ESTIMATING FINE DEAD FUEL MOISTURE CONTENT UNDER EQUATORIAL CLIMATE CONDITIONS

The measurement of the fine dead fuel moisture content (FDFMC) is extremely important for forest fire prevention and suppression activities, as it has a great influence on the ignition probability and fire behavior. The Fine Fuel Moisture Code (FFMC) from the Fire Weather Index (FWI), is one of the most used models to estimate the FDFMC. Nevertheless, studies that assess the efficiency of this model in Brazil or in low latitude regions are rare. The present study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of the FFMC in an equatorial climate area and to develop a new model capable of estimating the FDFMC with greater precision. For this purpose, 861 random samples of fine dead fuel had their moisture content determined through oven drying. The obtained values were compared with those estimated by the FFMC and correlated with meteorological parameters to build a regression model. The results obtained show that the FDFMC was overestimated by the FFMC. The independent variables with the greatest influence on the FDFMC were, in decreasing order of significance: air relative humidity, air temperature, amount of rainfall in the last 24 hours and number of days without rainfall. The developed model presented good statistical parameters (r2 = 0.86; p <0.0001; RMSE = 0.22) and can be used, in areas with similar characteristics of the study area, to estimate the daily fire risk and to determine ideal conditions for prescribed burns.

Comfortable Liveable Space: Shipping Container and Bamboo as Sustainable Building Materials in Equatorial Climate Perspective?

The development of liveable space made from shipping containers becomes a trend even in Malaysia with the hot and humid climate persisting throughout the year. For sustaining the indoor comfort, building insulation is well adapted to increase thermal resistance and reduce the dependency on the mechanical cooling systems. The prospective of a shipping container as an efficient construction material and bamboo as a sustainable insulation material is well documented but basic information on the internal environment that has an impact on a person, particularly risk potential towards sick building syndrome (SBS) has been absent. Therefore, the measurements of both indoor and outdoor temperatures, relative humidity and CO2 concentration with two different conditions were done by using different sets of data loggers for at least 70 days under each condition. The first condition is a bare unit of the shipping container and followed by the installation of untreated bamboo as insulation for the second condition. This research reveals that high temperatures were recorded up to 40°C in both conditions and untreated bamboo as insulation increased the relative humidity levels up to the maximum, 100%. The mean values of CO2 concentration are in the range of 1,869 ppm to 2,938 ppm and they reach up to 5,000 ppm at the most of the intervals, indicating a significant contribution to SBS. The condition of the equatorial climate denies the compatibility of the shipping container to be used as the building material of liveable space. The quality and treatment of the bamboo must be the ultimate priority

Nonlinear long-period tidal forcing with application to ENSO, QBO, and Chandler wobble

&lt;p&gt;Apart from its known impact to variations in the Earth&amp;#8217;s length-of-day (LOD) variations, the role of long-period tidal forcing cycles in geophysical behaviours has remained elusive. To explore this further, tidal forcing is considered as a causative mechanisms to the following cyclic processes: El Ni&amp;#241;o Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO), and the Chandler wobble. Annualized impulse reponse formulations and nonlinear solutions to Navier-Stokes-based Laplace's Tidal Equations &amp;#160;are required to make the connection to the observed patterns as the underlying periods are not strictly commensurate in relation to harmonics of the tidal cycles. &amp;#160;If equatorial climate phenomena such as QBO and ENSO can be explained as deterministic processes then the behavior that may be predictable. This paper suggests that QBO, ENSO, and the Chandler wobble may share a common origin of lunar and solar tidal forcing, but with differences arising due to global symmetry considerations. Through analytical approximations of nonlinear fluid dynamics and detailed time-series analysis, matching quantitative models of these behaviors can be shown.&lt;/p&gt;

Prevalence of intestinal parasite among patients attending two hospitals in French Guiana: A 6-year retrospective study

Introduction Intestinal parasitic diseases are a global health problem. Due to its equatorial climate, vast territory with isolated areas and the precariousness of its population, intestinal parasitosis is considered to be a major issue in French Guiana but only few data are available and these mainly focus on specific population. We aimed at determining the parasitic index and at describing the characteristics of these infections in order to develop preventive strategies. Material and methods We retrospectively analysed all the parasitological samples recorded in the register of the two main laboratories of French Guiana between 2011 and 2016. The parasitic index was the percentage of parasitised patients in comparison with the total number of subjects studied. A patient who underwent several positive parasitological examinations was considered only once in the analysis at the time of the first sampling. Results A total of 15,220 parasitological samples of 9,555 patients were analysed and 2,916 were positive in 1,521 patients. The average infestation rate and parasitic index were 19.2% and 16.0%, respectively. The parasitic index remained stable between 2011 (18.2%) and 2016 (18.3%). The patients were mainly men (66.4%), with a median age of 33.0 years (26.3% of patients were under 18 years of age) and lived mainly in the Central Agglomeration (48.2%) and in West Guiana (37.4%). Hookworms were the most common parasite (25.2%) followed by Entamoeba coli (13.3%), Strongyloides stercoralis (10.9%) and Giardia intestinalis (10.8%). Among the infected patients, 31.0% presented mixed infections and 67.5% of them had at least one pathogenic parasite. The patients aged from 0 to 18 years presented significantly more polyparasitism (30.9%) than monoparasitism (24.3%, p<0.001). Ancylostoma sp and Strongyloides stercoralis were mainly diagnosed during the rainy season (59.5% and 64.7% respectively), in men (78.6% and 81.1% respectively) and in patients aged from 18 to 65 years (86.6% and 76.6% respectively) whereas, Giardia intestinalis infected mostly children under 5 years (59.5%) of age. Conclusion Although it may not be representative of the entire Guyanese population, the parasitic index remained high and stable from 2011 and 2016 and it justifies the need for an active prevention program as it was already done in the other French overseas departments such as Martinique and Guadeloupe.

Performance assessment of free standing and building integrated grid connected photovoltaic system for southern part of India

Photovoltaic (PV) system efficiency depends on the geographical location and the orientation of the building. Until installing the building structures, the integration of the PV module must be evaluated with ventilation and without ventilation effects. This work optimises the performance of the 250 kWp grid-connected photovoltaic (GPV) for community buildings in the southern part of India. This simulation is carried out to evaluate the system efficiency of the GPV system under various ventilation conditions, such as free-standing PV (FSPV), building integrated photovoltaic ventilated (BIPV_V) and Building Integrated Photovoltaic without ventilation (BIPV). The PVsyst simulation tool is used to simulate and optimise the performance of the system with FSPV, BIPV and BIPV_V for the region of Chennai (13.2789° N, 80.2623° E), Tamilnadu, India. An annual system energy production is 446 MWh, 409 MWh and 428 MWh of FSPV, BIPV and BIPV_V system respectively. while electrical efficiency for the FSPV, BIPV_V, BIPV system is 15.45%. 15.25% and 14.75% respectively. Practical application: Integrating the grid connected photovoltaic system on the building reduces the energy consumption in the building. The integration of the PV on the roof or semi integrated on the roof is need to be investigated before installing on the buildings. The need for installation of the BIPV with ventilation is explored. This study will assist architects and wider community to design buildings roofs with GPV system which are more aesthetic and account for noise protection and thermal insulation in the region of equatorial climate zones.

A Review of Roof and Pond Rainwater Harvesting Systems for Water Security: The Design, Performance and Way Forward

Rapid urbanization, population explosion and climate change have threatened water security globally, regionally and locally. While there are many ways of addressing these problems, one of the innovative techniques is the recent employment of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) which include rainwater harvesting systems (RWHS). Therefore, this paper reviews the design and component of two types of RWHS, the namely roof harvesting system (RHS) and the pond harvesting system (PHS). The performance in terms of quantity and quality of collected rainwater and energy consumption for RWHS with different capacities were evaluated, as well as the benefits and challenges particularly in environmental, economic and social aspects. Presently, the RHS is more commonly applied but its effectiveness is limited by its small scale. The PHS is of larger scale and has greater potentials and effectiveness as an alternative water supply system. Results also indicate the many advantages of the PHS especially in terms of economics, environmental aspects and volume of water harvested. While the RHS may be suited to individual or existing buildings, the PHS has greater potentials and should be applied in newly developed urban areas with wet equatorial climate.

A Review of Roof and Pond Rainwater Harvesting System: The Design, Performance and Way Forward

This paper reviews the design and component of two types of RWHS, namely roof harvesting system (RHS) and pond harvesting system (PHS). The performance in terms of quantity and quality of collected rainwater and energy consumption for RWHS with different capacities were evaluated, as well as the benefits and challenges particularly in environmental, economic and social aspects. Presently, RHS is more commonly applied but its effectiveness is limited by its small scale. The PHS is of larger scale and has greater potentials and effectiveness as an alternative water supply system. Results also indicate the many advantages of PHS especially in terms of economics, environmental aspects and volume of water harvested. While RHS may be suited to individual or existing buildings, PHS has greater potentials and should be applied in newly developed urban areas with wet equatorial climate.