Large Area Crop Inventory Experiment (LACIE). The boundary pixel study in Kansas and North Dakota

The author has identified the following significant results. The statistical mapping approach to handling boundary pixels can be used as a standard for objectively comparing the cluster based technique, the maximum likelihood estimate based technique, and multicategory labeling

Large Area Crop Inventory Experiment (LACIE). Phase 3 direct wheat study of North Dakota

The author has identified the following significant results. The green number and brightness scatter plots, channel plots of radiance values, and visual study of the imagery indicate separability between barley and spring wheat/oats during the wheat mid-heading to mid-ripe stages. In the LACIE Phase 3 North Dakota data set, the separation time is more specifically the wheat soft dough stage. At this time, the barley is ripening, and is therefore, less green and brighter than the wheat. Only 4 of the 18 segments studied indicate separation of barley/other spring small grain, even though 11 of the segments have acquisitions covering the wheat soft dough stage. The remaining seven segments had less than 5 percent barley based on ground truth data

Discovery of VHE gamma-rays from the vicinity of the shell-type SNR G318.2+0.1 with H.E.S.S

The on-going H.E.S.S. Galactic Plane Survey continues to reveal new sources of VHE gamma-rays. In particular, recent re-observations of the region around the shell-type supernova remnant (SNR) G318.2+0.1 have resulted in the discovery of statistically-significant very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray emission from an extended region. Although the source remains unidentified, archival observations of CO12 in the region provide an opportunity to investigate a potential SNR/molecular cloud interaction. The morphological properties of this newly-discovered VHE gamma-ray source HESSJ1457-593 are presented and discussed in light of the multi-wavelength data available.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures. Proc. of the 25th TEXAS Symposium on Relativistic Astrophysics. To appear in Proceedings of Scienc

Will Higher Shipping Costs Drive the U.S. to Source More Localized Produce?

The recent wide fluctuations in diesel fuel costs and subsequent trucking costs has raised speculation within the produce industry of potential structural shifts in the location of production. Recent increases in demand for local produce seem to further support speculation toward this end. A component pricing model is used to actually examine the impact of fuel prices on farm gate and retail produce prices for strawberries, lettuce, and potatoes. The study finds that distribution costs, while significantly increasing in absolute value, have surprisingly little contribution to changes in retail prices even in markets distant to the primary production regions. These results suggest that factors other than lower distribution costs for local produce will ultimately need to drive the supply for these products.produce, local, marketing margin, fuel cost, Agribusiness, Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Marketing, Q11, Q12, Q13, Q18,

Canonical analysis based on scatter matrices.

In this paper, the influence functions and limiting distributions of the canonical correlations and coefficients based on affine equivariant scatter matrices are developed for elliptically symmetric distributions. General formulas for limiting variances and covariances of the canonical correlations and canonical vectors based on scatter matrices are obtained. Also the use of the so called shape matrices in canonical analysis is investigated. The scatter and shape matrices based on the affine equivariant Sign Covariance Matrix as well as the Tyler's shape matrix are considered in more detail. Their finite sample and limiting efficiencies are compared to those of the Minimum Covariance Determinant estimator and S-estimates through theoretical and simulation studies. The theory is illustrated by an example.Canonical correlations; Canonical variables; Canonical vectors; Covariance; Covariance determinant estimator; Determinant estimator; Distribution; Efficiency; Estimator; Functions; Influence function; Matrix; Scatter; Shape matrix; Sign covariance mix; Simulation; Studies; Theory; Tyler's estimate;

SAX J1808.4-3658, an accreting millisecond pulsar shining in gamma rays?

We report the detection of a possible gamma-ray counterpart of the accreting millisecond pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658. The analysis of ~6 years of data from the Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (Fermi-LAT) within a region of 15deg radius around the position of the pulsar reveals a point gamma-ray source detected at a significance of ~6 sigma (Test Statistic TS = 32), with position compatible with that of SAX J1808.4-3658 within 95% Confidence Level. The energy flux in the energy range between 0.6 GeV and 10 GeV amounts to (2.1 +- 0.5) x 10-12 erg cm-2 s-1 and the spectrum is well-represented by a power-law function with photon index 2.1 +- 0.1. We searched for significant variation of the flux at the spin frequency of the pulsar and for orbital modulation, taking into account the trials due to the uncertainties in the position, the orbital motion of the pulsar and the intrinsic evolution of the pulsar spin. No significant deviation from a constant flux at any time scale was found, preventing a firm identification via time variability. Nonetheless, the association of the LAT source as the gamma-ray counterpart of SAX J1808.4-3658 would match the emission expected from the millisecond pulsar, if it switches on as a rotation-powered source during X-ray quiescence.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, accepted by MNRA