A preliminary study of the statistical analyses and sampling strategies associated with the integration of remote sensing capabilities into the current agricultural crop forecasting system

Extending the crop survey application of remote sensing from small experimental regions to state and national levels requires that a sample of agricultural fields be chosen for remote sensing of crop acreage, and that a statistical estimate be formulated with measurable characteristics. The critical requirements for the success of the application are reviewed in this report. The problem of sampling in the presence of cloud cover is discussed. Integration of remotely sensed information about crops into current agricultural crop forecasting systems is treated on the basis of the USDA multiple frame survey concepts, with an assumed addition of a new frame derived from remote sensing. Evolution of a crop forecasting system which utilizes LANDSAT and future remote sensing systems is projected for the 1975-1990 time frame

Calcium-Rich Gap Transients: Tidal Detonations of White Dwarfs?

We hypothesize that at least some of the recently discovered class of calcium-rich gap transients are tidal detonation events of white dwarfs (WDs) by black holes (BHs) or possibly neutron stars. We show that the properties of the calcium-rich gap transients agree well with the predictions of the tidal detonation model. Under the predictions of this model, we use a follow-up X-ray observation of one of these transients, SN 2012hn, to place weak upper limits on the detonator mass of this system that include all intermediate-mass BHs (IMBHs). As these transients are preferentially in the stellar haloes of galaxies, we discuss the possibility that these transients are tidal detonations of WDs caused by random flyby encounters with IMBHs in dwarf galaxies or globular clusters. This possibility has been already suggested in the literature but without connection to the calcium-rich gap transients. In order for the random flyby cross-section to be high enough, these events would have to be occurring inside these dense stellar associations. However, there is a lack of evidence for IMBHs in these systems, and recent observations have ruled out all but the very faintest dwarf galaxies and globular clusters for a few of these transients. Another possibility is that these are tidal detonations caused by three-body interactions, where a WD is perturbed toward the detonator in isolated multiple star systems. We highlight a number of ways this could occur, even in lower-mass systems with stellar-mass BHs or neutron stars. Finally, we outline several new observational tests of this scenario, which are feasible with current instrumentation.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in MNRA

Deep imaging of Eridanus II and its lone star cluster

We present deep imaging of the most distant dwarf discovered by the Dark Energy Survey, Eridanus II (Eri II). Our Magellan/Megacam stellar photometry reaches $\sim$$3$ mag deeper than previous work, and allows us to confirm the presence of a stellar cluster whose position is consistent with Eri II's center. This makes Eri II, at $M_V=-7.1$, the least luminous galaxy known to host a (possibly central) cluster. The cluster is partially resolved, and at $M_V=-3.5$ it accounts for $\sim$$4\%$ of Eri II's luminosity. We derive updated structural parameters for Eri II, which has a half-light radius of $\sim$$280$ pc and is elongated ($\epsilon$$\sim$$0.48$), at a measured distance of $D$$\sim$$370$ kpc. The color-magnitude diagram displays a blue, extended horizontal branch, as well as a less populated red horizontal branch. A central concentration of stars brighter than the old main sequence turnoff hints at a possible intermediate-age ($\sim$$3$ Gyr) population; alternatively, these sources could be blue straggler stars. A deep Green Bank Telescope observation of Eri II reveals no associated atomic gas.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures; ApJL accepte

Antlia B: A faint dwarf galaxy member of the NGC 3109 association

We report the discovery of Antlia B, a faint dwarf galaxy at a projected distance of $\sim$72 kpc from NGC 3109 ($M_{V}$$\sim$$-$15 mag), the primary galaxy of the NGC 3109 dwarf association at the edge of the Local Group. The tip of the red giant branch distance to Antlia B is $D$=1.29$\pm$0.10 Mpc, which is consistent with the distance to NGC 3109. A qualitative analysis indicates the new dwarf's stellar population has both an old, metal poor red giant branch ($\gtrsim$10 Gyr, [Fe/H]$\sim$$-$2), and a younger blue population with an age of $\sim$200-400 Myr, analogous to the original Antlia dwarf, another likely satellite of NGC 3109. Antlia B has \ion{H}{1} gas at a velocity of $v_{helio,HI}$=376 km s$^{-1}$, confirming the association with NGC 3109 ($v_{helio}$=403 km s$^{-1}$). The HI gas mass (M$_{HI}$=2.8$\pm$0.2$\times$10$^{5}$ M$_{\odot}$), stellar luminosity ($M_{V}$=$-$9.7$\pm$0.6 mag) and half light radius ($r_{h}$=273$\pm$29 pc) are all consistent with the properties of dwarf irregular and dwarf spheroidal galaxies in the Local Volume, and is most similar to the Leo P dwarf galaxy. The discovery of Antlia B is the initial result from a Dark Energy Camera survey for halo substructure and faint dwarf companions to NGC 3109 with the goal of comparing observed substructure with expectations from the $\Lambda$+Cold Dark Matter model in the sub-Milky Way regime.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures. Submitted to ApJ

Processing techniques development

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

The value of personal information in online markets with endogenous privacy

We investigate the effects of price discrimination on prices, profits, and consumer surplus when (a) at least one competing firm can use consumers’ private information to price discriminate yet (b) consumers can prevent such use by paying a “privacy cost.” Unlike a monopolist, competing duopolists do not always benefit from a higher privacy cost because each firm’s profit decreases—and consumer surplus increases—with that cost. Under such competition, the optimal strategy for an owner of consumer data that sells information in a single block is selling to only one firm, thereby maximizing the stakes for rival buyers. The resulting inefficiencies imply that policy makers should devote more attention to discouraging exclusivity deals and less to ensuring that consumers can easily protect their privacy

United States benefits of improved worldwide wheat crop information from a LANDSAT system

The value of worldwide information improvements on wheat crops, promised by LANDSAT, is measured in the context of world wheat markets. These benefits are based on current LANDSAT technical goals and assume that information is made available to all (United States and other countries) at the same time. A detailed empirical sample demonstration of the effect of improved information is given; the history of wheat commodity prices for 1971-72 is reconstructed and the price changes from improved vs. historical information are compared. The improved crop forecasting from a LANDSAT system assumed include wheat crop estimates of 90 percent accuracy for each major wheat producing region. Accurate, objective worldwide wheat crop information using space systems may have a very stabilizing influence on world commodity markets, in part making possible the establishment of long-term, stable trade relationships

Direct observation of size scaling and elastic interaction between nano-scale defects in collision cascades

Using in-situ transmission electron microscopy, we have directly observed nano-scale defects formed in ultra-high purity tungsten by low-dose high energy self-ion irradiation at 30K. At cryogenic temperature lattice defects have reduced mobility, so these microscope observations offer a window on the initial, primary damage caused by individual collision cascade events. Electron microscope images provide direct evidence for a power-law size distribution of nano-scale defects formed in high-energy cascades, with an upper size limit independent of the incident ion energy, as predicted by Sand et al. [Eur. Phys. Lett., 103:46003, (2013)]. Furthermore, the analysis of pair distribution functions of defects observed in the micrographs shows significant intra-cascade spatial correlations consistent with strong elastic interaction between the defects