GIS & Remote Sensing Technique to ExamineLanduse / LandcoverChanges: A Case Study of emerging industrial hub of District Solan, Himachal Pradesh

Land and water resources are the decisive factors for the socioeconomic development of any country. Since now land is becoming a scare resource because of immense agricultural and demographic pressure. Hence, information on land use / land cover and possibilities of their optimal use is vital for the selection, planning and implementation of land use scheme to meet the increasing demands for basic human needs and welfare. The recent remote sensing and GIS techniques can be useful measure to generate data and information for sustainable development. In this paper an attempt has been made to study the changes in land use and land cover of Western part of Solan district. The study was carried out using Remote Sensing and GIS approach using Landsat imageries of 2000 and 2010. GIS software is used to prepare the thematic maps. The result of the work shows a rapid growth in built-up area between 2000 and 2010. INTRODUCTION: All Human activities are based on natural resources and land is the most important resource. Rapid Growth of population is increasing more pressure on land resource. Human activities are mounting the demand on the existing land resources to fulfil their basic needs based on agriculture, forest, pasture, urban and industrial land use. Information on the degree and type of changes in the land resources is essential for proper planning, management and to regularize the utilization of such resources (Gautam N.C. & Narayanan, E.R., 1983).India is also facing a problem of natural resource scarcity, especially that of water in view of population growth and economic development (Yadav et al., 2013). As a result land use / land cover (LULC) changes have become a central focus point of interest within the environment scientist community (Meyer et al., 1996). Consequently, evaluating and understanding of the extent and spatial distribution of LULC is a vital significant to the study of environmental changes at various level (Ojima et al., 1994). Moreover, scientific investigation of these types of issues serves as a valuable tool to increase efficiency of LULC and also to decrease the negative societal and environmental impacts associated with the land use / land cover. Present geo-spatial technologies such as geographical information system (GIS), remote sensing and photogrammetry have capability to analyse the real world problems and to give effective spatial solutions. The repetitive nature of spatial data has proved to be very useful in mapping land use / land cover pattern, trends and change within the time. Thus, geo-spatial techniques are capable to detect changes over the period within the specific region with low cost, less time and better accuracy. Different spatial layer can be produced from satellite data to analyse in geo-spatial environment such as drainage, lithology, land use / land cover, geomorphological conditions and degraded landforms. These data sets are the fundamental requirement of the geographical information system (GIS) that provides an excellent mean of spatial database analysis and interpretation (KotokyP., et al., 2012). Quantification of land use / land cover changes is possible through GIS techniques on different scales and resolutions (Sharma et al., 2001). Studies based on geo-spatial techniques are helpful in understanding the dynamics of human activities in space and time. During the period of 70s and 80s satellite data were used in simple interpretation or as a reference map (Merified P.M., & Lamar D.L., (1975) Rib H.T., & Liang T., (1978) but at present with the advancement in tools,spatial analyses are possible. Remote sensing and GIS techniques have been applied by various researchers of different disciplines such as forest, agriculture, planning, disaster management and natural resources etc. (CracknellA.P., (2000); SabinsF.F., (1997); Dixon,T.H., (1995). Therefore, accurate and updated spatial land cover information is necessary to understand and asses the environmental consequences of changes over the time period (Giri et al., 2005). The application of GIS and RS is rapidly expanding worldwide for planning, management and solution of real world problems. Few examples of on-going / completed Geospatial Projects of Government of India under NNRMS (National Natural Resource Management System) are Forecasting Agricultural output using Space, Agro meteorologyand Land based observations (FASAL); National Agricultural Drought Assessment and Monitoring System; National Wastelands Monitoring; Potential Fishing Zone; Ground Water Prospects Mapping; Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Program; Watershed monitoring and development; Remote sensing based Integrated Mission for Sustainable Development; Water Resources Information System; Biodiversity Characterization; National Wetlands Inventory and Assessment; Snow and Glaciers; Coastal Zone Studies; National Urban Information System; Natural Resources Census and Space Based Information System for Decentralized Planning (SIS-DP). The present study has been taken up in order to understand the changes that have taken place in land use/land cover in western parts of Solan district of Himachal Pradesh. This area has become the industrial hub of Himachal Pradesh in recent times. It is believed that this rapid urbanization and urban sprawl might have influenced on the land use/land cover patterns resulting in a possible impact on the environment. This work is taken up to better understand this aspect. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to produce a land use/land cover map of western part of Solan district of Himachal Pradesh in order to detect the changes that have taken place over a given period using change detection method and to determine the location and magnitude of land use / land cover change. DATA AND METHODOLOGY In the present study, for evaluating the temporal changes in the land use and land cover, Landsat ETM+ satellite data has

Mokesčiai demokratinėje valstybėje

Šiame straipsnyje siekiama atskleisti mokesčių vaidmens ypatumą demokratinėje valstybėje, parodyti, kad mokesčių pareiga demokratinėje valstybėje gali būti suprantama kaip sukurianti atitinkamas teises. Tai atliekama atskleidžiant mokesčių socialinę paskirtį demokratinėje visuomenėje, pareigos mokėti mokesčius kilmę ir vykdant ją susikuriamas teises.This research is aimed to reveal the peculiarities of the democratic taxes role. The topic is approached with the aim to expose the obligation to pay taxes in democratic society as creating adequate rights. This is done by revealing social mission of taxes in democratic society, origins of obligations to pay taxes and rights acquired by exercise of this obligation.

Integrative and Disintegrative Media Functions in the Information Society

The article aims to analyse the technological as well as ideological factors enabling integrative or disintegrative media role in society. The main assumption focuses on the social dimension of communication. The article states that internet should follow the media mission and preserve moral values. The conclusion is made that Catholic Church media doctrine seems quite effective and may be proposed as opposition to media liberalism that leads to destruction of responsible individuals, nations, and cultures.Keywords: Catholic Church media doctrine, community, disintegration, ethics, function, integration, mass media, role, social communication, social media, value.

The test of the ground-based segment of the RadioAstron mission. The Simeiz ‒ Pushchino interferometer at wavelengths of 6 and 1.35 cm

Resilience Challenged: Thoughts on Children's Mental Health in the Gulf Coast 5 Years After Katrina

Geographic circumstances: Soon after Hurricane Katrina, I tended to the mental health needs of children and families and to the need for developing programs to take care of the most affected populations; I revisited the Gulf Coast area of impact about twice per month for days at a time for ∼3 years. About the author: I am a fellow at the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma and adjunct faculty at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University, and I privately practice psychology in New York City. A few days after Katrina's landfall I participated in a needs assessment with the National Center for Disaster Preparedness. While at the George R. Brown center in Houston, Texas, I interacted with many evacuees and helped them connect with relatives and offered them psychological first aid and support. This shelter was housing literally tens of thousands of people, which allowed us to both help many people and obtain information that later helped to shape our programs. My life and that of my colleagues at Columbia's National Center for Disaster Preparedness and the Children's Health Fund changed dramatically as it became our mission to develop permanent medical and mental health programs and training that would provide assistance not only immediately but also in the long-term aftermath of this horrible disaster. Although my home remained in New York City, I spent a great deal of time in Louisiana and Mississippi over the next 3½ years. I feel honored to … Address correspondence to Paula A. Madrid, PsyD, Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma, 22 Putnam Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139. E-mail: questions{at}paulamadrid.com

La dimensión ambiental en el currículo universitario: un proceso de cambio en la formación profesional

The "Comisión Interuniversitaria de Educación Ambiental" from the Consejo Nacional de Rectores of Costa Rica, by completing a decade of work, reflects about its past work and outcomes. This paper presents the various areas of action in which their work stands out, showing concrete information that not only support its acts and effectiveness but also offers to whoever reads it, different choices for work teams that have the same college mission of transforming the environmental culture in its institutions and in the professional making of students.

Factores que contribuyen con el éxito en los procesos de autoevaluación con miras a la acreditación. Experiencia del Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica

Desde los anos noventa la calidad en la educacion superior y la necesidad de evaluarla se ha convertido en uno de los temas prioritarios de las diferentes agendas politicas y academicas de los paises y universidades. En el Instituto Tecnologico de Costa Rica, una de las cuatro universidades estatales, se ha asumido el tema de la calidad desde el ano 1998, cuando se incluyo dentro de sus directrices a nivel institucional. Desde esa fecha hasta la actualidad, se han acreditado nueve carreras; en este articulo se presenta una serie de lecciones, producto del proceso de autoevaluacion con miras a la acreditacion, especificamente, desde la experiencia de una de las carreras acreditadas, por lo que estos factores se inscriben en este contexto. Esta evaluacion de la calidad de los programas academicos es una condicion indispensable para pensar en su mejora. Con los anos se ha demostrado que la manera de realizarla es a partir de un proceso de autoevaluacion o autorreflexion realizado por la propia universidad acerca de su quehacer (vinculado a un programa especifico o institucional) y de la pertinencia y coherencia de aquel con su mision; seguido de una evaluacion externa, que reduzca el riesgo de una mirada endogamica y que enriquezca el proceso de reflexion. Dicho proceso debe conducir a una propuesta de mejora que no se limite a una declaracion de buenas intenciones, sino que se convierta en un compromiso institucional con ella misma y con la sociedad. En este contexto, la acreditacion otorga reconocimiento publico a la calidad de una institucion o programa academico. El objetivo de este articulo consiste en reconocer los factores que contribuyen a que una experiencia de acreditacion sea exitosa. Lo anterior se presenta desde dos perspectivas: la importancia de una asesoria metodologica y tecnica, y la importancia de la participacion de los actores y sus aprendizajes. Since decade of the nineties quality in Higher Education and the need of Evaluating has become one of the priority topics in different politic and academic agendas of the countries and universities. Costa Rica Institute of Technology, one of the four public Universities of Costa Rica, has assumed the issue of quality as an institutional policy since 1998. From that date until now, nine academic programs has been accredited. This paper presents a series of lessons emerged during self-evaluation process. The article describes one of this experiences. This quality evaluation of academic programs is an indispensable condition for its improvement. With the years it has been demonstrated that the best way to do it is by an auto evaluation process or auto reflection made by the own university, concerning about its duty (linked to a specific or institutional program) and of the relevance and the coherence with its mission; followed by an external evaluation, that reduces the risk of an endogamy vision and that enriches the reflection process.  This mechanism must conduce to an improvement proposal that is not limited to one declaration of good intentions; rather it should convert in an institutional commitment with itself and the society. In the same direction the accreditation permits the public recognition to the quality of an institution or academic program. The objective of this article consists recognizing the factors that contribute to that an accreditation experience is successful, the previous thing appears from two perspective: the importance of a methodological and technical consultant's office; and the importance of the participation of the actors and its learning.

Hallazgos en investigación sobre el profesorado universitario y la integración de las TIC en la enseñanza

An urgent challenge of university teaching is the fast transformation of atmospheres of education and the methodologies of learning. The insertion of the technologies of the information and the communication (TIC) made in the realms of the education in general and the superior one in particular, must have a deep character so that critical, ample and dynamic appropriation of them from the faculties happens. The universities have developed an ample agenda on the subject of the Society of the Information and the Knowledge, and within this one with respect to the introduction of the TIC in the academy and the automation of the administrative tasks. In the integration of the TIC to education the qualification of the teaching staff in the new technologies, languages and competencies in the use of tho se means is a permanent task, since the formation on the job impacts the essential task of the universities as centers of production and creation of knowledge. The democratization of science and the new technologies must begin by the teaching staff, because it is the mission of the public university to adapt these technologies, to improve them and to interpret them, to give sense to the new forms of transmission, application and generation of the knowledge. The virtual reality, the participative methodologies and the interactivity are challenges that we must assume as educators because the complexity, the decentralization and the new forms of learning the reality lay beyond of the school and university institution walls.

Diferencias entre la preparación profesional de las carreras de Educación Física y Recreación. Implicación para Costa Rica

Careers in recreation and education physi-music are often seen as one, specifically, thefirst is usually considered by some peopleas part of the second. The recreation began when physical educators were given the task of providingprograms to improve the quality of life of low-income citizens. However, with the passagetime, recreation became a profession withown professional preparation. This article aims to show the difference between professional preparations of these two races. ittherefore presents the mission profiles schemeprofessionals, some job responsibilities,some workplaces, and a comparison betweencurricula and labor camps of the two races in the United States, one of the pioneers in this profession. In addition, this study reiterates theneed and importance of establishing careerRecreation in Costa Rica

Update and Additional Frequencies for Kepler Star KIC 9700322

Breger et al. (2011) reported on the discovery of 76 frequencies for the star KIC 9700322 from one month (Sept.-Oct. 2009) of short-cadence (1-minute sampling rate) photometric data during Quarter 3 of the NASA Kepler mission. Here we report on a reanalysis combining an additional month (June-July 2009) obtained during Quarter 2 as part of the Kepler Guest Observer program. This analysis confirms all but two of the earlier frequencies > 0.5 c/d, and in addition finds six new combination frequencies of the 8 highest amplitude modes, and three frequencies that are not combinations of these modes. Since we do not know the parents of 12 of the 83 frequencies, additional astrophysical discoveries may await in continued study of this star. The rotational modulations of the two radial modes and the = 2 quintuplet are confirmed. For the two radial modes (f1, f2) and the central (m = 0) mode of the = 2 quintuplet, f6, amplitude variability and/or close frequencies were found. The additional data do not reveal more of the =0, 1, 2 or higher-degree p modes that were expected, and this result is still a mystery.