The Land and Water Integration Decision Support System

Integration of data and component models describing habitat-based land use, non-point source pollutants transport, and water and soil quality forms the decision support development processes to assist policy makers in examining management options for dealing with the impacts of land use on water for agricultural issues in Canada. The land and water integration decision support system emphasizes on scale consistency, scenario gaming and testing, pollutant source tracing and optimal solutions. Examples of a watershed-based decision support system on water quality impact were presented as part of an assessment for the evaluation of best management practice options for future agricultural intensification scenario

Our story : telling it

Research has already shown that Australian Indigenous communities are socially and economically disadvantaged. Cultural dispossession has also been identified as a key factor in the disengagement of young Indigenous people from their success in education and careers. Digital video, multimedia, and the Internet are potentially powerful tools that enable students to design and publish their own projects about meaningful real-life topics for a worldwide audience via the Internet. However, the lack of access to these technologies and appropriate training for teachers of Indigenous students may exacerbate the disparity between non-Indigenous and Indigenous Australians.This project aims to assist the transmission of Indigenous culture through the use of technologies, thereby enhancing the educational outcomes for Indigenous students. 'Our Story-Telling It' will culminate in the production of a CD-ROM and website that will help teachers and Indigenous students anywhere in Australia to design and build multimedia projects about their local Indigenous community and to publish them on the Internet. The testing of training resources and CD-ROM materials was conducted during 2001 and early 2002, and feedback has been extremely positive. Both the processes and products of the project emphasise collaboration with stakeholders at all stages of the project and the building of networks that support the continuance of learning communities around the telling of the local Iindigenous story. This paper gives the background, theoretical framework, and methology of the project. The project CD-ROM, and further results and conclusions will be presented at the conference

SEGUE : a spectroscopic survey of 240,000 stars with g=14-20

The Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration (SEGUE) Survey obtained approximate to 240,000 moderate-resolution (R similar to 1800) spectra from 3900 angstrom to 9000 angstrom of fainter Milky Way stars (14.0 10 per resolution element, stellar atmospheric parameters are estimated, including metallicity, surface gravity, and effective temperature. SEGUE obtained 3500 deg(2) of additional ugriz imaging (primarily at low Galactic latitudes) providing precise multicolor photometry (sigma(g, r, i) similar to 2%), (sigma(u, z) similar to 3%) and astrometry (approximate to 0 ''.1) for spectroscopic target selection. The stellar spectra, imaging data, and derived parameter catalogs for this survey are publicly available as part of Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7