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Our understanding of the full range of natural variability in streamflow, including how modern flow compares to the past, is poorly understood for the Upper Indus Basin because of short instrumental gauge records. To help address this challenge, we use Hierarchical Bayesian Regression with partial pooling to develop six centuries long (1394–2008 CE) streamflow reconstructions at three Upper Indus Basin gauges (Doyian, Gilgit, and Kachora), concurrently demonstrating that Hierarchical Bayesian Regression can be used to reconstruct short records with interspersed missing data. At one gauge (Partab Bridge), with a longer instrumental record (47 years), we develop reconstructions using both Bayesian regression and the more conventionally used principal components regression. The reconstructions produced by principal components regression and Bayesian regression at Partab Bridge are nearly identical and yield comparable reconstruction skill statistics, highlighting that the resulting tree ring reconstruction of streamflow is not dependent on the choice of statistical method. Reconstructions at all four reconstructions indicate that flow levels in the 1990s were higher than mean flow for the past six centuries. While streamflow appears most sensitive to accumulated winter (January–March) precipitation and summer (May–September) temperature, with warm summers contributing to high flow through increased melt of snow and glaciers, shifts in winter precipitation and summer temperatures cannot explain the anomalously high flow during the 1990s. Regardless, the sensitivity of streamflow to summer temperatures suggests that projected warming may increase streamflow in coming decades, though long‐term water risk will additionally depend on changes in snowfall and glacial mass balance. Tree ring reconstructions of streamflow in the Upper Indus Basin show wetter conditions in the 1990s compared to the last 600 yearsReconstructions are insensitive to the choice of statistical method used (principal components versus Bayesian regression)Streamflow is most sensitive to winter precipitation and summer temperature, but anomalies in these seasons cannot explain recent high flow

Some of the oldest and most important trees used for dendroclimatic reconstructions develop strip‐bark morphology, in which only a portion of the stem contains living tissue. Yet the ecophysiological factors initiating strip bark and the potential effect of cambial dieback on annual ring widths and tree‐ring estimates of past climate remain poorly understood. Using a combination of field observations and tree‐ring data, we investigate the causes and timing of cambial dieback events in Pinus sibiricastrip‐bark trees from central Mongolia and compare the radial growth rates and trends of strip‐bark and whole‐bark trees over the past 515 years. Results indicate that strip bark is more common on the southern aspect of trees, and dieback events were most prevalent in the 19th century, a cold and dry period. Further, strip‐bark and whole‐bark trees have differing centennial trends, with strip‐bark trees exhibiting notably large increases in ring widths at the beginning of the 20th century. We find a steeper positive trend in the strip‐bark chronology relative to the whole‐bark chronology when standardizing with age‐dependent splines. We hypothesize that localized warming on the southern side of stems due to solar irradiance results in physiological damage and dieback and leads to increasing tree‐ring increment along the living portion of strip‐bark trees. Because the impact of cambial dieback on ring widths likely varies depending on species and site, we suggest conducting a comparison of strip‐bark and whole‐bark ring widths before statistically treating ring‐width data for climate reconstructions. Cambial dieback is localized on the southern side of trees, suggesting a link between solar irradiance and stem injuryStrip‐ and whole‐bark trees have different radial growth trends, which can have implications for tree‐ring reconstructionsRadial growth of strip‐bark trees increased rapidly in the early 20th century following extensive stem dieback in the 19th century

Trihexyphenidyl is prone for abuse as well as dependence and produces a characteristic withdrawal syndrome. We present the case history of a 55-year-old lady who had an apparent worsening of her psychosis when trihexyphenidyl was withdrawn, and the dramatic resolution of her symptoms once it was re-introduced. Clinicians should consider such a presentation in patients with psychosis who are otherwise well maintained on antipsychotics. In view of the above as well as the known cognitive side effects of anticholinergic medications, long-term use of these agents should be avoided unless clearly indicated.

Hydroclimate variability in tropical South America is strongly regulated by the South American Summer Monsoon (SASM). However, past precipitation changes are poorly constrained due to limited observations and high‐resolution paleoproxies. We found that summer precipitation and the El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability are well registered in tree‐ring stable oxygen isotopes (δ18OTR) of Polylepis tarapacanain the Chilean and Bolivian Altiplano in the Central Andes (18–22°S, ∼4,500 m a.s.l.) with the northern forests having the strongest climate signal. More enriched δ18OTRvalues were found at the southern sites likely due to the increasing aridity toward the southwest of the Altiplano. The climate signal of P. tarapacana δ18OTRis the combined result of moisture transported from the Amazon Basin, modulated by the SASM, ENSO, and local evaporation, and emerges as a novel tree‐ring climate proxy for the southern tropical Andes. Understanding past climatic changes in the Central Andes in tropical South America is of great importance to contextualize current hydroclimatic conditions. Here, we present the first P. tarapacanatree‐ring stable oxygen isotope (δ18OTR) chronologies and analyze their value as environmental records for this region. Locally known as queñoa, P. tarapacanagrows in the South American Altiplano from 16°S to 23°S at very high elevations (up to 5,100 m a.s.l), making it the highest elevation tree species worldwide. We analyze P. tarapacana δ18OTRfrom 1950 to present and find that it registers precipitation changes in the Altiplano and the El Niño ‐ Southern Oscillation (ENSO). We suggest that δ18OTRis likely affected by soil evaporation and leaf transpiration due to the high solar radiation and aridity in the Altiplano, leading to an enrichment in δ18OTRvalues with a more pronounced effect at the more arid sites. P. tarapacana δ18OTRreflects the atmospheric processes transporting moisture to the Altiplano and the influence of local evaporation. Our findings are relevant for generating robust hydroclimate reconstructions in the Central Andes to improve circulation models and provide better management of water resources in tropical South America. Tree‐ring stable oxygen isotopes of Polylepis tarapacanarecord austral summer precipitation variability in the South American AltiplanoEl Niño‐Southern Oscillation is imprinted in the tree‐ring oxygen isotopes with a stronger signal toward the north of the studied area Tree‐ring stable oxygen isotopes of Polylepis tarapacanarecord austral summer precipitation variability in the South American Altiplano El Niño‐Southern Oscillation is imprinted in the tree‐ring oxygen isotopes with a stronger signal toward the north of the studied area

Census is the count or inventory of specific phenomenon, such as population, wild life, industry, livestock etc. Another aspect is that census is carried out periodically to show the changing trends of the phenomenon and state. Space based imaging systems, from their vantage position, has unambiguously demonstrated their capability in providing vital information on natural resources. With the availability of high-resolution multi-spectral and panchromatic earth observation images and geographic information system, can we now consider a natural resources census?The census of natural resources - land, water, soils, forests and other elements conducted in a systematic manner and with a repeat cycle to depict changes and modifications can provide a "snap-shot" of a country's status of natural resource at a particular moment of time and help in identifying areas of rapid and significant changes, which can be monitored in detail. Such inventory with periodic monitoring would help in managing the natural resources and will provide inputs to meet the demands of large population in terms of more food production, more energy generation, water management, better civic amenities, more infrastructure built-up and increasing per-capital expenditure for maintaining a quality of life.In India, Natural Resources Census (NRC) programme has been conceptualized and is being implemented. The NRC will use Indian Remote Sensing satellite images and prepares natural resources information layers of 7 key themes (land use/land cover, soil, geomorphology, vegetation, snow/glacier, land degradation, wetlands) at 1:50,000 scale with the periodicity of 5-20 years for different themes. The NRC maps and data support the repository of natural resources information and contribute to the operationalisation of a spatial data infrastructure (SDI). Recognising that standardization of methodology for mapping and spatial database generation to enable NRC for SDI is important, few proto-type NRC studies has been conducted. This paper discusses the concept of a nation-wide NRC programme and the results of one of the proto-type studies (Bangalore urban district) that India has carried out. The concept, methodology and standards suggested for NRC will be certainly useful for any country.

The Indian Earth Observations Program, over the past three decades, has been mainly driven by the national need of natural resources management, infrastructure development, environment monitoring and disaster management support. With an array of seven Indian Remote Sensing Satellites (IRS), national development support has been supported, through a well-knit institutional framework of a National Natural Resources Management System (NNRMS), a wide variety of applications developed as an inter-agency effort over the past 20 years. Now, the capacity of the programme has been extended into the global arena and IRS is providing operational data services to the global user community. The future Earth Observation Systems will have to take into consideration the aspects related to the commercialisation and standardisation of programmes world-over; transitioning into a business environment; data continuity and the need to monitor processes rather than events. Technological changes are also going to re-define many of the concepts of observation from space and issues like spatial resolution, spectral resolution and temporal resolution may no more be a concern for observation systems. ISRO is presently defining a strategy for the Indian EO Programme that will chart the progress with a vision for the next 25 years. Based on a thorough analysis, the observation needs of the future are planned and presently systems design and implementation are underway. The Need Analysis has been done keeping in mind the Global change applications; Mapping and Cartographic applications; Natural Resources and Environmental management applications etc. Issues related to defining the space and data acquisition as a national "public good", costing of data products and services and evolving a commercial remote sensing policy have been addressed for providing the overall thrust of the Indian Earth Observations program. The paper discusses the strategy adopted for assessing the future user requirements and also for defining the future Indian missions - which are applications specific solutions. The paper discusses the evolution of the strategy, in the early stages now, and its transition to support a two-pronged strategy of supporting national development and, at the same time, developing a commercial business enterprise. The need to generate newer user segments and develop newer services and products has been recognised from the utilisation point of view. The impact on utilisation accruing from these proposed missions has also been assessed and is discussed in the paper.

A new wave of technological innovation is allowing us to capture, store, process and display an unprecedented amount of geographical and spatial information about Society and a wide variety of environmental and cultural phenomena. Much of this information is "spatial" - that is, it refers to a coordinate system and is representable in map form. Current and accurate spatial data must be readily available to contribute to local, state and national development and contribute to economic growth, environmental quality and stability, and social progress. India has, over the past years, produced a rich "base" of map information through systematic topographic surveys, geological surveys, soil surveys, cadastral surveys, various natural resources inventory programmes and the use of the remote sensing images. Further, with the availability of precision, high-resolution satellite images, data enabling the organisation of GIS, combined with the Global Positioning System (GPS), the accuracy and information content of these spatial datasets or maps is extremely high. Encapsulating these maps and images into a National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) is the need of the hour and the emphasis has to be on information transparency and sharing, with the recognition that spatial information is a national resource and citizens, society, private enterprise and government have a right to access it, appropriately. Only through common conventions and technical agreements, standards, metadata definitions, network and access protocols will it be easily possible for the NSDI to come into existence. India has now a NSDI strategy and the "NSDI Strategy and Action Plan" report has been prepared and is being opened up to a national debate. The first steps have been taken but the end-goal is farther away but in sight now. While Government must provide the lead, private enterprise, NGOs and academia have a major role to play in making the NSDI a reality. NSDI will require for coming together of various "groups" and harmonizing their efforts in making this national endeavor a success. The paper discusses how the convergence of technologies is being strategised in NSDI - specifically of EO images and GIS technologies and how the nation would benefit from access to these datasets. The paper also discusses and illustrates with specific examples the techniques being developed and how the NSDI would support development efforts on the country.

•The Terminal Warehouse timbers were likely harvested from Georgia or Alabama, US.•Tree-ring analysis provides insight on the logging industry during the 19th century.•Timber preservation is important for history, science, and the environment.

Towns and cities in India are facing complex problems regarding the provision and maintenance of services and infrastructure in the face of the rapid growth of pupulation, caused both by natural increase and migration. In order to meet such challenges a planner needs to have fairly accurate and up-to-date information, especially about physical structures and related land parameters. A study of their trends generally helps in the understanding of the emerging growth pattern and in formulating policies to guide or redirect it. Recent advances in the field of remote sensing technology and computer based Geographical Information Systems (GIS) provide very useful tools in undertaking such analysis. The results from a study about growth trends of the urban areas in the Bombay Metropolitan Region using multi-date remote sensing data and ARC/INFO GIS package are described here. The period under consideration is from 1968 to 1989. It should be noted that the major growth in the region is confined to Greater Bombay between 1968 to 1975. After the year 1975, a distinct outward growth along the rail corridors is visible. Growth after 1975 is mainly in the Kalyan, Bhiwandi, New Bombay and Panvel areas and in the area around Manori creek (Charkop area). The growth rate is found to be higher after the year 1975 compared to the prior growth rate. The spatial growth trends are examined in relation to the population and the population density has been computed for different periods. Based upon these densities, the extent of land required for urban development for the year 2001 has been calculated. Suitability of land for urbanisation has been carried out based upon physical characteristics of the land and environmental parameters. The priority areas of urban development to meet the additional requirement in 2001 have been identified on the basis of this suitability analysis. A map on a 1:250000 scale has been prepared to show the areas for urbanisation which will meet the demands for the year 2001. This study demonstrates the potential offered by the integration of the tools of remote sensing and GIS for urban and regional planning.