EFAS-Meteo: A European daily high-resolution gridded meteorological data set for 1990 - 2011

Data sets of spatially irregular meteorological observations interpolated to a regular grid are not only important for climate analyses but are also essential in order to derive climatologies for rainfall-runoff models which require meteorological data sets as input forcing. For example, in the European Flood Awareness System long term observed meteorological data are used to drive the hydrological model LISFLOOD to obtain long term time series of simulated discharges at a pan-European scale. Those long term time series of simulated “proxy” discharges can then be used for statistical analysis, e.g., to derive return periods or other time series derivatives. In this report, we present a comprehensive pan European high-resolution gridded daily data set (EFAS-Meteo) of precipitation, surface temperature (mean, minimum and maximum), wind speed, vapour pressure, calculated radiation and evapotranspiration (potential evapotranspiration, bare soil and open water evapotranspiration). The data set was created as part of the development of EFAS and has been continuously updated throughout the last years.JRC.H.7-Climate Risk Managemen

Assessment of soil water, carbon and nitrogen cycling in reseeded grassland on the North Wyke Farm Platform using a process-based model

The North Wyke Farm Platform (NWFP) generates large volumes of temporally-indexed data that provides a valuable test-bed for agricultural mathematical models in temperate grasslands. In our study, we used the primary datasets generated from the NWFP (https://nwfp.rothamsted.ac.uk/) to validate the SPACSYS model in terms of the dynamics of water loss and forage dry matter yield estimated through cutting. The SPACSYS model is capable of simulating soil water, carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) balance in the soil-plant-atmosphere system. The validated model was then used to simulate the responses of soil water, C and N to reseeding grass cultivars with either high sugar (Lolium perenne L cv. AberMagic) or deep rooting (Festulotium cv. Prior) traits. Simulation results demonstrated that the SPACSYS model could predict reliably soil water, C and N cycling in reseeded grassland. Compared to AberMagic, the Nor grass could fix more C in the second year following reseeding, whereas less C was lost through soil respiration in the first transition year. In comparison to the grass cifitivar of the permanent pasture that existed before reseeding, both grasses reduced N losses through runoff and conhibuted to reducing water loss, especially Prior in relation to the latter. The SPACSYS model could predict these differences as supported by the rich dataset from the NWFP, providing a tool for future predictions on less characterized pasture. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access articleRN the CC BY licens

Modelling, interpreting and visualizing uncertainties for the North Wyke Farm Platform baseline field surveys

This study demonstrates a new approach for the visualization of spatial uncertainty using data from three agricultural field surveys

Impact of grassland management on pests and diseases of white clover

<p>Murray, P.J., Tarascou, M., Debenardi, V. & Sint, H. (2017) Impact of grassland management on pests and diseases of white clover. In Invertebrate Ecology of Australasian Grasslands. Proceedings of the Ninth ACGIE (ed S.N. Johnson), pp. 90-92. Western Sydney University, Hawkesbury, NSW, Australia.</p

Modelling, interpreting and visualizing uncertainties for the North Wyke Farm Platform baseline field surveys

This study demonstrates a new approach for the visualization of spatial uncertainty using data from three agricultural field surveys

Usability and fun : An overview of relevant research in the hci community

Evaluating affective interfaces in order to provide input for designers is a challenge for the CHI community. One question is to what extent traditional evaluation methods, used for evaluating traditional usability, are applicable at all, and if they need revision. The purpose of this project was to gain an understanding in how applicable traditional usability evaluation methods are in understanding people’s experiences of affective systems, in this case Entertainment web sites. Empirical techniques as well as inspection methods were used on a number of web sites. The results show that the methods are applicable but need revision. When it comes to the development of inspection methods, the challenges include finding proper heuristics to support the experts in using Heuristic Evaluation, providing conditions for experts which bridge the gap between evaluation and authentic use, developing complementary methods for use in combination with existing methods etc. In empirical evaluation of entertainment in the context of web usability, the most crucial aspect might be to consider how to arrange a setting that is as natural and authentic as possible when evaluating fun, as this seems to be important for the results. Overall, the results of the study clearly show that important aspects of affective interfaces can be revealed by using traditional usability evaluation methods – aspects which should be considered early in the design phase

Renewable Energies in Africa - Current Knowledge

This report summarizes current knowledge at the Joint Research Centre regarding Renewable Energy in Africa. It assesses current energy consumption and the share of renewables in African states, and attempts to estimate the technical potential of available resources of solar, wind, biomass and hydropower which could be economically used to provide energy for the increasing population. Existing Statistical data on energy supply and demand have a large uncertainty, both in terms of quantity and costs or price. The available data which were used for this report indicate a wide range both of per capita energy consumption (100 to 2000 kgoe/cap/y) and per capita electricity consumption (50 to 4000 kWh/cap/y). Relative to the average of the European Union, this corresponds to up to 35 times less regarding all energy, and up to 100 times less regarding electricity. Even though electrification made considerable progress in the past 10 years, 600 Mio of rural population has no access to electricity at all. This report assesses in detail the renewable energy options for electricity production in rural areas, where the de-centralised feature of these technologies allow an economically viable competition with conventional grid extension. It is particularly true in remote areas where the nearest grid infrastructure is already unreliable and overloaded. In areas where household density is low (<50 cap/km2), any investment in larger grid infrastructure would never be cost competitive. This report enhances also insight in the transport costs of conventional fuel, taking a population density to be served and transport infrastructure into account.JRC.F.7-Renewable Energ