The detection of the spatio-temporal extent of inundation resulting from the floods in 2004 and 2007 in Bangladesh has been studied using time-series MODIS surface reflectance data. Flood inundation maps were developed from vegetation and land water surface indices derived using surface reflectance. The inundation map developed using MODIS data was compared with a corresponding RADAR-SAT image, where both images refer to the satellite-based remote-sensing data. The estimates show a strong correlation with the inundation area derived from the RADARSAT products (coefficient of determination of R 2 : 0.96). The paper shows that it is possible to study flood dynamics by assessing inundation and recession patterns and to perform flood assessments similar to the high-resolution (50 m) microwave satellite, RADARSAT-based flood assessments using products derived from MODIS 500 m imagery. MODIS has advantages over microwave satellite because it has a high observational frequency and these data are available free of cost. We have concluded that this is a useful method to assess the extent of the temporal floods in the People's Republic of Bangladesh. Figure 8 Temporal changes of flood and mixture pixels for four types of paddy fields (single-cropped irrigated rice, single-cropped rain fed rice, doublecropped irrigated rice and triple-cropped irrigated rice), forest and settlement areas.

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Palm fiber reinforced polypropylene (PP) composites were manufactured using a single extruder and an injection molding machine. Raw palm fiber was chemically treated with benzene diazonium salt to increase its compatibility with the polymer matrix. Both raw and treated palm was utilized and six levels of filler loading (10, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 wt%) were used during composite manufacturing. Microstructural analysis (scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy) and mechanical testing (tensile, flexural, impact, hardness) were conducted. Treated palm fiber reinforced composites showed better mechanical properties compared to the raw ones. Among all composites, 30% fiber-reinforced ones had the optimum set of mechanical properties.

Coir and abaca fiber-reinforced polypropylene composites were manufactured using a single extruder and an injection molding machine. Raw coir and abaca were chemically treated with benzene diazonium salt. Both raw and treated coir and abaca fibers at level of fiber loading (10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 wt%) were utilized during composite manufacturing. Mechanical tests of the resultant composites and PP were conducted. A comparison has been made between the mechanical properties of the coir and abaca fiber-reinforced composites. Chemically treated fiber-reinforced specimens yielded better mechanical properties compared to the raw composites, while coir fiber composites had better mechanical properties than abaca fiber reinforced ones. Based on fiber loading, 30% fiber-reinforced composites had the optimum set of mechanical properties.