Agricultural Perspectives on Hailstorm Severity, Vulnerability, and Risk Messaging in Eastern Colorado

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 897-911
Author(s):  
Samuel J. Childs ◽  
Russ S. Schumacher ◽  
Julie L. Demuth
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
The United States ◽  
Strong Wind ◽  
Physical Damage ◽  
Warning Messages ◽  
Mobile Telephones ◽  
Agricultural Community ◽  
Significant Damage ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
Financial Losses

AbstractEastern Colorado is one of the most active hail regions in the United States, and individual hailstorms routinely surpass millions of dollars in crop loss and physical damage. Fifteen semistructured interviews with eastern Colorado farmers and ranchers were conducted in the summer of 2019 to gauge perceptions of the severity and vulnerability associated with hailstorms, as well as to understand how forecasts and warnings for severe hail are received and acted upon by the agricultural community. Results reveal a correspondence between perceived and observed frequency of hailstorms in eastern Colorado and highlight financial losses from crop destruction as the greatest threat from hailstorms. In contrast to the National Weather Service defining severe hail as at least 1.0 in. (25.4 mm) in diameter, the agricultural community conceptualizes hail severity according to impacts and damage. Small hail in large volumes or driven by a strong wind are the most worrisome scenarios for farmers, because small hail can most easily strip crop heads and stalks. Larger hailstones are perceived to pose less of a threat to crops but can produce significant damage to physical equipment and injure livestock. Eastern Colorado farmers and ranchers are avid weather watchers and associate environmental cues with hailstorms in addition to receiving warning messages, primarily via alerts on mobile telephones. Hailstorms elicit feelings of dejection and anxiety in some respondents, whereas others accept hailstorms as part of the job. Increasing awareness of the agricultural perceptions of hailstorms can help the meteorological community direct hail prediction research efforts and improve risk communication to the agricultural sector.

scholarly journals Remote Sensing in Agriculture—Accomplishments, Limitations, and Opportunities

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 3783 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sami Khanal ◽  
Kushal KC ◽  
John P. Fulton ◽  
Scott Shearer ◽  
Erdal Ozkan
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Warning System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Unmanned Aerial Systems ◽  
Agricultural Community ◽  
Scientific Papers ◽  
Production Stages

Remote sensing (RS) technologies provide a diagnostic tool that can serve as an early warning system, allowing the agricultural community to intervene early on to counter potential problems before they spread widely and negatively impact crop productivity. With the recent advancements in sensor technologies, data management and data analytics, currently, several RS options are available to the agricultural community. However, the agricultural sector is yet to implement RS technologies fully due to knowledge gaps on their sufficiency, appropriateness and techno-economic feasibilities. This study reviewed the literature between 2000 to 2019 that focused on the application of RS technologies in production agriculture, ranging from field preparation, planting, and in-season applications to harvesting, with the objective of contributing to the scientific understanding on the potential for RS technologies to support decision-making within different production stages. We found an increasing trend in the use of RS technologies in agricultural production over the past 20 years, with a sharp increase in applications of unmanned aerial systems (UASs) after 2015. The largest number of scientific papers related to UASs originated from Europe (34%), followed by the United States (20%) and China (11%). Most of the prior RS studies have focused on soil moisture and in-season crop health monitoring, and less in areas such as soil compaction, subsurface drainage, and crop grain quality monitoring. In summary, the literature highlighted that RS technologies can be used to support site-specific management decisions at various stages of crop production, helping to optimize crop production while addressing environmental quality, profitability, and sustainability.

Are Non-Target Honey Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Exposed to Dinotefuran From Spotted Lanternfly (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae) Trap Trees?

2019 ◽  
Vol 112 (6) ◽  
pp. 2993-2996 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robyn Underwood ◽  
Brian Breeman ◽  
Joseph Benton ◽  
Jason Bielski ◽  
Julie Palkendo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bee ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Host Plants ◽  
The United States ◽  
Quechers Method ◽  
Significant Damage ◽  
Lycorma Delicatula ◽  
Bee Colonies ◽  
Worker Bee

Abstract The spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula, is an introduced plant hopper that causes significant damage to host plants in the United States. Because of its affinity for tree of heaven, Ailanthus altissima, control efforts have focused on the use of the systemic insecticide, dinotefuran, in designated trap trees. There is concern about exposure to this pesticide by non-target species, especially honey bees, Apis mellifera, via lanternfly honeydew. Therefore, honey bee colonies were established in areas of high densities of trap trees and samples of honey, bees, and beeswax were collected in May, July, and October of 2017 for analysis. Samples were extracted by the QuEChERS method and analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry to determine the presence and quantity of dinotefuran. Additionally, honeydew from lanternflies was analyzed for dinotefuran and informal observations of trap tree visitors were made. None of the worker bee, wax, or honey samples indicated detectable levels of dinotefuran; however, honeydew samples collected did contain dinotefuran above the detection limit with amounts ranging from 3 to 100 ng per sample. The lack of dinotefuran in honey bee products matches the general absence of honey bees at trap trees in informal observations.

scholarly journals Physical Activity Among Somali Men in Minnesota

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed A. Mohamed ◽  
Abdullahi M. Hassan ◽  
Jennifer A. Weis ◽  
Irene G. Sia ◽  
Mark L. Wieland
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
United States ◽  
Community Based Participatory Research ◽  
The United States ◽  
Success Stories ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
High Knowledge ◽  
African Refugee ◽  
Competing Priorities ◽  
Exercise Equipment

Immigrants and refugees arrive to the United States healthier than the general population, but this advantage declines with increasing duration of residence. One factor contributing to this decline is suboptimal physical activity, but reasons for this are poorly understood. Persons from Somalia represent the largest African refugee population to the United States, yet little is known about perceptions of physical activity among Somali men. Somali members of a community-based participatory research partnership implemented three age-stratified focus groups and three semistructured interviews among 20 Somali men in Rochester, Minnesota. Team-based inductive analysis generated themes for barriers and facilitators to physical activity. Barriers to physical activity included less walking opportunities in the United States, embarrassment about exercise clothing and lack of familiarity with exercise equipment/modalities, fear of harassment, competing priorities, facility costs, transportation, and winter weather. Facilitators to physical activity included high knowledge about how to be active, success stories from others in their community as inspiration, and community cohesion. Findings may be used to derive interventions aimed to promote physical activity among Somali men in the United States.

Red for Ed Teacher Movements: Exploring Roles and Symbols in the Politics of the Superintendency

2021 ◽  
pp. 0013161X2110344
Author(s):  
Michael A. Szolowicz ◽  
R. Aaron Wisman
Keyword(s):  
Political Action ◽  
The United States ◽  
Instructional Leader ◽  
Political Strategy ◽  
New Wave ◽  
Symbolic Politics ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
Embedded Case Study

Purpose: In recent years, a new wave of teacher-led political action has erupted resulting in work stoppages in several states across the United States. This study examines how superintendents navigated this Red for Ed movement in two representative states. Methods: Framed as a multisite, embedded case study, we drew from public documents and semistructured interviews with superintendents. We took a deductive approach to data analysis, seeking analytic generalization to the theoretical frameworks adopted herein. Findings: Red for Ed-motivated teacher job actions did create a political dilemma for superintendents. Superintendents addressed the dilemma by utilizing the roles of business manager, instructional leader, and politician as expressed through symbolic politics including assigning responsibility and vaguely supporting the Red for Ed cause. Superintendent responses are consistent with isomorphic tenants of sociological institutionalism. Implications: Considering the modern superintendency’s political nature, superintendents might benefit from preparation in political strategy and tactics.

The Late-19th-Century Economy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Adams
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
The United States ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Economic Order ◽  
Industrial Firms ◽  
Government Interventions ◽  
Labor Strikes ◽  
Limited Government ◽  
Marketing Methods

The United States underwent massive economic change in the four decades following the end of the American Civil War in 1865. A vibrant industrial economy catapulted the nation to a world leader in mining and manufacturing; the agricultural sector overcame organizational and technological challenges to increase productivity; and the innovations in financial, accounting, and marketing methods laid the foundation for a powerful economy that would dominate the globe in the 20th century. The emergence of this economy, however, did not come without challenges. Workers in both the industrial and agricultural sectors offered an alternative path for the American economy in the form of labor strikes and populist reforms; their attempts to disrupt the growing concentration of wealth and power played out in both the polls and the factory floor. Movements that sought to regulate the growth of large industrial firms and railroads failed to produce much meaningful policy, even as they raised major critiques of the emerging economic order. In the end, a form of industrial capitalism emerged that used large corporate structures, relatively weak unions, and limited government interventions to build a dynamic, but unbalanced, economic order in the United States.

scholarly journals Growing climatic sensitivity of U.S. agriculture linked to technological change and regional specialization

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (12) ◽  
pp. eaat4343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariel Ortiz-Bobea ◽  
Erwin Knippenberg ◽  
Robert G. Chambers
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Specialty Crops ◽  
Regional Specialization ◽  
Vulnerability To Climate Change ◽  
Climatic Sensitivity

A pressing question for climate change adaptation is whether ongoing transformations of the agricultural sector affect its ability to cope with climatic variations. We examine this question in the United States, where major increases in productivity have fueled most of agricultural production growth over the past half-century. To quantify the evolving climate sensitivity of the sector and identify its sources, we combine state-level measures of agricultural productivity with detailed climate data for 1960–2004. We find that agriculture is growing more sensitive to climate in Midwestern states for two distinct but compounding reasons: a rising climatic sensitivity of nonirrigated cereal and oilseed crops and a growing specialization in crop production. In contrast, other regions specialize in less climate-sensitive production such as irrigated specialty crops or livestock. Results suggest that reducing vulnerability to climate change should consider the role of policies in inducing regional specialization.

scholarly journals The Arbitrary Definition of the Current Atlantic Major Hurricane Landfall Drought

2016 ◽  
Vol 97 (5) ◽  
pp. 713-722 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert E. Hart ◽  
Daniel R. Chavas ◽  
Mark P. Guishard
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Sea Level Pressure ◽  
Climate Signal ◽  
Historical Significance ◽  
Societal Context ◽  
Major Hurricane ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Wind Intensity ◽  
Maximum Sustained Wind Speed ◽  
Financial Losses

Abstract A major hurricane [96+ knots (kt; 1 kt = 0.51 m s–1) of maximum sustained wind] has not made landfall in the United States since Wilma (2005). Recent elegant stochastic–statistical modeling estimates the return period of a 9-yr streak for this metric as 177 yr, suggesting extraordinary rarity, especially in the context of the length of the record (1851–2014). Current awareness of the drought is increased given that the 2015 hurricane season is expected to be suppressed from El Niño and the recent anniversaries of several noteworthy landfalls. Yet, here we show that the significance or even existence of the current 9-yr drought is highly dependent on the metric used. Acknowledging that wind intensity estimates are binned every 5 kt and have approximate 10-kt uncertainty, we examine the same record using landfall thresholds of 95–105 kt. Using 105-kt landfall, 1993–2003 becomes a previously unreported yet more remarkable 11-yr drought and 1981–88 becomes an 8-yr drought. Further, landfall minimum sea level pressure is more reliably estimated than maximum sustained wind speed. For landfall intensities stronger than 960 hPa (a climatological threshold for 100 kt), the current drought disappears because of Irene (2011) and Sandy (2012). A coastline-independent yet nearby proximity metric is tested and reveals a nonexistent drought. Accordingly, this study suggests the following: 1) Caution is advised when identifying a hurricane drought and its historical significance. 2) Using hurricane landfall statistics to infer a climate signal is fraught with issues (threshold, coastline, and potentially nonscientific contributions), regardless of intensity metric. 3) From a societal context, human and financial losses matter most, and Irene [2011; $8 billion (U.S. dollars)] and Sandy (2012; $88 billion) occurred during the current drought.

scholarly journals The Remarkable 10th Anniversary of Stuxnet

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 85-98
Author(s):  
Gábor Selján
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
United States Government ◽  
Nuclear Facilities ◽  
Physical Damage ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
10Th Anniversary ◽  
Infrastructure Monitoring ◽  
Key Points ◽  
Cyber Espionage ◽  
Public And Private Sector

It has been ten years since Stuxnet, a highly sophisticated malware that was originally aimed at Iran’s nuclear facilities, was uncovered in 2010. Stuxnet is considered to be the first cyber weapon, used by a nation state threat actor in a politically motivated cyberattack. It has significantly changed the cybersecurity landscape, since it was the first publicly known malware that could cause physical damage to real processes or equipment. Its complexity and level of sophistication, due to the exploitation of four different zero-day vulnerabilities in Windows and the usage of two stolen certificates, has triggered a paradigm shift in the cybersecurity industry. The recently uncovered cyber espionage campaign known as SolarStorm is a worthy anniversary celebration for Stuxnet. Especially because now the tables have turned. This campaign targeted the United States Government and its interests with a highly sophisticated supply chain attack through the exploitation of the SolarWinds Orion Platform used by thousands of public and private sector customers for infrastructure monitoring and management. In this article, I attempt to summarise the key points about the malware deployed in the SolarStorm campaign that can be drawn from reports available at the time of the writing.

scholarly journals Scholastics, Pabulum, Clans, Transformation: A Journey into Otherness

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 893-917
Author(s):  
David Lausch ◽  
Eric Teman ◽  
Cody Perry
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
United States ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
International Students ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Current Model ◽  
The United States ◽  
Business Economics ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
Medicine Education

International students’ identities are complex and so are their needs. Semistructured interviews with 13 of the lead researcher’s former students from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, who are multi-national, multi-lingual and pursuing degrees in law, business, economics, medicine, education, art and media, in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia elucidated this reality. Their experiences demonstrated scholastic and pabulum frustrations that were offset in part by constant communication with their clans in person and through various technologies. Though the current model of higher education often seeks to identify and categorize international students as a group, this study shows that international students are unique individuals. Recognizing their individuality, higher education institutions and policymakers can more appropriately respond to international students’ needs.

scholarly journals Population structure of Drosophila suzukii and signals of multiple invasions into the continental United States

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle M Lewald ◽  
Antoine Abrieux ◽  
Derek A Wilson ◽  
Yoosook Lee ◽  
William R Conner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Population Structure ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
The United States ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Drosophila Suzukii ◽  
Significant Damage ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Multiple Invasions

Drosophila suzukii, or spotted-wing drosophila, is now an established pest in many parts of the world, causing significant damage to numerous fruit crop industries. Native to East Asia, D. suzukii infestations started in the United States a decade ago, occupying a wide range of climates. To better understand invasion ecology of this pest, knowledge of past migration events, population structure, and genetic diversity is needed. To improve on previous studies examining genetic structure of D. suzukii, we sequenced whole genomes of 237 individual flies collected across the continental U.S., as well as several representative sites in Europe, Brazil, and Asia, to identify hundreds of thousands of genetic markers for analysis. We analyzed these markers to detect population structure, to reconstruct migration events, and to estimate genetic diversity and differentiation within and among the continents. We observed strong population structure between West and East Coast populations in the U.S., but no evidence of any population structure North to South, suggesting there is no broad-scale adaptations occurring in response to the large differences in regional weather conditions. We also find evidence of repeated migration events from Asia into North America have provided increased levels of genetic diversity, which does not appear to be the case for Brazil or Europe. This large genomic dataset will spur future research into genomic adaptations underlying D. suzukii pest activity and development of novel control methods for this agricultural pest.

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