Browsing by Author "Liyanage, P. M."

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    Allometric Modelling of the Stem Carbon Content of Rhizophora mucronata in a Tropical Mangrove Ecosystem
    (International Journal of Forestry Research, 2020) Nilmini Wijeyaratne, W. M. D.; Liyanage, P. M.
    Mangrove ecosystems are identified as important blue carbon ecosystems because they play an important role in carbon sequestration among the coastal ecosystems. .e present study was conducted to develop an allometric model to determine the stem carbon content of Rhizophora mucronata in a conserved tropical mangrove ecosystem. .e stepwise regression with backward elimination was used to identify the best fit model to predict the stem carbon content of Rhizophora mucronata. .e allometric equation, Ln C � −2.403 + 2.247 Ln DBH, where C: stem carbon content and DBH: diameter at breast height, was constructed to be evaluated and validated as the most suitable and practically applicable model. .e reliability of the model was 76.7%, and the model was significant at 95% level of significance. .e model bias values and the model efficiency values for the best fit model suggested that the model is suitable to be used practically. .e present study used a nondestructive method of measuring individual tree parameters to develop this allometric equation to predict the stem carbon content and it is considered as an environmentally friendly approach with minimum damage to the tree.
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    Identify a potential location for wind power plant in Jaffna district, Sri Lanka using GIS techniques
    (4th International Research Symposium on Pure and Applied Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2019) Weerasinghe, V. P. A.; Dilshara, R. M. P.; Liyanage, P. M.; Perera, G. L. D. N.
    Wind energy is one of the renewable energy sources in the Sri Lanka. Currently, there are some active wind power stations located in Central region, Hambanthota, and Puttalam. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) estimates that there are nearly 5000 km2 of windy areas with good-to-excellent wind resource potential in Sri Lanka after accounting for excluded lands like national parks, nature reserves, archaeological and cultural sites. The windy land represents about 6 % of the total land area (65,600 km2) of Sri Lanka. Hence the population increment has become a major problem on electricity demand and the hydro power is limited especially in dry season, this study is focused on finding a suitable location to establish a wind power plant in Jaffna District using Geographical Information Systems (GIS). The land was selected considering criteria namely; the distance from obstructions as 150 m, the distance from Coastal area as 100 m, the height from buildings and trees as 9 m and 1.5 acres of land area was considered as providing 2 MW of power. The land use maps were collected from Survey Department, Sri Lanka and the wind data was taken using wind finder software. Under the methodology, the wind speed data of selected points were clipped to Jaffna district map. The wind speed, land use, terrain, building area and nature reserve maps were reclassified and assigned weights using weighted overlay tool in ArcGIS software to derive the suitability map. The weights were given as wind speed (70%), land use (15%), building area (10%), nature reserves (4%) and terrain (1%). According to the results shown in the map, the wind speed was high in Delft Island and Nainatheeve and poor in Chundikulam. When considering all the criteria, Delft island (5000 ha) should be the best place and the land area of 200 ha can be used for the construction of the wind power station