Research Papers
Moving towards inclusive urban adaptation: approaches to integrating community-based adaptation to climate change at city and national scale
Archera Diane, Almansi Florencia, DiGregorio Michael , Roberts Debra, Sharma Divya, Syam Denia
| 2014
Adaptation to climate change in urban areas presents a complex challenge. Consequently, approaches to urban adaptation should be both multilevel and multidimensional. Community-based adaptation (CBA) presents an opportunity for locallevel participation in framing adaptation planning and activities, with wider transformative potential for urban governance. This paper presents five case studies from cities in the Global South which offer insights into the different scales at which CBA can be mainstreamed in urban contexts, and the various ways in which this is happening.
Modelling NO concentrations using MM5-CMAQ 2 modelling system
Sharma Sumit , Panwar Trilok Singh, Chatani Satoru, Kwatra Swati
| 2014
Air quality simulation models are important tools for setting regulatory policy. A combination of Meso-scale Model MM5 and Community Multi-scale 3-D Air Quality model system was applied to the studied domain which included Bangalore city and surrounding regions, where NO concentra- 2 tions were predicted. Emissions estimated for different sectors and meteorological data from National Center for Environmental Prediction served as inputs to the models.
Microwave assisted synthesis of guar gum grafted sodium acrylate/cloisite superabsorbent nanocomposites: Reaction parameters and swelling characteristics
Likhitha M, Sailaja R R N, Priyambika V S , Ravibabu M V
| 2014
In this study, superabsorbent nanocomposites of guar gum grafted sodium acrylate have been synthesized via both microwave and conventional techniques. The reaction parameters of both techniques were optimized and the microwave assisted method was proved to have higher grafting yield with lesser time of reaction as compared to the conventional method. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy analyses revealed that cloisite was exfoliated and uniformly dispersed in guar gum grafted sodium acrylate matrix.
MATLAB based modeling to study the performance of different MPPT techniques used for solar PV system under various operating conditions
Mohanty Parimita, Bhuvaneswari G, Balasubramanian R, Dhaliwal Navdeep Kaur
| 2014
Although solar photovoltaic technology is one of the matured technologies, its initial high cost and low efficiency have not made it fully attractive as an alternative option for electricity users. Hence it is very critical to utilize the maximum available solar power of the array and to operate the PV array at its highest energy conversion output. For this, the solar PV generating system has to operate at the maximum power output point. Since the maximum power point varies with radiation and temperature, it is difficult to maintain optimum power operation at all radiation levels.
Mapping debris-covered glaciers and identifying factors affecting the accuracy
Bhardwaj Anshuman, Joshi P K, Snehmani, Singh Mritunjay Kumar, Sam Lydia , Gupta R D
| 2014
Supraglacial debris significantly hampers the mapping of glaciers using remote sensing data. A semi-automated approach for the mapping of debris-covered glacier was applied, which combined the inputs from thermal and optical remote sensing data and the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) derived morphometric parameters. A thermal mask that delineates the supraglacial debris extent was generated by the thresholding of surface temperature layer obtained from Landsat TM/ETM + thermal band satellite data.
Linking Local Suppliers to Global Food Markets: A Critical Analysis of Food Safety Issues in Developing Countries
Narula Sapna A, Dangi Neeraj
| 2014
Food safety issues are gaining momentum across the globe, triggered by rising consumer awareness, technological up-gradation and with growing international trade. This chapter describes the development of global food supply chains and opportunities for developing countries in the global market regime. It explores food quality, safety and labelling issues along with their implication on global trade and on the livelihood of the farmers concerned.
Life cycle energy consumption and CO2 emissions of different transport systems in India
Ghate Akshima Tejas, Sundar Sanjivi
| 2014
Transport infrastructure promotes and supports economic growth of the country and economic growth, in turn, generates transport demand. The construction of transport infrastructure and the use of that infrastructure to meet transport demand results in the use of energy and emission of CO2 and criteria pollutants. Investment decisions on transport infrastructure as in the case of other investment decisions are based on techno- economic feasibility analysis; they are in addition subject to environmental impact analysis (EIA).
Land Surface Temperature Estimation using Landsat ETM+ Data
Singh Chander Kumar
| 2014
Land Surface Temperature (LST) can be estimated from remotely sensed satellite data. LST is a key parameter in the physics of land surface processes because it is involved in the energy balance as well as in the evapo-transpiration and desertification processes. The knowledge of surface temperature is important to a range of issues and themes in earth sciences central to urban climatology, global environmental change, and human-environment interactions.
Laboratory demonstration and field verification of a Wireless Cookstove Sensing System (WiCS) for determining cooking duration and fuel consumption?
Graham Eric A, Omkar Patange, Lukac Martin, Singh Lokendra, Abhishek Kar, Rehman Ibrahim H, Ramanathan Nithya
| 2014
With improved cookstoves (ICs) increasingly distributed to households for a range of air pollution interventions and carbon-credit programs, it has become necessary to accurately monitor the duration of cooking and the amount of fuel consumed. In this study, laboratory trials were used to create temperature-based algorithms for quantifying cooking duration and estimating fuel consumption from stove temperatures.
Laboratory based assessment of cookstove performance using energy and emission parameters for North Indian cooking cycle
Arora Pooja, Jain Suresh, Sachdeva Kamna
| 2014
The study was conducted to evaluate the performance of cookstoves using controlled cooking test (CCT) with cooking cycles of Northern India, i.e., Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Uttarakhand (UK). Cooking time, specific energy consumption (SEC), and emission factors (EFs) of carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter (PM) were monitored for three improved and one traditional cookstoves. Cooking was conducted by residents of the study area.