On the mechanism of X-ray production by dart leaders of lightning flashes     

Vernon Cooray  Joseph Dwyer  V. Rakov  Mahbubur Rahman 《Journal of Atmospheric and Solar》2010,72(11-12):848-855

Radiation with energies up to about 250 keV associated with the dart leader phase of rocket-triggered lightning were reported by Dwyer et al. (2004). The mechanism of X-ray generation by dart leaders, however, is unknown at present. Recently, Cooray et al., in pressPlease provide complete bibliographic details for Ref. cooray e al., in press and Saleh et al., in press if available., Cooray et al., 2009a developed physical concepts and mathematical techniques necessary to calculate the electric field associated with the tip of dart leaders. We have utilized the results of these calculations together with the energy dependent frictional force on electrons, as presented by Moss et al. (2006), to evaluate the maximum energy an electron will receive in accelerating in the dart-leader-tip electric field. The main assumptions made in performing the calculations are: (a) the dart leader channel is straight and vertical; (b) the path of the electrons are straight inside the channel; and (c) the decay of the channel temperature is uniform along the length of the dart leader. In the calculation, we have taken into account the fact that the electric field is changing both in space and time and that the gas in the defunct return stroke channel is at atmospheric pressure and at elevated temperature (i.e. reduced gas density). The results of the calculation show that for a given dart leader current there is a critical defunct-return-stroke-channel temperature above which the cold electron runaway becomes feasible. For a typical dart leader, this temperature is around 2500 K. This critical temperature decreases with increase in dart leader current. Since the temperature of the defunct return stroke channel may lie in the range of 2000–4000 K, the results show that the electric field at the tip of dart leaders is capable of accelerating electrons to MeV energy levels.  相似文献   

Description of the biology of Caspian vimba, Vimba vimba (Linnaeus, 1758), in Gorgan Bay-Miankaleh Wildlife Refuge (southeast Caspian Sea)     

Rahman Patimar  Sajjad Safari 《中国海洋湖沼学报》2010,28(6):1173-1179

We collected Vimba vimba throughout the spawning season (mid April to mid June, 2007) in Gorgan Bay (south-western Iran) and investigated its age, growth, and reproductive traits. The maximum age was 5⁺ years. Both sexes grew allometrically (positive for males: b=3.140 9 and negative for females: b=2.791 4). The von Bertalanffy growth functions were described by the formulae L _t =32.565(1-e^{−0.184(t+0.530)}) for males and L _t =35.950(1-e^{−0.179(t+0.529)}) for females. The overall sex ratio was balanced, but males were predominant in the smaller size classes and females in the larger size classes. Based on the gonadosomatic index (GSI) values, spawning appears to occur between late April and late May in the bay. The highest mean GSI was 6.44 for males in early May and 20.36 for females in late April. Absolute fecundity varies from the minimum of 5 436 eggs for age 3⁺ fish to the maximum of 36 141 eggs for age 5⁺ fish. Fecundity was also positively correlated with fish size (length and weight). Egg diameter ranged from 1.05 to 1.70 mm in the mean of 1.42 mm. There was no correlation between female size and ova diameter.  相似文献   

Distribution of heavy metals in the core sediments of a tropical wetland system   总被引：4，自引：1，他引：3  

P. S. Harikumar Ph.D.  U. P. Nasir M.Sc. M.Phil. in Chemistry  M. P. Mujeebu Rahman M.Sc. in Chemistry 《International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology》2009,6(2):225-232

Five sediment cores from the fresh water region of the Vembanad wetland system were studied for the trace element contents The average concentration of iron, manganese, nickel, copper, zinc, cadmium, lead, mercury and chromium were determined. The core samples were collected using gravity type corer, digested with a mixture of nitric acid and perchloric acid and analyzed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Heavy metals such as iron, copper, nickel and zinc reported enrichment towards the surface of the core sediment sample collected from the centre of the lake. Lead, cadmium and mercury showed uniform distribution through out the core. Quality of the sediments were evaluated based on sediment quality guidelines, pollution load index, sum of toxic units and with effect range low/effect range median and threshold effect level/probable effect level values of Environmental Protection Agency guidelines. The degree of contamination for each station was determined. The concentration of different heavy metals has been compared with the world average concentration of shale values. Results of the analysis showed that Vembanad lake is facing serious metal pollution with increased rate of deposition.  相似文献   

Arsenic in freshwater systems: Influence of eutrophication on occurrence,distribution, speciation,and bioaccumulation   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

M. Azizur Rahman  H. Hasegawa 《Applied Geochemistry》2012

Arsenic exists in a variety of chemical forms, and microbial metabolism results in the occurrence of thermodynamically unstable arsenite (As^III) and methylarsenic compounds in freshwaters (rivers and lakes). The inorganic forms (As^V and As^III) and the methylated forms (methylarsonic acid; MMAA^V and dimethylarsinic acid; DMAA^V) are the main species of As in freshwaters while the bulk of the total dissolved As is inorganic species. Although the predominant forms of methylarsenic compounds are consistently DMAA^V followed by MMAA^V, the DMAA^III and MMAA^III species have also been found in freshwaters. Several observations have revealed that phytoplankton activities are responsible for the seasonal variations of methylarsenic compounds in freshwaters. Although it was unclear if the occurrences of methylarsenic compounds were from the breakdown of larger molecules or the end-products of phytoplankton biosynthesis, recent studies have revealed that less toxic As–glutathione complexes are intermediates in the biosynthesis of organoarsenic compounds by phytoplankton. Recent studies have also revealed that eutrophication plays an important role in the production, distribution, and cycling of methylarsenic compounds in freshwaters. In this review, the recent reports on the influence of eutrophication on distribution, speciation, and bioaccumulation in freshwaters are discussed.  相似文献   

Estimation of concentration and exposure doses due to radon by using CR-39 plastic track detectors in the residences of Sudhnuti, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan     

Muhammad Rafique  Saeed Ur Rahman  Muhammad Akram  Matiullah 《Environmental Earth Sciences》2012,66(4):1225-1232

This paper presents the results of indoor radon concentration measurements in 120 dwellings of district Sudhnuti of Azad Kashmir. Measurements were taken with CR-39 passive alpha track detector. CR-39 based box type radon detectors were installed in a bedroom and living rooms of each house. The detectors were retrieved after exposing to indoor radon for period of 6 months and then etched in 6 M NaOH at 80°C for 16 h, the observed track densities were converted in to the indoor radon concentration. Indoor radon concentration varied from 20 ± 12 to 170 ± 4 Bq m⁻³ for the houses of the district Sudhnuti. Arithmetic mean (AM), geometric mean (GM) and geometric standard deviations (GSD) were found to be 82 ± 6, 77 ± 6 and 1.51, respectively. The minimum value of weighted average radon concentration was recorded in one of the house of Mang town, whereas the maximum value was found in the Pattan Sher Khan region. Doses due to indoor radon exposure vary from 0.50 ± 0.31 to 4.28 ± 0.11 mSv year⁻¹ AM, GM and GSD. of mean effective doses were found to be 2.06 ± 0.13, 1.95 ± 0.18 and 1.51, respectively. According to the recommendations made by the Health Protection Agency, UK (200 Bq m⁻³) all the houses surveyed are within the safe limits.  相似文献   

Dynamics of hourly sea level at Hillarys Boat Harbour,Western Australia: a chaos theory perspective     

Rahman Khatibi  Mohammad Ali Ghorbani  Mohammad Taghi Aalami  Kasim Kocak  Oleg Makarynskyy  Dina Makarynska  Mahdi Aalinezhad 《Ocean Dynamics》2011,61(11):1797-1807

Water level forecasting using recorded time series can provide a local modelling capability to facilitate local proactive management practices. To this end, hourly sea water level time series are investigated. The records collected at the Hillarys Boat Harbour, Western Australia, are investigated over the period of 2000 and 2002. Two modelling techniques are employed: low-dimensional dynamic model, known as the deterministic chaos theory, and genetic programming, GP. The phase space, which describes the evolution of the behaviour of a nonlinear system in time, was reconstructed using the delay-embedding theorem suggested by Takens. The presence of chaotic signals in the data was identified by the phase space reconstruction and correlation dimension methods, and also the predictability into the future was calculated by the largest Lyapunov exponent to be 437 h or 18 days into the future. The intercomparison of results of the local prediction and GP models shows that for this site-specific dataset, the local prediction model has a slight edge over GP. However, rather than recommending one technique over another, the paper promotes a pluralistic modelling culture, whereby different techniques should be tested to gain a specific insight from each of the models. This would enable a consensus to be drawn from a set of results rather than ignoring the individual insights provided by each model.  相似文献   

Scaling property of regional floods in New South Wales Australia     

Elias Ishak  Khaled Haddad  Mohammad Zaman  Ataur Rahman 《Natural Hazards》2011,58(3):1155-1167

Regional flood frequency analysis (RFFA) is often used in hydrology to estimate flood quantiles when there is a limitation of at-site recorded flood data. One of the commonly used RFFA methods is the index flood method, which is based on the assumptions that a region satisfies criterion of simple scaling and it can be treated homogeneous. Another RFFA method is quantile regression technique where prediction equations are developed for flood quantiles of interest as function of catchment characteristics. In this paper, the scaling property of regional floods in New South Wales (NSW) State in Australia is investigated. The results indicate that the annual maximum floods in NSW satisfy a simple scaling assumption. The application of a heterogeneity test, however, reveals that NSW flood data set does not satisfy the criteria for a homogeneous region. Finally, a set of prediction equations are developed for NSW using quantile regression technique; an independent test shows that these equations can provide reasonably accurate design flood estimates with a median relative error of about 27%.  相似文献   

New ophiolite occurrences in Sudan and constraint on the western boundary of the Nubian Shield: Petrographical and geochemical evidence     

E.A. Ali  E.M. Abdel Rahman 《Journal of African Earth Sciences》2011,59(1):101-110

Important mafic–ultramafic masses have been located for the first time in the intersection area between the Keraf Shear Zone and the Nakasib Suture Zone of the Nubian Shield. The masses, comprising most of the members of the ophiolite suite, are Sotrebab and Qurun complexes east of the Nile, and Fadllab complex west of the Nile. The new mafic–ultramafic masses are located on the same trend of the ophiolitic masses decorating the Nakasib Suture. A typical complete ophiolite sequence has not been observed in these complexes, nevertheless, the mafic–ultramafic rocks comprise basal unit of serpentinite and talc chlorite schists overlain by a thick cumulate facies of peridotites, pyroxenites and layered gabbros overlain by basaltic pillow lavas with dolerite dykes and screens of massive gabbros. Associated with pillow lavas are thin layers of carbonates and chert. The best section of cumulate mafic–ultramafic units has been observed in Jebel Qurun and El Fadlab complexes, comprising peridotites, pyroxenites and layered gabbros. Dolerite dykes and screens of massive gabbros have been observed with basaltic pillow lava sections in Wadi Dar Tawaiy. The basal ultramafic units of the complexes have been fully or partly retrograded to chlorite magnetite schist and talc to talc-carbonate rocks (listowenites), especially in the Jebel Qurun and Sotrebab complexes. Petrographically, the gabbros (layered and massive) and the basaltic pillow lavas show mineral assemblages of epidote amphibolite facies. The mafic members from the three complexes show a clear tholeiitic trend and oceanic floor affinity. The pillow lavas plot in the field of oceanic floor basalt, namely in the back arc field. Primitive mantle normalized spider diagram of the pillow lavas reveals a closer correspondence to Enrich-Mid-Oceanic Ridge Basalt (E-MORB) type, which is confirmed by the flat chondrite normalized Rare Earth Elements (REE) pattern. Field, petrographical and geochemical evidence supports ophiolitic origin of the three complexes. The newly discovered ophiolitic complexes mark the western continuation of the Nakasib Suture Zone.  相似文献   

Identifying the optimal configuration of one-way and two-way streets for contraflow operation during an emergency evacuation     

Afandizadeh  Shahriar  Jahangiri  Arash  Kalantari  Navid 《Natural Hazards》2013,69(3):1315-1334

As natural and man-made disasters have been increasing, interest in preventing crises and/or mitigating the associated consequences has been growing as well. When dealing with predictable disasters, there is a limited time for effective response, and people should be evacuated in a short time to minimize the fatalities. In such extraordinary situations, attention should be given to making better use of existing infrastructure. The aim of this study is to present a model for optimizing street directions in order to increase the outbound capacity of the network. However, because of the magnitude of the problem, an optimal solution cannot be reached through ordinary methods. Hence, the simulated annealing algorithm, which is a meta-heuristic technique, is used. Computational results on a case study demonstrate that this technique yields considerable improvement in the objective function of the problem which is total travel time of road network users.

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Site amplification investigation in Dhaka, Bangladesh, using H/V ratio of microtremor   总被引：2，自引：1，他引：1  

Mehedi Ahmed Ansary  Md. Saidur Rahman 《Environmental Earth Sciences》2013,70(2):559-574

The degree of damage during earthquakes strongly depends on dynamic characteristics of buildings as well as amplification of seismic waves in soils. Among the other approaches, microtremor is, perhaps, the easiest and cheapest way to understand the dynamic characteristics of soil. Non-reference microtremor measurements have been carried out in 45 locations in and around the capital Dhaka city of Bangladesh. Subsoil investigations (Standard Penetration Test and Shear Wave Velocity) have also been executed in those locations. Soil model has been developed for those locations for site response analysis by means of the program SHAKE. Among those 45 locations, predominant frequency of microtremor observation varies from 0.48 to 3.65 Hz. Out of those 45, for 35 locations Transfer function obtained from the program SHAKE have higher frequency compared to microtremor H/V ratio and for one location it has lower predominant frequency. For six locations, frequencies obtained from two methods are identical. For three other locations, there are no similarities between predominant frequency obtained from microtremor and transfer function. The seismic Vulnerability Index (Kg) for 45 sites varies between 0.45 and 31.85. Ten sites have been identified as having moderate vulnerability of soil layers to deform.  相似文献