Sharif Digital Repository

Urmia Lake in the northwest of Iran is the second largest hyper-saline lake worldwide. During the past two decades, a significant water level decline has occurred in the lake. The existing estimations for the lake water balance are widely variable because the lake bathymetry is unknown. The main focus of this study is to extract the volume-area-elevation (V-A-L) characteristics of Urmia Lake utilizing remote sensing data and analytical models. V-A-L equations of the lake were determined using radar altimetry data and their concurrent satellite-derived surface data. Next, two approximate models, a power model (PM) and a truncated pyramid model (TPM), were parameterized for Urmia Lake and... 

Lake surface temperature is an important indicator of the lake state and a driver of regional weather and climate near large lakes. The objective of this study is to use thermal imagery from the MODIS on board the Earth Observing System Terra and Aqua platforms to assess the spatial and temporal variations in Urmia lake temperature. Urmia Lake, located in northwestern Iran is one of the largest permanent hypersaline lakes in the world. The surface temperature of Urmia Lake is examined between 2008 and 2009, as dry years. MODIS-derived lake SWT then was calibrated with monthly observations. MODIS-derived lake SWT exhibits a cool bias (-0.72°C) relative to in situ temperature observations in... 

The Shadegan Wetland is a Ramsar-listed wetland in the south-west of Iran at the head of the Persian Gulf. It is the largest wetland of Iran covering about 400,000 hectares. The wetland plays a significant hydrological and ecological role in the natural functioning of the northern Gulf. It also supports a very diverse flora and fauna and is the most important site in the world for Marbled Teal. The water regime is threatened by upstream abstraction of water for irrigation and the saline discharge from sugar cane industries and irrigation schemes. This will result in an overall reduction in wetland water quantity and quality, leading to a change in plant community composition. This paper... 

Remote sensing is an effective tool for capturing spatial and temporal variations of water surface temperature (WST) in large lakes. The WST of Urmia Lake in northwestern Iran was examined from 2007 to 2010, using MODIS land surface temperature (LST) products. Spatial and temporal (diurnal, monthly, seasonal and inter-annual) variations of Urmia Lake WST were also investigated. Results indicate that the MODIS-derived WSTs are in a good agreement with the in situ data (R2=0.92 and bias=-0.27). Spatial analysis of WST revealed that there are three thermal zones along the lake: the shallow region in barriers of the causeway, islands and the shoreline; the south part; and the deep north parts.... 

In quantum approaches to consciousness, the authors try to propose a model and mechanism for the mind-brain interaction using modern physics and some quantum concepts which do not exist in the classical physics. The independent effect of mind on the brain has been one of the challenging issues in the history of science and philosophy. In some recent mind-brain interaction models, the direct influence of mind on matter is either not accepted (as in Stapp's model) or not clear, and there have not been any clear mechanism for it (as in Penrose-Hameroff's model or in Eccles's model). In this manuscript we propose a model and mechanism for mind's effect on the matter using an extended Bohmian... 

In quantum approaches to consciousness, the authors try to propose a model and mechanism for the mind-brain interaction using modern physics and some quantum concepts which do not exist in the classical physics. The independent effect of mind on the brain has been one of the challenging issues in the history of science and philosophy. In some recent mind-brain interaction models, the direct influence of mind on matter is either not accepted (as in Stapp's model) or not clear, and there have not been any clear mechanism for it (as in Penrose-Hameroff's model or in Eccles's model). In this manuscript we propose a model and mechanism for mind's effect on the matter using an extended Bohmian... 

This study investigates critical run-off and sediment production sources in a forested Kasilian watershed located in northern Iran. The Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) watershed model was set up to simulate the run-off and sediment yields. WEPP was calibrated and validated against measured rainfall-run-off-sediment data. Results showed that simulated run-off and sediment yields of the watershed were in agreement with the measured data for the calibration and validation periods. While low and medium values of run-off and sediment yields were adequately simulated by the WEPP model, high run-off and sediment yield values were underestimated. Performance of the model was evaluated as... 

A reciprocating single-chamber micropump is designed and experimentally tested. The actuation technique of the pump is based on Lorentz force acting on an array of low-weight microwires placed on a flexible membrane surface. A square-wave electric current (5.6 and 7.8 A) with a low-frequency range (5.6 to 7.6 Hz) is applied through the microwires in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field (0.08 to 0.09 T). The resultant oscillating Lorentz force causes the membrane to oscillate with the same frequency, and pushes the fluid to flow toward the outlet using a high-efficiency ball-valve. The micropump has exhibited a maximum efficiency of 2.03% with a flow rate as high as 490 μl/s and... 

This work takes a new approach to solving non-hydrostatic equations of layered flows over bottom topography. A perturbation technique is used to find explicit expressions for a flow for different regimes of single- and two-layer flows over a sill. Excellent agreement with previous solutions and experimental data is obtained, and more details of the non-hydrostatic flow over a sill are revealed. The proposed method is simple and compact and removes the need for complex numerical techniques to solve the non-hydrostatic equations. It is shown that in the approach-controlled regime of two-layer flow over a sill, the flow upstream and farther downstream the sill crest can be described by the... 

This study is concerned with numerical modeling of viscous surface wave motion using boundary element method (BEM). The equations of motion for thin boundary layers at the solid surfaces are coupled with the potential flow in the bulk of the fluid, and a mixed BEM-finite difference technique is used to obtain the viscosity-related quantities such as wave damping rate, shear stress, and velocity distribution inside the boundary layer. The technique is presented for standing surface wave motion. An excellent agreement is obtained between the numerical predictions and the previous results. The extension to other free surface problems is straightforward. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved  

An effective numerical technique is presented to model turbulent motion of a standing surface wave in a tank. The equations of motion for turbulent boundary layers at the solid surfaces are coupled with the potential flow in the bulk of the fluid, and a mixed BEM-finite difference technique is used to model the wave motion and the corresponding boundary layer flow. A mixing-length theory is used for turbulence modelling. The model results are in good agreement with previous physical and numerical experiments. Although the technique is presented for a standing surface wave, it can be easily applied to other free surface problems. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd  

This study is concerned with evolution of selective withdrawal of a linearly stratified fluid through a line sink at the base of a reservoir with bottom topography in the form of a sill of small height. The problem is investigated theoretically in the linear, inviscid limit using a perturbation technique. The induced flow due to motion of the first few shear waves is studied. It is shown that the effect of a sill on the flow field is confined mostly to the withdrawal layer in the vicinity of the sill. Equations are proposed for the steady withdrawal layer thickness and the critical Froude number in the presence of a sill. © 2003 American Institute of Physics  

An effective numerical technique is presented to model turbulent motion of a standing surface wave in a tank. The equations of motion for turbulent boundary layers at the solid surfaces are coupled with the potential flow in the bulk of the fluid, and a mixed BEM-finite difference technique is used to obtain the wave and boundary layer characteristics such as bed shear stress. A mixing-length theory is used for turbulence modeling. Although the technique is presented for a standing surface wave, it can be easily applied to other free surface problems. Copyright © 2005 by ASME  

This study is concerned with numerical modeling of viscous surface wave motion using boundary element method (BEM). The equations of motion for thin boundary layers at the solid surfaces are coupled with the potential flow in the bulk of the fluid, and a mixed BEM-finite difference technique is used to obtain the surface wave motion characteristics including the decay rate. The technique is presented for a standing surface wave motion. The extension to other free surface problems is discussed  

This research study presents an experimental investigation on forced convection heat transfer of an aqueous ferrofluid flow passing through a circular copper tube in the presence of an alternating magnetic field. The flow passes through the tube under a uniform heat flux and laminar flow conditions. The primary objective was to intensify the particle migration and disturbance of the boundary layer by utilizing the magnetic field effect on the nanoparticles for more heat transfer enhancement. Complicated convection regimes caused by interactions between magnetic nanoparticles under various conditions were studied. The process of heat transfer was examined with different volume concentrations... 

The solar collectors have been commonly used in desalination systems. Recent investigations show that the use of a linear parabolic through collector in solar stills can improve the efficiency of a desalination system. In this work, a combination of a heat pipe and a twin-glass evacuated tube collector is utilized with a parabolic through collector. Results show that the rate of production and efficiency can reach to 0.27 kg/(m2 h) and 22.1% when aluminum conducting foils are used in the space between the heat pipe and the twin-glass evacuated tube collector to transfer heat from the tube collector to the heat pipe. When oil is used as a medium for the transfer of heat, filling the space... 

Reservoir topography has significant effects on mechanism of selective withdrawal. We study selective withdrawal of a linearly stratified fluid through a point sink in a long rectangular reservoir with a sill at the bed experimentally and analytically. Experiments were conducted for various flow rates and sill heights to evaluate their effects on withdrawal layer in the inertial-buoyancy regime. Transition to the steady state is discussed in terms of dynamics of shear waves over the sill. The results show that in presence of a sill the withdrawal layer is thicker and higher in elevation. For flows controlled at the sill crest, the withdrawal layer thickness in the point-sink flow is almost...