Understanding citizen science and environmental monitoring: final report on behalf of UK Environmental Observation Framework

Citizen science can broadly be defined as the involvement of volunteers in science. Over the past decade there has been a rapid increase in the number of citizen science initiatives. The breadth of environmental-based citizen science is immense. Citizen scientists have surveyed for and monitored a broad range of taxa, and also contributed data on weather and habitats reflecting an increase in engagement with a diverse range of observational science. Citizen science has taken many varied approaches from citizen-led (co-created) projects with local community groups to, more commonly, scientist-led mass participation initiatives that are open to all sectors of society. Citizen science provides an indispensable means of combining environmental research with environmental education and wildlife recording. Here we provide a synthesis of extant citizen science projects using a novel cross-cutting approach to objectively assess understanding of citizen science and environmental monitoring including: 1. Brief overview of knowledge on the motivations of volunteers. 2. Semi-systematic review of environmental citizen science projects in order to understand the variety of extant citizen science projects. 3. Collation of detailed case studies on a selection of projects to complement the semi-systematic review. 4. Structured interviews with users of citizen science and environmental monitoring data focussing on policy, in order to more fully understand how citizen science can fit into policy needs. 5. Review of technology in citizen science and an exploration of future opportunities

Pullback permanence in a non-autonomous competitive Lotka–Volterra model

AbstractThe goal of this work is to study in some detail the asymptotic behaviour of a non-autonomous Lotka–Volterra model, both in the conventional sense (as t→∞) and in the “pullback” sense (starting a fixed initial condition further and further back in time). The non-autonomous terms in our model are chosen such that one species will eventually die out, ruling out any conventional type of permanence. In contrast, we introduce the notion of “pullback permanence” and show that this property is enjoyed by our model. This is not just a mathematical artifice, but rather shows that if we come across an ecology that has been evolving for a very long time we still expect that both species are represented (and their numbers are bounded below), even if the final fate of one of them is less happy. The main tools in the paper are the theory of attractors for non-autonomous differential equations, the sub-supersolution method and the spectral theory for linear elliptic equations

Use of variational techniques for the estimation of neutron detection efficiency

The neutron detection efficiency is a parameter required in the measurement of reactivity by the modified source technique. The direct solution of the detection efficiency at a perturbed state is costly. To solve for this, a particular variational functional, the Lewins' type variational functional, is presented. The functional is a ratio of two other functionals, each dealing with a reaction rate. The evaluation of this particular functional was done by treating the numerator and the denominator functionals separately. This leads to three flux equations, one for forward flux, and two for adjoint fluxes. The advantages of this formulation over, and the equivalence of this formulation to, the conventional functional presented in the literature are described in detail. The flexibility of the proposed functional is demonstrated by using it to estimate the detection efficiency with four different methods: variational interpolation, conventional variational, variational extrapolation, and multi- reference-state variational. Results are presented for one-dimensional and two- dimensional problems. All results are compared with direct calculations. In all cases, the results show that the variational interpolational method and the multi- reference-state variational method are efficient and practically acceptable

Galois theory and Lubin-Tate cochains on classifying spaces

We consider brave new cochain extensions F(BG +,R) → F(EG +,R), where R is either a Lubin-Tate spectrum E n or the related 2-periodic Morava K-theory K n , and G is a finite group. When R is an Eilenberg-Mac Lane spectrum, in some good cases such an extension is a G-Galois extension in the sense of John Rognes, but not always faithful. We prove that for E n and K n these extensions are always faithful in the K n local category. However, for a cyclic p-group C p r, the cochain extension F(BC p r +,E n ) → F(EC p r +, E n ) is not a Galois extension because it ramifies. As a consequence, it follows that the E n -theory Eilenberg-Moore spectral sequence for G and BG does not always converge to its expected target

Simulations of neutron background in a time projection chamber relevant to dark matter searches

Presented here are results of simulations of neutron background performed for a time projection chamber acting as a particle dark matter detector in an underground laboratory. The investigated background includes neutrons from rock and detector components, generated via spontaneous fission and (alpha, n) reactions, as well as those due to cosmic-ray muons. Neutrons were propagated to the sensitive volume of the detector and the nuclear recoil spectra were calculated. Methods of neutron background suppression were also examined and limitations to the sensitivity of a gaseous dark matter detector are discussed. Results indicate that neutrons should not limit sensitivity to WIMP-nucleon interactions down to a level of (1 - 3) x 10^{-8} pb in a 10 kg detector.Comment: 27 pages (total, including 3 tables and 11 figures). Accepted for publication in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research - Section

Neutron background in large-scale xenon detectors for dark matter searches

Simulations of the neutron background for future large-scale particle dark matter detectors are presented. Neutrons were generated in rock and detector elements via spontaneous fission and (alpha,n) reactions, and by cosmic-ray muons. The simulation techniques and results are discussed in the context of the expected sensitivity of a generic liquid xenon dark matter detector. Methods of neutron background suppression are investigated. A sensitivity of $10^{-9}-10^{-10}$ pb to WIMP-nucleon interactions can be achieved by a tonne-scale detector.Comment: 35 pages, 13 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physic

Further constraints on electron acceleration in solar noise storms

We reexamine the energetics of nonthermal electron acceleration in solar noise storms. A new result is obtained for the minimum nonthermal electron number density required to produce a Langmuir wave population of sufficient intensity to power the noise storm emission. We combine this constraint with the stochastic electron acceleration formalism developed by Subramanian & Becker (2005) to derive a rigorous estimate for the efficiency of the overall noise storm emission process, beginning with nonthermal electron acceleration and culminating in the observed radiation. We also calculate separate efficiencies for the electron acceleration -- Langmuir wave generation stage and the Langmuir wave -- noise storm production stage. In addition, we obtain a new theoretical estimate for the energy density of the Langmuir waves in noise storm continuum sources.Comment: Accepted for publication in Solar Physic