I got it Here
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Satellites Unlock Secret to Northern India's Vanishing Water
Source: NASA News Service
Satellites Unlock Secret to Northern India's Vanishing Water WASHINGTON -- Using NASA satellite data, scientists have found that groundwater levels in northern India have been declining by as much as one foot per year over the past decade. Researchers concluded the loss is almost entirely due to human activity.
More than 26 cubic miles of groundwater disappeared from aquifers in areas of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and the nation's capitol territory of Delhi, between 2002 and 2008. This is enough water to fill Lake Mead, the largest manmade reservoir in the United States, three times.
A team of hydrologists led by Matt Rodell of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., found that northern India's underground water supply is being pumped and consumed by human activities, such as irrigating cropland, and is draining aquifers faster than natural processes can replenish them. The results of this research were published today in Nature.
The finding is based on data from NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), a pair of satellites that sense changes in Earth's gravity field and associated mass distribution, including water masses stored above or below Earth's surface. As the twin satellites orbit 300 miles above Earth's surface, their positions change relative to each other in response to variations in the pull of gravity.
Changes in underground water masses affect gravity enough to provide a signal that can be measured by the GRACE spacecraft. After accounting for other mass variations, such changes in gravity are translated into an equivalent change in water.
"Using GRACE satellite observations, we can observe and monitor water storage changes in critical areas of the world, from one month to the next, without leaving our desks," said study co-author Isabella Velicogna of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and the University of California, Irvine.
Groundwater comes from the natural percolation of precipitation and other surface waters down through Earth’s soil and rock, accumulating in cavities and layers of porous rock, gravel, sand or clay. Groundwater levels respond slowly to changes in weather and can take months or years to replenish once pumped for irrigation or other uses.
Data provided by India's Ministry of Water Resources to the NASA-funded researchers suggested groundwater use across India was exceeding natural replenishment, but the regional rate of depletion was unknown. Rodell and colleagues analyzed six years of monthly GRACE data for northern India to produce a time series of water storage changes beneath the land surface.
"We don't know the absolute volume of water in the northern Indian aquifers, but GRACE provides strong evidence that current rates of water extraction are not sustainable," said Rodell. "The region has become dependent on irrigation to maximize agricultural productivity. If measures are not taken to ensure sustainable groundwater usage, the consequences for the 114 million residents of the region may include a collapse of agricultural output and severe shortages of potable water."
Researchers examined data and models of soil moisture, lake and reservoir storage, vegetation and glaciers in the nearby Himalayas in order to confirm that the apparent groundwater trend was real. The loss is particularly alarming because it occurred when there were no unusual trends in rainfall. In fact, rainfall was slightly above normal for the period. The only influence they couldn't rule out was human.
"For the first time, we can observe water use on land with no additional ground-based data collection," said co-author James Famiglietti of the University of California, Irvine. "This is critical because in many developing countries, where hydrological data are both sparse and hard to access, space-based methods provide perhaps the only opportunity to assess changes in fresh water availability across large regions."
GRACE is a partnership between NASA and the German Aerospace Center, DLR. The University of Texas Center for Space Research in Austin has overall GRACE mission responsibility. GRACE was launched in 2002.
For more information, please visit:
For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit:
More than 26 cubic miles of groundwater disappeared from aquifers in areas of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and the nation's capitol territory of Delhi, between 2002 and 2008. This is enough water to fill Lake Mead, the largest manmade reservoir in the United States, three times.
A team of hydrologists led by Matt Rodell of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., found that northern India's underground water supply is being pumped and consumed by human activities, such as irrigating cropland, and is draining aquifers faster than natural processes can replenish them. The results of this research were published today in Nature.
The finding is based on data from NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), a pair of satellites that sense changes in Earth's gravity field and associated mass distribution, including water masses stored above or below Earth's surface. As the twin satellites orbit 300 miles above Earth's surface, their positions change relative to each other in response to variations in the pull of gravity.
Changes in underground water masses affect gravity enough to provide a signal that can be measured by the GRACE spacecraft. After accounting for other mass variations, such changes in gravity are translated into an equivalent change in water.
"Using GRACE satellite observations, we can observe and monitor water storage changes in critical areas of the world, from one month to the next, without leaving our desks," said study co-author Isabella Velicogna of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and the University of California, Irvine.
Groundwater comes from the natural percolation of precipitation and other surface waters down through Earth’s soil and rock, accumulating in cavities and layers of porous rock, gravel, sand or clay. Groundwater levels respond slowly to changes in weather and can take months or years to replenish once pumped for irrigation or other uses.
Data provided by India's Ministry of Water Resources to the NASA-funded researchers suggested groundwater use across India was exceeding natural replenishment, but the regional rate of depletion was unknown. Rodell and colleagues analyzed six years of monthly GRACE data for northern India to produce a time series of water storage changes beneath the land surface.
"We don't know the absolute volume of water in the northern Indian aquifers, but GRACE provides strong evidence that current rates of water extraction are not sustainable," said Rodell. "The region has become dependent on irrigation to maximize agricultural productivity. If measures are not taken to ensure sustainable groundwater usage, the consequences for the 114 million residents of the region may include a collapse of agricultural output and severe shortages of potable water."
Researchers examined data and models of soil moisture, lake and reservoir storage, vegetation and glaciers in the nearby Himalayas in order to confirm that the apparent groundwater trend was real. The loss is particularly alarming because it occurred when there were no unusual trends in rainfall. In fact, rainfall was slightly above normal for the period. The only influence they couldn't rule out was human.
"For the first time, we can observe water use on land with no additional ground-based data collection," said co-author James Famiglietti of the University of California, Irvine. "This is critical because in many developing countries, where hydrological data are both sparse and hard to access, space-based methods provide perhaps the only opportunity to assess changes in fresh water availability across large regions."
GRACE is a partnership between NASA and the German Aerospace Center, DLR. The University of Texas Center for Space Research in Austin has overall GRACE mission responsibility. GRACE was launched in 2002.
For more information, please visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/india_water.html
For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit:
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Are you in the 7%
This is something we should all read at least once a week.
Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio.
"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:
1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good. 2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first pay check.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."
Its estimated 93% won't forward this. If you are one of the 7% who will, forward this with the title '7%'. I'm in the 7%. Remember that I will always share my spoon with you!
SAVE AND SHARE THIS TEXT ON NET
Friday, August 7, 2009
Twitter Tweety Killed, Facebook ripped and the Social Network Drowned
The two biggies of the Social Network seemed to cripple as both Twitter and Facebook faced outage of services which ultimately came up to be a DDoS attack from an unidentified source. The attack was carried out at some 10 AM Eastern Time. This attack also followed on other sites such as LiveJournal and recently Youtube is reported to have the same slowdown. Although Youtube has not stated any of its service down.
As on Twitter Status Blog, Twitter reported the problem while tweeters waited long to their favorite social network. The outage has been reported to be the longest stretching whole 2 hours which in Online terms is quite a long time!
The blogosphere and other social networks were filled with disappointed Tweeters reaching out for alternatives and with cries for the outage of the service.
Twitter then reported to be "defending against a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack" that was causing the outage.
After it was over with Twitter came a news about Facebook facing the same problem. Worldwide Facebook returned Network errors with its service increasing the disappointment in people. After all we love to be socially connected of which facebook is an indispensable part.
After the Attack was succesfully defended, Facebook Officials stated the same outage to be a DDoS of which the source is still to be tracked.
But what caused this chaos in the Social Network world? Some blogs have reported the source of attack to be related to the Georgia Russia Crisis and that the attack was organized to silence one man reported to be "cyxymu" as on Twitter.
In an interview, Facebook's chief security officer Max Kelly told CNET.com, “It was a simultaneous attack across a number of properties targeting him to keep his voice from being heard. We’re actively investigating the source of the attacks and we hope to be able to find out the individuals involved in the back end and to take action against them if we can.”
he security expert spoke with The New York Times and gave his assessment of the situation:
Whatever happened to the Social World has been a sort of security lessons to this network and if the attack was related to cyber warfare, then we could be seeing a lot more of this. Still, it’s tough to understand how these social media sites would be of any strategic value to either Russia or Georgia. Today’s events are certainly getting even more complicated, though.
As on Twitter Status Blog, Twitter reported the problem while tweeters waited long to their favorite social network. The outage has been reported to be the longest stretching whole 2 hours which in Online terms is quite a long time!
The blogosphere and other social networks were filled with disappointed Tweeters reaching out for alternatives and with cries for the outage of the service.
Twitter then reported to be "defending against a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack" that was causing the outage.
After it was over with Twitter came a news about Facebook facing the same problem. Worldwide Facebook returned Network errors with its service increasing the disappointment in people. After all we love to be socially connected of which facebook is an indispensable part.
After the Attack was succesfully defended, Facebook Officials stated the same outage to be a DDoS of which the source is still to be tracked.
But what caused this chaos in the Social Network world? Some blogs have reported the source of attack to be related to the Georgia Russia Crisis and that the attack was organized to silence one man reported to be "cyxymu" as on Twitter.
In an interview, Facebook's chief security officer Max Kelly told CNET.com, “It was a simultaneous attack across a number of properties targeting him to keep his voice from being heard. We’re actively investigating the source of the attacks and we hope to be able to find out the individuals involved in the back end and to take action against them if we can.”
Google is quoted as saying, “We are aware that a handful of non-Google sites were impacted by a DOS attack this morning, and are in contact with some affected companies to help investigate this attack. Google systems prevented substantive impact to our services.”
The claims back up earlier reports in the New York Times that Thursday’s attack was sparked by the conflict between Russia and Georgia. The aim was to take down Cyxymu’s accounts, particularly the LiveJournal blog where he posted about the crisis. While Google’s sites held up to the barrage, Twitter and LiveJournal proved less robust.
While DDoS attacks are notoriously hard to defend against, it’s clear that Twitter was far less equipped to cope with such an attack: no doubt they’ll be taking a closer look at how such issues could be handled in the future.
Another blog post also reported a leading security expert as stating that this attack was not a normal DDoS that we usually see with a botnet and malware and trojan infected computers supporting the attack. Rather this was an organized attack.he security expert spoke with The New York Times and gave his assessment of the situation:
Reference from: MashableBill Woodcock, a research director of the Packet Clearing House, a nonprofit technical organization that tracks Internet traffic, said Thursday’s attack was an extension of the conflict between Russia and Georgia. It was not clear who initiated the attack, he said, but likely “one side put up propaganda, the other side figured this out and is attacking them.”
Instead of using a botnet, or a network of thousands of malware-infected personal computers to flood a site with traffic, Mr. Woodcock said this particular attack consisted of a wave of spam e-mail messages, which began infiltrating Twitter and other sites at 10:25 a.m. Eastern time. “It’s a vast increase in traffic that creates the denial-of-service,” he said.
YouTube and LiveJournal were also affected, Mr. Woodcock said, although “Twitter was definitely hit the hardest.” YouTube said it had not noticed any problems with its service.
Whatever happened to the Social World has been a sort of security lessons to this network and if the attack was related to cyber warfare, then we could be seeing a lot more of this. Still, it’s tough to understand how these social media sites would be of any strategic value to either Russia or Georgia. Today’s events are certainly getting even more complicated, though.
August : The Month of the Meteors
Source: NASA News Service
Yes, it is true. According to NASA, August is the month of Meteors. This August is the Perseid Meteor Shower.
Yes, it is true. According to NASA, August is the month of Meteors. This August is the Perseid Meteor Shower.We'll get to see some Perseids all month long -- before and after midnight -- but the real fireworks will be going on the 12th of August, 2009 between (yawn!) 2 and 4 am (California) and 9-11 AM (GMT) while Indian people might be disappointed with the time for India corresponding to this will be 2:30-4:30 PM. Still, people can try to see it after dark on the 11th or 12th of August
Metoer showers are best seen in the hours after midnight. That's when Earth is facing the d direction in which the dust particles are colliding with our atmosphere.
As a bonus, two more planets will show up, one Venus as the brighter one and the other Mars as the red little faint one. NASA also says that even Neptune might be visible if you have a telescope.
If you've ever wondered about this cosmic firework, what makes up these beauties? Well, according to Jane Houston Jones of NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab, Meteor showers are just the debris of a passing comet or sometimes the debris from a fragmented asteroid.
When a comet nears the sun, its icy surface heats up. This causes clouds of gas, dirt and dust to be releases, forming a tail of debris that can stretch for millions of miles.
As Earth passes near the dusty tail, some of the dust particles hit our atmosphere. They burn up and create the celestial firworks we see.
NASA monitors these meteor showers to safeguard any launching or orbiting spacecraft.
The best part is You don't need any telescopes or binoculars to view these showers. Infact, these are better seen with naked eyes!
So, go out on your roofs and you won't be disapponted for stayin' up so late!
[Pic] Rollout of STS-128 "Discovery" By NASA amid Lightning
Rollout of space shuttle Discovery was slow-going due to the onset of lightning in the area of Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
First motion of the shuttle out of the Vehicle Assembly Building was at 2:07 a.m. Aug. 4. Discovery's 13-day flight will deliver a new crew member and 33,000 pounds of equipment to the International Space Station. The equipment includes science and storage racks, a freezer to store research samples, a new sleeping compartment and the COLBERT treadmill. Launch of Discovery on its STS-128 mission is targeted for late August.
Image Credit: Photo Courtesy of Justin Dernier
First motion of the shuttle out of the Vehicle Assembly Building was at 2:07 a.m. Aug. 4. Discovery's 13-day flight will deliver a new crew member and 33,000 pounds of equipment to the International Space Station. The equipment includes science and storage racks, a freezer to store research samples, a new sleeping compartment and the COLBERT treadmill. Launch of Discovery on its STS-128 mission is targeted for late August.
Image Credit: Photo Courtesy of Justin Dernier
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
