Experimental and Mathematical Models for Real-Time Monitoring and Auto Watering Using IoT Architecture

Manufacturing industries based on Internet of Things (IoT) technologies play an important role in the economic development of intelligent agriculture and watering. Water availability has become a global problem that afflicts many countries, especially in remote and desert areas. An efficient irrigation system is needed for optimizing the amount of water consumption, agriculture monitoring, and reducing energy costs. This paper proposes a real-time monitoring and auto-watering system based on predicting mathematical models that efficiently control the water rate needed. It gives the plant the optimal amount of required water level, which helps to save water. It also ensures interoperability among heterogeneous sensing data streams to support large-scale agricultural analytics. The mathematical model is embedded in the Arduino Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for sensing the soil moisture level and checking whether it is less than the pre-defined threshold value, then plant watering is performed automatically. The proposed system enhances the watering system’s efficiency by reducing the water consumption by more than 70% and increasing production due to irrigation optimization. It also reduces the water and energy consumption amount and decreases the maintenance costs.

Water Use Characteristics of Two Dominant Species in the Mega-Dunes of the Badain Jaran Desert

The sparse natural vegetation develops special water use characteristics to adapt to inhospitable desert areas. The water use characteristics of such plants in desert areas are not yet completely understood. In this study, we compare the differences in water use characteristics between two dominant species of the Badain Jaran Desert mega-dunes—Zygophyllum xanthoxylum and Artemisia ordosica—by investigating δ2H and δ18O in plant xylem (the organization that transports water and inorganic salts in plant stems) and soil water, and δ13C in plant leaves. The results indicate that Z. xanthoxylum absorbed 86.5% of its water from soil layers below 90 cm during growing seasons, while A. ordosica derived 79.90% of its water from the 0–120 cm soil layers during growing seasons. Furthermore, the long-term leaf-level water use efficiency of A. ordosica (123.17 ± 2.13 μmol/mol) was higher than that of Z. xanthoxylum (97.36 ± 1.16 μmol/mol). The differences in water use between the two studied species were mainly found to relate to their root distribution characteristics. A better understanding of the water use characteristics of plants in desert habitats can provide a theoretical basis to assist in the selection of species for artificial vegetation restoration in arid areas.

“Security trap” as a challenge for Syria’s post-conflict reconstruction

The present article is dedicated to comprehensive analysis of business-risks in Syria in the security sphere (the author named it as “security trap”). Among them are the seats of combat activities between the government forces and the opposition, contradictions between the central government and local elite, rise in criminality among former combatants, traumatized by war, “urban” terrorism, stepped up activity on the part of ISIS militants in desert areas and not in the last measure the conflicts of interests among external actors. This topic seems to be quite new for scientific research in Russia and abroad since most analytical work has been previously focused on impacts of security in military political and social spheres rather than in the economic one. Such approach would allow us to make a conclusion that business risks alongside other difficulties such as territorial fragmentation, economy lying in ruins, sanctions, crisis in neighboring Lebanon, COVID-19 pandemic are hampering the revival of businesslike life. This is important and useful for constructing hierarchy of external and internal challenges for Syria’s post-conflict reconstruction, including the stabilizing role of Russia. The author has used empirical materials gathered during the term of his diplomatic service at the Russian Embassy in Damascus (in 2014–2017) along with his subsequent regular visits to Syria.

Experiment of Solar Semiconductor Condensing Wall Water Intake System Based on Big Data

With the rapid development of industry and agriculture, fresh water resources are increasingly scarce, desertification control project investment is more, but the benefit is small. In order to solve the practical problem of water scarcity in desert areas and the waste caused by water not being applied precisely to plants, Based on the rapid development of 5G network signal transmission technology and big data analysis technology, a set of solar semiconductor condensation wall water intake system is designed to inject new vitality into the process of desertification control by taking advantage of the environmental and climatic characteristics of desert areas. Through theoretical analysis, big data analysis and experimental study of the system, taking Liangzhou District of Wuwei City in Gansu Province as an example, the comprehensive analysis of the system was carried out. The results show that the theoretical water output per hour of the system is 138.3g, and the cumulative power generation of the system in 20 years is 28800kWh, which can reduce standard coal combustion by 8.64t, reduce CO2222.64t, and save 33609.6 yuan.

The Role of Ab-Anbars in the Vernacular Architecture of Iran with Emphasis on the Performance of Wind-Catchers in Hot and Dry Climates

Vernacular and traditional Iranian architecture has always acted rationally, harmoniously, and climate-friendly to meet the needs of the people in dealing with the environment. In addition, without harming the environment, they have achieved the best initiatives with the least facilities. For example, we can mention that the Ab-Anbars in arid and desert areas of Iran, which are used to store water in seasons with precipitation for use in the rest of the year, has been an optimal way to use natural resources and provide climate comfort. The Ab-Anbars are realized with ventilated cisterns through openings on their roof or wind-catchers to keep the water cool and provide comfortable conditions for the occupants. In order to study the essential role of natural ventilation and cooling in the Ab-Anbars, thermal analysis with CFD software was carried out to assess the effectiveness of a typical wind-catcher according to different wind directions in Yazd city. The results showed that Ab-Anbars have played an important role in reducing cooling loads and supply the necessary ventilation rate of buildings and can be used in the future for application in contemporary architecture and urban planning.

Differences in Gall Induction of Flower-like Galls on Haloxylon by Psyllids (Hemiptera: Aphalaridae), and the Emergence of Corresponding Parasitoids

Saxaul is a kind of dominant perennial psammophyte that widely distributes in arid and semi-arid desert areas, and it has multiple functions in preventing desertification, especially in windbreak and sand fixation. Various gall inducers induce galls on the saxaul, including the flower-like gall. Parasitoids have great potentiality in controlling gall inducers. However, studies about gall inducers and parasitoids of flower-like galls on Haloxylon, as well as the parasitic efficacy of the parasitoids, are rarely reported. In this study, the flower-like galls were observed on Haloxylon ammodendron and H. persicum in Fukang, Xinjiang, China. Two types of flower-like galls were found on H. ammodendron, while only one type was found on H. persicum. In total, five species of gall inducers and three species of parasitoids were obtained from the galls mentioned above. All the galls were induced by Caillardia (Hemiptera: Aphalaridae), which were mostly bivoltine in Fukang. Besides, their parasitoids Psyllaephagus caillardiae and P. longiventris could be observed on all the types of galls. Additionally, correlative studies on the parasitization indexes demonstrated that all the dominant parasitoids of diverse flower-like galls were P. caillardiae, which were slightly more in number than the P. ogazae discovered in the flower bud-like galls. In addition, the relevance between the emergence or lifespan of parasitoids and temperature was also investigated. The results showed that the number of parasitoids emerging decreased rapidly after a period of enhancement with the increase of temperature, including an optimum temperature, while the lifespan of wasps gradually shortened with the temperature rising. Our results highlight the importance of the biological investigation of parasitoids in the gall inducers lived in closed galls, which may provide critical evidence for us to understand its potential application in biological control.

Design of an Irrigation System using a Motor Pump for Desert Areas in Department of Piura - Perú

Abstract— Currently the world suffers from water scarcity, being one of the most frequent problems that agriculture suffers, there is still no uniformity regarding the extent of the planet covered by these dry lands, varying the calculations from close to 50% to 25% of the earth's surface. Africa and Asia being the continents that had the largest extensions of drylands. Therefore, this research work has as objective the Design of an Irrigation System using a Motor Pump for Desert Areas in Department of Piura - Perú and thus contribute to the agriculture of our country, as well as main points we will focus on the towns far from the city which will use automatic irrigation means through a natural reserve water supply which would have to be stored and through a drip system it will be possible to irrigate and optimize the water in order to give it a better use. Resulting in a water reservoir that once filled to 100% will begin to pump water through a motor pump and through pipes it will be transferred to another reserve reservoir to irrigate a desert area through a drip system so the reservoir plays an important role which will have available water without depleting given greater access to irrigate the land. Keywords— Agriculture; deserted zones; automatic watering; Drip system; Motor pump

Caves as geoheritage resource in remote desert areas: a preliminary evaluation of Djara Cave in the Western Desert of Egypt

Caves are rare in northeast Africa and, thus, deserve attention as potential geoheritage objects (geosites). Assessment of Djara Cave and its vicinity (Western Desert, Egypt) has permitted to document unique features, such as the cave itself as a peculiar subsurface landform, speleothems providing data for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions, rock art demonstrating elements of past landscapes, siliceous nodules weathered from Eocene limestones and a network of dry drainage channels indicative of wetter palaeoenvironments. These features are assigned to geomorphological, sedimentological and palaeogeographical types of geoheritage. Djara Cave and its vicinity are proposed as a geosite of national rank; it is vulnerable to anthropogenic stress and needs geoconservation measures and instalment of interpretative signs. This geosite is already popular among tourists, and can be used for further tourism development. More generally, the presence of caves in Egyptian desert areas makes possible the recognition of national speleological heritage that requires special country-level strategies of management.