Indian Stations Research Articles

Overview of solar eclipse of 21st June 2020 and its impact on solar irradiance, surface ozone and different meteorological parameters over eight cities of India

• First time study of annular solar eclipse effect simultaneously at eight stations of India. • Stations are located nearly perpendicular to the eclipse axis with magnitude 98.6% to 77.2%. • Substantial reduction in solar radiation, surface ozone & temperature is evident. • Atmospheric cooling from eclipse induced dynamical changes to the meteorological parameters. The present study is aimed to investigate the variation in solar radiance, surface ozone, temperature, relative humidity and wind velocity during the most recent and one of the most significant annular solar eclipses of 21st June 2020. Effects of solar eclipse have been analyzed first time at eight different cities of India located nearly perpendicular to the eclipse axis having an eclipse magnitude from 98.6 % to 77.2 %. Significant reductions in solar irradiance at different stations were found during the maximum phase of the solar eclipse due to the occultation of the Sun by the Moon. With the progression of the solar eclipse, surface ozone concentrations were also found to be decreasing and reached to its minimum value during the maximum phase of eclipse and then after the end of the eclipse started regaining their original behavior. Overall, the change in ozone was found to be proportional to eclipse magnitude. A decrease of ozone levels ranged from 30 % to 65 % over all the stations. In addition to the above, atmospheric cooling from the solar eclipse of 21st June 2020 induced dynamical changes to the meteorological parameters (temperature, relative humidity and wind speed) with the change being most prominent during the maximum phase of the solar eclipse.

Techno-Commercial Study of a Solar Hybrid Renewable Energy Generator With an Initial Sizing Strategy

Abstract Solar energy-based hybrid renewable energy generators are techno-economically designed for various standalone uses such as far-distance area electrification, commerical building electrification, polygeneration, and industrial application. This article attempts to address the problem of high cost of energy of such generators, which needs to be optimized. The research gap is that there is hardly any work on techno-economic optimization of such generators using an initial sizing technique, thereby resulting in a design with higher cost of energy. In this work, a hybrid renewable energy generator comprising solar photovoltaic-biogas-battery storage is techno-economically optimized with the aim of minimizing its cost of energy for electrification of a radio-broadcasting station in India by using simulation software called hybrid optimization model for electric renewables. An initial sizing strategy has been proposed in the modeling of the hybrid system. Optimal designs are obtained under different scenarios like in the standalone mode with and without capacity shortage fraction and in grid-connected mode with scheduled and random outages. The results show that during initial sizing in the standalone mode, consideration of larger size (25 kW) of the component with lower unit capacity cost (biogas unit) and higher load sharing by it (102,625 kWh/year) in the energy management of the hybrid design with a small capacity shortage (5%) reduces the levelized cost of energy to 0.0956 $/kWh compared to some of the literature designs. Of all the optimal designs, the grid-connected system has the lowest levelized cost of energy of 0.0873 $/kWh with a renewable fraction of 0.821. The present work contributes to the component size planning of hybrid renewable energy generator to generate lower levelized cost of energy. The novelty of the present work is that in the component size planning in the standalone mode, following the initial sizing strategy, if the component with lower unit capacity cost shares majority of the load, then the levelized cost of energy with or without grid-connected mode can be further reduced compared to some existing designs, which can be verified from the simulation results. Therefore, the present results will be useful for component planning and sizing of hybrid renewable generators so as to preset the size of its components as per their unit capacity cost to result in a lower cost of energy.

Doonstruck Diaries of Victorian Memsahibs: Between the Journal and Jhampaun in Mussoorie and Landour

Established as colonial hill stations in Indian's Doon Valley, in the 1820s, Mussoorie and Landour emerged in Victorian literary imagination with the journals of Emily Eden, Fanny Parks, and the Wallace-Dunlop sisters. This paper argues that the Doon's female imperial architextures invented new prospects of grafting Anglo-Saxon aesthetics on the Himalayan terra nullius, diminishing, miniaturizing, and depopulating aspects of the hazardous, the alien, and the local. A thread of archetypes —jhampauns (Himalayan loco-armchairs) and Himalayan vistas— link the aesthetic arcs in the journals of Eden, Parks, and the Wallace-Dunlops. Although the architexture was ostensibly apolitical, it imbued the Doon's representational spaces with a reproducible English character, rendering its terra incognita into terra familiaris in imperial psyche, while carving a distinct imperial subjectivity for Memsahibs.

Responses of the Indian Equatorial Ionization Anomaly to two CME-induced geomagnetic storms during the peak phase of solar cycle 24

This work analyzes the geo-effectiveness of Coronal Mass Ejection- (CME-) induced storms by investigating the responses of ionospheric Vertical Total Electron Content (VTEC) and the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) over the Indian sector to two storms. One of the storms occurred on February 19, 2014 (SYM-H: −120 nT), while the other occurred on June 23, 2015 (SYM-H: −204 nT). Both storms were driven by full halo CMEs. Global TEC maps were used to characterize VTEC variations during the storms. June 23, 2015 storm was characterized with stronger solar progenitors, right from its origin, although the VTEC response to the storm was not influenced by their strong progenitors. The CMEs that caused the selected storms are large (Halo CMEs). We inferred that irrespective of the strength of solar origin of a storm, the response of ionization distribution over equatorial and low-latitude regions to it depends on the season of storm occurrence, local time of the storm onset, and PPEF orientation. From the VTEC variations for the three Indian stations namely, Trivandrum (geographic latitude: 8.52°N, geographic longitude: 76.94°E, magnetic latitude: 0.37°N), Hyderabad (17.39°N, 78.49°E, 10.15°N) and Delhi (28.70°N, 77.10°E, 22.70°N), we observed that EIA disturbances were more prominent over Hyderabad than over Delhi. The February 19, 2014 storm was characterized by a localized EIA crest at latitude a little above Hyderabad, while in June 23, 2015 storm localized EIA crest was observed directly on Hyderabad. IRI-2016 model generally underestimated VTEC at the three Indian equatorial and low-latitude locations. Solar cycle 24 was characterized with low heliospheric pressure due to its weak polar field strength. The lower pressure allowed CMEs to expand greatly as they transit through space. As they expand, the strengths of the magnetic field inside them decrease, and such lower-strength magnetic fields cause geomagnetic storms that are less geoeffective, even when their solar/interplanetary progenitors are strong and healthy. This associated weak polar field strength of solar cycle 24 caused weak fountain effect with the attendant inability to exhibit storm-time super-fountain effect in the dayside of the equatorial/low-latitude regions.

Community radio stations’ production responses to COVID-19 pandemic in India

The COVID-19 pandemic and the nationwide lockdown have made community radio broadcasting more important than before. Using case studies and interviews, we explored the kind of programming adopted by selected community radio (CR) stations in India during the pandemic and how they fight fake news. We also analyzed other issues they addressed during this period. We identified more dedicated programming services concerning COVID-19, fake news, and mental health using two-way communication by CR stations. The latter shared personalized and fact-checked information disseminated to the community. Issues related to rising domestic violence and mental health were also highlighted in their broadcast during the nationwide lockdown. Fake news percolated quickly in the communities where most members are illiterate and have little access to fact-checked information. CR stations indeed play a pivotal role in engaging the community in verifying fake news through personalized storytelling, using folk and traditional media, and engaging COVID-19 warriors from the community to authenticate the information.

Standards for electric vehicle charging stations in India: A review

AbstractThis review paper examines the types of electric vehicle charging station (EVCS), its charging methods, connector guns, modes of charging, and testing and certification standards, and the current status of Indian standards with respect to international standards. The paper also discusses key challenges in the standardization of EVCS worldwide and provides recommendations. It is recommended to use the combined charging system (CCS) charging methodology which will cater to the electric vehicle (EV) market in the country as well as abroad and help promote faster adoption of EVs. With many advantages with CCS charging methodology such as single connector, both AC and DC charging, high power capacity, promoted by a large number of EV manufacturers across the globe, etc., it is recommended to use CCS charging methodology. CHArge de MOve (CHAdeMO) is the only charging methodology having a vehicle to grid (V2G) functionality that can be made compatible with local grid codes which can support the grid during peak load demand using the combination of bidirectional EVCS and EV batteries acting as energy storage equipment. Finally, a comparative analysis is provided between the Indian standards and international standards from Europe, China, Japan, Germany, North America, and International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

Spatio‐temporal variability in the stratiform/convective rainfall contribution to the summer monsoon rainfall in India

AbstractSpatio‐temporal variability of contributions of stratiform and convective rainfall to Indian monsoon (June–September) rainfall have been investigated using hourly rainfall data of well distributed 126 stations in India for the period 1969–2015. The criteria used for identifying stratiform rainfall are hourly rainfall ≤5 mm and spatial homogeneity. The study showed that Indian monsoon rainfall exhibits two distinctive features, viz. stratiform component dominating over peninsular (southern) India and convective component dominating over northern India. The diurnal variation shows domination of convective activity in the afternoon hours over the northern parts of India. Intra‐seasonal variability in the stratiform rainfall is the lowest over the West Coast stations through‐out the season. While it shows low values during the onset (June) and withdrawal (September) phases of monsoon and higher values during July–August in Peninsular India. Inter‐annual variations in the convective rainfall are larger than that of stratiform rainfall all over the country. Trend analysis indicates that both stratiform and convective rainfall are decreasing over the central parts of the country and increasing significantly along West Coast and western parts of the country. During excess monsoon year, convective rainfall activity is more than in deficit monsoon year, in Central India. The results brought out in the study will be useful as a proxy for understanding the spatial and temporal variability of the latent heating fields over India in the monsoon season and validation of model simulations of clouds and rainfall types.

A novel bias correction method for extreme rainfall events based on L‐moments

AbstractThe effectiveness of bias correction (BC) of global‐scale future climate projections is crucial in climate change studies. The magnitude of error in the BC affect climate change adaptation decisions. The existing BC methods vary in their complexity, and exhibit limitations on data length, degrees of freedom etc. This study proposes a new method, L‐moments Scaling (L‐mS), which is both parsimonious and efficient in bias‐correcting extreme rainfall events. The L‐mS method applies corrections to the first three L‐moments of the data to bias correct the entire distribution. The proposed method's efficiency was demonstrated at two stations in India, Chennai and Hyderabad, for 1‐day Annual Maximum (AM) precipitation simulations from EC‐EARTH and MIROC5 models. A comparison was performed with five widely used BC methods using two validation procedures: Strict Split‐Sample (SSS) and Bootstrapped Split‐Sample (BSS). The results revealed that the L‐mS method could outperform all the five BC Methods with increased accuracy (0%–18% in SSS and 3%–21% in BSS), and with minimal variability among the bootstrapped samples in terms of Normalized‐Root‐Mean‐Square‐Error (NRMSE). The method was also applied on 1° gridded data over India for 1‐day, 2‐day, 3‐day, 7‐day AM, and Annual Totals, and the future (2021–2050) projections were bias‐corrected using L‐mS method. The L‐mS method produced at least 2.5 and 3 times lesser error in mean and standard deviation, respectively, compared to observed extremes, across all the grids. The L‐mS method was able to utilize the inherent nature of frequency domain analysis to outperform similar advanced methods by correcting the entire AM data with few key statistics and could serve as an efficient tool in the BC of extreme climate variables. Also, the bias‐corrected future projections indicated the magnitudes of extreme rainfall events are expected to decrease in 35%–40% and increase in 60%–65% of the grids.

The ozone hole measurements at the Indian station Maitri in Antarctica

Stratospheric ozone is a trace gas of great importance as it filters harmful ultraviolet radiations reaching the earth surface. Since ozone influences temperature and dynamics of the stratosphere, it is also a climate-relevant gas by modifyimg the tropospheric temperature. Significant changes in the stratospheric ozone are, therefore, a concern for human health and climate. India has a dedicated polar research programme with two stations in Antarctica; Maitri (70.4° S, 11.4° E, since 1989) and Bharati (69.2° S, 76.2° E, since 2012). Semi-regular measurements of total column ozone (TCO) are carried out to monitor the changes in the ozone layer there. Here, we use the available TCO measurements from Maitri in the winters of 1999–2003 and 2006, to estimate the chemical ozone depletion for the first time there. We estimate the largest ozone loss (59% or 180 DU) in 2006, and smallest in 2002 and 1999 (44% or 160 DU) among the winters; consistent with the meteorology, as the winter 2006 was the coldest and 2002 was the warmest with the first-ever major sudden stratospheric warming over Antarctica. The Maitri ozone loss analysis is found to be representative for the whole Antarctica as assessed from the comparisons with the average TCO from all Antarctic stations and satellite overpass TCO observations. The study, henceforth, demonstrates the value and significance of continuous monitoring of the ozone hole at Maitri to assist the policy decisions such as the Montreal Protocol and its amendments and adjustments.

Changes in atmospheric parameters due to annular solar eclipse of June 21, 2020, over India

In the present study, various solar and atmospheric parameters, namely solar radiation, surface ozone, relative humidity, air temperature, and wind speed, have been studied first time for the annular solar eclipse of June 21, 2020, at seven Indian stations simultaneously. All the seven different stations are selected along the solar eclipse path having the maximum eclipse magnitude of 92% and above. The various atmospheric parameters have shown the change in behavior during the solar eclipse duration. The incoming solar radiation has a maximum 95.97% decrease at Ludhiana at the time of maximum obscuration compared to the previous day. The surface ozone concentration has shown a decrease for all the seven stations during the maximum obscuration period. A maximum of 9.25% decrease in surface temperature has been observed nearly after 30 min of the time of maximum obscuration of the eclipse. Relative humidity started increasing at all the stations and showed an inverse trend from temperature. The wind speed was found to suppress during the maximum solar eclipse which may be attributed to stabilization of atmospheric boundary layer due to cooling.

Validation of wind measurements of two mesosphere–stratosphere–troposphere radars in northern Sweden and in Antarctica

Abstract. Two atmospheric VHF radars: ESRAD (Esrange MST radar) located near Kiruna in the Swedish Arctic and MARA (Moveable Atmospheric Radar for Antarctica) at the Indian research station Maitri in Antarctica perform wind measurements in the troposphere and lower stratosphere on a regular basis. We compared horizontal winds at altitudes between about 0.5 and 14 km derived from the radar data using the full correlation analysis (FCA) technique with radiosonde observations and models. The comparison with 28 radiosondes launched from January 2017 to August 2019 showed that ESRAD underestimates the zonal and meridional winds by about 8 % and 25 %, respectively. This is likely caused by the receiver group arrangement used for the FCA together with a high level of non-white noise. A similar result was found when comparing with the regional numerical weather prediction model HARMONIE-AROME (Bengtsson et al., 2017) for the period September 2018–May 2019. The MARA winds were compared with winds from radiosondes for the period February–October 2014 (291 occasions). In contrast to ESRAD, there is no indication that MARA underestimates the winds compared to the sondes. The mean difference between the radar and radiosonde winds is close to zero for both zonal and meridional components. The comparison of MARA with the ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis for January–December 2019 reveals good agreement with the mean difference between 0.1 and −0.5 m/s depending on the component and season. The random errors in the wind components (standard deviations over all estimates in 1 h averages) are typically 2–3 m/s for both radars. Standard deviation of the differences between radars and sondes are 3–5 m/s.

Hill Stations in India: A British Creation

A unique contribution of the British to the urban landscape of India was the creation of hill- stations. A number of hill-resorts were established at selected spots for specific purpose of the British. Initially chosen as sanatorium and resting centres away from the tropical Indian plains, hill stations eventually turned out to be important administrative seat for the colonial masters, thus giving rise to a new set of urban centres.

Role of Equatorial Fountain for the Delayed Response of Thermosphere O1D 630.0 nm Dayglow Over the Dip Equator During an X‐Class Flare

AbstractThis paper reports, for the “first time,” the delayed response of O1D 630.0 nm dayglow emissions over Trivandrum (8.5°N, 77°E, 0.5°N dip lat.), a geomagnetic dip equatorial station in India, to the noontime X‐class solar flare event of July 30, 2005. The dayglow measurements were made using a unique dayglow photometer operating at three wavelengths. The Equatorial Electrojet induced magnetic field, measured using a proton precession magnetometer, showed a magnetic spike having ∼90 nT enhancement during this flare with a time delay of ∼7.2 min. A noteworthy observation is that unlike to the conventional belief, the O1D 630.0 nm dayglow over the dip equator exhibited a fourfold enhancement during the noontime flare after a time delay of ∼45 min. Analysis of satellite measured electron density and modeling simulations indicate that the thermospheric O1D 630.0 nm dayglow emission over the dip equatorial region during a solar flare is primarily driven by the electrodynamics, rather than the direct solar control. This finding is new, unique and very important for the studies related to plasma‐neutral coupling and also for modeling studies on the equatorial thermosphere‐ionosphere region is concerned.

Analysis of Flow Characteristics and Step Size of Escalators at Metro Stations

This paper discusses the analysis of flow characteristics on escalators and examines the adequacy of step size. The study was carried out on nine escalators at three metro stations in New Delhi, the capital city of India. Data were collected during morning and evening peak flow periods. Peak flows on the escalators being studied are observed to be higher during evening period as compared to the morning period. Flow values are quite high when compared with flow values at metro stations in China or England or on similar facilities at railway stations. Maximum density was found higher as compared to that reported in China and England and comparable to that at railway stations in India. Space per person was found comparable to the reported values. Relationships between flow characteristics were also developed. Step dimension adequacy was checked and suggested to be modified in the light of person body dimension reported in different guidelines. The outcome will assist the planners to take considered decisions related to escalators.

Cutting Edge Research in the Contact Zone? The Establishment of the Nutritional Research Laboratories in Coonoor (1925–27)

By 1928, Robert McCarrison’s laboratories in the South Indian hill station of Coonoor had become recognised as the centre for nutritional research in India. Five years earlier, however, his institute had faced closure. This article argues that the establishment of McCarrison’s institute was based on his pitch to the Royal Commission on Agriculture in India in 1926, in which he successfully aligned his research to satisfy the concerns of various members of the Commission. This discussion uses McCarrison’s lobbying for his institute as a case study to examine the broader political manoeuvrings that colonial scientists in the early twentieth century often had to undertake to establish their research agendas.

Gender, Crime and Punishment: Evidence from Women Police Stations in India

We study the impact of an innovative policy intervention in India that led to a rapid expansion in ‘all women police stations’ across cities in India on reported crime against women and deterrence. Using an identification strategy that exploits the staggered implementation of women police stations across cities and nationally representative data on various measures of crime and deterrence, we find that the opening of police stations increased reported crime against women by 22 percent. This is due to increases in reports of female kidnappings and domestic violence. In contrast, reports of genderspecific mortality, self-reported intimate-partner violence and other non-gender specific crimes remain unchanged. We also show that victims move away from reporting crimes in general stations and that self-reported use of support services increased in affected areas. The implementation of women police stations also led to marginal improvements in measures of police deterrence such as arrest rates.

Gender, Crime and Punishment: Evidence from Women Police Stations in India

We examine the impact of establishing women police stations (WPS) on reporting of gender- based violence. Using administrative crime data and exploiting staggered implementation across Indian cities, we find that the opening of WPS is associated with an increase in police reports of crimes against women of 29 percent, a result driven by domestic violence. This appears to reflect reporting rather than incidence as we find no changes in femicide or in survey-reported domestic violence. We also find some evidence of an increase in women's labor supply following WPS opening, consistent with women feeling safer once the costs of reporting violence fall.

Data Analysis and Visualization in Python for Polar Meteorological Data

The aim of this study is to analyze meteorological data obtained from the various expeditions made to the Indian stations in Antarctica over recent years and determine how significantly the weather has shown a marked change over the years. For any time series data analysis, there are two main goals: (a) the authors need to identify the nature of the phenomenon from the sequence of observations and (b) predict the future data. On account of these goals, the pattern in the time series data and its variability are to be accurately identified. This paper can then interpret and integrate the pattern established with its associated meteorological datasets collected in Antarctica. Using the data analytics knowledge the validity of interpretation for the given datasets a pattern has been identified, which could extrapolate the pattern towards prediction. To ease the time series data analysis, the authors developed online meteorological data analytic portal at NCPOR, Goa http://data.ncaor.gov.in/.

A multistate first-order Markov model for modeling time distribution of extreme rainfall events

The time distribution of extreme rainfall events is a significant property that governs the design of urban stormwater management structures. Accuracy in characterizing this behavior can significantly influence the design of hydraulic structures. Current methods used for this purpose either tend to be generic and hence sacrifice on accuracy or need a lot of model parameters and input data. In this study, a computationally efficient multistate first-order Markov model is proposed for use in characterizing the inherently stochastic nature of the dimensionless time distribution of extreme rainfall. The model was applied to bivariate extremes at 10 stations in India and 205 stations in the United States (US). A comprehensive performance evaluation was carried out with one-hundred stochastically generated extremes for each historically observed extreme rainfall event. The comparisons included: 1-h (15-min); 2-h (30-min); and, 3-h (45-min) peak rainfall intensities for India and (US) stations, respectively; number of first, second, third, and fourth-quartile storms; the dependence of peak rainfall intensity on total depth and duration; and, return levels and return periods of peak discharge when these extremes were applied on a hypothetical urban catchment. Results show that the model efficiently characterizes the time distribution of extremes with: Nash–Sutcliffe-Efficiency > 0.85 for peak rainfall intensity and peak discharge; < 20% error in reproducing different quartile storms; and, < 0.15 error in correlation analysis at all study locations. Hence the model can be used to effectively reproduce the time distribution of extreme rainfall events, thus increasing the confidence of design of urban stormwater management structures.

Comparison of different multi-parameters probability density models for wind resources assessment

Accurate wind resource assessment lies on the precise information provided by a probability distribution function (PDF). Therefore, it is an essential prerequisite to find the most appropriate PDF to model the wind speed data at the planning stage. Earlier, researchers have compared several distributions of 1, 2-parameters such as Rayleigh, Gamma, Exponential, Normal family, Weibull distributions, etc. Among these, 2-paramters Weibull distribution was a widely acceptable distribution for wind speed data modeling. However, its comparison with a multi-parameter (3 and 4 parameters) distribution has rarely been studied. In this paper, the Weibull distribution has been compared with four new distributions, which have rarely been studied for wind speed data modeling previously. They are 2-parameter Nakagami and Rician distribution, 4-parameter Johnson SB distribution, and 5-parameter Generalized Hyperbolic distribution. The sites selected for the case study are Trivandrum, Ahmedabad, Calcutta, Jaipur, New Delhi, and Port Blair of India. The result indicates that the Generalized Hyperbolic and Johnson distributions are ranked 1st and 2nd; Weibull and Nakagami distributions perform equally well and are ranked 3rd and 4th among the five compared distributions for five Indian stations. However, for one station (Ahmedabad), which is less skewed and has low kurtosis, the performance of Weibull distribution is better than those of the other distributions. The achieved results reveal that the skewness and kurtosis are equally important as the mean and standard deviation of wind speed data, which may influence the accuracy of the distribution. Wind behavior is stochastic, and a single distribution cannot be accepted as a universally accepted distribution for all locations of India.