Carbon Dioxide emissions from an Acacia plantation on peatland in Sumatra, Indonesia

Peat surface CO2 emission, groundwater table depth and peat temperature were monitored for two years along transects in an Acacia plantation on thick tropical peat (>4 m) in Sumatra, Indonesia. A total of 2300 emission measurements were taken at 144 locations, over a 2 year period. The autotrophic root respiration component of CO2 emission was separated from heterotrophic emission caused by peat oxidation in three ways: (i) by comparing CO2 emissions within and beyond the tree rooting zone, (ii) by comparing CO2 emissions with and without peat trenching (i.e. cutting any roots remaining in the peat beyond the tree rooting zone), and (iii) by comparing CO2 emissions before and after Acacia tree harvesting. On average, the contribution of autotrophic respiration to daytime CO2 emission was 21% along transects in mature tree stands. At locations 0.5 m from trees this was up to 80% of the total emissions, but it was negligible at locations more than 1.3 m away. This means that CO2 emission measurements well away from trees were free of any autotrophic respiration contribution and thus represent only heterotrophic emissions. We found daytime mean annual CO2 emission from peat oxidation alone of 94 t ha−1 y−1 at a mean water table depth of 0.8 m, and a minimum emission value of 80 t ha−1 y−1 after correction for the effect of diurnal temperature fluctuations, which may result in a 14.5% reduction of the daytime emission. There is a positive correlation between mean long-term water table depth and peat oxidation CO2 emission. However, no such relation is found for instantaneous emission/water table depth within transects and it is clear that factors other than water table depth also affect peat oxidation and total CO2 emissions. The increase in the temperature of the surface peat due to plantation establishment may explain over 50% of peat oxidation emissions. Our study sets a standard for greenhouse gas flux studies from tropical peatlands under different forms of agricultural land management. It is the first to purposefully quantify heterotrophic CO2 emissions resulting from tropical peat decomposition by separating these from autotrophic emissions. It also provides the most scientifically- and statistically-rigorous study to date of CO2 emissions resulting from anthropogenic modification of this globally significant carbon rich ecosystem. Our findings indicate that past studies have underestimated emissions from peatland plantations, with important implications for the scale of greenhouse gas emissions arising from land use change, particularly in the light of current, rapid agricultural conversion of peatlands in the Southeast Asian region.Peer reviewe

Sedimentation stacking diagrams of binary mixtures of thick and thin hard rods

We use Onsager theory and the local density approximation to study sedimentation-diffusion equilibrium density profiles of binary mixtures of thick and thin hard rods. We construct stacking diagrams for three diameter ratios, and find that even a simple spindle-shaped phase diagram with only isotropic-nematic demixing can lead to counter-intuitive stacking sequences such as an isotropic phase sandwiched between two nematic phases. For the most complex phase diagram considered here, we find sixteen distinct stacking sequences, including several with five sedimented layers. By adding sedimentation paths to composition-pressure and density-density phase diagrams and calculating density and composition profiles, we show that conclusions about bulk phase diagrams of binary mixtures on the basis of sedimentation-diffusion equilibria should be drawn warily.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, extended discussion in section 4, added references, minor changes to figures (results unchanged

Оформление конструкторской документации на печатные платы в условиях автоматизированного проектирования и подготовки производства

Предложен подход к оформлению чертежей печатных плат, позволяющий значительно упростить документацию, а также упорядочить документооборот

Current and future CO2 emissions from drained peatlands in Southeast Asia

Peer reviewe

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Udder cleft dermatitis (UCD) is a well-known disorder in dairy cows. Veterinary literature about this subject, however, is scarce. The objectives of this study were to define a clinical scoring system for UCD, estimate the within-herd prevalence of UCD, and identify potential risk factors of UCD at cow and herd level. On 20 randomly selected dairy farms in the Netherlands, each lactating cow was photographed from a ventral, lateral, and caudal position. A scoring system with 6 categories of severity of UCD was proposed based on the ventral photographs. Cow measures such as udder width and depth, and front quarter attachment were determined from the lateral and caudal photographs. A questionnaire was conducted on each farm during farm visits. Udder cleft dermatitis, defined as a score 3 or higher, was detected in 5.2% of the 948 cows involved in this study. Within-herd prevalences of UCD ranged between 0 and 15% and UCD was found in 16 (80%) of the participating farms. Cows with a deep udder (relative to the hock), large front quarters, and a small angle between udder and abdominal wall were more likely to develop UCD. Production level and use of a footbath were identified as being positively associated with herd-level UCD prevalence. Herd size and average bulk milk somatic cell count did not seem to be associated with UCD prevalence. Because of the small herd sample size, no firm conclusions were drawn on herd-level risk factors. However, results from this study can be used in designing a future longitudinal UCD study. The prevalences of UCD found in the present study illustrate the current UCD situation in the Netherlands. Our results demonstrate that multiple potential risk factors of UCD could be identified at both the cow and herd level

Evaluation and bias correction of satellite rainfall data for drought monitoring in Indonesia

The accuracy of three satellite rainfall products (TMPA 3B42RT, CMORPH and PERSIANN) was investigated through comparison with grid cell average ground station rainfall data in Indonesia, with a focus on their ability to detect patterns of low rainfall that may lead to drought conditions. Each of the three products underestimated rainfall in dry season months. The CMORPH and PERSIANN data differed most from ground station data and were also very different from the TMPA 3B42RT data. It proved possible to improve TMPA 3B42RT estimates by applying a single empirical bias correction equation that was uniform in space and time. For the six regions investigated, this reduced the root mean square error for estimates of dry season rainfall totals by a mean 9% (from 44 to 40 mm) and for annual totals by 14% (from 77 to 66 mm). The resulting errors represent 10% and 3% of mean dry season and annual rainfall, respectively. The accuracy of these bias corrected TMPA 3B42RT data is considered adequate for use in real-time drought monitoring in Indonesia. Compared to drought monitoring with only ground stations, this use of satellite-based rainfall estimates offers important advantages in terms of accuracy, spatial coverage, timeliness and cost efficiency