Fostering Community Preparedness to Cope with Drought: new initiatives and results from a study involving ODL and ICT from South Central India

Drought has emerged as a key concern in the context of climate variability induced by Climate Change processes and over a billion people are vulnerable, according to UN estimates. Drought preparedness is recognized as the preferred way to cope over relief, and information is the key. Improved access to contemporary ICT in the form of mobile phones and the Internet can help address the challenge of information deficiency in this matter. We have tried to develop an integrated approach for improving the capacity of rural communities by bringing together agricultural information with methods of ODL and effective exchange or delivery using video- conferencing. This has also enabled skill building among vulnerable rural communities in the use of color-coded maps derived from satellite imagery and GIS platforms. ICRISAT in partnership with a community based all- women micro-credit organization, the Adarsha Mahila Samaikhya (AMS), in South Central India has developed this blend of techniques to help the AMS and rural communities to anticipate how vulnerable their villages would be to drought in a season. This is an ongoing partnership, and we report here on joint studies carried out during March 2008- September 2009

A knowledge-driven GIS modeling technique for groundwater potential mapping at the Upper Langat Basin, Malaysia.

The aim of this paper is to use a knowledge-driven expert-based geographical information system (GIS) model coupling with remote-sensing-derived parameters for groundwater potential mapping in an area of the Upper Langat Basin, Malaysia. In this study, nine groundwater storage controlling parameters that affect groundwater occurrences are derived from remotely sensed imagery, available maps, and associated databases. Those parameters are: lithology, slope, lineament, land use, soil, rainfall, drainage density, elevation, and geomorphology. Then the parameter layers were integrated and modeled using a knowledge-driven GIS of weighted linear combination. The weightage and score for each parameter and their classes are based on the Malaysian groundwater expert opinion survey. The predicted groundwater potential map was classified into four distinct zones based on the classification scheme designed by Department of Minerals and Geoscience Malaysia (JMG). The results showed that about 17% of the study area falls under low-potential zone, with 66% on moderate-potential zone, 15% with high-potential zone, and only 0.45% falls under very-high-potential zone. The results obtained in this study were validated with the groundwater borehole wells data compiled by the JMG and showed 76% of prediction accuracy. In addition statistical analysis indicated that hard rock dominant of the study area is controlled by secondary porosity such as distance from lineament and density of lineament. There are high correlations between area percentage of predicted groundwater potential zones and groundwater well yield. Results obtained from this study can be useful for future planning of groundwater exploration, planning and development by related agencies in Malaysia which provide a rapid method and reduce cost as well as less time consuming. The results may be also transferable to other areas of similar hydrological characteristics

Solid lipid nanoparticles of irbesartan: preparation, characterization, optimization and pharmacokinetic studies

ABSTRACT Irbesartan is an antihypertensive with limited bioavailability and solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) is one of the approaches to improve bioavailability. Solid lipid nanoparticles were prepared using glyceryl monostearate by solvent emulsification method followed by probe sonication. Irbesartan loaded SLNs were characterized and optimized by parameters like particle size, zeta potential, surface morphology entrapment efficiency and in vitro release. The optimized formulation was then further evaluated for the pharmacokinetic studies in Wistar rats. Irbesartan-loaded SLN of particle size 523.7 nm and 73.8% entrapment efficiency showed good bioavailability in Wistar rats and also showed optimum stability in the studies. The SLN prepared using glyceryl monostearate by solvent emulsification method leads to improve bioavailability of the drug

Application of LOICZ DPSIR framework to South asia Basins and developing typology for coastal vulnerability in South Asia

Dissertação de Mestrado, Gestão da Água e da Costa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade do Algarve, 2007Interações entre a Terra e o Oceano na Zona Costeira (ITOZC) é um projecto núcleo do Projecto Internacional Geosfera-biosfera (PIGB). As bases do projecto núcleo da LOICZ desenvolveram uma avaliação global da importância das costas oceânicas como receptoras de material proveniente da parte terrestre. A bacia Regional do Sul da Ásia é o projecto das bacias da ITOZC focado no sub-continente Indiano. O projecto das bacias do ITOZC adoptou como metodologia Causa-Pressão-Estado-Impacto-Resposta (CPEIP) para integrar os resultados das ciências naturais e sociais com repercussão na e a partir da politica e gestão. O projecto consequentemente envolve os impactos da sociedade humana no transporte de materiais até à costa incluindo água, sedimentos, nutrientes, metais pesados e químicos produzidos pelo homem, classifica os seus impactes nos sistemas costeiros e as tentativas em desenvolver opções de gestão racional. A aplicação do conceito CPEIP no sub-continente Indiano indica que a sedimentação/erosão é sem dúvida o impacte mais significativo na região, seguido da poluição, eutrofização e na perda de Biodiversidade. Muitas são as causas que contribuem para estes problemas, incluindo em ordem de importância desflorestação, turismo, urbanização, industria, agricultura, construção de barragens ao longo dos rios e desvio dos próprios rios. As principais pressões aumentam a carga de sedimentos, o input de nutrientes, as deficientes praticas de gestão da terrestre, a construção de barragens e o desvio da água dos rios, todas ampliadas pelas mudanças no ciclo hidrológico, pelas tempestades tropicais e pelos furacões. O conceito CPEIP é aplicado em forma de tabela para cada sistema. A classificação da tipologia da ITOZC foi aplicada para gerar uma tipologia para a vulnerabilidade da costa à Subida do Nível do Mar como consequência do Aquecimento Global. A ferramenta DISCO cluster utilizou-se para estatisticamente agrupar um conjunto de variáveis proxy da vulnerabilidade costeira relativamente à subida do nível do mar em medida de delinear-se a variabilidade da vulnerabilidade da costa. A tipologia pode ser utilizada para identificar as áreas prioritárias à vulnerabilidade costeira e pode ser útil na tomada de decisões para os políticos e gestores de costa.Land Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ) is a core project of the International Geosphere-biosphere Project (IGBP). The LOICZ Basins is developed a global evaluation of coastal system as a receiving body of land-based changes material fluxes. The South Asia Regional basin is the LOICZ-Basins project focused in Indian sub-continent. The LOICZ-basins has adopted the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework to integrate the results of natural and social sciences with feedback to and from policy and management. The project therefore deals with the impact of human society on the material transport to the coast, including water, sediments, nutrients, heavy metals and man-made chemicals. Assessing the impacts on coastal systems tries to develop rational management options. Applying DPSIR concept to the Indian sub-continent indicates that sedimentation/erosion is by far the most significant impact in the region, followed by pollution, eutrophication and loss of biodiversity. Many drivers contribute to the generation of issues. The major pressures are sediment load, nutrient input, siltation, sewage input, poor land use pattern, dam construction, dredging, and water diversion. These are exaggerated by changes in the hydrological cycle and tropical storms and hurricanes. The DPSIR concept is applied in a table format to each system. Developing LOICZ typology tool is another part of this study. This approach is used to generate a typology for coastal vulnerability of sea level rise which caused by global warming and climate changes. DISCO cluster tool is used to statistically cluster a set of proxy variables to coastal vulnerability in order to delineate the variability into coastal vulnerability. This typology could be used by identifying the priority areas of coastal vulnerability and is very useful tool to the coastal manager and policy-makers for effective coastal planning and management approaches

Quantification of cracks in concrete bridge decks in Ohio District 3

"Report Date: February 2012."; Executive summary report (4 p.) laid in.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 58-61).; Final report;; Sponsored by: Ohio Dept. of Transportation; State job no. 134564The development of cracks in reinforced bridge decks is a critical problem, not only in Ohio state, but the whole of United States. Many bridge decks constructed within the last 10 years in Ohio have already shown varying levels and patterns of cracking. Bridge deck cracking is a serious issue because cracks allow harmful and corrosive chemicals to penetrate the concrete and deteriorate the reinforcing steel embedded in it, regardless of the bridge design type, length of spans, deck thickness and concrete mixture designs. Proper precautions need to be taken to avoid rapid deterioration of the bridges which can lead to increased maintenance costs and the need for possible replacement. The Ohio Department of Transportation's current procedure for bridge inspection requires periodic surveying of the whole bridge. However, this inspection procedure offers only a qualitative assessment of the bridges inspected. In this study, a quantitative measurement strategy was adopted by measuring the crack densities of twelve bridges in District 3. Two types of bridges were inspected: three structural slab bridge decks and nine stringer supported bridge decks. Crack densities were determined based on crack maps corresponding to the surveys for each bridge deck. The crack densities determined for the twelve bridge decks indicated that structural slab bridge decks have slightly higher shrinkage crack densities compared to the bridge decks constructed with stringer supports. However, the "structural" cracks seem to be wider for structural slabs (greater than 0.007 inch). Particularly on bridge ASD-42-0656, which is a continuous slab bridge, there were several large "structural" cracks that were parallel to the intermediate supports. These cracks were very wide (much greater than 0.007 inch). The shrinkage crack densities of the twelve bridge decks determined in this study were considerably lower than the crack densities of similar bridge decks located in other states, demonstrating that Ohio bridge decks in general have lower crack density than those in other states. The shrinkage crack densities of the bridges constructed with QC/QA type of concrete have lower values than the bridges made with other types of concrete

Identification of groundwater drought prone zones in Pedda vagu and Ookachetti vagu watersheds, tributaries of the Krishna River, India

The Pedda vagu and Ookachetti vagu watersheds located in the semi-arid regions of Mahabubnagar district are highly dependent on groundwater for irrigation owing to unreliable rainfall and over extraction of groundwater. The present study has been conducted to identify spatio-temporal groundwater droughts and drought-prone zones. Temporal groundwater droughts have been determined using a standardized water-level index along with spatial groundwater droughts using spline interpolation in Geographic Information Systems. The study shows that the groundwater droughts varied among the stations during the observation period, i.e. 1998-2011. However, the spatial assessment shows that the region as such experienced more mild groundwater droughts except during severe meteorological drought years (1998, 2002, 2004 and 2008); this indicates that the region has good scope for groundwater exploitation during dry spells and initial stages of droughts. Therefore, it is critical to have plans for the development of groundwater to cope with drought

Spatio-temporal analysis of droughts in the semi-arid Pedda Vagu and Ookacheti Vagu watersheds, Mahabubnagar District, India

This paper presents spatio-temporal meteorological drought analysis of Pedda Vagu and Ookacheti Vagu watersheds of Mahabubnagar and Ranga Reddy Districts of Telangana state, South Central India. Rainfall anomaly index (RAI) and run analysis have been leveraged to assess drought characteristics at different stations in the basin. The study also presents the interpolation of RAI values using spline technique in a geographic information system (GIS) environment to map the spatial extent and variation of drought severity in different time steps. The study reveals that the occurrence, magnitude, and recurrence of drought varied among the stations in the basin during an observed time frame, i.e., 1986 to 2013. Significant variations in the occurrences of number of drought events are observed among the stations in the basin. The spline interpolated rainfall anomaly index maps illustrated that some regions experienced more severe drought while other regions were well-off. This uncertainty in rainfall essentially indicates that a finer scale of drought vulnerability assessment is highly necessary for better drought management practices. Furthermore, empirical relationships were developed between drought duration and magnitude to support decision-making during various agricultural practices and water management

Assessment and planning for integrated river basin management using remote sensing, SWAT model and morphometric analysis (case study: Kaddam river basin, India)

River basin assessment is crucial for water management and to address the watershed issues. So, an integrated river basin management and assessment model using morphometric assessment, remote sensing, GIS and SWAT model was envisaged and applied to Kaddam river basin, Telangana state, India. Morphometric results showed high drainage density ranging from 2.19 to 5.5 km2/km, with elongated fan shape having elongation ratio of 0.60–0.75 with sparse vegetation and high relief. Land use change assessment showed that 265.26 km2 of forest land is converted into irrigated land and has increased sediment yields in watersheds. The calibration (r 2 = 0.74, NSE = 0.84) and validation (r 2 = 0.72, NSE = 0.84) of SWAT model showed that simulated and observed results were in agreement and in recommended ranges. The SWAT simulations were used to compute mean annual water and sediment yield from 1997 to 2012, along with morphometric results to categorize critical watersheds and conservation structures were proposed accordingly

Mapping of Groundwater Potential Zones in the Musi Basin Using Remote Sensing Data and GIS

The objective of this study is to explore the groundwater availability for agriculture in the Musi basin. Remote sensing data and geographic information system were used to locate potential zones for groundwater in the Musi basin. Various maps (i.e., base, hydrogeomorphological, geological, structural, drainage, slope, land use/land cover and groundwater prospect zones) were prepared using the remote sensing data along with the existing maps. The groundwater availability of the basin is qualitatively classified into different classes (i.e., very good, good, moderate, poor and nil) based on its hydrogeomorphological conditions. The land use/land cover map was prepared for the Kharif season using a digital classification technique with the limited ground truth for mapping irrigated areas in the Musi basin. The alluvial plain in filled valley, flood plain and deeply buried pediplain were successfully delineated and shown as the prospective zones of groundwater