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Comparative
Assessment of Techniques for Bioresource Monitoring Using
Gis and Remote Sensing
--
Ramachandra T V
Growing
concern over the status of global and regional bioenergy resources
has necessitated the analysis and monitoring of land cover
and land use parameters on spatial and temporal scales. The
knowledge of land cover and land use is very important in
understanding natural resources utilization, conversion and
management. Land cover, land use intensity and land use diversity
are land quality indicators for sustainable land management.
Optimal management of resources aids in maintaining the ecosystem
balance and thereby ensures the sustainable development of
a region. Thus, the sustainable development of a region requires
a synoptic ecosystem approach in the management of natural
resources that relates to the dynamics of natural variability
and the effects of human intervention on key indicators of
biodiversity and productivity. Spatial and temporal tools
such as Remote Sensing (RS), Geographic Information System
(GIS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) provide spatial
data at regular intervals with the functionalities of a decision
support system to help in visualization, querying, analysis,
etc., which would aid in sustainable management of natural
resources. RS data and GIS technologies play an important
role in spatially evaluating bioresource availability and
demand. This paper explores various land cover and land use
techniques that could be used for bioresources monitoring
considering the spatial data of Kolar district, Karnataka,
India. Slope and distance-based vegetation indices are computed
for qualitative and quantitative assessment of land cover
using remote spectral measurements. Different-scale mapping
of land use pattern in Kolar district is done using supervized
classification approaches. Slope-based vegetation indices
show area under vegetation which range from 47.65% to 49.05%,
while distance-based vegetation indices show its range from
40.40% to 47.41%. Land use analyses using maximum likelihood
classifier, indicate that 46.69% is agricultural land, 42.33%
is wasteland (barren land), 4.62% is built up, 3.07% is plantation,
2.77% is natural forest and 0.53% is water bodies. The comparative
analysis of various classifiers indicate that the Gaussian
maximum likelihood classifier has least errors. The computation
of taluk-wise bioresource status shows that Chikballapur taluk
has better availability of resources compared to other taluks
in the district.
©
2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Groundwater
Quality Status of Jaipur District, Rajasthan
--
M K Sharma and V K Choubey
Groundwater
is one of the most valuable natural resources. Without improved
management and closer protection, groundwater resource will
suffer irreversible deterioration on a widespread basis. The
demand for water has increased over the years, resulting in
water scarcity. The situation is further aggravated by the
problem of water pollution. The total groundwater resources
of Rajasthan appear to be inadequate, compared to the rapidly
increasing demands for domestic and industrial uses. The depth
of water varies widely throughout the State. The problem of
fluorosis is one of most severe problems affecting the State.
In the present study, the quality of groundwater in Jaipur
district has been examined in the pre-monsoon and post-monsoon
seasons with special reference to fluoride contamination.
The distribution of fluoride in the district revealed that
the higher fluoride zone may be attributed to distribution
of fluoride bearing minerals in the soil, their solubilization
charateristics, nature of the product with soil and other
environmental conditions. The characteristics most influencing
the concentration of fluoride were observed to be pH and alkalinity.
In the post-monsoon season, a general dilution effect of almost
all water quality constituents further suggest that shallow
aquifer wells in weathered rocks with good circulation of
rainwater in the aquifer yield fluoride-free groundwater.
Further, it was observed that the deeper wells are more prone
to fluoride contamination than the shallow ones. It is attributed
to the fact that due to recharge, fluoride level is reduced.
Therefore, it is the contact time and flow path which governs
the concentration of fluoride. Various defluoridation techniques
and their limitations have also been discussed.
©
2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Rapid
Method to Assess Substrate Inhibition in Anaerobic Fixed-Bed
Reactors for Wastewater Treatment
--
Marcelo Zaiat,
Lorena Grein Tavares Vieira and Eugenio
Foresti
A
method to assess inhibition kinetic data for packed-bed anaerobic
reactors is presented and discussed. The method is based on
the evaluation of overall substrate utilization rates by immobilized
anaerobic sludge subjected to different substrate concentrations.
The reaction rates were estimated by using a differential
reactor filled with polyurethane cubic matrices containing
anaerobic sludge. A synthetic glucose-based substrate was
recycled in a closed circuit at liquid superficial velocity
of 0.008 cm s-1. The initial substrate concentration
was varied from one experiment to another from 532 to 3,015
mg COD L-1. A substrate inhibition kinetic model
fitted well with the data of overall reaction rates as a function
of substrate concentration and the apparent kinetic parameters
were estimated. The substrate concentration that provides
maximum substrate utilization rate by the biomass was found
to be 2,546 mg COD L-1. A slight decrease of the
overall substrate utilization rates was observed for substrate
concentrations higher than this value, due to primary or intermediate
substrate inhibition.
©
2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Removal
of Chromium (III) from Aqueous Solution and Industrial Wastewater
Using Natural Rice Husk and Fly Ash as Adsorbents
-- Puziah Abdul Latif and Tan Shu Chin
This
study compares the ability of Natural Rice Husk (NRH) and
fly ash in removing Cr (III) ion from aqueous solution and
industrial wastewater. Batch studies were conducted to characterize
the adsorption process. The influence of three parameters
(solution pH, initial metal concentration in solution and
adsorbent dosage) on the adsorption or removal process of
Cr (III) ion by NRH and fly ash conducted at 28 ± 2 °C
were studied. From the batch studies, the removal percentage
of Cr (III) ion by NRH was found to be 99.71% for aqueous
solution containing 50 ± 2 mg/L of Cr (III) ion using
0.50 g adsorbent. Fly ash was found to have 95.27% removal
of Cr (III) ion for an aqueous solution containing 50 ±
2 mg/L of Cr (III) ion using 0.10 g adsorbent. The optimum
pH of the adsorption process for NRH and fly ash was 5.5 and
2.0, respectively. The removal of Cr (III) ion from industrial
wastewater sample with a concentration of 50 ± 2 mg/L
by NRH and fly ash was 92.78% and 85.24%, respectively. The
adsorption of Cr (III) ion using NRH followed Langmuir's adsorption
model, while the adsorption of Cr (III) ion using fly ash
followed both Langmuir and Freundlich's adsorption model.
Based on the Langmuir constants, fly ash was found to have
a higher adsorption capacity (13.37 mg/g) for the adsorption
of Cr (III) ion as compared to NRH (2.33 mg/g).
©
2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
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