. Rasayan J Chem 2019, 12(1), 251 - 6.

Reservoir water is one of the essential sources of water which plays a significant part in not only contributing a sufficient supply of water for industrial operations but it also acts as a source of drinking water. Therefore, contamination of it through industrial, irrigational or any other human intervention can pose a serious threat to it both qualitatively and quantitatively. In the present study, 14 physicochemical parameters of eight sampling sites served as the attribute database represented in form of the correlation matrix for each parameter taking participation in the study. Apart from this, the Water Quality Index of the sampling sites has been enumerated by combining these physicochemical parameters. Hierarchical Cluster Analysis was also performed for grouping the areas having similar grading of water quality index. The overall results indicate that most of the sampling sites were not suitable for drinking purpose and requires treatment of water before use.

4 illus, 2 tables, 15 ref

026387   GUPTA S, CHOPRA A K (Zoology and Environmental Science Dep, Gurukula Kangri Univ, Hardwar - 249 404 (Uttarakhand), Email: sandeesan@gmail.com) : Evaluation of ground water quality near Chandi Devi bridge solid waste dumping site at Haridwar City, (Uttarakhand), India : A case study. J Appl Nat Sci 2018, 10(2), 681- 9.

The present study observed groundwater quality around Chandi Devi bridge open dumping site at Hardwar (Uttarakhand), India. Five experimental sites viz. sites 2,3 and 5 (hand pumps) and two sites 4,6 (tubewells) within the vicinity of the dumpsite and a reference site viz. site 1 (hand pump) (Bilkeshwar temple) as a control about 5000 meter away, were selected to ascertain the influence of solid waste dumping on groundwater quality around the area. The study showed that physicochemical parameters viz temperature, colour, turbidity, pH, hardness, BOD, COD, fluoride and heavy metals ( lead and iron) of the ground water near the dumping sites-2,3,4,5,6 were higher than their counterpart parameters of the ground water at control site. However, arsenic was not detected in any sample of all the sites. The parameters viz., colour (2.08-3.49 hazen), turbidity (3.05-5.35 NTU), odour (agreeable), pH (7.46-7.80), fluoride (0.10-0.38 ppm), lead (0.00-0.032 ppm), iron (0.01-0.03 ppm) of ground water of all experimental sites were within permissible limits while the parameters BOD (3.73-3.21 ppm), hardness (240.41-203.15 ppm) at site-2, site-3 and DO (5.38- 6.28 ppm) of all experimental sites were not found within permissible limits as prescribed by Bureau of Indian standards (2012). Although water was safe for drinking which may be due to higher infiltration rate of river Ganga and Eastern Ganga Canal water but higher value of temperature (^oC), colour (hazen), turbidity (ppm), hardness (ppm), BOD (ppm), COD (ppm) fluoride (ppm), iron (ppm) and lead (ppm) at site- 2 was quite alarming. The study would help in making public awareness for waste sorting, adopting green technology and to predict level of contaminants in ground water produced by land filling dumping site.

2 illus, 2 tables, 41 ref

026396   KATARE S, JASROTIA P, PATIL S D, REZA M W, SAHARAN M S (Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research, Karnal, Email: poonamjasrotia@gmail.com) : Influence of sowing time and weather factors on seasonal dynamics of aphids in three wheat growing zones of India. J Agrometeorol 2018, 20(2), 134-8.

A study was conducted to evaluate the relative population abundance of foliar aphid on wheat at three locations (Karnal, Niphad and Kharibari) sown on three different dates during rabi season of 2013- 14 and 2014-15.The highest seasonal average population of aphids of 44.5 and 61.5 aphids per tiller at Karnal and Niphad, respectively were recorded on the crop sown during Ist fortnight of November and the lowest seasonal average population of 4.3 and 2.7 aphids per tillerat Karnal and Niphad, respectively were recorded on crop sown during 2nd fortnight of December. The studies indicated that early planted crop during November month provided the congenial weather conditions for aphid proliferation during crop growth period.

2 illus, 2 tables, 8 ref

026395   JOSHI K R, PARMAR D J, ROJASRA Y M (Anand Agricultural Univ, Anand - 388 110, Email: djparmar.a@gmail.com) : Studies of weather effect on frog-eye spot disease in bidi tobacco using logistics regression. J Agrometeorol 2018, 20(2), 131-3.

 The frog-eye spot (FES) disease caused by Cercospor anicotianae Ell. and Eve. is a major problem in both nursery as well as in the main field of bidi tobacco growing environments. Eight years data (2008-2015) on occurrence of disease and weather parameters were used for logistics regression analysis. The results indicated that sunshine hours (BSS) and minimum temperature (T_min) were positive and highly significant, whereas maximum temperature (T_max) and rainfall (R) were found negative and highly significant. Further results of odd ratio indicated that every increase in 1 unit in BSS and T_min, the risk of FES increases 1.7 and 1.4 times, respectively, whereas increase in 1 unit in T_max and rainfall, the risk of FES decreases at rate of 0.6 and 1.0 times, respectively.

3 ref

026394   DAR M U D, AGGARWAL R, KAUR S (Soil and Water Engineering Dep, PAU, Ludhiana, Email: mehrajudindar24@gmail.com) : Comparing bias correction methods in downscaling meteorological variables for climate change impact study in Ludhiana, Punjab. J Agrometeorol 2018, 20(2), 126-30.

Although regional climate models (RCMs) provide more reliable results for a regional impact study of climate change,however a considerable bias still exists that needs to be corrected before they are used for climate change research. In this study two correction functions using two methods viz. modified difference approach and linear scaling method were applied for local bias correction of T_max. T_min and rainfall data at monthly scales and validated to minimize the bias between the modelled (HAD GEM2-ES-GCM) and observed climate data at Ludhiana, Punjab. Correction functions derived using linear scaling method at monthly time scale for T_max, T_min and rainfall were found to be better than modified difference approach for bias correction of the weather data to bring it to close to observed data.

3 illus, 1 table, 9 ref

026393   BASU S, CHAKRABORTY P K, NATH R, CHAKRABORTY P K (Agronomy Dep, Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan Univ, Bhubaneswar, Email: shrabanibasu808@gmail.com) : Aerodynamic properties of green gram sown in different environments in Indo-Gangetic Plains of West Bengal. J Agrometeorol 2018, 20(2), 122-5.

Field experiments were conducted on green gram during spring-summer seasons of 2011 and 2012 with four dates of sowing and five varieties arranged in a strip-plot design to study the aerodynamic characteristics of green gram at BCKV, Kalyani, West Bengal. Micro-cup anemometers were placed at 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 m above the crop canopy on a wooden mast. The zero-plane displacement (d), roughness length (Z₀) and drag coefficient (C_d) were found to increase with crop age but the effect of dates of sowing was not prominent except at the final stage of growth. For a LAI value of 1.5, "d" values was 0.254 m and the "C_d" value was 0.015. Both the "C_d" and "d" increased with plant height and LAI. The "d" and "Z₀" had significant positive correlation with the total dry matter and crop growth rate irrespective of dates of sowing.

10 ref

026392   JALINDAR M K, RAO V P, RAMULU V, KUMAR K A, DEVI M U (Agronomy Div, Central Coffee Research Institute, Chikmagaluru- 577 117, Karnataka, Email: kishormote56@gmail.com) : Effectiveness of field water tube for standardization of alternate wetting and drying (AWD) method of water management in lowland rice (Oryza sativa L.). J Agrometeorol 2018, 20(2), 110-21.

A field study was conducted to discover the effectiveness of a field water tube as a practical indicator for water management in lowland rice (Oryza sativa L.). The field water tube was of 40 cm length and 15 cm in diameter so that the groundwater table could be easily visible. This tube with perforations was inserted into the ground until 20 cm protruded above soil level. It enabled monitoring of the water level inside the tube as and when the ponded water level drops to a certain permissible level, i.e. 5–15 cm-surface. Practical indicators used in the experiment to find out the effectiveness of the field water tube were water stress parameters, viz. soil penetration resistance, soil crack width, soil siltation depth and days needed for ponded water to drop to a designated level in the field water tube. Field trials revealed that with 5 cm submergence depth and a threshold of 5 or 10 cm water depth below the ground level in the field the water tube was found to be a safe alternate wetting and drying practice in view of the higher yield (7060–7210 kg ha^-1), considerable water saving (26.6–35.0 %) and higher water productivity (1.15–1.27 kg/m³). 

7 illus, 4 tables, 37 ref

026391   GOSWAMI B, HUSSAIN R, KUMAR P V, SAIKIA U S, BANARJEE S (ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Umiam- 793 103, Meghalaya, Email: ussaikia73@gmail.com) : Impact assessment of climate change on potato productivity in Assam using SUBSTOR-Potato model. J Agrometeorol 2018, 20(2), 105-9.

Potato tuber yield were simulated at Jorhat, Assam under various Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) scenarios for 2020, 2050 and 2080 using DSSAT SUBSTOR-Potato model. The model was calibrated and validated for three potato cultivars, viz., Kufri Jyoti, Kufri Pokhraj and Kufri Himalini with the experimental data collected during 2014-15 and 2015-16. Results revealed that if planting is delayed beyond November, all these cultivars are likely to record drastic reduction in tuber yield. Cultivar Kufri Himalini may incur tuber yield loss of 64 per cent in 2020 to 75 per cent in 2080, followed by Kufri Jyoti (57.6 % in 2020 to 71.5 % in 2080) and Kufri Pokhraj (45.2 % in 2020 to 56.2 % in 2080). Among the cultivars, Kufri Pokhraj may remain a viable cultivar up to 2050, but Kufri Himalini may lose its sustainability by 2020 itself. Hence, adjustment of planting time and development of improved adaptive potato cultivars only will ascertain future potato production in this region.

1 illus, 3 tables, 15 ref

026390   DUA V K, PATAHNIA R, KAPOOR T, SHARMA J, RANA A (ICAR-Central Potato Research Institute, Shimla- 171 001, Himachal Pradesh, Email: vkdua65@yahoo.co.in) : Climate change and potato productivity in Madhya Pradesh-Impact and adaptation. J Agrometeorol 2018, 20(2), 97-104.

The impact of climate change on potato productivity in Madhya Pradesh was analysed using WOFOST crop growth simulation model. The potato cultivars of three maturity groups viz., Kufri Badshah (late), Kufri Jyoti (medium) and Kufri Pukhraj (short) were selected. The study was carried out for 38 representative locations of the state. The study was done for baseline scenario (2000) and for future climate scenarios for the years 2020 and 2055 using A1FI scenario of temperature (SRES A1FI pathway) and atmospheric CO₂ (based on the Bern-CC model for A1FI scenario). Simulation revealed that although the increase in temperature is likely to reduce the yield by 10 to 11.4 per cent in 2020 and 22.9 to 27 per cent in 2055, a corresponding increase in CO₂ may increase the yields by 4.6 to 4.9 per cent in 2020 and 19.6 to 21 per cent in 2055. However, the combined effect of CO₂ and temperature will lead to a decline in productivity of Kufri Pukhraj by 7.6 per cent, followed by 7.3 per cent in Kufri Jyoti and 6.4 per cent in Kufri Badshah in 2020, with corresponding figures of 14.3, 12.8 and 10.9 per cent in 2055. Results, further revealed that the negative effect of climate change on potato productivity can be counter balanced to some extent by changing the dates of planting and/or selection of suitable varieties for the location, as it may bring down the reduction in yield from 3.7 to 0.7 per cent in 2020 and 7.7 to 3.3 per cent in 2055.

5 tables, 19 ref

026389   SANDEEP V M, RAO V U M, RAO B B, BHARATHI G, PRAMOD V P, CHOWDARY P S, PATEL N R, MUKESH P, KUMAR P V (Meteorology and Oceanography Dep, Andhra Univ, Visakhapatnam- 530 004) : Impact of climate change on sorghum productivity in India and its adaptation strategies. J Agrometeorol 2018, 20(2), 89-96.

Future climate change projections for India indicate distinct rise in temperature and increased variability in rainfall. This study aims to assess the impact of climate change on sorghum productivity in India in future climatic periods (2025, 2050 and 2075) using DSSAT-sorghum and suggest adaptation strategies to negate the negative impact of climate change on sorghum productivity in the future climates. Three CMIP-5 climate models (GFDL-ESM2M, MIROC5 and NorESM1-M) generated weather data for three future periods were used at various locations for kharif (Akola, Dharwad, Surat and Udaipur) and rabi (Bijapur, Dharwad, Rahuri and Solapur) seasons to simulate sorghum yields. Projected changes in day-night temperatures and rainfall during kharif and rabi growing seasons at these locations are diverse both in direction and magnitude. Increasing trend in rainfall is observed during both crop seasons towards the end of 21^st century. Sorghum crop is likely to experience warmer temperature in the second half of the century and rise in minimum temperature is more explicit than maximum temperature at all the locations. Location specific management options can be adopted to mitigate the negative impacts of the change in climate in future projected scenarios, as they are found beneficial.

6 tables, 11 ref

026388   SWATI C, BHAT J L (Life Sciences Dep, ITM Univ, Gwalior, M.P, Email: chitranshi.swati@yahoo.co.in) : Evaluation of soil characteristics of Ravines of Dholpur. Asian J Adv Basic Sci 2018, 6(1), 31-6.

Properties of ravine soils of Dholpur, Rajasthan, India were evaluated. Soil physico- chemical properties evaluated were bulk density, texture, water holding capacity, organic matter, pH, electrical conductivity and nutrient contents. The bulk density ranged from 0.83 g/cm³ to 0.95 g/cm³. Soils of all sites had higher proportion of sand ranged from 64.0 % to 86.1 %. Water holding capacity was low ranged from 35.0 % to 39.4 %. Soils of all sites had low organic matter ranged from 0.89 % to 0.94 %. pH of soils was slightly alkaline, the range of pH was from 7.5 to 7.7. Electrical conductivity ranged from 0.39 mS/cm to 0.51 mS/cm. Organic carbon in soils of all sites was low ranged from 0.52 % to 0.55 %. Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium content was low, nitrogen ranged from 98.4 mg/Kg to 103.1 mg/Kg. Phosphorus content was in range of 4.7 mg/Kg- 6.2 mg/Kg and potassium content was in the range of 109.7 mg/Kg- 166.3 mg/Kg. Level of zinc, copper, manganese was optimal. Zinc ranged between 0.63 mg/Kg and 0.70 mg/Kg. Level of copper ranged from 0.2 mg/Kg to 0.5 mg/Kg and level of manganese ranged from 2.0 mg/Kg to 3.2 mg/Kg. Level of iron ranged from 3.1 mg/Kg to 5.3 mg/Kg. The level of iron was optimal (5.3 mg/Kg) in soil of Shergarh and in other three soils the iron content was low. Physico-chemical properties of soil evaluated will be guiding factor for choice of plant cover for revegetation of this area. Organic carbon the key indicator of soil quality will be critical factor for restoration of ravine soils.

2 illus, 3 tables, 27 ref

027867   UZMA R, BHAT Z A, ALI T, SOFI K, TAJAMUL, RIHANA (Soil Science Div, SKUAST-K, Jammu and Kashmir) : A review on impact of cement dust on soil health with special reference to Kashmir, India. Int J Chem Sci 2018, 2(4), 24-30.

Each major technological advance over the last few decades has introduced a new hazard to man and environment, either directly or indirectly. Industrialization, urbanization, economic growth and associated increase in energy demands have resulted in a profound deterioration of air quality in developing countries like India. The pattern of economic growth is becoming increasingly associated with environmental pollution. Pollution of the environment is thus one of the major effects of human technological advancement. Environmental contamination due to dust particle coming from Cement Industries, Coal Mining, Quarrying, Stone Crushing, Thermal power Plant etc., has drawn much attention of the environmental scientists today as they create serious pollution problems and pose threat to the ecosystems. The cement industry has been recognized to be playing a vital role in the imbalances of the environment and producing air pollution hazards. Cement dust is a potential phytotoxic pollutant in the vicinity of a cement producing plants and creates serious pollution problems causing enormous damage to the ecosystem. These pollutants emanating from the kiln, spread over a large area and affect the vegetation, soil and other natural resources. Thus an attempt to summarize the ill effects of cement dust on ecosystem, soil and vegetation was made in the present study.

1 illus, 41 ref

027833   DAHAL K P, KARKI R K, BHATTARAI J (Chemistry Dep, Tribhuvan Univ, Kathmandu, Nepal, Email: bhattarai_05@yahoo.com, dahalkumar24@yahoo.com) : Evaluation of corrosivity of soil collected from central part of Kathmandu metropolis (Nepal) to water supply metallic pipes. Asian J Chem 2018, 30(7), 1525-30.

Corrosive nature of 56 soil samples collected from central parts of Kathmandu metropolis were analyzed using ASTM standards to evaluate their corrosivity towards the water supply underground galvanized-steel and cast iron pipes. Moisture content of 9.7-58.0 %, 3.0- 8.2 pH, 1150-27780 Ohm.cm resistivity, 158-537 mV (saturated hydrogen electrode) oxidation-reduction potential, 13-199 ppm chloride and 30-476 ppm sulfate contents in the collected samples were reported in this study. Results indicated that most of the collected soil samples used in this study is found to be in the range of mildly corrosive to less corrosive nature to the underground galvanized-steel and cast iron pipes. The use of low-cost and easily available materials like gravel and sand around such underground pipes, before burying them in the areas seems to be effective and sufficient to control corrosion of the pipes and to increase their life time in soil of urban areas of Kathmandu metropolis of Nepal.

7 illus, 1 table, 32 ref

027863   SONKAR A K, JAMAL A (Mining Engineering Dep, Banaras Hindu Univ, Varanasi- 221 005, Email: ashwanijack@gmail.com) : Qualitative assessment of groundwater in Singrauli coalfield region, Madhya Pradesh. Rasayan J Chem 2018, 11(3), 1270-6.

Singrauli coalfield is mostly affected by active mining industries. The objective of this paper is to assess the impact of mining activities on groundwater quality in Singrauli Coalfield area of Madhya Pradesh. The present study aims are determining the groundwater quality Index in Singrauli Coalfield region. Six groundwater samples were collected from the wells & hand pump located in the study area and analyzed for hydro-chemical characteristics such as pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, Hardness, Dissolved oxygen,Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium, Bicarbonate, Chlorides, Sulphate, and Iron. The obtained results were compared with ISI (Indian Standard Institution) and WHO (World Health Organization) standards for drinking water. The results indicate that groundwater was more affected by coal mines. Global Positioning System (GPS) was used to identify the sample location.

5 illus, 3 tables, 17 ref

027827   ADATHODI L, RAJA MURUGADOSS J, GADDAM K (Civil Engineering Dep, GMR Institute of Technology, Rajam- 532 127, Email: lakshmi.adathodi@gmail.com) : Application of a novel adsorbent- aircraft tyre rubber ash for the removal of chromium from wastewaters. Rasayan J Chem 2018, 11(3), 1204-10.

The eco-friendly and cost-effective technique of using tyre rubber waste for the removal of harmful toxic metals from wastewater will contribute a lot to the industry as well as the humanity from the environmental perspective. In the present work, an attempt has been made using aircraft tyre rubber waste carbon to remove the heavy metal chromium which is added to the water bodies through wastewater from various manufacturing industries. The batch study was performed to determine the removal efficiency by testing the effect of parameters such as contact time, dosage, initial concentration, pH of the solution and temperature. The amount of chromium ions removed from solution decreased rapidly from pH 3 to pH 9. Increasing the adsorbent dose increased the percentage removal of chromium from 14.94 % to 92.24 %. The removal efficiency of chromium using aircraft tyre rubber waste carbon was relatively fast (equilibrium time of 60 minutes). The removal efficiency of chromium decreased from 59.79% to 49.02% with increasing concentration. The removal efficiency increased with an increase in temperature as well as an increase in dosage. The prepared adsorbent was characterized using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry (EDS / EDX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis to investigate the distinctive features of aircraft tyre rubber waste carbon. The results show that ATRWC has an excellent ability to remove chromium from the wastewaters.

8 illus, 1 table, 26 ref

027868   VARSHNEY R, JAMAL A (Mining Engineering Dep, Banaras Hindu Univ, Varanasi- 221 005, Email: ramita25j@gmail.com) : Evaluation of reservoir water quality using water quality index in Govind Ballabh Pant Sagar Reservoir, India. Rasayan J Chem 2018, 11(3), 1177-82.

Weighted Arithmetic Water Quality Index is a single number that expresses the water quality of a sample collected from a water body by amalgamating thirteen water quality parameters in this study. The sole of this is to express the quality of water in a simple and concise manner for recreational use such as irrigation, domestic or industrial. This paper employs Weighted Arithmetic Water Quality Index, as a simple pollution indicator tool in Govind Vallabh Pant Sagar Reservoir. The index was applied to six sampling locations and compared to each other. The quality of water was investigated for two seasons of the year i.e. pre and post-monsoon seasons. The results showed that the water quality during both the seasons was poor thereby necessitating proper treatment before it can be used for fulfilling potable requirements.

2 illus, 4 tables, 14 ref

027857   SAOULI C, ASSABAA R (Mentouri brothers of Constantine Univ, Algeria, Email: saouli.chouaib@umc.edu.dz) : Behavior of pharmaceuticals in effluent water: SAIDAL group (Constantine Algeria). Rasayan J Chem 2018, 11(3), 951-4.

Measured concentrations for selected pharmaceuticals in effluent water of SAIDAL group located in the city of Constantine (Algeria), it was found that the efficacy of these predictions varied and was hampered by a shortage of data for many of the drugs. Oxcyladine citrate, Nepagine and Salbutamol were detected and quantified in all locations sampled, Nepagine was consistently found at the highest centration 4.7 ppm, levels up and downstream of tow wastewater treatment works were compared in order to investigate the link between sewage discharge and environmental concentrations of pharmaceuticals. Monitoring studies, using born as wastewater tracer grave information conceding seasonal variation of degradation phenomena in natural waters and partition phenomena accruing between dissolved and solid phases

3 illus, 1 table,14 ref

028870   VAIDYA P, RANDHAWA S, SHARMA P, SHARMA Y P, SATYARTHI K, RANDHAWA S S (State Centre on Climate Change, Shimla – 171 001, Himachal Pradesh, Email: pratimaem@gmail.com) : Climate variability and crop productivity in Himalayan ecosystem: A case study of Kullu district. MAUSAM 2018, 69(4), 563-70.

Himalayas are one of the most vulnerable natural ecosystems to climate change. Climate variability is affecting the temperature and rainfall patterns, ultimately influencing the crop production in the region. Therefore, present studies were aimed to investigate the temporal trends in annual mean minimum, maximum and diurnal temperature and rainfall in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh, from 1971-2016 and its impact on productivity of major agricultural crops. Sen’s slope method was used to quantify the trends in climatic variables obtained through Mann Kendall Test. Standardized anomaly index for temperature and rainfall was also calculated in order to determine the variability in the climatic parameters. Relationship between climatic variables and productivity of agriculture crops was determined by correlation and regression analysis. The results for the above period showed an increase of 0.02 °C in mean minimum temperature during rabi and kharif season whereas mean maximum temperature and rainfall did not show any significant change. Standardized anomaly index of temperature depicted slight warming trend. Productivity of rice, maize, potato and wheat has increased over the time. The study brought out that climate variability is contributing to the change in productivity of barley, maize, rice, millets, wheat and potato by 26 %, 24 %, 16.7 %, 11.9 %, 10.9 % and 6 %, respectively; remaining variability can be explained by other influential factors such as improved seeds and better crop management practices.

3 illus, 3 tables, 17 ref

028839   ASHABOKOV B A, BEYTUGANOV M N, TASHILOVA A A, FEDCHENKO L M, SHAPOVALOV A V (High-mountain Geophysical Institute, 2 Lenina av. 360030 Nalchik, Russia, Email: editor4@academicpapers.org) : Changes of temperature and precipitation regimes in the south of European Russia in 1961 - 2015. MAUSAM 2018, 69(4), 553-62.

This work summarises the analysis of temperature and precipitation regimes in different climate zones of the south of European Russia over the seasons and annually in 1961 - 2015. Linear trends (the slope ratio, the contribution of the trend in the explained dispersion) over the period from 1976 through 2015 supplement the description of the changes of the value in question since the year of conventional beginning of the modern warming. The analysis uses the data of 5 weather stations situated in different climate zones of the south of European Russia to include two mountain stations – Akhty (1,281 above sea level), Teberda (1,335 m asl), high-mountain station Terskol (2,144 m asl) and two weather stations in the piedmont and the plain (steppe) regions of Nalchik (500 m asl) and Prokhladnaya (198 m asl). The study determines common and different features of changes in the air temperature and precipitation regimes in different climate zones. It was revealed, that the growth rate of average summer temperatures is statistically significant for all the stations in all the climate zones to include Terskol. The annual average temperature varies steadily at the high-mountain station Terskol while in the other climate zones it grows. The changes in the precipitation regime are much more complex due to the heterogeneous and discrete nature of their distribution. With the overall years-long trend towards increasing precipitation and daily maximums at some weather stations, seasonal precipitation totals (in summer and winter) tend to decrease.

2 illus, 2 tables, 26 ref

028846   GIARNO, HADI M P, SUPRAYOGI S, HERUMURTI S (Geography Dep, Gadjah Mada Univ, Sleman, Indonesia, Email: giarno@mail.ugm.ac.id) : Modified mean field bias and local bias for improvement bias corrected satellite rainfall estimates. MAUSAM 2018, 69(4), 543-52.

Corrected bias is often used to improve satellite rainfall estimates. The fastest corrected bias methods are mean field bias (MFB) and local bias (LB). Nevertheless, using the ratio between rainfalls observed and satellite rainfall estimates such as TRMM neglects no rain conditions. Whereas zero rainfall often happens in the tropical maritime region. The aim of this study focuses on improvement of correcting satellite rainfall estimates in using the ratio of MFB and LB. Modified MFB is done by classifying the ratio, then multiplied it to the pixel of TRMM rainfall estimates. While, classified the ratio of local bias is done before interpolated the ratios uses inverse distance methods. Implementation of this treatment uses rainfall data in surrounding of the Makassar Strait. For avoiding of failure of a ratio in zero rainfall observed, 1 mm is added to the rainfall data. Evaluation of this treatment is assessed by root mean square (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE) and correlation. The result shows that performance modified local bias (LB) can improve RMSE and MAE. Based on value of correlation, modified LB with 20 classes can increase correlation than other methods except conditional merging (CM). Although LB is better methods than MFB in RMSE, but it is worse than CM. Moreover, modified LB can be considered as the best correction method for satellite rainfall estimates because of the stabilization of MAE. This modified, affirm assumed that the persistence of rainfall event or not, have an effect of satellite rainfall estimate performance.

5 illus, 2 tables, 36 ref

028853   KHASKHELI N, KALHORO N A, WANG J, HE Z, XU D, TUNIO G R, SHAHANI K, HUSSAIN F S (Second Institute of Oceanography, Hangzhou 310012, China, Email: noorahmed_niopk@yahoo.com) : Impacts of tidal link drain, along the coastal areas of districts Badin and Sujawal in Indus deltaic region, Sindh Pakistan. MAUSAM 2018, 69(4), 535-42.

Tidal Link Canal has been one of the causes of seawater intrusion and coastal erosion along the coastal areas of Sindh Pakistan. The literature reviews, along with satellite images and tidal data were analyzed to investigate the causes and impacts of seawater intrusion along the coastal areas of Badin and Sujawal districts of Sindh. This study represents that seawater intrusion has taken place up to 70 km upstream from the mouth of Tidal Link Canal and about 2.95 million acres agricultural land has been affected by seawater intrusion. Meanwhile, on the basis of satellite data 30 m year^-1 average erosion rate was estimated for the past 17 years in tidal link canal. However sea water intrusion and coastal erosion are have a devastating environmental and social impact along the Left Bank Outfall Drain site, thus the whole ecosystem of lakes is facing serious threat. The fresh water lakes as well as agricultural lands and ground water have been affected by seawater intrusion and coastal erosion. During the southwest monsoon, the neighboring sea in the south inundates vast area with salt water through tidal link drain. Extensive field investigations and a high resolution coastal ocean model are urgently needed for future study to fully understand the dynamic process in this coastal region.

5 illus, 1 table, 27 ref

028872   VILLURI V G K, PASUPULETI S, JAIN K (Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee – 247 667, Email: vgkvilluri@iitism.ac.in) : Hydrodynamic simulation of a cloudburst event in Asi Ganga Valley of Indian Himalayan region using MIKE11 and GIS techniques. MAUSAM 2018, 69(4), 523-34.

Cloudburst is one of the most devastating and frequently occurring natural hazardous events in Indian Himalayan region. Localized deep cumulus convective clouds have a capability of giving enormous amount of rainfall over a limited horizontal area, within a short span of time. Whenever, such events occur, lead to flash floods causing landslides, house collapses, dislocation of traffic and human casualties on a large scale. Therefore, it is necessary to predict the cloudburst inundation zones accurately to avoid damage associated with them. For this, high resolution Digital Elevation Model generated from CartoSat-1 (Stereo pair) were integrated in MIKE 11 Hydrodynamic 1D model to generate longitudinal profile of the study area and to find water level, peak discharge, flow velocity, flow width at different reaches along the Asi ganga and Bhagirathi river, to know the Cloudburst flood inundation scenario. On 3rd August, 2012 one of the major Cloudburst event occurred in Asi Ganga Valley in Indian Himalayan region which was considered for simulation of hydrodynamic model. For a Cloudburst event, 100 mm/hr rainfall was considered for the simulation of the hydrodynamic model. It is observed that the discharge rise from 50 m³/s to 549.164 m³/s (an abrupt increase of about 10 times) within 1 hr at Sangamchetty in Asi Ganga river and at Joshiyara area rise from 600 m³ /s to 3378.69 m³/s (an abrupt increase of about 5 times) within 4 hr in Bhagirathi river. Similarly, the water level rises around 3 m and 6 m in Asi Ganga and Bhagirathi rivers respectively. Flash Flood inundation areas due to Cloudburst on 3rd August, 2012 were demarcated from the simulation results in GIS environment.

13 illus, 5 tables, 23 ref

028845   DEB T, BHATTACHARYA T (Geology Dep, Calcutta Univ, Kolkata - 700 019, Email: tanwitadeb@gmail.com) : Interaction between felsic granitoids and mafic dykes in Bundelkhand Craton: A field, petrographic and crystal size distribution study. J Earth Syst Sci 2018, 127(7), 102.

In Bundelkhand Craton of central India, mafic dykes intruded when granitoids was partly crystallized. Cuspate–lobate boundary along the contact of granitoids and mafic magma indicates magma mingling in outcrop scale while textural evidence of mingling is represented by acicular apatite morphologies, titanite– plagioclase ocelli and ophitic–subophitic texture, mafic clots, resorbed plagioclase, and hornblende–zircon associations. Mingling also caused thermal exchange and fluid activity along the boundary between two coeval magmas. Crystal size distribution analyses for hornblende in the mafic rocks yield concave up curves which is also consistent with interaction of felsic and mafic magmas.

6 illus, 3 tables, 66 ref

028856   LI Y, XIE Z, QIN Y, ZHOU S (Ministry of Education, Kaifeng 475004, Henan, People’s Republic of China, Email: qinyc@henu.edu.cn) : Spatio-temporal variations in precipitation on the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain from 1963 to 2012. J Earth Syst Sci 0101, 127(7), 101.

Spatio-temporal variations in precipitation are affecting agricultural production in China in the context of climate change. Based on daily precipitation data from 63 national meteorological stations on the HuangHuai-Hai Plain from 1963 to 2012, this paper analysed the spatio-temporal variations in precipitation in terms of precipitation days and intensity, using spatial interpolation, linear trend estimation and wavelet analysis. The results indicated that: (i) from 1963 to 2012, the number of annual precipitation days and intensity decreased gradually from the southeast to the northwest. Additionally, the distribution of the extreme precipitation index was similar to that of the annual precipitation index; (ii) the number of annual precipitation days and heavy precipitation days gradually decreased, while precipitation intensity and extreme precipitation days and extreme rainfall intensity remained relatively stable or decreased. The spatial patterns of annual variation trends were considerably different. The annual precipitation days and intensity trends are consistent with the overall trend, while that of the extreme rainfall index in some regions differs from the overall trend; (iii) the precipitation index displayed different periodic oscillations during the period, and the precipitation index values differed at different time scales. However, all the precipitation index values exhibited a 28-yr oscillation.

9 illus, 1 table, 33 ref.

028854   KHATRI H B, JAIN M K, JAIN S K (Hydrology Dep, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee - 247 667, Email: jain.mkj@gmail.com) : Modelling of streamflow in snow dominated Budhigandaki catchment in Nepal. J Earth Syst Sci 2018, 127(7), 100.

This study has been envisaged to model streamflow runoff-contributed mostly by snowmelt from Budhigandaki catchment in Nepal. Available hydro-meteorological data have been collected from the Department of Hydrology and Metrology, Nepal. The MODIS Aqua (MYD10A2) and Terra (MOD10A2) 8 day maximum snow cover extent product have been used to derive the snow cover area (SCA) in the basin. The modeling of streamflow has been carried out using HEC-HMS and SRM models. The performance of these models have been evaluated by using three well known evaluation criteria NSE, R² and PEV (percentage error in volume). The values of NSE, R² and PEV were found to be 0.944, 0.944 and −0.3 % for SRM and 0.778, 0.785 and −1.83 % for HEC-HMS, respectively. Similarly, in validation period the average values of NSE, R² and PEV were found to be 0.811, 0.816 and 2.01 % for SRM model and 0.773, 0.777 and 3.5 % for HEC-HMS, respectively. Sensitivity analysis of the models revealed that constant loss rate is very sensitive parameters for HEC-HMS model, whereas runoff coefficient is found to be most sensitive parameters for SRM model. In comparison between two models SRM model has given slightly better simulation results compared to HEC-HMS model.

13 illus, 5 tables, 18 ref.

028852   KHAN N, ANJUM N, AHMAD M, AWAIS M, ULLAH N (Geology Dep, Malakand Univ, Chakdara, Pakistan, Email: Khangeologist22@gmail.com) : Hydrocarbon source rock potential evaluation of the Late Paleocene Patala Formation, Salt Range, Pakistan: Organic geochemical and palynofacies approach. J Earth Syst Sci 2018, 127(7), 98.

Organic geochemical and palynofacies analyses were carried out on shale intervals of the Late Paleocene Patala Formation at Nammal Gorge Section, western Salt Range, Pakistan. The total organic carbon content and Rock-Eval pyrolysis results indicated that the formation is dominated by type II and type III kerogens. Rock-Eval Tmax vs. hydrogen index (HI) and thermal alteration index indicated that the analysed shale intervals present in the formation are thermally mature. S1 and S2 yields showed poor source rock potential for the formation. Three palynofacies assemblages including palynofacies-1, palynofacies-2 and palynofacies-3 were identified, which are prone to dry gas, wet gas and oil generation, respectively. The palynofacies assessment revealed the presence of oil/gas and gas prone type II and type III kerogens in the formation and their deposition on proximal shelf with suboxic to anoxic conditions. The kerogen macerals are dominated by vitrinite and amorphinite with minor inertinite and liptinite. The kerogen macerals are of both marine and terrestrial origin, deposited on a shallow shelf. Overall, the dark black carbonaceous shales present within the formation act as a source rock for hydrocarbons with poor-to-moderate source rock quality, while the grey shales act as a poor source rock for hydrocarbon generation.

9 illus, 3 tables, 54 ref

028858   NASEER M T, ASIM S (Earth Sciences Dep, Quaid-I-Azam Univ, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan, Email: mtayyab.naseer1@gmail.com) : Application of instantaneous spectral analysis and acoustic impedance wedge modeling for imaging the thin beds and fluids of fluvial sand systems of Indus Basin, Pakistan. J Earth Syst Sci 2018, 127(7), 97.

Fluvial sand frameworks have magnificent oil and gas reservoirs far and wide. The reservoir sands are exceedingly compartmentalized by the broadened fault framework. So, to distinguish the thin beds of gas-bearing facies is an assessment for band-limited stratigraphic investigation. To conquest this issue, we execute the progressed seismic ascribe methods to the 3D seismic information of the Miano area of the Indus Basin, SW Pakistan. Apparatuses, for example, the seismic amplitude and coherence are discovered less exact for reservoir description. Sweetness analysis indicates the gas-bearing reservoir facies, which are compartmentalized by the NNW–SSE oriented normal fault system. Yet, the continuous wavelet transforms (CWT) of spectral decomposition (SD) separates the thick and thin sand beds of channel sand and point bars, which were not unsurprising utilizing the band-limited seismic properties. 22 Hz demonstrates the best amplitude tuning cube, which recognizes the profitable clastic (sand-filled barrier bars) sequences. The net-to-gross (N/G) examination uncovers the barrier bars as the chief hydrocarbon-bearing facies. 22 to 37 Hz frequencies confirm the occurrence of hydrocarbon sands. The acoustic impedance (AI) wedge model settles the thin beds of barrier bars sands, which are encased inside the shales, and affirm the suggestions for gas-bearing stratigraphic traps.

16 illus, 4 tables, 33 ref

028869   SYMPHONIA K T, NATHAN D S (Earth Sciences Dep, Eritrea Institute of Technology, Asmara 12676, Eritrea, Email: tsymphonia@gmail.com) : Geochemistry and distribution of sediments in the East Indian shelf, SW Bay of Bengal: Implications on weathering, transport and depositional environment. J Earth Syst Sci 2018, 127(7), 96.

Forty-two substrate sediment samples and three cores procured from the shelf region between Chennai and Cuddalore were analyzed to understand the spatial and vertical sediment distribution. Samples subjected to grain size, bulk and clay mineralogical analyses, REE and trace element geochemistry yielded interesting results about the sediment characteristics with respect to the modern day environment. The present study revealed that the study area is characterized by high energy environment marked by predominant composition of medium sand. Results confirmed the evidence of more illite than kaolinite, smectite, and chlorite in the clay mineral assemblage indicating a terrigenous source. Geochemical data also revealed that the enrichment of light rare earth elements (LREE) in the sediments is due to continental source of Precambrian times. High feldspar content in the sediments which is emphasized by bulk mineralogical data displayed positive Eu anomaly. By using the paleoredox index, the area of interest is considered to have undergone no major changes in its depositional settings.

6 illus, 6 tables, 66 ref

028841   BEHERA M D, MURTHY M S R, DAS P, SHARMA E (Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Khargpur - 721 302, Email: mdbehera@coral.iitkgp.ernet.in) : Modelling forest resilience in Hindu Kush Himalaya using geoinformation. J Earth Syst Sci 2018, 127(7), 95.

Resilience is the capacity of an ecosystem to absorb disturbance and undergo change while maintaining its essential structure, functions, identity and feedbacks. The forests of the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region are vulnerable to both natural and anthropogenic changes, and the forest land conversion and degradation. Using satellite-derived tree canopy cover percent data and precipitation as the explaining variable, we studied the forest cover resilience in a geospatial framework employing the logistic regression and polynomial equation fitting. Out of the 4.3 million km² geographical areas, 873,650 km² (20.20 %) was under the forest in 2000 and experienced loss of 11,250 km² during 2000–2010. We could model the forest cover and treeless areas fairly than the scrub and grassland owing to the variation in precipitation pattern. The majority of the forest cover (59.3 %) has been estimated to have less resilience owing to the receipt of <1650 mm of total annual precipitation, whereas only 375 km² forest area could change to scrub that shows the least resilience. About 94.4 % of treeless areas were estimated to be stable, while only 1 % (25,200 km²) area could accommodate the grassland. The resilient forest areas estimated and observed, owing to the mapping and modelling protocols used in this study, shall be useful in conservation planning in the HKH region.

9 illus, 6 tables, 40 ref

028868   SRIVASTAVA H, BHAUMIK A K, TIWARI D, MOHANTY S P, PATIL D J (National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad - 500 007, Email: ajoyism@gmail.com) : Characterization of organic carbon in black shales of the Kachchh basin, Gujarat, India. J Earth Syst Sci 2018, 127(7), 93.

Thirty-three black shale samples from four locations on the onland Kachchh basin, western India were analyzed to characterize organic carbon (OC), thermal maturity and to determine the hydrocarbon potential of the basin. Upper Jurassic black shales from the Jhuran Formation (Dhonsa and Kodki areas) are characterized by the presence of chlorite, halloysite, high Tmax, low OC, low hydrogen index and high oxygen index. These parameters indicate the OC as type IV kerogen, formed in a marine environment. The rocks attained thermal maturity possibly during Deccan volcanism. Early Eocene samples of the Naredi Formation (Naliya-Narayan Sarovar Road (NNSR) and the Matanomadh areas) are rich in TOC, smectite, chlorite and framboidal pyrite, but have low Tmax. These indicate deposition of sediments in a reducing condition, probably in a lagoonal/marsh/swamp environment. Organic carbon of the Naredi Formation of NNSR may be considered as immature type III to IV kerogen, prone to generate coal. Core samples from the Naredi Formation of the Matanomadh area show two fold distribution in terms of kerogen. Organic carbon of the upper section is immature type III to IV kerogen, but the lower section has type II to III kerogen having potential to generate oil and gas after attaining appropriate thermal maturity.

7 illus, 2 tables, 51 ref

028859   NGUYEN D D, JAYAKUMAR K V (Water Resources and Environment Div, Thuyloi Univ, Ho Chi Minh City 700000, Vietnam, Email: robindang0573@gmail.com) : Assessing the copula selection for bivariate frequency analysis based on the tail dependence test. J Earth Syst Sci 2018, 127(7), 92.

The flood characteristics, namely, peak, duration and volume provide important information for the design of hydraulic structures, water resources planning, reservoir management and flood hazard mapping. Flood is a complex phenomenon defined by strongly correlated characteristics such as peak, duration and volume. Therefore, it is necessary to study the simultaneous, multivariate, probabilistic behaviour of flood characteristics. Traditional multivariate parametric distributions have widely been applied for hydrological applications. However, this approach has some drawbacks such as the dependence structure between the variables, which depends on the marginal distributions or the flood variables that have the same type of marginal distributions. Copulas are applied to overcome the restriction of traditional bivariate frequency analysis by choosing the marginals from different families of the probability distribution for flood variables. The most important step in the modelling process using copula is the selection of copula function which is the best fit for the data sample. The choice of copula may significantly impact the bivariate quantiles. Indeed, this study indicates that there is a huge difference in the joint return period estimation using the families of extreme value copulas and no upper tail copulas (Frank, Clayton and Gaussian) if there exists asymptotic dependence in the flood characteristics. This study suggests that the copula function should be selected based on the dependence structure of the variables. From the results, it is observed that the result from tail dependence test is very useful in selecting the appropriate copula for modelling the joint dependence structure of flood variables. The extreme value copulas with upper tail dependence have proved that they are appropriate models for the dependence structure of the flood characteristics and Frank, Clayton and Gaussian copulas are the appropriate copula models in case of variables which are diagnosed as asymptotic independence.

9 illus, 4 tables, 71 ref

028840   BADHE K V, PANDALAI H S (Earth Sciences Dep, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai - 400 076, Email: kundabadhe@gmail.com) : Evolution of hutti-maski greenstone belt of the eastern dharwar craton: Evidence for metamorphic and hydrothermal phases from the hira-buddini deposit, Raichur district, Karnataka, India. J Earth Syst Sci 2018, 127(7), 91.

The Hira-Buddini gold deposit is located along the steeply dipping ENE trending sheared contact of felsic and mafic rocks of strike length of about 600 m with mylonitic foliation parallel to the S1 schistosity in amphibolites. Second-generation open folds with axial planes (S2) marked by fractures that are often filled by later calcite veins are observed in surface and underground exposures. Garnetiferous amphibolites occur in patches on the footwall side of the shear in the western part of the deposit. This rock shows garnet porphyroblasts, coarse second-generation hornblende and large grains of biotite that grow over an early S1 fabric which is made up of early hornblende, plagioclase, ilmenite and retrograde firstgeneration chlorite. Second-generation hornblende and biotite grains make high angles to S1 schistosity and are sub-parallel to S2. Late hydrothermal alteration is marked by an albite-epidote-chlorite-zoisite assemblage. Geothermometric estimates based on garnet-biotite, and garnet-hornblende pairs, as well as Ti in biotite, show that temperatures during D2 deformation that led to the growth of the porphyroblasts were 530 ± 20 °C. The fabric and mineralogy of the rock indicate that porphyroblastic growth of garnet, hornblende and biotite was preceded and succeeded by stages of hydrothermal alteration. Primary gold mineralization is inferred to be associated with the early stage of hydrothermal ingress.

7 illus, 5 tables, 52 ref

030215   NISHAD Y, SASTRI A, DURGAM U (Agrometeorology Dep, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vshwavidyalaya, Chhattisgarh) : Evaluation and computing study of crop phenology and agrometeorological indices i.e. GDD, HTU and other growth parameters. J Pharmacogn Phytochem 2018, 7(6), 268-73.

The present investigation entitled “Evaluation and computing study of crop phenology and agrometeorological indices, GDD, HTU and other growth parameters in Raipur condition.” was conducted during Rabi season 2013-14 at Research Farm of Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur (Chhattisgarh). The accumulated growing degree days (GDD) were also workout for phenological stages in three dates of sowing under irrigated and unirrigated conditions. It was found the growing degree days (GDD) were higher in irrigated condition as compare to unirrigated condition in all the three dates of sowing. This is because the duration of the crop under irrigated condition was higher than in unirrigated condition. The average maximum temperature under D₁ in the germination to grand growth stage is higher in the first date of sowing. However, later on that is from grand growth to bud formation the maximum temperature is higher in D₁ as compare to D₂ and D₃ both in field as well as observatory data. The average minimum temperature in the first date of sowing varied from 21.6 ºC to 11.5 ºC under different phenological stages based on observatory data. While in the field data it varied from 21.0 ºC to 10.8 ºC during different growth stages. In the second date of sowing the minimum temperature based on observatory and field data varied from 24.1 ºC to 9.9 ºC and 16.5 ºC to 9.4 ºC in different growth stages. In the third date of sowing the minimum temperature varied from 10.7 ºC to 17.2 ºC and 10.3 ºC to 16.3 ºC in different growth stages based on both observatory as well as field data. Correlation coefficient between different weather parameters based on field as well as observatory data revealed that the temperatures in the field data and observatory data are highly correlated but the relative humidity between field and observatory is not well correlated. This shows higher moisture status in the field as compared to observatory. The accumulated growing degree days (GDD) for different sowing environment conditions varied considerably from sowing to maturity. The highest growing degree days (GDD) were found from pod development to physiological maturity. As per the observatory data, the growing degree days (GDD) in the stage varied from 527 to 691 degree days under irrigated condition. Under unirrigated condition the growing degree days (GDD) varied from 456 degree days in the first date of sowing to 522 degree days in second date of sowing. While in third date of sowing the growing degree days (GDD) under unirrigated condition were 424 degree days. Thus, the GDD during pod formation stage were less under unirrigated condition than in irrigated condition. This is because of faster physiological maturity at all the dates of sowing under unirrigated condition. Similarly for 50 % flowering to pod development stage also the growing degree days (GDD) were less under unirrigated condition in the first date of sowing. In other dates of sowing the growing degree days (GDD) under irrigated condition were higher than unirrigated condition. Same pattern was observed in case of field data also. The total growing degree days (GDD) under irrigated condition based on field data varied from 4080 degree days under D₁, 3062 degree days under D₂ and 3086 degree days under D₃ conditions. In the same pattern the total degree days under unirrigated condition were from 1139 under D₁, 1246 degree days under D₂ and 1069 degree days under D₃ conditions. The total number of helio thermal units (HTU) varied from 10466 under D₁ to 10100 under D₂ conditions. In case of D₃ the value of helio thermal units (HTU) was highest (11376). In case of unirrigated conditions the helio thermal units (HTU) values were 9164 under D₁, 9334 under D₂ and 8048 under D₃ conditions. Similarly in the third date of sowing the total helio thermal units (HTU) were 10057.

4 tables, 14 ref

030219   VIJAYAKUMAR S, RAO K V, RAO B K, SARALA C, REDDY K S (ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad - 500 059, Email: s.vijayakumar@icar.gov.in) : Effectiveness of rainwater harvesting structures on groundwater and crop productivity in semi-arid region of Telangana - A case study. Indian J Dryland Agric Res Dev 2018, 33(2), 72-6.

The drylands of India is characterized by aberrant behavior of monsoon rainfall, eroded and degraded soils with multiple nutrient and water deficiencies. Declining ground water levels and poor resource base of the farmers and are the major constraints for low and unstable yields. The water is a very critical input in dryland agriculture. It is a scarce input owing to erratic and poor distribution of rainfall, which limits the production of crops. In this direction, there is a need to emphasize the conservation of these limited resources with appropriate practices. Keeping these considerations in view, the present study was undertaken to study the impact of rainwater harvesting structures on groundwater and crop productivity in a selected ICAR-CRIDA, KVK watershed of semi-arid region of Telangana as a case study. The effectiveness of various soil and water conservation structures was clearly observed in the post project period. The average groundwater depth increased by 1.5 m due to the rainwater harvesting structures. The rainwater harvesting structures stored the runoff water and recharged the aquifers and there by enhanced the ground water levels in the project area. The irrigated area due to rainwater harvesting structures increased by 38 % and improved yield levels by 20 to 32 %. Interventions have a very significant role in the areas of resource conservation and cropping pattern. There is a need to upscale these interventions through KVK and other line departments by involving farmers and other local stakeholders.

6 illus, 6 tables, 9 ref