A method for the detection of clouds using AVHRR infrared observations

A method is proposed for cloud detection over sea using a single infrared channel of a high spatial resolution satellite radiometer. The method combines a spatial coherence test and an absolute threshold test for the temperature field. The threshold for the second test is automatically determined by a histogram analysis of data which were preselected by the coherence test. The coherence test used differs from the classical standard deviation test in the way of the test value computation: the weight of the pixel to be investigated is increased. A simulation shows that under conditions of low cloud cover this makes the proposed coherence test more sensitive than the standard deviation test. When applied to real data the test was also found to be very sensitive compared with visible and IR threshold tests. Cloud cover obtained by the whole method is finally compared with that resulting from the visible and IR histogram analysis procedure of Phulpin et al. This comparison indicates a high reliability of the proposed method

Construction of an integrated consensus map of the Apple genome based on four mapping populations

An integrated consensus genetic map for apple was constructed on the basis of segregation data from four genetically connected crosses (C1¿=¿Discovery × TN10-8, C2¿=¿Fiesta × Discovery, C3¿=¿Discovery × Prima, C4¿=¿Durello di Forli × Fiesta) with a total of 676 individuals using CarthaGene® software. First, integrated female¿male maps were built for each population using common female¿male simple sequence repeat markers (SSRs). Then, common SSRs over populations were used for the consensus map integration. The integrated consensus map consists of 1,046 markers, of which 159 are SSR markers, distributed over 17 linkage groups reflecting the basic chromosome number of apple. The total length of the integrated consensus map was 1,032 cM with a mean distance between adjacent loci of 1.1 cM. Markers were proportionally distributed over the 17 linkage groups (¿ 2¿=¿16.53, df¿=¿16, p¿=¿0.41). A non-uniform marker distribution was observed within all of the linkage groups (LGs). Clustering of markers at the same position (within a 1-cM window) was observed throughout LGs and consisted predominantly of only two to three linked markers. The four integrated female¿male maps showed a very good colinearity in marker order for their common markers, except for only two (CH01h01, CH05g03) and three (CH05a02z, NZ02b01, Lap-1) markers on LG17 and LG15, respectively. This integrated consensus map provides a framework for performing quantitative trait locus (QTL) detection in a multi-population design and evaluating the genetic background effect on QTL expression

Towards integration of environmental and health impact assessments for wild capture fishing and farmed fish with particular reference to public health and occupational health dimensions

The paper offers a review and commentary, with particular reference to the production of fish from wild capture fisheries and aquaculture, on neglected aspects of health impact assessments which are viewed by a range of international and national health bodies and development agencies as valuable and necessary project tools. Assessments sometimes include environmental health impact assessments but rarely include specific occupational health and safety impact assessments especially integrated into a wider public health assessment. This is in contrast to the extensive application of environmental impact assessments to fishing and the comparatively large body of research now generated on the public health effects of eating fish. The value of expanding and applying the broader assessments would be considerable because in 2004 the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization reports there were 41,408,000 people in the total ‘fishing’ sector including 11,289,000 in aquaculture. The paper explores some of the complex interactions that occur with regard to fishing activities and proposes the wider adoption of health impact assessment tools in these neglected sectors through an integrated public health impact assessment tool

A role for solvents in the toxicity of agricultural organophosphorus pesticides

Organophosphorus (OP) insecticide self-poisoning is responsible for about one-quarter of global suicides. Treatment focuses on the fact that OP compounds inhibit acetylcholinesterase (AChE): however, AChE-reactivating drugs do not benefit poisoned humans. We therefore studied the role of solvent coformulants in OP toxicity in a novel minipig model of agricultural OP poisoning. Gottingen minipigs were orally poisoned with clinically relevant doses of agricultural emulsifiable concentrate (EC) dimethoate, dimethoate active ingredient (AI) alone, or solvents. Cardiorespiratory physiology and neuromuscular (NMJ) function, blood AChE activity, and arterial lactate concentration were monitored for 12 h to assess poisoning severity. Poisoning with agricultural dimethoate EC40, but not saline, caused respiratory arrest within 30 min, severe distributive shock and NMJ dysfunction, that was similar to human poisoning. Mean arterial lactate rose to 15.6 [SD 2.8] mm in poisoned pigs compared to 1,4[0.4] in controls. Moderate toxicity resulted from poisoning with dimethoate AI alone, or the major solvent cyclohexanone. Combining dimethoate with cyclohexanone reproduced severe poisoning characteristic of agricultural dimethoate EC poisoning. A formulation without cyclohexanone showed less mammalian toxicity. These results indicate that solvents play a crucial role in dimethoate toxicity. Regulatory assessment of pesticide toxicity should include solvents as well as the AIs which currently dominate the assessment. Reformulation of OP insecticides to ensure that the agricultural product has lower mammalian toxicity could result in fewer deaths after suicidal ingestion and rapidly reduce global suicide rates

Abating Ammonia Emissions through Slurry Acidification during Spreading: Farmers’ Willingness to Participate in a Support Scheme

This article sought to determine farmers’ willingness to join a hypothetical support scheme for slurry acidification during spreading. Slurry acidification is a novel technique to reduce ammonia emissions, which has been pioneered in Denmark. In an online discrete choice survey of German livestock farmers, the respondents were asked to choose between different policy schemes to promote the use of acidification techniques and an opt-out option. The support schemes were characterized by the following attributes: cost share, expected emission reduction as well as a relief from, and a tightening of, the German Fertilizer Ordinance. The relief was a waiver of the legal requirement to incorporate slurry immediately after spreading. The tightening related to the provision to account for the additional nitrogen in a farmer’s fertilizer planning. The data was estimated using a mixed logit model and latent class analysis. The estimated probability of choosing a support scheme was 90 % in the mixed logit estimation. All attributes were crucial for the decision to use acidification techniques during slurry spreading. Higher emission reduction increased the chances of participation in a support scheme significantly. Furthermore, the cost share offered and the exemption from the requirement to incorporate slurry immediately after spreading had a significantly positive impact on farmers’ willingness to participate. By contrast, the more of the extra nitrogen contained in acidified slurry had to be accounted for in a farmer’s fertilizer planning, the lower the probability of participation

The Impact of Size on Exiting from Livestock Production - an Empirical Analysis of Dairy and Sow Farms in Germany

We study the exit from livestock production of 35,000 German farms. By means of regression analysis we identify the factors affecting farmers\u27 decisions either to quit farming altogether or to abandon certain livestock enterprises (sows and dairy cows). For our data, results from binomial probit estimations are either valid for quitting farming altogether or exiting from livestock production only. The determinants for these two decisions are different. Consequently, for analyzing the decision to exit from livestock production a multinomial probit model is preferred over a binomial model since a livestock farmer has three options to choose from: continuing livestock production, exiting from farming, or exiting from livestock production while keeping arable farming. For both dairy farms and sow farms we find that larger herd sizes make the abandonment of the respective livestock enterprises less likely. By contrast, the decision to quit farming altogether is not affected by herd size. We thus find no evidence in support of the much cited conjecture that the size of a farm\u27s livestock enterprise increases the probability of its survival

Shallow-water gaseohydrothermal plume studies after massive eruption at Panarea, Aeolian Islands, Italy

Copyright © 2013 Elsevier. NOTICE: This is the author’s version of a work accepted for publication by Elsevier. Changes resulting from the publishing process, including peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting and other quality control mechanisms, may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Journal of Marine Systems, 2014, Vol.131, pp. 1-9 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmarsys.2013.10.001Marine water dynamics in the near field of a massive gas eruption near Panarea (Aeolian Islands volcanic arc, SE Tyrrhenian Sea) is described. ADCP current-meters were deployed during the paroxysmal phase in 2002 and 2003 a few meters from the degassing vent, recording day-long timeseries. Datasets were sorted to remove errors and select good quality ensembles over the entire water column. Standard deviation of error velocity was considered a proxy for inhomogeneous velocity fields over beams. Time series intervals had been selected when the basic ADCP assumptions were fulfilled and random errors minimized. Backscatter data were also processed to identify bubbles in the water column with the aim of locating bubble-free ensembles. Reliable timeseries are selected combining these data. Two possible scenarios have been described: firstly, a high dynamic situation with visible surface diverging rings of waves, entrainment on the lower part of the gas column, detrainment in the upper part and a stagnation line (SL) at mid depth where currents were close to zero and most of the gas bubbles spread laterally; secondly, a lower dynamic situation with water entraining into the gas plume at all depths and no surface rings of diverging waves. Reasons for these different dynamics may be ascribed to changes in gas fluxes (one order of magnitude higher in 2002). Description of SL is important to quantify its position in the water column and timing for entrainment-detrainment, and it can be measured by ADCP and calculated from models.Italian ISMAR-CNR, La Spezia. http://www.ismar.cnr.it/organization/geographic-units/ismar-la-spezi