Spatial Grazing Land Management Land Types of Queensland: Review and amendments

The Grazing Land Management (GLM) land type spatial layer is the spatial representation of Land types of Queensland as described by the Queensland Department of Agriculture, Fisheries (DAF) (https://futurebeef.com.au/knowledge-centre/land-types-of-queensland/). The spatial land type layer is a key input for property mapping and modelling of pasture growth across Queensland by the DAF and the Department of Environment and Science (DES). The spatial layer was first constructed by the ex-Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) as a part of the former Delbessie Agreement (State Rural Leasehold Land Strategy (SRLLS)). Whilst the SRLLS program concluded in 2014, the project legacy has been managed by the Queensland Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy (DNRME). This technical report relates a collaborative multiple departmental approach between (DAF, DES and DNRME) to create the best land type spatial layer for government and public use. This report provides the method, process and outcomes applied to the land type spatial layer as a working account (including Version log) for open reference

Measurement of Radio-Frequency Radiation Pressure

We perform measurements of the radiation pressure of a radio-frequency (RF) electromagnetic field which may lead to a new SI-traceable power calibration. There are several groups around the world investigating methods to perform more direct SI traceable measurement of RF power (where RF is defined to range from 100s of MHz to THz). A measurement of radiation pressure offers the possibility for a power measure traceable to the kilogram and to Planck's constant through the redefined SI. Towards this goal, we demonstrate the ability to measure the radiation pressure/force carried in a field at 15~GHz.Comment: 2 pages 4 figure

MoRe-T2 (mobility research trajectory tracker): validation and application

It is important to assess the suitability of mobility aids before prescribing them to patients. This assessment is often subjectively completed by a therapist and it often includes a variety of basic practical tests. An objective assessment of a patient's capability, which captures not only speed of task completion and success, but also accuracy and risk of manoeuvres, would be both a fairer and safer approach. Yet until now such an assessment would have been cost-prohibitive, especially in low resource settings. We pave the way towards this end goal, by describing, validating and demonstrating a low-cost computer vision based system called MoRe-T2 (mobility research trajectory tracker). The open-source MoRe-T2 system uses low-cost off-the-shelf webcams to track the pose of fiducial markers, which are simply printed onto regular office paper. In this article, we build upon previous work and benchmark the accuracy of MoRe-T2 against an industry standard motion capture system. In particular, we show that MoRe-T2 achieves accuracy comparable to CODA motion tracking system. We go on to demonstrate a use case of MoRe-T2 in assessing wheelchair manoeuvrability over a relatively large area. The results show that MoRe-T2 is scalable at a much lower cost than typical industry-standard motion trackers. Therefore, MoRe-T2 can be used to develop more objective and reliable assessments of mobility aids, especially in low-resource settings

Low-pressure, water-assisted anatexis of basic dykes in a contact metamorphic aureole, Fuerteventura (Canary Islands): oxygen isotope evidence for a meteoric fluid origin

Migmatites produced by low-pressure anatexis of basic dykes are found in a contact metamorphic aureole around a pyroxenite-gabbro intrusion (PX2), on Fuerteventura. Dykes outside and inside the aureole record interaction with meteoric water, with low or negative δ18O whole-rock values (+0.2 to −3.4‰), decreasing towards the contact. Recrystallised plagioclase, diopside, biotite and oxides, from within the aureole, show a similar evolution with lowest δ18O values (−2.8, −4.2, −4.4 and −7.6‰, respectively) in the migmatite zone, close to the intrusion. Relict clinopyroxene phenocrysts preserved in all dykes, retain typically magmatic δ18O values up to the anatectic zone, where the values are lower and more heterogeneous. Low δ18O values, decreasing towards the intrusion, can be ascribed to the advection of meteoric water during magma emplacement, with increasing fluid/rock ratios (higher dyke intensities towards the intrusion acting as fluid-pathways) and higher temperatures promoting increasing exchange during recrystallisatio

The Lore of Low Methane Livestock:Co-Producing Technology and Animals for Reduced Climate Change Impact

Methane emissions from sheep and cattle production have gained increasing profile in the context of climate change. Policy and scientific research communities have suggested a number of technological approaches to mitigate these emissions. This paper uses the concept of co-production as an analytical framework to understand farmers’ evaluation of a 'good animal’. It examines how technology and sheep and beef cattle are co-produced in the context of concerns about the climate change impact of methane. Drawing on 42 semi-structured interviews, this paper demonstrates that methane emissions are viewed as a natural and integral part of sheep and beef cattle by farmers, rather than as a pollutant. Sheep and beef cattle farmers in the UK are found to be an extremely heterogeneous group that need to be understood in their specific social, environmental and consumer contexts. Some are more amenable to appropriating methane reducing measures than others, but largely because animals are already co-constructed from the natural and the technical for reasons of increased production efficiency