Hyperspectral Reflectance Characteristics of Rice Canopies under Changes in Diffuse Radiation Fraction

To analyze the hyperspectral reflectance characteristics of rice canopies under changes in diffuse radiation fraction, experiments using different cover materials were performed in Nanjing, China, during 2016 and 2017. Each year, two treatments with different reduction ratios of diffuse radiation fraction but with similar shading rates were set in the field experiment: In T1, total solar radiation shading rate was 14.10%, and diffuse radiation fraction was 31.09%; in T2, total solar radiation shading rate was 14.42%, and diffuse radiation fraction was 39.98%, respectively. A non-shading treatment was included as a control (CK). Canopy hyperspectral reflectance, soil and plant analyzer development (SPAD), and leaf area index (LAI) were measured under shading treatments on different days after heading. The red-edge parameters (position, λ0; maximum amplitude, Dλ; area, α0; width, σ) were calculated, as well as the area, depth, and width of three absorption bands. The location of the first absorption band appeared in the range of 553–788 nm, and the second and third absorption bands appeared in the range of 874–1257 nm. The results show that the shading treatment had a significant effect on the rice canopy’s hyperspectral reflectance. Compared with CK, the canopy reflectance of T1 (the diffuse radiation fraction was 31.09%) and T2 (the diffuse radiation fraction was 39.98%) decreased in the visible light range (350–760 nm) and increased in the near-infrared range (800–1350 nm), while the red-edge parameters (λ0, Dλ, α0), SPAD, and LAI increased. On the other hand, under shading treatment, the increase in diffuse radiation fraction also had a significant impact on the hyperspectral spectra of the rice canopy, especially at 14 days after heading. Compared with T1, the green peak (550 nm) of T2 reduced by 16.12%, and the average reflectance at 800–900 nm increased by 10%. Based on correlation analysis, it was found that these hyperspectral reflectance characteristics were mainly due to the increase in SPAD (2.31%) and LAI (7.62%), which also led to the increase in Dλ (8.70%) and α0 (13.89%). Then, the second and third absorption features of T2 were significantly different from that of T1, which suggests that the change in diffuse radiation fraction could affect the process of water vapor absorption by rice.

Sustainability at Auburn University: Assessing Rooftop Solar Energy Potential for Electricity Generation with Remote Sensing and GIS in a Southern US Campus

Achieving sustainability through solar energy has become an increasingly accessible option in the United States (US). Nationwide, universities are at the forefront of energy efficiency and renewable generation goals. The aim of this study was to determine the suitability for the installation of photovoltaic (PV) systems based on their solar potential and corresponding electricity generation potential on a southern US university campus. Using Auburn University located in the southern US as a case study, freely available geospatial data were utilized, and geographic information system (GIS) approaches were applied to characterize solar potential across the 1875-acre campus. Airborne light detection and ranging (lidar) point clouds were processed to extract a digital surface model (DSM), from which slope and aspect were derived. The area and total solar radiation of campus buildings were calculated, and suitable buildings were then determined based on slope, aspect, and total solar radiation. Results highlighted that of 443 buildings, 323 were fit for solar arrays, and these selected rooftops can produce 27,068,555 kWh annually. This study demonstrated that Auburn University could benefit from rooftop solar arrays, and the proposed arrays would account for approximately 21.07% of annual electricity requirement by buildings, equivalent to 14.43% of total campus electricity for all operations. Given increasing open and free access to high-resolution lidar data across the US, methods from this study are adaptable to institutions nationwide, for the development of a comprehensive assessment of solar potential, toward meeting campus energy goals.

Investigation of Solar Powered Drying System Potential in Niğde Province

Storage of the foods obtained by plant and animal production is as important as their cultivation. Crops cultivated around the world lose 28-36% of total yield during the process from agricultural land to consumption. With the most of this loss occurs after harvest and harvest, it can be reduced by suitable machines and appropriate methods to be used. Niğde is in third place in the list of cities with the highest apple production in Turkey. In addition, it is seen that the potential of the region to benefit from solar energy is quite high with 8.02 hours of daily sunshine duration and 1550-1800 kWh m-2 total solar radiation values. In line with the information given, Niğde province stands out as an important opportunity for apple drying processes using solar-powered drying methods. In this study, suitable drying methods that can be used for agricultural products in general and methods that can be used in Niğde province have been investigated and with the using the information obtained from previous studies related to the region its examined that the solar drying system and machines that can be developed for the province of Niğde are specified.

Spatial–Temporal Changes and Driving Force Analysis of Ecosystems in the Loess Plateau Ecological Screen

The ecological degradation caused by unreasonable development and prolonged utilization threatens economic development. In response to the development crisis triggered by ecological degradation, the Chinese government launched the National Barrier Zone (NBZ) Construction Program in 2006. However, few in-depth studies on the Loess Plateau Ecological Screen (LPES) have been conducted since the implementation of that program. To address this omission, based on the remote sensing image as the primary data, combined with meteorological, soil, hydrological, social, and economic data, and using GIS spatial analysis technology, this paper analyzes the change characteristics of the ecosystem pattern, quality, and dominant services of the ecosystem in the LPES from 2005 to 2015. The results show that from 2005 to 2015, the ecosystem structure in the study area was relatively stable, and the area of each ecosystem fluctuated slightly. However, the evaluation results based on FVC, LAI, and NPP showed that the quality of the ecosystem improved. The vegetation coverage (FVC) increased significantly at a rate of 0.91% per year, and the net primary productivity (NPP) had increased significantly at a rate of 6.94 gC/(m2∙a) per year. The leaf area index (LAI) in more than 66% of the regions improved, but there were still about 8% of the local regions that were degraded. During these 10 years, the soil erosion situation in LPES improved overall, and the amount of soil conservation (ASC) of the ecosystem in the LPES increased by about 0.18 billion tons. Grassland and forest played important roles in soil conservation in this area. Pearson correlation analysis and redundancy analysis showed that the soil conservation services (SCS) in the LPES were mainly affected by climate change, economic development, and urban construction. The precipitation (P), total solar radiation (SOL), and temperature (T) can explain 52%, 30.1%, and 17% of the change trends of SCS, respectively. Construction land and primary industry were negatively correlated with SCS, accounting for 22% and 8% of the change trends, respectively. Overall, from 2005 to 2015, the ecological environment of LPES showed a gradual improvement trend, but the phenomenon of destroying grass and forests and reclaiming wasteland still existed.

On the parameterization of phytoplankton primary production in water ecosystem models

Parametrization of the formation of organic matter in ecological models is traditionally carried out by using the dependence of the Michaelis – Menten – Monod type [Monod, 1942], which describes the growth rate of algal biomass depending on the factor limiting their development. One of the biggest drawbacks of these dependences is the presence of empirical parameters in them, which in a complex way depend on environmental factors and are an individual characteristic of various types of algae. These parameters in the models actually become fitting coefficients that provide the best fit between observational data and modeling results, which does not allow for effective diagnostics and forecasting of the state of aquatic ecosystems. In this work, on the basis of dimensional analysis, a parametrization was obtained that describes the photosynthesis of algae depending on the parameters relatively easily measured in natural conditions - total solar radiation, phytoplankton biomass, and water transparency. Parametrization has been verified according to observations on more than 30 different types of lakes located in different regions of the world. The calculated data are in satisfactory agreement with the data of field observations, both qualitatively and quantitatively. Discrepancies in field and calculated data may be due to the fact that the species composition of algae in lakes of different trophic status is not taken into account, which can lead to errors in assessing the efficiency of using solar radiation. Discrepancies may also be related to the total solar radiation, rather than photosynthetic active radiation, which varies in different geographic and atmospheric conditions. The proposed parametrization can be used in the development of mathematical models of lake ecosystems, as well as to determine the trophic status of poorly studied water bodies.

Interference between Total Solar Radiation and Cloud Cover over Baghdad City

Clouds greatly affect the elements of climate, energy balance, and solar radiation, which has increased the interest of many researchers in trying to find the best relationships and formulas that link these variables. In this work, the data of the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) was relied on. The research aims to find the overlap between Cloud Cover (Low, Middle, High, and Total), (LCC, MCC, HCC, and TCC) respectively, with Total Solar Radiation (TSR) of Baghdad city, for the period (1981-2013), the work was carried out with the monthly and annual data of the (Low, Middle, High, and Total) cloud cover and the total solar radiation falling on a horizontal surface. And by using the correlation coefficient Spearman rho test (rs) to find the strength of the relationship between total solar radiation and cloud cover, it was found that there is an inverse relationship between the total solar radiation falling on a horizontal surface and the (Low, Middle, High, and Total) cloud cover.

Weather relation of rice-grass pea crop sequence in Indian Sundarbans

In order to develop weather-based yield prediction models for rice and grass pea in coastal saline zone of West Bengal, the experiments were conducted with rice (cv. CR 1017) and grass pea (cv. Bio L 212) in the rainy and winter seasons, respectively of 2016-17 and 2017-18. Rice was sown in nursery bed on six different dates starting from June 15 to July 19 at weekly interval in both rainy seasons in two different land situations viz. medium upland and medium lowland. Likewise, grass pea was sown on six different dates just before harvesting of rice. It was observed that both early sown rice and grass pea resulted in higher grain yield and took more time to mature under medium lowland situation irrespective of sowing dates. Correlation study revealed that air temperature during sowing to transplanting phase exhibited significant positive correlation with grain of rice in medium upland (Tmax = 0.76**, Tmin = 0.69*) and medium lowland (Tmax = 0.93**, Tmin = 0.81**) situations. On the other hand, maximum temperature and total solar radiation during 100% emergence to 100% flowering stage were negatively associated with the grain yield of grass pea in both medium upland (Tmax = -0.69*, Accumulated solar radiation = -0.73**) and medium lowland (Tmax = -0.74**, Acc. solar radiation = -0.77**) situations. Grain yield of rice and grass pea could be predicted with 94.4% and 87.4% predictability. Pre-harvest forecasting of grain yield was possible with 77.3% for rice and 83.8% for grass pea.

Variation Characteristics Mathematical Calculation of O3 and Its Relationship with Meteorological Factors by Big Data Technology

Based on the data of environmental monitoring stations and meteorological stations in Qinhuangdao from May 2017 to May 2020, the variation characteristics of O3 and precursors (NO2 and CO) as well as their relationship with meteorological elements were analyzed. The results showed that the daily average concentration of O3-8 h in Qinhuangdao increased year by year. The monthly average concentration of O3-8 h was high in summer and low in winter, and the peak appeared in June. The diurnal variation of O3 concentration was unimodal structure, and the concentration increased in the afternoon, but it decreased at night. The concentration of NO2 and CO was inversely correlated with O3, and the peak value of NO2 in March could be related to frequent cold air activity and increased burning of loose coal. The meteorological elements favorable for the occurrence of ozone pollution weather in Chengde were total solar radiation irradiance greater than 1000W/m2, the daily maximum temperature greater than 33 °C, and the daily minimum relative humidity less than 40% and 65%∽80%, southerly wind or southwest wind.

Solar Irradiation Evaluation through GIS Analysis Based on Grid Resolution and a Mathematical Model: A Case Study in Northeast Mexico

The estimation of the solar resource on certain surfaces of the planet is a key factor in deciding where to establish solar energy collection systems. This research uses a mathematical model based on easy-access geographic and meteorological information to calculate total solar radiation at ground surface. This information is used to create a GIS analysis of the State of Nuevo León in Mexico and identify solar energy opportunities in the territory. The analyzed area was divided into a grid and the coordinates of each corner are used to feed the mathematical model. The obtained results were validated with statistical analyses and satellite-based estimations from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The applied approach and the results may be replicated to estimate solar radiation in other regions of the planet without requiring readings from on-site meteorological stations and therefore reducing the cost of decision-making regarding where to place the solar energy collection equipment.

Database of hourly and daily sums of total radiation at Russian antarctic stations: analysis of changes in total radiation for the entire period of observations in Antarctica

Given the significant changes in the climate on the planet as a whole, databases and archives of data on the main climate-forming characteristics of the atmosphere, collected over long periods of time in various regions of the globe and, in particular, in the polar regions, acquire a special role. Total solar radiation is one of the most important parameters affecting the energy balance of the Earth-atmosphere system. We have created a database (DB) of hourly and daily sums of total radiation (Q) at the Russian Antarctic stations, designed to study the radiation regime of the Antarctic, from the beginning of actinometric observations to 2019. The information presented in the database was collected at five Antarctic stations — Bellingshausen, Vostok Mirny, Novolazarevskaya and Progress. The database has undergone a state registration procedure and is registered under No. 2020621401. The article gives a description of the structure of the DB and presents detailed information for each station. To provide an example of how database information can be used, characteristics of the total radiation in different parts of the Antarctic continent are obtained. Thus, it is found that the average monthly amounts of Q in the continental part of Antarctica on the high plateau (Vostok station) in conditions of minimal cloudiness and high transparency during the Antarctic summer are maximum and average 1240 MJ/m2. At the same time, at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula (Bellingshausen station) during the same period, the average monthly amounts of Q due to the almost constantly present cloud cover do not exceed 570 MJ/m2. In the coastal areas at the three remaining stations, the average monthly amounts of total radiation range from 908 MJ/m2 (Progress) to 950 MJ/m2 (Mirny). Estimates of variability characteristics of daily, monthly, and annual sums of total radiation at all the five stations for the entire observation period up to 2019 were also obtained. The absence of statistically significant long-term trends in the annual and monthly sums of total radiation at all the stations under consideration was noted. The results of their analysis indicate that there are no significant changes in the inflow of total solar radiation to the Antarctic surface over more than sixty years of actinometric observations.