Landslide probability mapping by considering fuzzy numerical risk factor (FNRF) and landscape change for road corridor of Uttarakhand,India

Landslide poses severe threats to the natural landscape of the Lesser Himalayas and the lives and economy of the communities residing in that mountainous topography. This study aims to investigate whether the landscape change has any impact on landslide occurrences in the Kalsi-Chakrata road corridor by detailed investigation through correlation of the landslide susceptibility zones and the landscape change, and finally to demarcate the hotspot villages where influence of landscape on landslide occurrence may be more in future. The rational of this work is to delineate the areas with higher landslide susceptibility using the ensemble model of GIS-based multi-criteria decision making through fuzzy landslide numerical risk factor model along the Kalsi-Chakrata road corridor of Uttarakhand where no previous detailed investigation was carried out applying any contemporary statistical techniques. The approach includes the correlation of the landslide conditioning factors in the study area with the changes in land use and land cover (LULC) over the past decade to understand whether frequent landslides have any link with the physical and hydro-meteorological or, infrastructure, and socioeconomic activities. It was performed through LULC change detection and landslide susceptibility mapping (LSM), and spatial overlay analysis to establish statistical correlation between the said parameters. The LULC change detection was performed using the object-oriented classification of satellite images acquired in 2010 and 2019. The inventory of the past landslides was formed by visual interpretation of high-resolution satellite images supported by an intensive field survey of each landslide area. To assess the landslide susceptibility zones for 2010 and 2019 scenarios, the geo-environmental or conditioning factors such as slope, rainfall, lithology, normalized differential vegetation index (NDVI), proximity to road and land use and land cover (LULC) were considered, and the fuzzy LNRF technique was applied. The results indicated that the LULC in the study area was primarily transformed from forest cover and sparse vegetation to open areas and arable land, which is increased by 6.7% in a decade. The increase in built-up areas and agricultural land by 2.3% indicates increasing human interference that is continuously transforming the natural landscape. The landslide susceptibility map of 2019 shows that about 25% of the total area falls under high and very high susceptibility classes. The result shows that 80% of the high landslide susceptible class is contained by LULC classes of open areas, scrubland, and sparse vegetation, which point out the profound impact of landscape change that aggravate landslide occurrence in that area. The result acclaims that specific LULC classes, such as open areas, barren-rocky lands, are more prone to landslides in this Lesser Himalayan road corridor, and the LULC-LSM correlation can be instrumental for landslide probability assessment concerning the changing landscape. The fuzzy LNRF model applied has 89.6% prediction accuracy at 95% confidence level which is highly satisfactory. The present study of the connection of LULC change with the landslide probability and identification of the most fragile landscape at the village level has been instrumental in delineation of landslide susceptible areas, and such studies may help the decision-makers adopt appropriate mitigation measures in those villages where the landscape changes have mainly resulted in increased landslide occurrences and formulate strategic plans to promote ecologically sustainable development of the mountainous communities in India's Lesser Himalayas.

     

Multivariate assessment of outflow water quality in highly urbanized creek system: implication of natural and anthropogenic processes

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Nutrient source and transport study in tropical creeks adjacent to megacities are sparse on a regional and global scale. High-frequency chemical data...     

Effects of calcium hydroxide and calcium chloride addition to bentonite in iron ore pelletization.

Pyrite ash is created as waste from the roasting of pyrite ores during the production of sulphuric acid. These processes generate great amounts of pyrite ash waste that is generally land filled. This creates serious environmental pollution due to the release of acids and toxic substances. Pyrite ash waste can be utilized in the iron production industry as a blast furnace feed to process this waste and prevent environmental pollution. The essential parameters affecting the pelletization process of pyrite ash were studied using bentonite as a binder. Experiments were then carried out using bentonite and a mixture of bentonite with calcium hydroxide and calcium chloride in order to make the bentonite more effective. The metallurgical properties of pyrite ash, bentonite, calcium hydroxide, calcium chloride, a mixture of these and sintered pellets were studied using X-ray analysis. The crushing strength tests were carried out to investigate the strength of pyrite ash waste pellets. The results of these analyses showed that pyrite ash can be agglomerated to pellets and used in the iron production industry as a blast furnace feed. The crushing strength of the pellets containing calcium hydroxide and calcium chloride in addition to bentonite was better than the strength of pellets prepared using only bentonite binder.     

Working backwards to move forwards: Graph-based connectivity metrics for reserve network selection

In this paper we apply graph theory in a reserve selection exercise to explore the tradeoffs between maintaining connectivity and minimizing the total area of a protected area network. Rather than focus on a single organism, we used a multi-species approach and looked at the tradeoff curves for organisms with varying dispersal abilities. We first generated the tradeoff curves using a graph-based metric to determine the importance of individual patches for maintaining connectivity. We then performed an analogous set of analyses using patch size as a surrogate measure of importance.     

Distribution of suspended particulate matter with trace element composition and apportionment of possible sources in the Raniganj coalfield,India

Ambient air monitoring for suspended particulate matter was carried over a period of one year in some coal mining areas of the Raniganj coalfield. Concentrations of seven elements in suspended particulate matter were determined. The set of data obtained was analysed to determine the sources of trace elements by factor analysis. The data could be interpreted on the basis of five factors. These factors are attributed to various sources of particulate matter by noting the dependence of factors on the elements.     

Monitoring of Butter and Ghee (Clarified Butter Fat) for Pesticidal Contamination from Cotton Belt of Haryana, India

Butter (45) and ghee (55) samples were collected from rural and urban areas of cotton growing belt of Haryana and analysed for detecting the residues of organochlorine, synthetic pyrethroid and organophosphate insecticides. The estimation was carried out by using multi residue analytical technique employing GC-ECD and GC-NPD systems equipped with capillary columns. Butter samples were comparatively more contaminated (97%) than ghee (94%), showing more contamination with organochlorine insecticides from urban samples. About 11% samples of butter showed endosulfan residues above MRL value and 2% samples had residues of synthetic pyrethroids and organophosphates each above their respective MRL values. In ghee, residues of HCH & DDT both and of endosulfan exceeded the MRL values in 5 and 20% samples, respectively. Among organophosphates, only chlorpyriphos was detected with 9% samples showing its residue above MRL value. Irrespective of contamination levels, residues above the MRL values were more in ghee. More extensive study covering other agricultural regions/zones of Haryana has been suggested to know the overall scenario of contamination of milk products.     

A modular approach to Integrated Assessment modeling

In this paper, we present a new approach to model coupling that probably forms the methodological basis of a new generation of Integrated Assessment models. This approach respects the knowledge and expertise that is embodied in existing models and encourages their gradual evolution. Modularity is the guiding principle. Our approach is distinguished by the way modules are coupled which is based on an interplay of a job control module, a numerical coupling module, and a couple of stand-alone functional modules. The numerical coupling module - the core component - serves to treat the feedbacks between the functional modules. A first implemented example that couples an economic and a climate module by means of a two-phase meta-optimization is presented here. The algorithm and mathematical structure behind are discussed as well as important features such as convergence behavior and reliability.     

Modeling rhizofiltration: heavy-metal uptake by plant roots

The discovery of phytoaccumulation potential of plant species has led to its application for remediation of heavy-metal-contaminated soil and wastewater, which is termed as phytoextraction/rhizofiltration. For prediction, analysis, planning and cost-effective design of such systems, mathematical models not only are used as a screening tool but also provide optimal parameters like harvesting time, irrigation schedule, etc. Several laboratory and field scale studies have been carried out in the past, and mathematical expressions have been developed by various researchers for different phenomena like metal adsorption in soil, plant root growth with time, moisture and metal uptake by plant root, moisture movement in unsaturated zone, soil moisture relationship, etc. The complete design of any such phytoremediation program would require the knowledge of behavior of heavy-metal movement in soil, water and plant root system. In this paper, a model for simulating heavy-metal dynamics in soil, water and plant root system is developed and discussed. The governing non-linear partial differential equation is solved numerically by implicit finite difference method using Picard's iterative technique, and the formulation has been illustrated using a characteristic example. The source code is written in MATLAB.