Vegetation Earth System Data Record from DSCOVR EPIC Observations: product status and scientific exploration

80NSSC22K0499 - NASA; 80NSSC19K0762 - NASAAccepted manuscrip

Polarization-entangled photon pair sources based on spontaneous four wave mixing assisted by polarization mode dispersion

Photonic-based qubits and integrated photonic circuits have enabled demonstrations of quantum information processing (QIP) that promises to transform the way in which we compute and communicate. To that end, sources of polarization-entangled photon pair states are an important enabling technology, especially for polarization-based protocols. However, such states are difficult to prepare in an integrated photonic circuit. Scalable semiconductor sources typically rely on nonlinear optical effects where polarization mode dispersion (PMD) degrades entanglement. Here, we directly generate polarization-entangled states in an AlGaAs waveguide, aided by the PMD and without any compensation steps. We perform quantum state tomography and report a raw concurrence as high as 0.91$\pm$0.01 observed in the 1100-nm-wide waveguide. The scheme allows direct Bell state generation with an observed maximum fidelity of 0.90$\pm$0.01 from the 800-nm-wide waveguide. Our demonstration paves the way for sources that allow for the implementation of polarization-encoded protocols in large-scale quantum photonic circuits

Estimation of seasonal dynamics of understory NDVI in northern forests using MODIS BRDF data: semi-empirical versus physically-based approach

The spatial and temporal patterns of the forest background reflectance are critically important for retrieving the biophysical parameters of the forest canopy (overstory) and for ecosystem modeling. In this short communication paper, we retrieved the seasonal courses of understory Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from MODIS BRDF data using the semi-empirical and physically-based approach. We compared the satellite-based understory NDVI series to seasonal courses of understory NDVI measured in the forests for three full growing seasons in boreal and hemiboreal sites in Northern Europe. Our results indicated both semi-empirical and physically-based approaches using MODIS BRDF data do have a potential to track seasonal changes in understory NDVI. Differences in the performance between of the two retrieval methods can be expected within the boreal zone depending on the level of forest fragmentation.Peer reviewe

A Systematic Approach to Developing National Technology Policy and Strategy for Emerging technologies

As the pace of global competition increases, a country\u27s competitiveness becomes of greater concern. Technology drives competitiveness and is a crucial factor for economic development in developed and developing economies. This poses a need for governments to be involved in supporting technology research and development in their countries. A government must not only provide support when an emerging technology is being considered, it should also nurture and guide its development. The effective national technology policies and strategies should go beyond merely identifying the critical technologies. This research has developed a systematic and comprehensive approach for policy makers to strategically define the national technology policy for emerging technologies. A hierarchical decision model was built and expert opinions were quantified. There are four levels in the hierarchy: mission, objectives, technological goals, and research strategies. This research has also demonstrated several approaches for the validation and analysis of results. The inconsistency measure, intraclass correlation coefficient, and statistical test for the reliability of the experts and group agreement were used for this purpose. Finally, HDM sensitivity analysis was used to study the robustness of the rankings, especially at the technology level. Change may be caused at this level when the national policies change, which is a relatively common occurrence. The approach developed in this research was applied to the assessment of nanotechnologies for Thailand\u27s agriculture. The seven nanotechnologies such as nanosensors, nanodevices for identity preservation and historical tracking, novel tools, smart treatment delivery system, nanomaterials, nanoparticles, and agro-environment were assessed and evaluated with respect to the national mission, Be the world leader in developing a sustainable food and agricultural-based economy. According to the experts, the top three nanotechnologies supporting Thailand\u27s agricultural development are novel tools (26%), smart treatment delivery systems (24%), and nanosensors (23%). Research strategies supporting specific nanotechnologies were also identified and evaluated. As a result, a ranking of research strategies according to theirs contributions to the overall mission was developed

Pregnancy Outcomes of Parturients with Excessiveweight in Maharat Nakorn Ratchasima Hospital

Objective:To compare the maternal and fetal adverse pregnancy outcomes in parturients with excessive-weight and those with normal weight in Maharat Nakorn Ratchasima Hospital. Design: Retrospective analytic study. Materials and Methods: Data was collected from medical records of 1350 pregnant women, who attended the antenatal care clinic and delivered in Maharat Nakorn Ratchasima Hospital during the first of October 2004 till 30th of September 2006. Body mass index was calculated by using weight at pre-pregnancy period (kg), divided by height (m) squared. The subjects were divided into two groups according to maternal BMI (normal group, BMI 20-24.99 and excessive-weight group, BMI >25). Antenatal complications, intervention during labor, route of delivery, maternal morbidity, birth weight and neonatal outcomes were collected and analyzed. Results:The prevalence of parturients with excessive weight was 16.18% (maternal overweight (BMI 25-29.9) was 11.67% and maternal obesity (BMI >30) was 4.51%). Compared to parturients with normal BMI, the following outcomes were significantly more common in excessive-weight pregnant women (odds ratio (95% confidence interval)): pre-eclampsia 6.99 (3.93-12.44), gestational diabetes mellitus 8.31 (3.22-21.42), preterm delivery 1.53 (1.04-2.27), posterm delivery 1.70 (1.19-2.44), cesarean section 1.33 (1.01-1.75), cephalopelvic disproportion 1.91 (1.32-2.77) and macrosomia 2.61 (1.19-5.74). Conclusion:Parturients with excessive-weight had more significant adverse pregnancy outcomes compared with those with normal weight

A dataset of leaf inclination angles for temperate and boreal broadleaf woody species

International audienceNo abstract availabl

Vegetation earth system data record from DSCOVR EPIC observations,

The NASA's Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) onboard NOAA's Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) mission was launched on February 11, 2015 to the Sun-Earth Lagrangian L1 point where it began to collect radiance data of the entire sunlit Earth every 65 to 110 min in June 2015. It provides imageries in near backscattering directions at ten ultraviolet to near infrared narrow spectral bands. The DSCOVR EPIC science product suite includes vegetation Earth system data record (VESDR) that provides leaf area index (LAI) and diurnal courses of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), sunlit LAI (SLAI), fraction of incident photosynthetically active radiation (FPAR) absorbed by the vegetation and Directional Area Scattering Function (DASF). The parameters at 10-km sinusoidal grid and 65-110 min temporal frequency are generated from the upstream EPIC MAIAC surface reflectance product. The DSCOVR EPIC science team also provides two ancillary science data products derived from 500m MODIS land cover type 3 product: 10 km Land Cover Type and Distribution of Land Cover Types within 10 km EPIC pixel. All products were released on June-7-2018 and publicly available from the NASA Langley Atmospheric Science Data Center (https://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/project/dscovr/dscovr_epic_l2_vesdr_01). This presentation provides an overview of the EPIC VESDR research, which includes descriptions of the algorithm and product, initial assessment of its quality and obtaining new information on vegetation properties from the VESDR product.Accepted manuscrip

Status zaštite i potencijalne ugroženosti šumskih staništa na području ekološke mreže Natura 2000 u Sloveniji

An example of the possible use of selected forest-stand based indicators for evaluation of conservation status was shown in case of the Na­tura 2000 forest habitats of Slovenia, and the potential threats to habitat types were identified. Using the existing forest-management system, and two levels of ICP Forests monitoring as sources of data on the size of habitat, tree composi­tion, developmental phase and stand regeneration, growing stock and incre­ment, dead wood, and level of naturalness of habitat, an attempt of evaluation of the conservation status of the forest habitat types of EU community interest (Habitat Directive 1992, Natura 2000) is presented. In total, the Natura 2000 forest habitat types in Slovenia represent almost one third of all forest area, and the prevailing forest habitat types are Illyrian Fagus sylvaticaforests, Luzulo-Fagetumbeech forests and Illyrian oak-horn­beam forests. Considering the direct influences of human activities and poten­tial effects of climate change the floodplain and lowland forests of Alluvial forests with Alnus glutinosaandFraxinus excelsior, Riparian mixed forests of Quercus roburand other broadleaves, as well as Illyrian oak-hornbeam forest, are among the most threatened forest habitat types. Taking into account the small area of habitat type and the set of different threats, the priority habitat types of Tilio-Acerionforests of slopes, screes and ravines, (Sub-) Mediterra­nean pine forests and Bog woodland are also endangered. Despite the large number of factors threatening the Slovenian forests, the high level of studied parameters indicates the favourable conservation status of forest habitat types. However, the additional focus on the EU priority habitat types and on rare habitat types on the national level has been suggested to im­prove the existing forest management planning system, and additional forest-re­levant indicators specific to particular habitat types have to be incorporated in the system.NATURA 2000 je jedinstvena ekološka mreža, koja obuhvaća područja važna za očuvanje ugroženih vrsta i stanišnih tipova Europske Unije. Određena je u skladu s EU Direktivom o staništima (Anonymous 1992b) te EU Direktivom o pticama (Anonymous 1979) s ciljem očuvanja bio­loške raznolikosti na europskom teritoriju. EU Direktiva o staništima (Anony­mous 1992b) preporučuje procjenu statusa zaštite tipova staništa unutar područja NATURA 2000. Za procjenu statusa zaštite potrebno je izabrati pri­mjeren skup pokazatelja, koji su već usklađeni unutar država EU. Međutim, zajednički standard za nadgledanje i kontrolu staništa nije još bio usklađen na EU razini (Cantarello i Newton 2008), tako da su pojedine države članice usvojile različite pristupe i pokazatelje (Anonymous 2004, Ellmauer 2005, Groom 2007). Sustav upravljanja šumama prepoznat je kao mogući način za nadgledanje i kontrolu staništa u širem smislu (Goldsmith 1991, Corona et al. 2004, Marc­hetti 2004a). Na temelju tih načela, način upravljanja šumama u Sloveniji može poslužiti kao dragocjeno oruđe za očuvanje šumskih ekosustava i stani­šnih tipova (Golob 2006, Kepic i Fučka 2006) na područjima ekološke mreže NATURA 2000 (Anonymous 1992b). Za većinu je indikatora, koji su relevan­tni za procjenu statusa zaštite stanišnih tipova, (Golob 2006) utvrđeno da su oduvijek bili sastavni dio tradicionalnog sustava upravljanja šumama, bez obzira na vlasništvo. Veći dio njih također je naveden u popisu MCPFE (Ano­nymous 2002, 2007c). Ciljeve istraživanja postavili smo uzevši u obzir dvije razine nadzora i kon­trole upravljanja šumama u Sloveniji (inventura šuma, dvije razine “ICP Fo­rests” monitoringa): a) ocijeniti skup pokazatelja staništa na području ekološke mreže NATURA 2000 te osigurati standarde budućeg upravljanja tih staništa, b) identificirati moguće prijetnje opstanka određenog tipa staništa c) na temelju pokazatelja i ugroženosti, ocijeniti stanje šumskih stanišnih ti­pova u skladu s Direktivom o staništima te predložiti moguće prilagodbe po­stojećeg sustava upravljanja šumama za područja stanišnih tipova ekološke mreže NATURA 2000. Upotrijebljeni su podaci o površini staništa, vrstama drveća, razvojnim stadijima sastojina i pomladku, drvnoj zalihi, prirastu, mrtvom drveću i stup­nju prirodnosti šuma. Šumski tipovi staništa NATURA 2000 u Sloveniji predstavljaju skoro trećinu cjelokupne površine šuma. Glavni šumski tipovi staništa su 91K0 Ilirske šume bukve (Fagus sylvatica), 9110 Šume bukve na staništu Luzulo-Fagetumte 91L0 Ilirske šume hrasta i bjelograbića. Udio manjih stanišnih tipova, na pri­mjer 9180* Tilio-Acerion šume velikih nagiba i klanaca, 91D0* Cretne šume na sfagnumskom cretu, i 9530* Sub-mediteranske šume crnog bora, ne prelazi 0,3 % ukupne površine svih stanišnih tipova. (Tablica 2). Prosječna drvna zaliha po tipovima staništa iznosi od 84 m3/ha (tip 4070*) do 331 m3m3/ha (tip 9410). Srednja vrijednost volumena mrtvog drveta iznosi 11,4 m3po hektaru, od 0,6% do 13,2 % od drvne zalihe po tipu staništa (Ta­blica 2). Na plohama ICP monitoringa utvrdili smo visok stupanj različitih vrsta drveća i grmlja: zajedno smo utvrdili 102 drvenastih biljaka, od toga 46 različitih vrsta drveća. Uzevši u obzir neposredan utjecaj ljudskih aktivnosti te potencijalni uči­nak klimatskih promjena, možemo reći da su poplavne i nizinske šume johe (Alnus glutinosa) i velikog jasena (Fraxinus excelsior), mješovite šume hrasta (Quercus robur) i ostale bjelogorice na riječnim obalama, kao i ilirske šume hrasta i bjelograbića, među najugroženijima unutar tipova staništa NATURA 2000. Uzevši u obzir malu površinu tipova staništa te različite uzroke ugrože­nosti, ocjenjujemo da su najugroženija i prioritetna staništa Tilio-Acerion šuma velikih nagiba i klanaca, Sub-mediteranskih šuma crnog bora i cretnih šuma (Tablica 4 i 5). Unatoč velikom broju različitih čimbenika koji ugrožavaju slovenske šume, velik je broj istraženih parametara pokazao povoljan status očuvanja šumskih tipova staništa. U Sloveniji je udio šuma (te njihova drvna zaliha) relativno velik, njihov rast traje već desetljećima (Perko 2004, Anonymous 2005, Lesnik and Matijašić 2006). Očuvane šume s niskim postotkom stranih vrsta drveća predstavljaju 74 % svih šuma na području ekološke mreže NATURA 2000, a udio takvih šuma još je veći kod dominantnog tipa 91K0 Ilirske bukove šume. Usporedba raznolikosti vrsta drveća na plohama Razine I i Razine II sa stanjem biološke raznolikosti drugih zemalja, koje također sudjeluju u pro­gramu intenzivnog nadzora/motrenja (Dobremez et al. 1997, de Vries et al. 2003b, Fabiánek 2004, Seidling 2005, Soriano et al. 2005) te koriste istu ICP Forests metodologiju (Anonymous 1985, de Vries et al. 2003a), pokazala je veliku raznolikost vrsta slovenskih šumskih staništa. Ipak, procjena parametara šumskih sastojina kod ocjene statusa sloven­skih šumskim staništa, otkrila je određene slabe točke. Uzevši u obzir odre­đene probleme kartiranja i klasifikacije (npr. upravljanje nekih staništa je neprimjereno, neki tipovi staništa nisu dobro definirani), procjene nekih para­metara mogu biti pristrane. Sa tog stajališta, predlažemo dodatna istraživanja tipova staništa, koji su na prioritetnoj listi EU (e.g. 9180*, 91D0*, 4070*) te onih koji su važni s na­cio nalnog stajališta (e.g. 9340, 91F0), sve u smislu poboljšanja sustava uprav ljanja šumama. Sustav upravljanja šumama je u Sloveniji usmjeren u očuvanje šumskih ti­pova staništa. Unatoč tomu, smatramo da ga je potrebno poboljšati na način da aktivno reagiramo na sve prijeteće negativne čimbenike u smislu očuvanja staništa. Zbog toga je potrebno definirati nove pokazatelje nadzora, posebno za svaki šumski tip staništa, te ih uključiti u sustav upravljanja šumama. Neki od tih pokazatelja (npr. ugroženost) moraju biti uključeni u inventuru šuma u Sloveniji