Trust Central Eases Funding Decisions With Data

The Children’s Trust is a local government taxing authority that uses property tax dollars to fund programming for Miami-Dade County children and families. To become more efficient, Trust Central was created and now automates our full business cycle. Data flow is solicitation → contracting → program metrics → solicitation. Agencies apply for funding, contract to provide services, report their progress. Their progress is used to determine future solicitation criteria. Data automatically flows from one module to another. Trust Central allowed us to move from using 5 data points to make funding decisions to 24 data points. We were able to look across our various initiatives to ensure that our funding decisions were equitable. Funding decisions were backed by data and easy to share with applicants. We created context and communicated funding decisions in a way that reduced emotional conflicts and appeals. As a reference point, we had 96 appeal meetings last funding cycle - this funding cycle no appeal meetings and only 19 review meetings; a cost savings of $15,850 in meetings. Another reference point, we spent 1 week reviewing data to make funding decisions last funding cycle - this funding cycle we spent 4 weeks reviewing data in a more meaningful and valuable way. We made$68M in funding decisions without any negative feedback from the community. Our relationship with the community pivoted from negative to positive. This is a first for us! We are now positioned to be a mentor for both governmental and non-governmental funders

Obstacles, levers and impacts of organic farming development in Camargue

We are presenting an analysis of the obstacles and levers for the development of organic cropping systems in Camargue, documented with a multicriteria analysis of scenarios of organic farming (OF) development. This communication is built using results from on-farm agronomic monitoring, stakeholders and farmers’ interviews and the use of models for integrated assessment of scenarios. At the farm level, the obstacles are related to identification of profitable cropping systems and rotations that include enough rice, conversion being therefore risky as impacting financial management and requiring a labour reorganisation. At the regional level, the constraints are related to the absence of advisory services for technical issues, and to the lack of coordination among the different stakeholders, to the low incentive of the public policies to convert, and to a relatively opaque organization of the supply chains. At the regional level, we analysed the consequences of two scenarios related to OF development on criteria such as the rice surface area, the quantity and quality of water, energy consumption or the employment generated. These results are expected to contribute to the definition of an action plan about OF development by the local stakeholders

Ethane in Titan's Stratosphere from Cassini CIRS Far- and Mid-Infrared Spectra

The Cassini Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) observed thermal emission in the far- and mid-infrared (from 10 to 1500 cm(exp 1)), enabling spatiotemporal studies of ethane on Titan across the span of the Cassini mission from 2004 through 2017. Many previous measurements of ethane on Titan have relied on modeling the molecules mid-infrared (sub 12) band, centered on 822 cm(exp 1). Other bands of ethane at shorter and longer wavelengths were seen, but have not been modeled to measure ethane abundance. Spectral line lists of the far-infrared (sub 4) torsional band at 289 cm(exp 1) and the mid-infrared (sub 8) band centered at 1468 cm(exp 1) have recently been studied in the laboratory. We model CIRS observations of each of these bands (along with the (sub 12) band) separately and compare the retrieved mixing ratios from each spectral region. Nadir observations of the (sub 4) band probe the low stratosphere below 100 km. Our equatorial measurements at 289 cm(exp 1) show an abundance of (1.00.4)x10(exp 5) at 88 km from 2007 to 2017. This mixing ratio is consistent with measurements at higher altitudes, in contrast to the depletion that many photochemical models predict. Measurements from the (sub 12) and (sub 8) bands are comparable to each other, with the (sub 12) band probing an altitude range that extends deeper in the atmosphere. We suggest that future studies of planetary atmospheres may observe the (sub 8) band, enabling shorter wavelength studies of ethane. There may also be an advantage to observing both the ethane (sub 8) band and nearby methane (sub 4) band in the same spectral window

Real time noise and wavelength correlations in octave-spanning supercontinuum generation

We use dispersive Fourier transformation to measure shot-to-shot spectral instabilities in femtosecond supercontinuum generation. We study both the onset phase of supercontinuum generation with distinct dispersive wave generation, as well as a highly-unstable supercontinuum regime spanning an octave in bandwidth. Wavelength correlation maps allow interactions between separated spectral components to be identified, even when such interactions are not apparent in shot-to-shot or average measurements. Experimental results are interpreted using numerical simulations. Our results show the clear advantages of dispersive Fourier transformation for studying spectral noise during supercontinuum generation.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure

Real-time full bandwidth measurement of spectral noise in supercontinuum generation

The ability to measure real-time fluctuations of ultrashort pulses propagating in optical fiber has provided significant insights into fundamental dynamical effects such as modulation instability and the formation of frequency-shifting rogue wave solitons. We report here a detailed study of real-time fluctuations across the full bandwidth of a fiber supercontinuum which directly reveals the significant variation in measured noise statistics across the spectrum, and which allows us to study correlations between widely separated spectral components. For two different propagation distances corresponding to the onset phase of spectral broadening and the fully-developed supercontinuum, we measure real time noise across the supercontinuum bandwidth, and we quantify the supercontinuum noise using statistical higher-order moments and a frequency-dependent intensity correlation map. We identify correlated spectral regions within the supercontinuum associated with simultaneous sideband generation, as well as signatures of pump depletion and soliton-like pump dynamics. Experimental results are in excellent agreement with simulations

A close halo of large transparent grains around extreme red giant stars

Intermediate-mass stars end their lives by ejecting the bulk of their envelope via a slow dense wind back into the interstellar medium, to form the next generation of stars and planets. Stellar pulsations are thought to elevate gas to an altitude cool enough for the condensation of dust, which is then accelerated by radiation pressure from starlight, entraining the gas and driving the wind. However accounting for the mass loss has been a problem due to the difficulty in observing tenuous gas and dust tens of milliarcseconds from the star, and there is accordingly no consensus on the way sufficient momentum is transferred from the starlight to the outflow. Here, we present spatially-resolved, multi-wavelength observations of circumstellar dust shells of three stars on the asymptotic giant branch of the HR diagram. When imaged in scattered light, dust shells were found at remarkably small radii (<~ 2 stellar radii) and with unexpectedly large grains (~300 nm radius). This proximity to the photosphere argues for dust species that are transparent to starlight and therefore resistant to sublimation by the intense radiation field. While transparency usually implies insufficient radiative pressure to drive a wind, the radiation field can accelerate these large grains via photon scattering rather than absorption - a plausible mass-loss mechanism for lower-amplitude pulsating stars.Comment: 13 pages, 1 table, 6 figure

Bio-energy retains its mitigation potential under elevated CO2

Background If biofuels are to be a viable substitute for fossil fuels, it is essential that they retain their potential to mitigate climate change under future atmospheric conditions. Elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration [CO2] stimulates plant biomass production; however, the beneficial effects of increased production may be offset by higher energy costs in crop management. Methodology/Main findings We maintained full size poplar short rotation coppice (SRC) systems under both current ambient and future elevated [CO2] (550 ppm) and estimated their net energy and greenhouse gas balance. We show that a poplar SRC system is energy efficient and produces more energy than required for coppice management. Even more, elevated [CO2] will increase the net energy production and greenhouse gas balance of a SRC system with 18%. Managing the trees in shorter rotation cycles (i.e. 2 year cycles instead of 3 year cycles) will further enhance the benefits from elevated [CO2] on both the net energy and greenhouse gas balance. Conclusions/significance Adapting coppice management to the future atmospheric [CO2] is necessary to fully benefit from the climate mitigation potential of bio-energy systems. Further, a future increase in potential biomass production due to elevated [CO2] outweighs the increased production costs resulting in a northward extension of the area where SRC is greenhouse gas neutral. Currently, the main part of the European terrestrial carbon sink is found in forest biomass and attributed to harvesting less than the annual growth in wood. Because SRC is intensively managed, with a higher turnover in wood production than conventional forest, northward expansion of SRC is likely to erode the European terrestrial carbon sink