iLime an app for assessing the management of soil acidity in agricultural systems

iLIme mobile app is available for download for Apple and Android devices from your preferred app store. https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/apps/ilime Awareness of soil acidity as a constraint to agricultural production in Western Australia has led to increased use of lime, but rates remain too low to manage existing acidic soil and ongoing acidification. To invest in lime, growers need confidence in likely economic and production responses. This paper describes the development of an acidification calculator, in app form, that was developed with input and feedback to ensure that it would meet the needs and requirements of users

In-flight scalar calibration and characterisation of the Swarm magnetometry package

International audienceWe present the in-flight scalar calibration and characterisation of the Swarm magnetometry package consisting of the absolute scalar magnetometer, the vector magnetometer, and the spacecraft structure supporting the instruments. A significant improvement in the scalar residuals between the pairs of magnetometers is demonstrated, confirming the high performance of these instruments. The results presented here, including the characterisation of a Sun-driven disturbance field, form the basis of the correction of the magnetic vector measurements from Swarm which is applied to the Swarm Level 1b magnetic data.[Figure not available: see fulltext.

Applications in adaptive cluster sampling of Gulf of Alaska rockfish

Adaptive cluster sampling (ACS) has been the subject of many publications about sampling aggregated populations. Choosing the criterion value that invokes ACS remains problematic. We address this problem using data from a June 1999 ACS survey for rockfish, specifically for Pacific ocean perch (Sebastes alutus), and for shortraker (S. borealis) and rougheye (S. aleutianus) rockfish combined. Our hypotheses were that ACS would outperform simple random sampling (SRS) for S. alutus and would be more applicable for S. alutus than for S. borealis and S. aleutianus combined because populations of S. alutus are thought to be more aggregated. Three alternatives for choosing a criterion value were investigated. We chose the strategy that yielded the lowest criterion value and simulated the higher criterion values with the data after the survey. Systematic random sampling was conducted across the whole area to determine the lowest criterion value, and then a new systematic random sample was taken with adaptive sampling around each tow that exceeded the fixed criterion value. ACS yielded gains in precision (SE) over SRS. Bootstrapping showed that the distribution of an ACS estimator is approximately normal, whereas the SRS sampling distribution is skewed and bimodal. Simulation showed that a higher criterion value results in substantially less adaptive sampling with little tradeoff in precision. When time-efficiency was examined, ACS quickly added more samples, but sampling edge units caused this efficiency to be lessened, and the gain in efficiency did not measurably affect our conclusions. ACS for S. alutus should be incorporated with a fixed criterion value equal to the top quartile of previously collected survey data. The second hypothesis was confirmed because ACS did not prove to be more effective for S. borealis-S. aleutianus. Overall, our ACS results were not as optimistic as those previously published in the literature, and indicate the need for further study of this sampling method

City of Rosemount: Stormwater Management Plan

Report and presentation completed by students enrolled in PA 5242: Environmental Planning, Policy, and Decision Making, taught by Carissa Schively Slotterback in spring 2015.This project was completed as part of a year-long partnership between the City of Rosemount and the University of Minnesota’s Resilient Communities Project (http://www.rcp.umn.edu). Storm water management is becoming a hot issue in urban planning and design fields. With climate change creating more intense and more frequent storm events, and as urban development continues, increased runoff jeopardizes the water quality of Minnesota’s lakes and rivers and raises the risk of severe localized flooding. The goal of this project was to identify opportunities or design strategies for storm water infiltration in the City of Rosemount that balance aesthetics and functionality, reduce long-term maintenance costs, manage winter snow melt, and provide opportunities for other passive uses. In collaboration with city project lead Andy Brotzler, Public Works Director for the City of Rosemount, a team of students in PA 5242: Environmental Planning, Policy, and Decision Making researched both traditional and new best management practices and provided recommendations for the City of Rosemount regarding which practices it should implement, in addition to strategies for community involvement. A final report and presentation from the project are available.This project was supported by the Resilient Communities Project (RCP), a program at the University of Minnesota that convenes the wide-ranging expertise of U of M faculty and students to address strategic local projects that advance community resilience and sustainability. RCP is a program of the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA). More information at http://www.rcp.umn.ed