The Standard Model augmented by the presence of gauge-singlet right-handed neutrinos proves to be an ideal scenario for accommodating nonzero neutrino masses. Among the new parameters of this "New Standard Model" are right-handed neutrino Majorana masses M . Theoretical prejudice points to M much larger than the electroweak symmetry breaking scale, but it has recently been emphasized that all M values are technically natural and should be explored. Indeed, M around 1 − 10 eV can accommodate an elegant oscillation solution to the LSND anomaly, while other M values lead to several observable consequences. We consider the phenomenology of low energy (M 1 keV) seesaw scenarios. By exploring such a framework with three right-handed neutrinos, we can consistently fit all oscillation data -including those from LSND -while partially addressing several astrophysical puzzles, including anomalous pulsar kicks, heavy element nucleosynthesis in supernovae, and the existence of warm dark matter. Furthermore, low-energy seesaws -regardless of their relation to the LSND anomaly -can also be tested by future tritium beta-decay experiments, neutrinoless double-beta decay searches, and other observables. We estimate the sensitivity of such probes to M .
In this paper, we present a state-of-the-art wireless sensor network (WSN) of deep-earth probes (DEPs) that has been deployed to monitor an active landslide in the Western Ghats mountain range of South India. While India has one of the highest incidences of landslides and landslide-induced fatalitiesprimarily in the Himalayas of North India and in the Western Ghats of Central and South India-our study is perhaps the first comprehensive attempt to instrumentally detect landslides in the Western Ghats. Wireless networks have enabled us, since June 2009, to continuously monitor the deployment site in real time and from anywhere around the globe. There have been a few earlier landslide monitoring WSNs using accelerometers in Emilia Romagna Apennines, Italy; global navigation satellite system (GNSS) sensors to monitor the Hornbergl landslide, Austria; and vibrating wire stress sensors to monitor a slope in China. We improved upon these WSN systems by incorporating a variety of sensors-piezometers, dielectric moisture sensors, strain gauges, tiltmeters, a geophone, and a weather station-and installing some of these sensors as deep as 20 m below the ground surface. We present the salient aspects of the field deployment of DEPs: the selection of sensors and their incorporation in DEPs, the methodology we used in embedding these DEPs into the soil, and a few of the key aspects of the wireless sensor network. We also present a description of the deployment site and some of the results of geotechnical investigations carried out on borehole corings. Finally, we present the more interesting field data collected from the monitoring system during a rainy season in July and August 2009.
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