Epochal changes in the seasonal evolution of tropical Indian Ocean warming associated with El Niño

The epochal changes in the seasonal evolution of El Niño induced tropical Indian Ocean (TIO) warming in the context of mid-1970s regime shift is investigated in this study. El Niño induced warming is delayed by one season in the northern TIO during epoch-2 (post mid-1970) and southern TIO during epoch-1 (pre mid-1970). Significant spatiotemporal changes in TIO (especially in the north) warming are apparent during the developing phase of El Niño. The ocean dynamics is the major driver in the basin wide warming during epoch-2 whereas heat fluxes are the dominant processes during epoch-1. Strong coupling between thermocline and sea surface temperature (SST) in epoch-2 indicates that El Niño induced oceanic changes are very significant in the seasonal evolution of basin-wide warming. The thermocline-SST coupling is strengthened by the upward propagating subsurface warming in epoch-2. The westward propagating barrier layer over southern TIO supports persistence of warm SST (over southwest TIO in epoch-2), which in turn induce spring asymmetric mode in winds and precipitation. The asymmetric wind pattern and persistent subsidence over maritime continent are primarily responsible for stronger spring warming in epoch-2. The strong east equatorial Indian Ocean cooling in epoch-2 is mainly driven by coastal upwelling over Java–Sumatra coast, whereas in epoch-1 the weak cooling is controlled by the latent heat flux. The spatiotemporal changes in TIO SST warming and their evolution have strong impact on atmospheric circulation and rainfall distribution over the Indian Oceanic rim through local air–sea interaction.     

A study on the variability of atmospheric and oceanic processes over the Arabian Sea during contrasting monsoons

Summary The atmospheric and oceanic conditions associated with the southwest monsoon during the contrasting monsoon years of 2002 and 2003 over the Arabian Sea have been analyzed in the present study. Early onset of southwesterlies and reduced net heat gain due to low solar radiation were responsible for low sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) over the Arabian Sea during 2002 pre-monsoon (particularly in May). Conversely, light winds and an increased net heat gain set up the pre-monsoon warming in 2003. The development and intensification of deep convection over a large area of the Arabian Sea prior to the onset of the monsoon was observed during 2003, but was absent in 2002. Weak cross equatorial flow and a weak low level jet over the Arabian Sea reduced moisture transport towards the Indian subcontinent in July 2002. This scenario helped to contribute to a prolonged break in monsoon conditions during July. However, no such break in conditions occurred during July 2003. In 2002, the summer monsoon cooling of the Arabian Sea occurred well before July, whereas in 2003 cooling occurred during July. Estimates of wind driven Ekman (horizontal) and vertical transports showed maximum values in the month of June (July) in 2002 (2003). These estimates clearly show the importance of horizontal and vertical advection in the summer cooling of the Arabian Sea. During the southwest monsoon period, the Arabian Sea was warmer in 2003 than in 2002. Late onset of the southwesterlies in June, late cooling of the Arabian Sea in July, and downwelling Rossby wave propagation were responsible for the warm SSTs in 2003. Weak wind stress curl in July dampened the westward propagating sea surface height anomaly signals (Rossby waves) before they reached the western Arabian Sea in 2002, whereas, in 2003 strong wind stress curl enhanced Rossby wave propagation. During the summer monsoon period, subsurface temperatures in the south central Arabian Sea were warmer in 2003 than in 2002, particularly in July and August. Strong Ekman convergence, solar penetration, and downwelling (downward velocities) are responsible for the enhanced subsurface warming in 2003.     

Mapping and characterization of inland wetlands using remote sensing and GIS

Sustainable management of wetland ecosystem is necessary as it serves the important functions such as food storage, water quality maintenance and providing habitat for different species of wildlife. Hence, an inventory of wetlands in any given area is a pre-requisite for their conservation and management. A study has been carried out to delineate the wetlands of east Champaran district of Bihar, India, using IRS ID LISS III data. The data for the pre and post monsoon seasons have been analysed and the wetlands have been qualitatively characterized based on the turbidity and aquatic vegetation status. The extent of water logging problem in the study area was inferred from the seasonal variation of waterspread during both the seasons. The three categories of wetlands (ponds/lakes, water logged areas and oxbow lakes) have been identified. From the analysis, it has been observed that the inland wetlands constitute 2.7% of the study area, of which 1.8% is subjected to water logging. Thus, this study highlights the usefulness of remotely sensed data for wetland mapping, seasonal monitoring and characterization.     

Indo-western Pacific ocean capacitor and coherent climate anomalies in post-ENSO summer: A review

ENSO induces coherent climate anomalies over the Indo-western Pacific, but these anomalies outlast SST anomalies of the equatorial Pacific by a season, with major effects on the Asian summer monsoon. This review provides historical accounts of major milestones and synthesizes recent advances in the endeavor to understand summer variability over the Indo-Northwest Pacific region. Specifically, a large-scale anomalous anticyclone(AAC) is a recurrent pattern in post-El Ni ?no summers, spanning the tropical Northwest Pacific and North Indian oceans. Regarding the ocean memory that anchors the summer AAC, competing hypotheses emphasize either SST cooling in the easterly trade wind regime of the Northwest Pacific or SST warming in the westerly monsoon regime of the North Indian Ocean. Our synthesis reveals a coupled ocean–atmosphere mode that builds on both mechanisms in a two-stage evolution. In spring, when the northeast trades prevail, the AAC and Northwest Pacific cooling are coupled via wind–evaporation–SST feedback. The Northwest Pacific cooling persists to trigger a summer feedback that arises from the interaction of the AAC and North Indian Ocean warming, enabled by the westerly monsoon wind regime. This Indo-western Pacific ocean capacitor(IPOC) effect explains why El Ni ?no stages its last act over the monsoonal Indo-Northwest Pacific and casts the Indian Ocean warming and AAC in leading roles. The IPOC displays interdecadal modulations by the ENSO variance cycle, significantly correlated with ENSO at the turn of the 20 th century and after the 1970 s, but not in between. Outstanding issues, including future climate projections, are also discussed.     

Modelling of non-point source pollution in a watershed using remote sensing and gis

Assessment of the environmental impact of Non Point Source (NPS) pollutants on a global, regional and localized scale is the key component for achieving sustainability of agriculture as well as preserving the environment. The knowledge and information required to address the problem of assessing the impact of NPS pollutants like Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), etc., on the environment crosses several sub-disciplines like remote sensing, Geographical Information System (GIS), hydrology and soil science. The remote sensing data, by virtue of its potential like synopticity, multi-spectral and multi-temporal capability, computer compatibility, besides providing almost real time information, has enhanced the scope of automation of mapping dynamic elements, such as land use/land cover, degradation profile and computing the priority categorisation of sub-watersheds. The present study demonstrates the application of remote sensing, GIS and distributed parameter model Agricultural Non-Point Source Pollution Model (AGNPS) in the assessment of hazardous non-point source pollution in a watershed. The ARC-INFO GIS and remote sensing provided the input data to support modelling, while the AGNPS model predicted runoff, sediment and pollutant (N and P) transport within a watershed. The integrated system is used to evaluate the sediment pollution in about 2700 ha Karso watershed located in Hazaribagh area of Jharkhand State, India. The predicted values of runoff and sediment yield copared reasonably well with the measured values. It is important to emphasize that this study is not intended to characterise, in an exhaustive manner. Instead, the goal is to illustrate the implications and potential advantages of GIS and remote sensing based Hydrology and Water quality (H/WQ) modelling framework.     

Prioritization of watersheds using morphometric parameters and assessment of surface water potential using remote sensing

In the present study, prioritization of sub-watersheds was carried out on the basis of sediment production rate. Further, basic hydrologic information such as peak rate of runoff and annual surface water potential were also assessed for the study watersheds and these are essential requisites for effective watershed management. The 10 sub watersheds of Tarai development project area are selected for the present study. Morphometric parameters pertaining to study area are used in the estimation of sediment production rate. The sediment production rate in the study area varies between 2.45 to 11.0 ha-m/100 km²/year. The remote sensing data has been utilized for generating land use/land cover data which is an essential prerequisite for land and water resource planning and development. The remote sensing data can especially play significant role in collection of real time information from remote areas of river basins for generation of parameters required for hydrologic modeling.     

Reconstruction of time series MODIS EVI data using de-noising algorithms

Long-term Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) data have inherent noise due to clouds and poor atmospheric conditions that limit its applicability for environmental applications. This study was carried out with an objective of noise removal and reconstruction of time series MODIS EVI data (16 day) for the period 2010–2014 using de-noising algorithms. Relative evaluation of de-noising algorithms for smoothing temporal data with ideal noise free data is not possible in actual scenario. Hence, synthetic signals were generated and introduced Gaussian noise at different variance levels for evaluation purpose. Spatial analysis was carried out by introducing noise at different variance levels into the noise free EVI images from the raw EVI stacked image. Spatio-temporal analyses of noise signals in the reconstructed EVI images were evaluated in terms of performance indicators, namely Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio and Mean Square Error.