The Parkes HI Zone of Avoidance Survey

A blind HI survey of the extragalactic sky behind the southern Milky Way has been conducted with the multibeam receiver on the 64-m Parkes radio telescope. The survey covers the Galactic longitude range 212 < l < 36 and Galactic latitudes |b| < 5, and yields 883 galaxies to a recessional velocity of 12,000 km/s. The survey covers the sky within the HIPASS area to greater sensitivity, finding lower HI-mass galaxies at all distances, and probing more completely the large-scale structures at and beyond the distance of the Great Attractor. Fifty-one percent of the HI detections have an optical/NIR counterpart in the literature. A further 27% have new counterparts found in existing, or newly obtained, optical/NIR images. The counterpart rate drops in regions of high foreground stellar crowding and extinction, and for low-HI mass objects. Only 8% of all counterparts have a previous optical redshift measurement. A notable new galaxy is HIZOA J1353-58, a possible companion to the Circinus galaxy. Merging this catalog with the similarly-conducted northern extension (Donley et al. 2005), large-scale structures are delineated, including those within the Puppis and Great Attractor regions, and the Local Void. Several newly-identified structures are revealed here for the first time. Three new galaxy concentrations (NW1, NW2 and NW3) are key in confirming the diagonal crossing of the Great Attractor Wall between the Norma cluster and the CIZA J1324.7-5736 cluster. Further contributors to the general mass overdensity in that area are two new clusters (CW1 and CW2) in the nearer Centaurus Wall, one of which forms part of the striking 180 deg (100/h Mpc) long filament that dominates the southern sky at velocities of ~3000 km/s, and the suggestion of a further Wall at the Great Attractor distance at slightly higher longitudes.Comment: Published in Astronomical Journal 9 February 2016 (accepted 26 September 2015); 42 pages, 7 tables, 18 figures, main figures data tables only available in the on-line version of journa

Drone and Digital Camera Imagery Estimate C3 and C4 Grass Ratios in Pastures

The following study investigates the accuracy and practicality of exploiting the color dichotomy present between C3 and C4 grass species to estimate their respective proportions from drone or camera captured imagery. Understanding the proportions of C3 and C4 grasses in pastures is vital to sound decision making for livestock production. The ability to monitor these proportions remotely will also allow for large scale monitoring as well as detection of changes in botanical composition over time and in response to weather events, management, or climate change. A free green canopy cover (GCC) analyzing software, Canopeo, was used to quantify green plants in captured images, providing an estimation of C3 grasses that retain green color in colder seasons while C4 grasses do not. The GCC estimates from Canopeo were compared to what was measured using occupancy grids. We found that green canopy cover software could estimate the proportion of C3 grasses in images captured by a drone and a Nikon camera

2018 Long-Term Summary of Kentucky Forage Variety Trials

Forage crops occupy approximately 7 million acres in Kentucky. Forages provide a majority of the nutrition for beef, dairy, horse, goat, sheep, and wildlife in the state. In addition, forage crops play an environmentally friendly role in soil conservation, water quality, and air quality. There are over 60 forage species adapted to the climate and soil conditions of Kentucky. Only 10 to 12 of these species occupy the majority of the acreage, but within these species there is a tremendous variation in varieties. This publication was developed to provide a user-friendly guide to choosing the best variety for producers based on a summary of forage yield and grazing tolerance trials conducted in Kentucky over the past 12 to 15 years. Detailed variety reports and forage management publications are available from your local county agent or at the University of Kentucky forage website at forages.ca.uky.edu by clicking on the “Forage Variety Trial” link

A Comparison of Four Methods of Botanical Analysis in Kentucky Cattle Pastures

Throughout the many decades of grassland and forage research, practitioners have used many different methods to assess botanical composition. While a few of these methods have proven to be accurate and efficient, there has been limited direct comparison between methods. The objective of this study was to determine an accurate and efficient method to determine botanical composition for researchers, practitioners, and students. Six farms with two pastures each were monitored across the state of Kentucky. Sampling started fall 2020 and continued through fall 2022 with measurements taken three times a year using the following measurement techniques: step point, visual estimation, occupancy grid, and point quadrat. The same twenty random locations were sampled with each technique with the exception of step point, where a minimum of 100 random locations were sampled. The point quadrat method was utilized as a reference method for accuracy to the other methods. The results of this research show that when directly compared to results of the reference method the occupancy grid method had the highest similarity. The occupancy grid method was also less prone to over and under-estimation and had the highest correlation coefficient using Pearson’s method of 0.87 to 0.99 across all species. Visual estimation method correlation ranged from 0.75 to 0.98 across all species. Step point was the least correlated ranging from 0.40 to 0.90 due to its high variability recording certain species (e.g. - KY bluegrass, goosegrass, bare soil). ANOVA results showed the occupancy grid method was not significantly different at recording any species in comparison to the point quadrat method. The visual estimation method was significantly different from the point quadrat method for the following species: tall fescue, orchardgrass, other forages, and broadleaf weeds. The step point method was significantly different for these species: tall fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, and broadleaf weeds. Overall, the occupancy grid method was the most similar to the reference method (point quadrat), as well as the most efficient method of botanical analysis