Investigating the effects of inter-annual weather variation (1968- 2016) on the functional response of cereal grain yield to applied nitrogen, using data from the Rothamsted Long-Term experiments

The effect of weather on inter-annual variation in the crop yield response to nitrogen (N) fertilizer for winter wheat (Triticum aestivvum L.) and spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) was investigated using yield data from the Broadbalk Wheat and Hoosfield Spring Barley long-term experiments at Rothamsted Research. Grain yields of crops from 1968 to 2016 were modelled as a function of N rates using a linear-plus-exponential (LEXP) function. The extent to which inter-annual variation in the parameters of these responses was explained by variations in weather (monthly summarized temperatures and rainfall), and by changes in the cultivar grown, was assessed. The inter-annual variability in rainfall and underlying temperature influenced the crop N response and hence grain yields in both crops. Asymptotic yields in wheat were particularly sensitive to mean temperature in November, April and May, and to total rainfall in October, February and June. In spring barley asymptotic yields were sensitive to mean temperature in February and June, and to total rainfall in April to July inclusive and September. The method presented here explores the separation of agronomic and environmental (weather) influences on crop yield over time. Fitting N response curves across multiple treatments can support an informative analysis of the influence of weather variation on the yield variability. Whilst there are issues of the confounding and collinearity of explanatory variables within such models, and that other factors also influence yields over time, our study confirms the considerable impact of weather variables at certain times of the year. This emphasizes the importance of including weather temporal variation when evaluating the impacts of climate change on crops

Experimental identification of the behaviour of and lateral forces from freely-walking pedestrians on laterally oscillating structures in a virtual reality environment

AbstractModelling pedestrian loading on lively structures such as bridges remains a challenge. This is because pedestrians have the capacity to interact with vibrating structures which can lead to amplification of the structural response. Current design guidelines are often inaccurate and limiting as they do not sufficiently acknowledge this effect. This originates in scarcity of data on pedestrian behaviour on vibrating ground and uncertainty as to the accuracy of results from previous experimental campaigns aiming to quantify pedestrian behaviour in this case. To this end, this paper presents a novel experimental setup developed to evaluate pedestrian actions on laterally oscillating ground in the laboratory environment while avoiding the implications of artificiality and allowing for unconstrained gait. A biologically-inspired approach was adopted in its development, relying on appreciation of operational complexities of biological systems, in particular their adaptability and control requirements. In determination of pedestrian forces to the structure consideration was given to signal processing issues which have been neglected in past studies. The results from tests conducted on the setup are related to results from previous experimental investigations and outputs of the inverted pendulum pedestrian model for walking on laterally oscillating ground, which is capable of generating self-excited forces

Equivalent static wind loads on snow-accreted overhead wires

The effects of structural and aerodynamic non-linearity on dynamic wind loads on overhead wires have been investigated. According to the Japanese design standards for transmission structures, wind loads on overhead wires are determined using equivalent static wind loads that can be used to estimate the maximum responses under dynamic loads. Some assumptions of linear theory are necessary to derive the equivalent static wind loads, and they have been validated only in the case of strong winds. To derive equivalent static wind loads in the case of weaker winds for snow-accreted conditions, time history response analyses of overhead wires have been performed. Because the turbulence intensity becomes higher in weaker winds, aerodynamic non-linearity causes the wind loads on the wires to become larger. Furthermore, structural non-linearity causes the tension in the wires to become greater. The contribution of wire resonance to dynamic load increases when the wind speed is low, and the gust response factor becomes greater than the value derived considering only the quasi-static response caused by wind turbulence. Taking into consideration the two major effects of aerodynamic and structural non-linearity, a modified method is proposed to enable the use of a design method based on equivalent static wind loads