Chakde India

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Rashid Faridi

Freedom in the Mind,Faith in the Words.Pride in our Soul.Lets salute the Nation on Our Independence Day.Chakde

Posted in India | 1 Comment

India to Complete undersea survey by 2014

Posted on August 14, 2011 by Rashid Faridi

The government of India is going to conduct a major oceanic survey in the country’s territorial waters, including parts of the Bay of Bengal, Gulf of Cambay and Andaman Sea, to look for prospects of under-sea mineral resources and natural gas.

The Ministry of Earth Sciences is taking up this initiative along with the Geological Survey of India and the Goa-based National Antarctic and Ocean Research Centre. “The survey will study 90,000 square kilometres of sea floor till 2014,” Ministry of Earth Sciences Secretary Shailesh Nayak said.

The survey would cover the Bay of Bengal, Andaman Sea and Gulf Of Cambay. Nayak said the main purpose of the survey would be to assess the hydrocarbon and geochemical resources in the country’s territorial waters.

Source:Economic Times

Posted in India, News, oceans | Leave a comment

Arctic Ice Melt Could Pause for Several Years

Posted on August 13, 2011 by Rashid Faridi

Although Arctic sea ice appears fated to melt away as the climate continues to warm, the ice may temporarily stabilize or somewhat expand at times over the next few decades, new research indicates.The computer modeling study, by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, reinforces previous findings by other research teams that the level of Arctic sea ice loss observed in recent decades cannot be explained by natural causes alone, and that the ice will eventually disappear during summer if climate change continues.

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Posted in climate change, Ecosystem, Global Warming | Leave a comment

satellite-based crop estimation in India

Posted on August 12, 2011 by Rashid Faridi

For the first time, the Indian Sugar Mills Association (Isma), along with the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories (NFCSF), is working to gather data on sugarcane acreage and yield with the help of satellite mapping. The process will start for the standing sugarcane crop which will be crushed in the new season beginning October. The two apex sugar bodies will do this every year from now.

In the past, the government output estimates have shown high divergence from the actual output, thereby affected the industry’s profitability. Isma and NFCSF have invited proposals from about a dozen such agencies in the country and are in the process of selecting one. They plan to hire an agency with remote-sensing background to gather acreage mapping with satellite images that can be compared and analysed with the field data collected from various sugar mills.

The industry associations have felt a need for conducting satellite surveys along with field visits to get the accurate estimates on crop. In the past, satellite-based crop assessment has been tried by some state governments, individual mills and trading houses.

At present, the union agriculture ministry and food ministry compile data on sugarcane production. However, none of the two is backed by technology. While the agriculture ministry relies on data from state agriculture departments, the food ministry depends on feedback from state sugarcane commissioners. Interestingly, at times there is a striking disparity in estimates of both the ministries as well.

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Posted in BIODIVERSITY, GIS, Satellites | 1 Comment