Report on Centenary Activities - 1994

Background The Department of Agriculture\u27s Centenary activities in 1994 had two main audiences in mind. One was the genera] public, for which the Centenary year provided an excellent opportunity for publicity, for example, Here we are- this is what we do for the continuing advancement and protection of agriculture in Western Australia and (linked with the historical side of the Centenary) Here are some of the significant steps and breakthroughs achieved by the Department over the years . The second main audience was the Department\u27s staff. The Centenary provided a focus for staff to consider the origins, nature and role of their employer, an opportunity to enhance esprit de corps, and (as part of that) an opportunity to come together socially

100 years of advancing agriculture

As the Department of Agriculture\u27s centenary year draws to a close, we look back at the pioneering agriculture of 100 years ago and those things that shaped our forerunner, the fledgling Bureau of Agriculture

An evaluation of LiDAR and optical satellite data for the measurement of structural attributes in British upland conifer plantation forestry

This study evaluates the ability of LiDAR, IKONOS and Landsat ETM+ data to provide estimates of forest structure in British upland conifer plantations. Little use has so far been made of these technologies in the UK, whereas in some other countries remote sensing has become integral to forest management systems. The aim of this thesis is to demonstrate the application of the selected remote sensing systems to provide up-to- date and accurate information on key forest variables such as tree height, volume and density. Two upland conifer areas, located in south-west Scotland and north-east England, were used to develop and validate the regression models used to estimate these forest variables. The ability of LiDAR to provide an accurate measurement of the ground and canopy surfaces was investigated in densely stocked plantations, typical for commercial forestry in the U.K. The results show that, despite the dense nature of the forest canopy, sufficient laser pulses penetrate through to the ground to generate an accurate Digital Terrain Model (DTM). Provided that the ground surface is accurately defined, a point density of 2 returns/m(^2) will enable measurement of tree height to be made. LiDAR-derived top heights were found to be as accurate as field-based measurements (RMSE of 0.57 m). LiDAR-derived top height is easily integrated with established Forestry Commission models to provide volume estimations. Tree density is not accurately estimated using LiDAR data (RMSE of 434 trees/ha). Results strongly suggest that predictive equations developed for top height can be transferred to other conifer forests. Furthermore, the relationship between field-measured top height and laser-derived top height appears to be stable across different conifer species. LiDAR data can be used to identify tree species in pure and mixed stands. Two methods were developed: the first used summary measures based on the laser height distribution and the second the near infrared intensity. These measures when mapped spatially can be used to classify areas by species and to identify areas of anomalous growth and wind damage. At a larger spatial scale. Landsat ETM+ and IKONOS data can provide height estimates up to the point of canopy closure (approximately 10 m). LiDAR-derived height can be used in place of field-based measurements to drive reflectance-based models to estimate height from optical satellite data. The methods developed are transferable to other conifer forests that are managed in a similar way. The results from this thesis show that LİDAR, IKONOS and Landsat ETM+ data provide valuable and complementary information at a_ range of scales and can assist managers to make more informed resource management decisions

Promoting cohesion, challenging expectations: educating the teachers of tomorrow for race equality and diversity in 21st century schools

Survey evidence suggests that newly qualified teachers tend to feel relatively ill-prepared to engage with pupils of BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) heritage or to respond to potentially challenging issues related to race equality in schools. Of key concern is how the teaching work force - predominantly white, monolingual, female and middle class - can be enabled to be more effective and culturally competent in teaching an increasingly diverse pupil population in terms of ethnicity, culture, language and economics. Preparing teachers to support schools’ role in promoting social cohesion remains of vital relevance in a period of increasing austerity and social change. A research team from the University of Edinburgh and Manchester Metropolitan University interviewed 31 lecturers involved in teacher education in Scotland and England, to find out how they are dealing with race equality issues

Restoration of a brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) population to Loch Enoch, an acified Loch in Galloway, South-West Scotland

The authors present the findings of a restoration project in Loch Enoch in Scotland. There are historical references that brown trout was present in Loch Enoch up to the 1920s but it is believed the acidity of loch triggered the disappearance of Salmo trutta. The recent observed reduction in the acidity of L. Enoch to a level close to that found in nearby lochs with trout populations, suggested that trout might now survive in L. Enoch. For a population to survive, all stages in the life-cycle of a species must be able to develop. Accordingly, tests were undertaken, first with eggs and fry. The availability of food was also studied. In October 1994, 3,000 yearling trout of L. Grannoch origin which had been reared in a local hatchery were distributed throughout the loch. The fish population was studied from 1995-98. The authors conclude that survival of the trout population is possible if the acidity of the loch water remains low

Communications embracing new technologies

The global trend in information delivery has been to electronic publications on disc, CD-Rom and the internet. Peter Watt and Tony Kubicki report on a survey of farmer preferences for receiving informationn, and describe Agriculture Western Australia\u27s new electronic communication packages

Mechatronics & the cloud

Conventionally, the engineering design process has assumed that the design team is able to exercise control over all elements of the design, either directly or indirectly in the case of sub-systems through their specifications. The introduction of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) and the Internet of Things (IoT) means that a design team’s ability to have control over all elements of a system is no longer the case, particularly as the actual system configuration may well be being dynamically reconfigured in real-time according to user (and vendor) context and need. Additionally, the integration of the Internet of Things with elements of Big Data means that information becomes a commodity to be autonomously traded by and between systems, again according to context and need, all of which has implications for the privacy of system users. The paper therefore considers the relationship between mechatronics and cloud-basedtechnologies in relation to issues such as the distribution of functionality and user privacy

Privacy matters:issues within mechatronics

As mechatronic devices and components become increasingly integrated with and within wider systems concepts such as Cyber-Physical Systems and the Internet of Things, designer engineers are faced with new sets of challenges in areas such as privacy. The paper looks at the current, and potential future, of privacy legislation, regulations and standards and considers how these are likely to impact on the way in which mechatronics is perceived and viewed. The emphasis is not therefore on technical issues, though these are brought into consideration where relevant, but on the soft, or human centred, issues associated with achieving user privacy

Shock compression of single-crystal forsterite

Dynamic compression results are reported for single-crystal forsterite loaded along the orthorhombic a and c axes to pressures from 130 to 165 GPa. Hugoniot states for the two axes are well described by a single curve offset to densities 0.15–0.20 g/cm^3 lower than earlier data for single-crystal forsterite shocked along the b axis above 100 GPa. Earlier data of Syono et al. [1981a] show marginal support for similar b-axis behavior in the mixed-phase region from 50 to 92 GPa. Thus shocked forsterite is most compressible in the b direction for the mixed-phase and high-pressure regimes (P > 50 GPa). These data represent the highest pressures for which shock properties have been observed to depend on crystal orientation. Theoretical Hugoniots for mixed-oxide and perovskite-structure high-pressure assemblages of forsterite calculated from recent experimental data are virtually identical and agree with the b-axis data. The a- and c-axis data are also consistent with both high-pressure assemblages because uncertainties in equation of state parameters produce a broad range of computed Hugoniots. Our calculated “average” Hugoniot is up to 0.13 g/cm^3 less dense than the preferred theoretical Hugoniots, in agreement with earlier measurements on dense polycrystalline forsterite. Interpolation between the single-crystal forsterite Hugoniots and Hugoniots for fayalite and Fo_(45) gives Fo_(88) Hugoniots bracketing Twin Sisters dunite data not previously well fit by systematics. Release paths are steep for the a and b axes but c-axis release paths are much shallower. Hugoniot elastic limits measured for the a and b axes are in good agreement with previous data of Syono et al.; however, the present data for the a axis reveal a triple wave structure: two deformational shock waves as well as the elastic shock, a feature not previously found. The second shock, with amplitude about 9 GPa and a shock temperature of about 350°K, could perhaps be explained by the forsterite α→β or γ phase transformation