The agricultural impact of the 2015–2016 floods in Ireland as mapped through Sentinel 1 satellite imagery

peer-reviewedIrish Journal of Agricultural and Food Research | Volume 58: Issue 1 The agricultural impact of the 2015–2016 floods in Ireland as mapped through Sentinel 1 satellite imagery R. O’Haraemail , S. Green and T. McCarthy DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ijafr-2019-0006 | Published online: 11 Oct 2019 PDF Abstract Article PDF References Recommendations Abstract The capability of Sentinel 1 C-band (5 cm wavelength) synthetic aperture radio detection and ranging (RADAR) (abbreviated as SAR) for flood mapping is demonstrated, and this approach is used to map the extent of the extensive floods that occurred throughout the Republic of Ireland in the winter of 2015–2016. Thirty-three Sentinel 1 images were used to map the area and duration of floods over a 6-mo period from November 2015 to April 2016. Flood maps for 11 separate dates charted the development and persistence of floods nationally. The maximum flood extent during this period was estimated to be ~24,356 ha. The depth of rainfall influenced the magnitude of flood in the preceding 5 d and over more extended periods to a lesser degree. Reduced photosynthetic activity on farms affected by flooding was observed in Landsat 8 vegetation index difference images compared to the previous spring. The accuracy of the flood map was assessed against reports of flooding from affected farms, as well as other satellite-derived maps from Copernicus Emergency Management Service and Sentinel 2. Monte Carlo simulated elevation data (20 m resolution, 2.5 m root mean square error [RMSE]) were used to estimate the flood’s depth and volume. Although the modelled flood height showed a strong correlation with the measured river heights, differences of several metres were observed. Future mapping strategies are discussed, which include high–temporal-resolution soil moisture data, as part of an integrated multisensor approach to flood response over a range of spatial scales

Material Food Probes:Personalized 3D Printed Flavors for Intimate Communication

Interactions with food are complex, integrating rich multisensory experiences within emotionally meaningful social contexts. Yet, the opportunities to explore food as material resource for emotional communication have been less explored. We describe a two-month project with 5 couples centered on the co-design of personalized flavors for intimate communication, which were experienced through an explorative three day study involving a 3D food printer in participants’ homes. We discuss the value of our findings indicating preferences for both remembered and imagined positive flavors and their integration in focal intimacy practices to support emotional coregulation. We also discuss material food probes and their value for exploring and inspiring both design-with and design-around food

Designing for human-food interaction: An introduction to the special issue on 'food and interaction design' [Editorial]

With this special issue, we draw attention to the growing and diverse field of HCI researchers exploring the interstices of food, technology and everyday practices. This special issue builds on the CHI workshop of the same name (Comber et al., 2012a), where we brought together the community of researchers that take food as a point from which to understand people and design technology. The workshop aimed to ‘to attend to the practical and theoretical difficulties in designing for human–food interactions in everyday life’ identifying four thematic areas of food practices – health and wellbeing; sustainability; food experiences; and alternative food cultures. These practical and theoretical difficulties are evident in the papers that we present here, though the distinction between our four themes, premised by complexities of food practices, is a little less evident. Thus, in the papers that follow we explore how the social, technological, cultural and methodological intertwine in the field of human–food interaction

Marine mammals and debris in coastal waters of British Columbia, Canada

Entanglement in and ingestion of synthetic marine debris is increasingly recognized worldwide as an important stressor for marine wildlife, including marine mammals. Studying its impact on wildlife populations is complicated by the inherently cryptic nature of the problem. The coastal waters of British Columbia (BC), Canada provide important habitat for marine mammal species, many of which have unfavorable conservation status in the US and Canada. As a priority-setting exercise, we used data from systematic line-transect surveys and spatial modeling methods to map at-sea distribution of debris and 11 marine mammal species in BC waters, and to identify areas of overlap. We estimated abundance of 36,000 (CIs: 23,000-56,600) pieces of marine debris in the region. Areas of overlap were often far removed from urban centers, suggesting that the extent of marine mammal-debris interactions would be underestimated from opportunistic sightings and stranding records, and that high-overlap areas should be prioritized by stranding response networks. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.</p

Fatigue behavior of bainitic and martensitic super clean Cr–Si high strength steels.

This study compares the fatigue behavior of quenched/tempered and austempered super clean Cr–Si high strength steels (HSS). The microstructure of the quenched and tempered steel consisted of tempered martensite and that of the austempered steel, predominantly lower bainite. Steel samples that were given the two types of heat treatments were fatigue tested in the high cycle fatigue (HCF) regime (105 < Nf < 107) and just entering the very high cycle fatigue (VHCF) regime (Nf > 107). Fatigue crack initiation and propagation modes in samples given the two types of heat treatments were similar. However, those with the lower bainite structure performed better at the highest stress amplitude (500 MPa) used in the study and this was measured in terms of total fatigue life. At lower stress levels (475 MPa and 450 MPa) the total fatigue life of both samples tended to be similar

TableTalk: Integrating personal devices and content for commensal experiences at the family dinner table

This paper joins the ubiquitous computing scholarship that investigates the use of technologies in collocated shared settings like family mealtime. Family mealtimes are an important site for fostering togetherness, sharing everyday experiences, and nurturing familial ties. While technologies, especially television and personal devices are often criticized for disrupting the social aspects of mealtimes, they are widely available and commonly used nevertheless. In this paper, we explore this tension and present a novel system <i>TableTalk</i>, which transforms personal devices into a communal shared display on the table to enrich mealtime interactions and experience. Our field study shows that <i>TableTalk</i> does not undermine togetherness, but supports familial expectations and experiences by stimulating conversation, reminiscing, bonding, education, and socializing. We discuss how technology that is sensitive to the needs of family interactions can augment the commensal experience and reflect on design choices and opportunities that contribute, rather than disrupt, family mealtimes

A Bayesian analysis of stock return volatility and trading volume

The relationship between stock return volatility and trading volume is analysed by using the modified mixture model (MMM) framework proposed by Andersen (1996). This theory postulates that price changes and volumes are driven by a common latent information process, which is commonly interpreted as the volatility. Using GMM estimation Andersen finds that the persistence in this latent process falls when a bivariate model of returns and volume, i.e. the MMM, is estimated instead of a univariate model for returns. This empirical finding is inconsistent with the MMM. As opposed to Andersen's study we apply recently developed simulation techniques based on Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC). A clear advantage of MCMC methods is that estimates of volatility are readily available for use in, for example, dynamic portfolio allocation and option pricing applications. Using Andersen's data for IBM we find that the persistence of volatility remains high in the bivariate case. This suggests that the choice of the estimation technique could be important in testing the validity of the MMM.