eChapters

Introduction 
In the rapidly evolving landscape of agricultural sciences, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technologies is heralding a new era of innovation, efficiency, and sustainability. As the global population continues to grow and the impacts of climate change become increasingly pronounced, the demand for sustainable food production systems has never been more critical. AI and digital technologies are emerging as powerful tools to address these challenges, offering unprecedented opportunities to enhance food security, improve resource management, and build resilience against climate-related disruptions. AI-driven solutions, such as predictive analytics, machine learning, and precision agriculture, are transforming the way farmers cultivate crops, manage livestock, and optimize supply chains. These technologies enable real-time decision-making, allowing for more efficient use of resources such as water, fertilizers, and pesticides, while also reducing the environmental footprint of agricultural practices. The application of AI extends beyond the farm level, influencing every aspect of the agricultural value chain, from seed selection to post-harvest processing, distribution, and market access. The advent of the Internet of Things (IoT), coupled with advanced sensors and robotics, has further revolutionized agriculture by enabling the continuous monitoring of environmental conditions, soil health, and crop performance. IoT devices collect vast amounts of data, which, when analyzed using AI algorithms, provide actionable insights that empower farmers to make informed decisions. This data-driven approach not only enhances productivity but also contributes to sustainable farming practices by minimizing waste and optimizing resource allocation. Moreover, digital platforms and mobile technologies are bridging the gap between farmers and critical information, making it easier to access weather forecasts, market trends, and expert advice. These technologies are particularly transformative in developing regions, where they can provide smallholder farmers with the tools and knowledge needed to improve their livelihoods and contribute to food security. Additionally, blockchain technology is emerging as a solution for enhancing transparency and traceability in the food supply chain, ensuring that consumers have access to safe and ethically produced food.

Introduction 
The evolution of health care since 1950s has been attributed to artificial intelligence (AI). Remarkable advances in the health sector are being made particularly after the years, following 2010, thanks to AI technology. The significance of AI as a game-changer in healthcare has tremendously grown together, with its accompanying range of challenges, opportunities, and reward. There is increasing utilization of AI across public health activities including biomedical research with its capacityto reduce medical errors and improveaccess to care. The efficiency and ability of AI to analyse large volumes of data in different medical fields so as to identify diseases and guide treatment plans has turned it into an area of significant impact in clinical decision-making. Machine learning as well as data analytics are examples of AI technologies employed in monitoring, diagnosis, treatment and measurement of risks/benefits thereby transforming various healthcare processes. It is revolutionizing medical practices in several areas such as diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and surgical operations [Tagliaferri et al., 2020]. Studies have found that, the use of AI has improved patient outcomes and simplified management duties, resulting to an efficient health service delivery system. As the influence of AI continues to grow, understanding its implications, benefits, and challenges becomes essential for healthcare professionals and policymakers alike.

Air is one of the most important constituents of man’s environment. It is calculated that a roan breathes about 22,000 times a day inhaling about 16 kg of air by weight. Air is present everywhere and its entrance from one place to another cannot be checked. Clean and pure air is very essential for the health and survival of man.

Air or atmosphere constitutes one of the integral components of the environment. Among all the environmental components, the air has the highest fluidity. Therefore, the entry of a foreign substance into the air imparts a quick and severe effect on the health of the organisms. Air in the biosphere has a mixture of various gases in a dynamic proportion which is conducive to maintaining the health and sustenance of all living organisms. An alteration in the composition of the atmosphere beyond a certain limit adversely affects organisms’ health, and might even be of more serious consequences for life.

Air pollution, thus, is defined as the occurrence of undesirable gases (e.g., carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, etc.) or particles (e.g., suspended particulate matter) in such concentrations that are deleterious to terrestrial life (vegetation, animals, and human beings) and some physical assets, like buildings, statues, and monuments. Air pollution especially affects the health of human beings living in highly modified (anthropogenic) ecosystems, e.g., cities and industrial areas.

ABSTRACT

The coastal zone is environmentally sensitive and economically valuable, which has great attention from researchers especially from geoscientists. Coastal zone has great threat from pollution and natural calamities like cyclones, flood and tsunami. Natural calamity is a frequent phenomenon over coast. Therefore, it is very essential to monitor the changes over coastal ecosystem and geomorphic features like beach, shoreline and sand dunes. In this case, one of the basic requirements in managing and monitoring these features is the topographic data. The recently emerged technique of Airborne Altimetric LiDAR provides accurate topographic data. It is in preparatory stage in India. By this technique, we can collect the data at high speed when disaster happens. This paper attempts to provide a general overview of the role of LiDAR in coastal management.

Introduction 
The increase in the concern over the climatic changes as well as the dwindling fossil fuels reserves have intensified the search for the sustainable energy sources. The algal biofuels garnered the attention because of their fastest growth rates, as well as their capability to grow in a non-arable land, higher lipid content, as well as the capability to absorb the CO2. Therefore, the larger scale implementation of the algal biofuels can face a lot of environmental, economic, as well as the technological challenges which needs further investigations (1). One of the current green energy and renewable alternative answers to the world’s current energy problems is the development of algal biofuel (2). Because algae biofuels are environmentally beneficial, they have been seen as a clean energy source (3). An integrated biorefinery strategy could be applied to bio transform algal biomass into many biofuels, including bioethanol, biobutanol, biogas, biohydrogen, and biodiesel, in order to fulfil the energy requirement. Nonetheless, a lot of an obstacles stand in the way of the development, manufacturing, as well as use of microalgal biomass technology. (4). These problems include the creation of affordable microalgal production systems, efficient microalgal growth systems, effective microalgal harvesting techniques that save energy, effective microalgal extraction methods, and economical and environmentally friendly microalgal conversion procedures. Many microalgal technologies are examined in this chapter, along with their applications, difficulties, case studies, and prospects. (5). Algae are appealing feedstock sources for the manufacturing of biofuels. Algae may be applicable to produce important goods like as nutraceuticals, biodiesel, biogas, as well as bioethanol (6). Biofuels are benign to the environment, renewable, and biodegradable. Algae are very valuable because of their higher lipid content as well as fast development. The largest class of algae, known as chlorophytes, includes both macro- and microalgae and is used in bioremediation, the water treatment, the food production, the medicine, as well as the energy production. We discussed many techniques for planting, harvesting, and processing in this chapter. The selection of high lipidcontaining algae strains, commercial harvesting, high infrastructure, operation, and maintenance expenses, and water evaporation problems seem to be the main obstacles. It will take creative and effective methods to make the manufacturing of algae-based biofuels desirable. Increasing the production of biofuels will contribute to the preservation of natural resources, which will protect the environment (7).

1. Introduction
Metals pollution in water particularly in wastewater has become a center ofconcern due to social changes such as industrialization and urban development(Blaszczak-Boxe et al., 2023). It is in this context that most of the conventionalwastewater treatment fails to remove the heavy metals in question satisfactorilyand that there is a pressing need for new ideas that would be sustainable. Thischapter aims to discuss algal bioremediation as an environmentally suitableprocess for the decontamination of wastewater containing toxic metals.

Alkali soil
 
Alkali soils are those that contain measurable amounts of soluble salts mostly as carbonates and bicarbonates of sodium. 

Principle
Alkalinity of a water sample is can be determined by titrating with standard sulphuric acid. Titration to pH 8.3 or de-colourization of phenolphthalein indicator will indicate complete neutralization of OH and ½ of CO3 while to pH 4.5 or sharp change from yellow to pink of methyl orange indicator, that will indicate total alkalinity (complete neutralization of OH, CO3, HCO3)
Chemicals
1. Phenoplthalein indicator
2. Methyl orange indicator
3. Sodium carbonate, Na2CO3
4. Sodium hydroxide, NaOH
5. Sulphuric acid, H2SO4
Reagents
1. Phenolphthalein indicator: Dissolve 0.5 g in 500 ml 95% ethyl alcohol.
2. Methyl orange indicator: Dissolve 0.5 g of methyl orange in 100 ml of water and dilute to 1000 ml in deionized or distilled water (CO2 free deionized or distilled water should be use).
3. Standard Sulphuric acid, H2SO4 (0.02N): to prepare 0.1N H2SO4 take 3 ml conc. H2SO4 and dilute it in to 1000 ml of deionized or distilled water. Standardise it against standard Na2CO3.
4. Sodium carbonate, Na2CO3 (0.05 N): Take 7g standard Sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) dry at 250 oC for 4 hr and cool in desicator then weigh 5.3 g and transfer it a 1000 ml volumetric flask after that fill to mark with distilled water. Solution should be use within 1 week.

Abiotic Factors : These are physical, chemical and other non-living components of the environment such as light, temperature, moisture, nutrients and other edaphic factors.
 
Absolute Drought : It is defined as a period of consecutive days none of which had rainfall of 2.5 mm or more OR when actual rainfall is less than twice the mean deviation OR actual rainfall is less than half the normal weekly rainfall.
 
Absolute Growth Rate : The rate of increase in size of a growing plant (or part of it) in a given time under specific growing conditions.

Absolute Humidity : Absolute humidity is defined as the actual mass of water vapour present in the given volume of air. It is measured in grams per cubic meter or in terms of partial pressure of water vapour in air in mb or mm.

Back-Door Cold Front : A front moving south or southwest along the Atlantic seaboard of the United States.

Backing : A change in wind direction in a counterclockwise manner in the Northern Hemisphere and a clockwise manner in the Southern Hemisphere.
 
Ball Lightning : A rare form of lightning that may consist of a reddish, luminous ball of electricity or charged air.
 
Banner Cloud : A cloud extending downwind from an isolated mountain peak, often on an otherwise cloud-free day.
 
Bar : A unit of pressure, (usually the atmospheric pressure on) one is equivalent to a pressure of one million dynes per centimeter square one hundred kilopascals; 29.53 inches or 750 millimeters of mercury at zero degree Celsius.

C3 Plant : A plant in which the first product of CO₂ fixation is the 3-carbon compound; phosphoglyceric acid and is comparatively photosynthetically less efficient than C4 plants e.g. wheat, rice, barley etc. 
C4 Plant : A plant in which the first product of CO₂ fixation is the 4-carbon compound oxalo acetic acid (OAA) and is photosynthetically more efficient than C3 plants e.g. sugarcane, maize etc.
Calibration : Calibration with respect to models refers to the adjustments made to model parameters so as to give the most accurate comparison between simulated results and results obtained from field measurements. 
Calm : Absence of appreciable wind : On the Beaufort Scale of wind force calm is accorded the figure 0 and has a wind speed equivalent or less than 1 knot.

Daily Maximum Temperature : As per the IMD guidelines, the maximum temperature recorded in a 24 hour period at any given place or location.

Daily Mean Temperature : The average of the values observed during a day (at any regular intervals or maximum and minimum) of temperature.

Daily Minimum Temperature : As per the IMD guidelines, the minimum temperature recorded in a 24 hour period at any given place or location.

Daily Range of Temperature : The range of temperature (between maximum and minimum) recorded as per IMD guidelines in 24 hour period.

Earthquake : A sudden, transient motion or trembling of the earth’s crust, resulting from the waves in the earth caused by faulting of the rocks or by volcanic activity.
    
Easterlies : Usually applied to the broad patterns of persistent winds with an easterly component, such as the easterly trade winds.

Easterly Wave : A wave like disturbance, of the tropospheric easterlies of low latitude. These are synoptic scale and occur in the region of intertropical convergence zone.

Ecoclimate : Climate under crop canopy is called eco-climate. 

Edaphic : A term pertaining to the influence or relationship of soil or other similar media to plant growth in contrast to atmospheric influences. 

Fahrenheit Temperature Scale : A temperature scale having freezing point of water as 32 degrees and the boiling point equal to 212 degrees at standard atmospheric pressure. 
    Degree F = (Degree C x 1.8) + 32
    Degree C = (Degree F - 32)/1.8

Fair Weather : Fine sky. Appearance of cirrus or cumulus cover is in fair amount but not covering the sky totally.

Fetch : The distance over which a wind of nearly constant direction has blown, usually over a consistent surface such as water or a forest or a field. Most often the fetch is applied to a distance over water and used to determine the height of wind-generated waves.
 
Fine Weather : A blue and cloudless sky. Even if a few cirrus clouds are noticed, they do not express any vertical development.

Gale : Wind of force 8 or above blowing continuously and damaging trees, houses etc.

General Circulation : The average general distribution of wind in motion on the Earth. This general circulation includes the scientific description of atmospheric dynamics not only statistically but also from the point of view of physics. The global wind systems like westerlies, trades, etc., are the examples of general circulation.

General Circulation Model : At present, there are different models in vogue, to explain the general circulation of the atmosphere. If the general circulation is modelled in a three dimensional procedure, then it is known as a general circulation model.

Geopotential : The potential energy per unit mass of a body due to the earth’s gravitational field referred to an arbitrary zero.

Haboob : Sudanese name for duststorm or sandstorm with strong winds that carry small particles of dirt or sand into the air, particularly severe in areas of drought.
 
Habitat : A place where a plant or a community of plants or a crop is existing.

Hadley Cell : A mean thermally driven atmospheric circulation in which warm air rises and flows away from the equator at upper level and descends at the tropics. Wind moves from the tropics back to equator poleward. In many cases this term is also referred to as ‘Hadley circulation’.

Hail : Solid precipitation in the form of balls or pieces if ice (hailstones) with diameter ranging from 5 mm to 50 mm or even more. 
Hailstorm : A storm, often too long and severe, consisting largely of hail or frozen rain drops ranging in diameter from 5 mm to 10 mm or more. 

Ice Caps : A perennial ice/snow cover over an extensive area of land or sea, found only around the two geographic poles.

Ice Columns : Ice crystals resembling stubby pencils rather than the delicate branched snowflake shape. Columns typically form in the temperature ranges -5° C to -8° C (23° F to 18° F) and below -25° C ( -13° F). They are long in comparison to their hexagonal cross-section.

Ice Crystals : 1) Hexagonal (6-sided) crystals that form upon freezing of water, may be in one of several shapes : stars, needles, plates, columns or combinations of these forms. 2) Precipitation in the form of slowly falling, singular or unbranched ice needles, columns, or plates, may be called diamond dust.

Ice Fog : Fog composed of minute ice particles that occur in very low temperatures (typically - 30°C or - 22°F & below) under clear, calm conditions in the polar latitudes. 

January Thaw : A period of mild weather, usually following a cold spell, which often occurs in late January in the eastern regions of North America, particularly around the Great Lakes region, New England and the Canadian Maritime Provinces. The thaw is associated with a strong flow of warm air northward from the Gulf of Mexico on southerly winds on the back of a high pressure system.

Jet Stream : A relatively narrow band of high-speed winds, generally greater than 50 knots (57 mph or 93 kmph), found in the upper troposphere above regions of strong horizontal temperature contrasts such as fronts. The major jet streams are the subtropical jet and the polar jet stream.

Joule : The unit of work or energy. In mechanical systems, this is the work done when a force of one Newton displaces the point of application by a distance of one metre in the direction of force. In electrical systems, a joule is the equivalent of moving one coulomb through a potential difference of one volt. One joule is equal to one watt per second

Katabatic Wind : Downslope gravitational flow of the colder, denser air beneath the warmer, lighter air results and comprises the katabatic wind. It is also known as the drainage wind or mountain wind.

Kelvin Temperature Scale : An absolute temperature scale in which the zero point is absolute zero. The scale is based upon the triple point of pure water and the size of the degree is same as on the celsius scale. So the 273.16 K = 0°C. That means the freezing point of water is 273.16 K and boiling point of water is 373.16 K, etc. This is more commonly called as the absolute.

Lake Effect : The effect of any lake in modifying the weather and climate along its shore and inland which depends on the size of the lake. In some areas such as the North American Great Lakes, lake effect refers to snowfall generated by the lake on the downwind shore.

Lake Effect Snowfall : Snowfalls along the lee shore of a lake or downwind some distance from the shore caused by the modification of cold, subfreezing air by the relatively warmer lake water. The intensity of the lake-effect snowfall depends upon several factors : the temperature contrast between the lake surface and the air passing over it, the over-water distance the air has traversed (the fetch), and the regional weather situation. 

Macroclimate : It deals with the study of atmosphere over large areas of the earth and with the large scale atmospheric motions that cause weather. It helps in forecasting weather. OR Climate of a continent or over the complete globe.
 
Macrometeorology : A branch of meteorology concerned with the study of large scale meteorological phenomena over a continent or the entire globe.

Macroscale : The meteorological scale covering an area ranging from the size of a continent to the entire globe.
 
Marine climate : Almost similar and on many occasions used as a synonym to maritime climate. The climate is basically influenced by adjacent seas and oceans.
 
Maritime Climate : The climate experienced in areas and regions near the oceans and seas. It is characterised by hot dry summers and mild wet winters. The diurnal variations of temperature are small and air is with high relative humidity.

Nanometre : The unit of length specifically applied to wavelengths of radiation. This is equal to ten Angstrom units or 10-9 meters.

Net Assimilation Rate (NAR) : It is increase in dry weight of plant per unit leaf area per unit time. NAR is calculated from the following equation : 

Oasis effect : Vertical energy transfer from the air to the crop. It is the exchange of heat between a growing crop and hot air whereby air over the crop is cooled.
 
Observation : In meteorology, the evaluation of one or more meteorological elements, such as temperature, pressure, or wind, that describe the state of the atmosphere, either at the earth’s surface or aloft. An observer is one who records the evaluations of the meteorological elements.
 
Occluded Front : Also known as an occlusion, it is a complex front formed when a cold front overtakes a warm front. It develops when three thermally different air masses conflict. The type of frontal boundary they create depends on the manner in which they meet.

Pan Coefficient (Kp) : It is the ratio between reference evapotranspiration (ET_o ) and water loss by evaporation from an open water surface of a pan (E_pan ).
    K_p = ET_o / E_pan

Peat soil : An organic soil containing more than 50 per cent organic matter.

Pan Evaporation : is the value of evaporation from an open pan evaporimeter (usually from standard USWB, class ‘A’ pan evaporimeter) during a day or specified period at a place.

Parcel : A volume of air small enough to contain uniform distribution of its meteorological properties and large enough to remain relatively self-contained and respond to all meteorological processes.

Q₁₀ : The number of times the rate of a process (physical, chemical or physiological) increases with a 10^ºC increase in temperature. If the rate of the process is doubled Q₁₀ is 2. Q₁₀ for respiration is 2 to 3.

Quantum : Unit of energy emitted by a photon.

Quantum Flux Density : The number of quanta from a source, incident on a unit area of a small surface situated in a perpendicular direction.

Quantum Irradiance : The number of quanta from a source incident on a unit area of a surface. This differs from the ‘quantum flux density’ as far as direction is concerned.

Rabi : The winter crop season in India from November to April. Main crops grown in rabi comprise wheat, mustard, etc.

Rad : The ‘rad’ is the unit of radiation dose and is defined as the total absorbed dose of 100 ergs of energy per gram of tissue in a unit time.

Radar : An electronic instrument used to detect objects (such as falling precipitation) by their ability to reflect and scatter microwaves back to a receiver. The radar is used for detecting tropical cyclones and monitoring their course as they approach the coast.
 
Radar sonde : A system in which both meteorological and wind data may be obtained, as in radiosonde.

Radiance : Radiant flux per unit area per unit solid angle. Radiance has unit of watts per meter per meter per steradian. The radiance of a perfectly diffuse surface (Lambertian) is independent of the viewing angle.

Saffir-Simpson Scale : A scale relating a hurricane’s central pressure and winds to the possible damage it is capable of inflicting.
 
Sand Storm : An ensemble of particles of dust or sand energetically lifted to great heights by a strong and turbulent wind.
 
Santa Ana Wind : A warm, dry wind that blows into southern California from the east off the elevated desert plateau. Its warmth is derived from compressional heating.
 
Satellite Imagery : Images formed from data collected by a weather satellite that reveal visual information on the nature of the atmosphere such as the flow of water vapour, the development and movement of weather systems, or the distribution of the temperatures of cloud tops or the earth’s surface.

Saturated Adiabat : Any statistically valid thermodynamic diagram on a graph related to adiabatic change under saturated conditions of an air parcel. 

Taiga (Boreal Forest) : The open northern part of the coniferous forest. Taiga also refers to sub-polar climate.
 
Tail Wind : The wind that assists the further movement of an object by blowing in the same direction in which the object is actually moving.
 
Tangent Arc : An arc of light tangent to a halo. It forms by refraction of light through ice crystals.
 
Tcu : An abbreviation sometimes used to denote a towering cumulus cloud (cumulus congestus).
 
Teleconnections : A linkage between weather changes occurring in widely separated regions of the world. 

Ultraviolet Radiation : Ultraviolet radiation (UV) is one form of radiant energy coming from the sun. The sun emits a range of energy known as the electromagnetic spectrum. The various forms of energy, or radiation, are classified according to wavelength (measured in nanometers (nm) where one nm is a millionth of a millimeter). The shorter the wavelength, the more energetic is the radiation. In order of decreasing energy, the principal forms of radiation are gamma rays, X-rays, UV (ultraviolet radiation), visible light, infrared radiation, microwaves, and radio waves. Ultraviolet, which is invisible, is so named because it occurs next to violet in the visible light spectrum. Ultraviolet radiation contains the wavelengths between 30 and 400 nm. The UV band is divided into three sub-bands in regard to its biological impacts :

Vacuum : A space in which there is no air or gas. This is more an imaginary situation. This term indicate the air or any other gases at the minimum possible pressure in a space.
 
Validation : Model validation in its simplest form is a comparison between simulated and observed values. Validation is determining whether the model works with totally independent data sets or not and whether it accurately predicts growth, yield and processes by comparing the values predicted by the model with those obtained from the real experiment.

Walker Circulation : A thermally driven longitudinal cellular circulation over equatorial oceans, particularly Pacific Ocean, Peruvian coast, etc. These circulations rise in the West and sink in the East.
 
Warm Air : If the temperature of air is relatively warm as compared to an underlying surface or another adjacent air column or within itself, then the air is said to be warm air.

Warm Front : A front whose movement is such that the warmer air mass is replacing colder air mass.
 
Warm Sector : The state of lower troposphere in between a warm front and the following cold front. 

Xlokk : The name of a hot, dry wind that blows regularly in Malta.
X-rays : The electromagnetic radiation in the wave length region below 100 angstroms.

Year : The time taken by the earth to revolve once in its orbit round the sun.

Yellow Snow : Snow which has a yellow or golden colour due to the presence of pine or cypress pollen in it.

Zenith : The point directly overhead on the celestial sphere.
 
Zenith Angle : The angle formed by the local line perpendicular to the surface on which the radiation falls, and the position of the Sun in the sky from which the incident ray falls. 

Marginal and sub marginal lands are being brought under cultivation to meet the demand of human and livestock in terms of rising demand of 6F viz., food, fodder, fuel wood, fibre and fertilizer. These in lands are unable to sustain productivity. Cultivation on such lands leads to imbalance in the ecosystem. In order to meet the above said demands and to conserve the natural resources, a diversified land use system needs to be adopted in different agro-ecological regions of the country as an alternative to conventional cropping systems. Through this approach, the biological productivity and quality of resource base of degraded lands can be significantly enhanced. Land use systems which are alternatives to crop production are called by the term ‘Alternate Land Use Systems’.

Abstract

Remotely sensed data have become the primary realistic source for natural resources and biomass estimation, since last 30 decades. A summary of earlier research on remote sensing and GIS based biomass estimation approaches and a discussion of existing issues prompting biomass estimation are very valuable for further improving biomass estimation performance with the integration of geographical information systems. This paper discusses the recently most accurately alternative research methods to integration of remote sensing and GIS applications for identification, characterization and analysis of biophysical characters. The remote sensed data and geographical information systems using the accurate assessment of natural resource and management for the enhancement of biomass production and estimation. There is not any other option for the perfectly biophysical and natural resources estimation in small to large area. The earlier research has demonstrated that biomass estimation remains a challenging task, especially in those study areas with complex forest and mixed traditional cropping systems and environmental conditions. Either optical sensor data or radar data are more suitable for forest sites with relatively simple forest stand structure than the sites with complex biophysical environments. A combination of spectral responses and image textures improves biomass estimation performance. More research expertise is needed to focus on the integration of remote sensing, GIS& GPS, the use of multisource data, and the selection of suitable variables and algorithms for biomass estimation at different scales. Understanding and identifying major uncertainties caused by different stages of the biomass estimation technique and applying strength of mind to reduce these uncertainties are critical.

Keywords : Integrating, Remote Sensing, Bio-physical, Resources, Environment

Abstract

Infertility in Livestock is a matter of great concern Anoestrous and repeat breeding in buffalo and bovines are two of the most serious reproductive problems affecting 30-40% of the total cattles and buffalo population on a conservative estimate our country is loosing 20-30 million tonnes of milk due to anestrus and repeat breading in cattle and buffaloes translating to a loss of Rs 40-50,000 crores annually. The used weak symptoms of estrus in the normal breeding season (September to February) become ever weaker during the hot month of summer. The incidences of silent heat is the lowest in December while the break is seen in the hot summer month of April. Summer infertility is also noticedin goat. During summer farmer experience a variety of reproductive problems such as an estrus extended weaning to eastern interiors, poor conception rates, higher unbryo mortality rates and low barrowing rates. There are strategies to ameliorate heat stress induced fertility problems and gonadotropin treatment can prevent seasonal infertility. There is a need to implement several techniques at the field level combining the glance of any detrimental impact on health and environment

Fish excrete Ammonia, is a byproduct from protein metabolism and bacteria break down organic waste such as discarded food, faeces, dead planktons, sewage, and so on. When ammonia is unionized form (NH3) is extremely dangerous; yet when ammonia ionized form (NH4 +) it is harmless; both forms are known as total ammonia. Fish suffering from ammonia toxicity often”become lethargic and frequently emerge near the surface gasping for oxygen. common effects of ammonia in the range >0.1mg/l include Gill damage, breakdown of mucous-producing membranes, “sub-lethal” effects like reduced growth, poor (FC) feed conversion, and reduced disease resistance at concentrations lower than lethal concentrations, osmoregulatory imbalance, and kidney failure.
Principle
When Ammonia react with alkaline Nessler reagent (K2HgI4 or 2KI + HgI2) it produces a yellowish-brown coloured compound. Pretreatment with ZnSO4 and NaOH precipitates Ca, Mg, Fe and sulphide, which form turbidity and apparent colour. Addition of ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid, EDTA (before nessler’s reagent) or Rochelle salt solution prevents precipitation of residual Ca and Mg in presence of the alkaline Nesslers’s reagent.

Abstract

In semiarid climates, a significant component of recharge to basin aquifers occurs along the mountain front. In this scenario Mountain Front Recharge study has been carried along the foothills of Courtallam ,Tamil Nadu. A total of 53 groundwater samples were collected along the foothills and measured for major cations and anions using standard procedure. Saturation index (SI) of carbonate minerals like Aragonite,Magnesite, Calcite and Dolomite,LogpCO₂ and Ionic strength obtained from WATEQ4F output. pH plays a significant role in the saturation index of the minerals. Most of the Carbonate minerals shows undersaturation  with the pH range 7.5. Positive relationship between SI and HCO₃ is noticed. A sharp increase of pCO₂ values towards the foothills region suggests that the groundwater has been recharged by, acquiring longer flow path during its infiltration into deeper level near foot hill region. The SI of these carbonate minerals was spatially distributed to identify the areas of higher SI and also it is compared with the water level fluctuation to understand the recharge process along the foothill region as well as riparian zone.

reach out their fingers it is gone” - Chinese Philosopher Lao Tzu Tao Te Ching. True to his verses, geohazards are phenomena regulated by the law of natureand it is beyond the human intellect to understand thoroughly and capability to conquer. This is the lesson learnt by us from so many incidences that geohazards cause greatest havoc wherein natural processes are going on and are inhabited by humans. Greed for natural resources and population pressures on the earth’s resources are the causes of many a catastrophic event. Examples in this regard are galore including, damning river courses and location of urban centers along rivers and coasts – flooding, cyclonic storms, tsunami hazards; alteration and deforestation hill slopes for agricultural and construction activities – landslides; unscrupulous utilization of ground water resources – drought, etc. This chapter is an attempt to draw the attention of human communityasa whole toturn towards learning to live with the nature without alterning the natural processes to get rid of impacts of geohazards as a best ever mitigation measure. In other words, this chapter attempts to emphasize the need to change our attitude to escape from natural hazards instead of attempting to tinker around natural processes only to get battered at the end.

INTRODUCTION

Oxford English dictionary states that the word ‘disaster’ is derived from the 16^th century French word ‘disastre’, which is a combination of two terms namely, ‘Des’ meaning bad or evil and ‘astre’ means star. Thus “desastre” signifies a ‘bad star’ or ‘evil star’. Disaster, therefore, implies loss or damage occurring due to some unfavorable star. However, in terms of modern knowledge, the word ‘disaster’ denotes any odd event, whether natural or man made, which can bring about sudden and great miseries to humanity in the form of loss of life or/ and property.

17.1. Introduction

Throughout human history, the coastal plains and Lowland River valleys have usually been the most populated areas over the world (Wolanski et al., 2004). At present, about 60% of the world’s population live along the estuaries and the coast (Lindeboom, 2002). This is degrading estuarine and coastal waters through pollution, eutrophication, increased turbidity, overfishing and habitat destruction. The pollutant supply does not just include nutrients; it also includes mud from eroded soil, heavy metals, radionuclides, hydrocarbons, and a number of chemicals including new synthetic products.

The impact on estuaries is commonly still ignored when dams and irrigation farming are proposed on rivers. In addition, estuaries are often regarded as sites for future development and expansion, and have been increasingly canalized and dyked for flood protection, and their wetlands infilled for residential areas.

All these factors impact on the biodiversity and productivity and hence, the overall health of estuaries and the ecosystem services they provide to humans. They increasingly lead humans away from the possibility of ecologically sustainable development of the coastal zone. Integrated coastal zone management plans are drawn up worldwide but, in the presence of significant river input, most are bound to fail because they commonly deal only with local, coastal issues, and do not consider the whole river catchment as the fundamental planning unit. It is as if the land, the river, the estuary, and the sea were not part of the same system. When dealing with estuaries and coastal waters, in most countries land-use managers, water-resources managers, and coastal and fisheries managers do not cooperate effectively due to administrative, economic and political constraints, and the absence of a forum where their ideas and approaches are shared and discussed (Wolanski et al., 2004). 

Introduction

Present work report the study on Jakekur dam situated 4 km. from Omerga

The degradation of dam has occurred not only due to influents inflow but also by sanitation, domestic sewage, agricultural waste, and other activities around the dam like washing cloths, cattle, vehicles, and dumping of solid waste. Apart from it a large number of heavy metals is contributed by corrosion of metal pipe, runoff water from surrounding area during rainy season discharge of decorative paints in water bodies.

Geographical and morphological features of Jakekur dam.

Catchments area : 2110 hector

Gross storage : 10.17 TM C

Full reservoir level : 10 meter.

Length of the dam : 21.25 km.

Height of the dam : 14.80 meter.

8. Introduction

The idea of sustainable development stands on the concept of maintaining the best possible environment within the availability of minimal resources and for the convenience of the society. Now-a-day the term “sustainability” gained a lot of attention due to challenges and problems faced in tackling the current situation of global pollution. One of the vital areas of research needs to be addressed in concern with sustainable development is the new innovations to enhance sustainability (Silvestre and Silva, 2014). 

ABSTRACT

An integrated geological, hydrogeological and geophysical analyses have been made to delineate groundwater potential zones in the Omalur Panchayat Union, Salem district, Tamilnadu. Sarabanga river is a major stream originating from western slope of Shevaroy hills. The tributaries are essentially consequent types. They are ephemeral in nature and the flow is restricted to the monsoon seasons. The flows of the streams are controlled by lineaments. Low drainage density, stream frequency and low relief indicate relatively high recharges and low runoff. The main lithological units are unclassified gneiss, grantite, charnockite, younger ultramafic rocks and recent alluvium. Ten vertical electrical soundings (VES) were carried out using Schlumberger electrode configuration. The maximum depth of investigation was 150meters when the electrode spread was generally in steps of 5 meters interval up to 50 meters and 10 meter intervals up to 150 meters. The field data were interpreted with the help of inverse slope method. Inverse slope field graphs reveal that in most of the locations, the aquifer consistsof five layers and third and fourth layersare normally weathered and highly fractured layers. These layers have attained a thickness range from 10 to 60 meters at the Tholasampatti, Sikkampatti, Pagalpatti and Sakkaraichettipatti. Correlation between the result of the VES data and the well lithology will be very useful in evolving ground water potential zones. Bore wells, dug wells in this area are normally sinking type wells. It will receive water only from the weathered, fissured and fractured zones which act as a favorable layers zones for tapping groundwater.

Despite widespread occurrence and its potency to inflict heavy causalities and damage to economy, generalizations could not be made to define “drought” – leave alone characterization, development of predictive model and common mitigation measures. Regional variation, be it definition or symptoms or causative factors or consequences and mitigation measures is the hallmark of drought. This chapter is an attempt to present a review on characteristics of drought for the benefit of devising mitigation and reclamation measures.

INTRODUCTION

“Drought” denotes the meteorological, agricultural, environmental, climatic, social, economic and political consequences of a gap between the water availability and demands for the needs of domestic, irrigational, industrial, commercial and recreational consumption in an area over extended period of time. As these demands vary from region to region and depend on too many parameters such as quantum of rainfall, geological and soil characteristics, land use, population, economic activity, climatic conditions, population and culture, drought conditions of an area may not have characteristics of some other region.

This chapter introduces the fundamental concepts and processes that determine the structure and functioning of forest ecosystems. It examines forest ecosystem structure, different forest ecosystem types, community ecology, succession, population ecology, energy flow, and nutrient cycling. The chapter also addresses forest soil ecology, biodiversity, disturbances, climate change, and restoration ecology. Modern tools and sustainable forest management approaches are included to connect ecological principles with practical forest management. By integrating ecosystem processes with conservation and management perspectives, the chapter provides a foundation for understanding forest dynamics and maintaining healthy and resilient forest ecosystems.

This chapter reviews the published information on tsunami and attempts to characterize tsunamigenic sediments in terms of their microfossil content. Tsunamisare long-period waves generated by vertical displacements of marine watercolumn due to earthquakes, volcanic explosion and landslides. These waves can exceed heights of 25 meters (in shallow water) and lengths upto 100km with a velocity of more than 1000km/hour. Even at this magnitude, they are undetectable in deeper waters owing to very low wave height which in turn reduces significantly the response time, causing sudden havoc along coasts. They can cause flooding of coastal areas and affect areas thousands of kilometers away from their point of origin. These characteristics of tsunami imprint ensuing sediments with unique assemblage of microfossils.

INTRODUCTION

Shallow water progressive waves with very large wavelength and long duration caused by the rapid displacement of ocean water are called “tsunami”. Tsunami is a sudden non-meteorologically induced impulse in water regardless of size. Tsunamis are formed by submarine tectonic activity more often due to earthquakes and less frequently due to volcanic eruption, landslides near the coast, meteor impact and nuclear explosions.

The velocity of the tsunami varies and depends on many parameters such as bathymetry, height of the originating wave, initial pressure changes in the sea, etc. and can travel at a speed of more than 1000 km/hr. At the place of origin (directly above the epicentre of submarine earthquake or any other causative factor), the wavelength may be upto few tens to several hundred kilometres but the wave height is often less than one metre only. Since the velocity is proportional to the depth of the water column, it gets reduced to few tens of kilometres as the tsunami approaches the coast. However, the wave height increases significantly reaching 100 m in extreme cases. As a result, the tsunami strikes the coast with massive force. The effect is colossal in islands with low relief. The tsunami waves appear as flooding with water rushing inside the land more violently and with great force towards a river course. In several cases, when the tsunami arrives, the water level in the sea may drop significantly and the waters receding several hundred metres come back with great speed drubbing the coastal lands doubly from both the directions. Though an event of short duration in terms of geological history, tsunami deposits, owing to their higher rate of deposition and other salient characteristics, find place in stratigraphic records. This chapter is an attempt to review the characteristics of tsunami and tsunamigenic sediments, to find out the ability of microfossil content of such sediments for characterization and to identify tsunami deposits in stratigraphic records.

ABSTRACT

Ground water is an important source of water supply throughout the world for irrigation, industries, municipalities and rural homes and the dependence of an Indian village is on its water source only. The quality of water is as important as its quality. The quality required of a groundwater supply depends on its purpose such as drinking or agricultural or industries. To establish quality criteria, measures of chemical, physical, biological constituents must be specified as well as standard methods for reporting and comparing results of water analysis .For that a case study is to be made. Cuddalore district is a rapidly growing urbanized industrial area and lies at the east coast of Tamil Nadu in India. It mainly depends on the ground water. Water quality data for the observation wells from the year 1989 to 1999 were collected and spatial distribution of the groundwater quality is analysed using geographic information system. The important factors such as pH, Chloride shows higher level and generally occur in the central belt of the study area which is rich in mineral wealth. Compared to the eastern half the western half shows better quality of water. From the analysis, 80% of the study area is suitable for agricultural purpose and 75% of the study area is suitable for domestic and drinking purpose.