Road Thermal Collector for Building Heating in South Europe: Numerical Modeling and Design of an Experimental Set-Up

The combination/integration of renewable energy and storage systems appears to have significant potential, achieving high-energy results with lower costs and emissions. One way to cover the thermal needs of a building is through solar energy and its seasonal storage in the ground. The SMARTEP project aims to create an experimental area that provides for the construction of a road solar thermal collector directly connected to a seasonal low-temperature geothermal storage with vertical boreholes. The storage can be connected to a ground-to-water heat pump for building acclimatization. This system will meet the requirements of visual impact and reduction of the occupied area. Nevertheless, several constraints related to the radiative properties of the surfaces and the lack of proper thermal insulation have to be addressed. The project includes the study of several configurations and suitable materials, the set-up of a dynamic simulation model and the construction of a small-scale road thermal collector. These phases allowed for an experimental area to be built. Thanks to careful investigation in the field, it will be possible to identify the characteristics and the best operation strategy to maximize the energy management of the whole system in the Mediterranean area.

Evaluation of Florpyrauxifen-Benzyl Herbicides for Control on Common Weeds in Transplanted Rice

The research to test the effectiveness of the herbicide Florpyrauxifen-Benzylin in controlling weeds in rice was carried out in Sragen, Central Java. March to August 2021. The herbicides tested are: T1) Florpyrauxifen-Benzyl 400 ml/ha, T2) Florpyrauxifen-Benzyl 600 ml/ha, T3) Florpyrauxifen-Benzyl 800 ml/ha, T4) Florpyrauxifen-Benzyl 1000ml/ha, T5) Aryloxyphenoxy propionate 800 ml/ha, T6) Penoxsulam 800 ml/ha, T7) Natrium Byspiribac 300 ml/ha T8) Metsulfuron Methyl, T9) Hand Weeding and T10) Untreated. The herbicides were applied with the help of a knapsack sprayer by using a T-jet nozzle. The calibration of the knapsack sprayer was done by spraying on a non-experimental area. The volume of water used for spray was 300 L per ha. The results showed that the application of florpyrauxifen-benzyl in various doses did not show toxicity to rice plants. application of florpyrauxifen-benzyl starting at a dose of 600 ml/ha had the same effectiveness in controlling weeds as companion herbicides. At the end of the study, E. crus-galli and L. chinensis still seemed to dominate all plots in all herbicide applications.

Analysis of Selected Water Quality Indicators from Runoff during Potato Cultivation after Natural Precipitation

When growing wide-row crops on sloped lands, there is significant surface runoff. In relation to the runoff process, potatoes are classified as a risk crop. This study aimed to grow potatoes in the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands, where the protection zone of the water supply reservoir of Švihov is also located. At selected experimental areas, water samples were taken after precipitation events when surface runoff and water erosion occurred. These samples were analysed (nitrates, total P, and selected pesticides used for potato growing) in an accredited laboratory. We located three different variants of nitrogen fertilisation in each experimental area. Precipitation and the amount of water from surface runoff after each higher precipitation event were also measured in the experimental areas. By knowing the acreage of each experimental area, the volume of surface runoff water and the concentration of nitrates, phosphorus, and pesticides, it was possible to calculate the balance of these substances. We also calculated the percentage of surface runoff. The results imply that a new potato cultivator in the technology of stone windrowing should be designed for weed control as part of a weed control system with reduced herbicide application requirements. Innovative agrotechnical processes reducing pollution of water sources by phosphorus and nitrates should also be enhanced. These are based on a precise application of mineral fertiliser into the root area of plants within the period of an intensive intake of nutrients.

PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF THE USE OF BIOFERTILIZER "VESNA" AS A FACTOR OF PROTECTION OF SOIL FERTILITY

The article is devoted to the study of the effect of biofertilizers on the number of different groups of soil microarthropods of chernozem of ordinary agrocenosis of perennial grasses in the condi-tions of the Lower Don. Most groups of mites and collembolus on the agrocenosis of perennial grasses, being saprophages by the nature of nutrition, undoubtedly play an important role in the circulation of substances, indirectly affecting the productivity of the agrocenosis. It was found that when applying the biofertilizer "Vesna", the number of all groups of microarthropods at the exper-imental site exceeded the control indicators by 1.5 times. All groups of ticks showed a large num-ber, gamase and shell ticks prevailed. The number of leg-tails was less than the number of ticks in the experimental area, but it turned out to be higher than the number of leg-tails in the control ar-ea. The vertical distribution of microarthropods in the horizon of 0-20 cm of the chernozem of the ordinary agrocenosis of perennial grasses was characterized by an uneven distribution: basically all groups of ticks and longtails are concentrated in the horizon of 0-10 cm, which is determined by the gradient of hydrothermal conditions and the distribution of root systems of plants of agro-cenosis.

Detection of Particulate Matter Changes Caused by 2020 California Wildfires Based on GNSS and Radiosonde Station

From August to October 2020, a serious wildfire occurred in California, USA, which produced a large number of particulate matter and harmful gases, resulting in huge economic losses and environmental pollution. Particulate matter delays the GNSS signal, which affects the like precipitable water vapor (LPWV) derived by the GNSS non-hydrostatic delay. Most of the information of GNSS-derived LPWV is caused by water vapor, and a small part of the information is caused by particulate matter. A new method based on the difference (ΔPWV) between the PWV of virtual radiosonde stations network and GNSS-derived LPWV is proposed to detect the changes of particulate matter in the atmosphere during the 2020 California wildfires. There are few radiosonde stations in the experimental area and they are far away from the GNSS station. In order to solve this problem, we propose to use the multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural network method to establish the virtual radiosonde network in the experimental area. The PWV derived by the fifth-generation European center for medium-range weather forecasts reanalysis model (PWVERA5) is used as the input data of machine learning. The PWV derived by radiosonde data (PWVRAD) is used as the training target data of machine learning. The ΔPWV is obtained based on PWV derived by the virtual radiosonde station network and GNSS in the experimental area. In order to further reduce the influence of noise and other factors on ΔPWV, this paper attempts to decompose ΔPWV time series by using the singular spectrum analysis method, and obtain its principal components, subsequently, analyzing the relationship between the principal components of ΔPWV with particulate matter. The results indicate that the accuracy of PWV predicted by the virtual radiosonde network is significantly better than the fifth-generation European center for the medium-range weather forecast reanalysis model, and the change trend of ΔPWV is basically consistent with the change law of particulate matter in which the value of ΔPWV in the case of fire is significantly higher than that before and after the fire. The mean of correlation coefficients between ΔPWV and PM10 at each GNSS station before, during and after wildfires are 0.068, 0.397 and 0.065, respectively, which show the evident enhancement of the correlation between ΔPWV and particulate matter during wildfires. It is concluded that because of the high sensitiveness of ΔPWV to the change of particulate matter, the GNSS technique can be used as an effective new approach to detect the change of particulate matter and, then, to detect wildfires effectively.

Effectiveness of giving organic fertilizer with different doses on the growth and yield of red ginger (Zingiber officinale var Rubrum)

Red ginger has not been cultivated intensively, so that there was a production decrease in 2018 of 4.24% from 2017. The increase in red ginger cultivation can be done by fertilizing organic fertilizers. This study aimed to obtain an effective dose of organic fertilizer in increasing the growth and yield of red ginger. From March to October 2020, the research was conducted at the UNS experimental area in Wonorejo Village, Jatiyoso, with an altitude of 778 masl. The study was conducted using a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with 1 factor and 5 treatments it is P0 (control), P1 (dose 1 kg. m−2), P2 (dose 1.5 kg. m−2), P3 (dose 2 kg. m−2), and P4 (dose 2.5 kg. m−2). The results showed that the application of organic fertilizer had an effect. The effective dose of organic fertilizer in increasing the growth and yield of red ginger was a dose of 2 kg. m−2.

Active Sensor Algorithm Approach to Optimize Nitrogen Rate Fertilization in Cotton Production

Variable nitrogen(N) rate fertilization based on remote sensing is challenging for cotton production fields, but active crop canopy sensors (ACS) appear as an alternative to make this practical on farm since they can be used at night as well. The crop spatial variability in inherent in crop production in general, and not on-the-go solutions can be used with this type of active sensing technologies. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the potential of two vegetation indices to identify the N requirement variability for cotton plants and to develop prototype algorithms for topdressing nitrogen variable rate on commercial and experimental areas, using the N-sufficiency methodology based on virtual reference. The concept of virtual reference is to use a histogram to characterize the vegetation index of properly fertilized plants without establishing an N-rich plot as a reference strip. The experiment was conducted in strips with four different N rates (0, 45, 90 and 180 kgN ha-1) during the 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 crop seasons in partnership with large cotton producers in Mato Grosso and also in experimental area of Embrapa Agrosilvopastoral. Two algorithms for variable rate nitrogen fertilization for cotton were developed, namely: 1) N recommendation algorithm for cotton in commercial production system: N rate (kg.N ha-1) = -234.79 ISN2 + 49,879 ISN + 195.15; R² = 0.97; and 2) for cotton grown in experimental area: N dose (kgN ha-1) = -174.73 ISN2 - 107.21 ISN + 306.78; R² = 0.94.

Evaluation of the First Negative Ion-Based Cloud Seeding and Rain Enhancement Trial in China

Negative ion-based cloud seeding has been shown to be an effective means in the laboratory. China’s first negative ion-based cloud seeding outfield trial was conducted in the northwestern interior. This paper briefly introduces the principle of the ion-based precipitation enhancement, and the trial location is described. The design of the ionization system and meteorological monitoring network are presented. The implementation plan of the outfield trial is explained. In addition, the evaluation of experimental effects is detailed in this paper. We designed various analytical methods to investigate both the overall precipitation variation of the experimental area and the precipitation variation within the experimental area. The overall precipitation of the experimental area was predicted using a neural network, and then the actual precipitation was compared with the predicted precipitation to evaluate the effectiveness of the experiment. The effectiveness of the experiment was also evaluated using historical precipitation data and the result of the randomized comparative trial. This paper also explores the effects of geographic location differences and wind direction differences on the precipitation differences within the trial area. The changes in the number of negative ions and clouds in the sky were also analyzed. From these analyses, we obtained quantitative assessment results. These results could indicate that the outfield trial basically met the expected requirements, which is to increase the rainfall of the trial area by 20%.

Dairy Heifer Motivation for Access to a Shaded Area

We used an operant conditioning paradigm to test the motivation of non-pregnant dairy heifers to access shade during the summer and autumn months (January to June) in southern Brazil. Dairy heifers (n = 18) were trained to push a weighted gate to access either an experimental area containing both a shaded (simple tree shade and shade cloth) and unshaded area (WITH SHADE) or an experimental area with no shade (BARREN). The latency to push the weighted gate, and the maximum weight pushed by each heifer, were recorded in both the summer and the autumn. Temperature and humidity were recorded continuously for the duration of the study and were used to calculate the heat index. The maximum weight pushed to enter the WITH SHADE area was greater in summer than in autumn, and was inversely related to the latency to push the weighted gate. Heifers refused to work for access to the BARREN environment. As expected, both the maximum ambient temperatures and heat index were higher in summer than in autumn, and also higher in the non-shaded areas than under the shade in both seasons. Heifers of higher social rank displaced other heifers more often, and spent more time in the shaded areas, particularly in the area with trees plus a shade cloth, than the intermediate and subordinate heifers. We conclude that shade is an important and valued resource for heifers reared on pasture-based systems in sub-tropical environments, particularly during the hot summer months.

DETERMINATION OF SEED YIELD AND ITS SOME CHARACTERS OF SOME HUNGARIAN VETCH (VICIA PANNONICA CRANTZ.) GENOTYPES

The study was conducted between 2015-2017 at Tekirdağ Namık Kemal University, Agriculture Faculty, Field Crops Department, Research and Experimental Area and Atatürk Soil, Water and Agricultural Meteorology Research Institute Research and Experimental Area (Kırklareli) in randomized block design with three replications. Five Hungarian vetch genotypes (cv. Egebeyazı and cv. Sarıefe, 47.1, 47.2, 56.3 lines) were used as material. Plant height (cm), number of branches per plant (pcs), number of pods per plant (pcs), number of seeds per pod (pcs), thousand seed weight (g), seed yield (t ha-1) were determined. The characters which were determined in the study varied between; plant height 76.50-97.97 cm, number of branches per plant 3.87-5.08 pcs, number of pods per plant 17.20-24.35 pcs, number of seeds per pod 3.77-5.47 pcs, thousand seed weight 32.08-39.15 g, seed yield 0.70-1.08 t ha-1. According to seed yield results 56.3 and 47.2 genotypes can be grown for seed in Tekirdağ, Kırklareli and similar ecological conditions.