Estimating canopy cover from color digital camera image of rice field     

Kyu-Jong Lee  Byun-Woo Lee 《Journal of Crop Science and Biotechnology》2011,14(2):151-155

Canopy cover (CC) is a good predictor variable for plant growth parameters such as leaf area index and aboveground biomass. A nondestructive, low-cost, and convenient method is presented for estimating CC using digital camera image analysis. CC was estimated by the ratio of plant pixels to total pixels of digital camera image of rice field. To determine the criteria for segmenting the rice plant from variable soil background, three mosaic images for rice plant, flooded/bare soil, and algae-infested background were prepared from digital camera images that were taken in various field conditions. An image analysis program was developed in Visual Basic to extract red, green, and blue (RGB) features from the mosaic images, calculate RGB-based color indices, and compute the minimum segmentation error for separating rice plant from background. When judged by the segmentation error, modified excessive green index (MEGI) showed the highest potential for segmenting rice plant from flooded/bare soil background, followed by normalized green (g) and excessive green index (EGI). At the threshold MEGI value of 0.03, the segmentation error was the lowest as 0.13%. Any single index considered was not satisfactory in segmenting rice plant from algae-infested background. However, a discriminant function of 1.2553EGI + 0.01735G − 0.01474B was successful in segmenting rice plant from flooded/bare soil and algaeinfested background with segmentation errors of 0.34 and 1.17%, respectively. CC for four rice varieties from tillering to booting stage was estimated based on the threshold value of MEGI and discriminant function and also manually using commercial software. Both estimates of CC showed good relationship of r² = 0.94, suggesting that a digital camera could be used efficiently for measuring the CC of rice field.  相似文献   

Why invest in minor projects in sub-Saharan Africa? An exploration of the scale economy and diseconomy of irrigation projects     

Hitoshi Fujiie  Atsushi Maruyama  Masako Fujiie  Michiko Takagaki  Douglas J. Merrey  Masao Kikuchi 《Irrigation and Drainage Systems》2011,25(1):39-60

It is well-known that major irrigation projects have a strong scale economy, handicapping irrigation development in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) because of the difficulty in formulating large-scale projects. Using project-level investment cost and performance data of major and minor irrigation projects, this paper examines the causes of the economy of scale phenomenon. We find that strong scale economy exists not only for major but also for minor projects, i.e., small- and micro-scale, projects. This is largely because of the existence of indivisible overhead costs such as high-opportunity-cost human resources for planning, designing and engineering management and supervision. We also find that large differences between major and minor projects in the absolute level of overhead as well as construction costs creates a strong scale diseconomy and results in better performance of minor projects. The advantage of minor projects holds even when their higher risk associated with the water source is taken into consideration. We argue that there is an urgent need to promote irrigation development in SSA through developing minor projects, and to reduce the heavy burden of overhead costs by developing the capacity of human resources at the national, local and farmer levels in the fields of irrigation engineering, irrigation agronomy, institutional development, and micro water management technologies.  相似文献   

Tank performance and multiple uses in Tamil Nadu,South India–comparison of 2 time periods (1996–97 and 2009–10)     

K. Palanisami  Ruth Meinzen-Dick  Mark Giordano  Barbara Van Koppen  C. R. Ranganathan 《Irrigation and Drainage Systems》2011,25(3):121-134

Irrigation tanks in India are common property resources. Tanks provide not only for irrigation, but also forestry, fishing, domestic water supply, livestock, and other uses. Using empirical results from a study of tank performance from 80 tanks in Tamil Nadu, South India in two time period: 1996-97 and 2009-10, this paper evaluates tank irrigation system performance in terms of economic output and revenue generation forirrigation and other uses. The results indicate that irrigation and other productive uses put together raised the total value of output at tank level by 12 % in 1996-97 and just 6 % in 2009-10. This may suggest that tank multiple use values are small and getting smaller, and therefore not worth consideration. However, it was also found that, while declining in absolute terms, non-irrigation uses provided the majority of tax revenues and still more than cover government's operation and maintenance expenditure (O&M) budget. This finding provides another reason to consider multiple use values and their linkage with overall system viability.  相似文献   

Modelling scenarios to identify a combined sediment-water management strategy for the large reservoirs of the Tuyamuyun hydro-complex     

Oliver Olsson  Anatoly Sorokin  Malika Ikramova 《Irrigation and Drainage Systems》2011,25(1):1-18

This paper introduces a combined modelling approach using a simple water budget model (THC-model) and a 3D reservoir sedimentation model (MOHID Water) to adapt reservoir operation and visualise their effects on the sediment deposition. By this, an effective combined sediment-water management can be identified under semi-arid conditions for dry, median and wet years. Results are presented for the reservoirs of the Tuyamuyun Hydro-Complex (THC), which is located in the lower Amu Darya River. The determination of the actual and usable reservoir storage volume shows that siltation will significantly adversely affect the ability of the in-stream Channel Reservoir to regulate seasonal demand for both irrigation and municipal water supply. However, modelling scenarios results confirm the effectiveness of adapted operation rules for the THC reservoirs and show that the operation of large dams could be modified according to a combined sediment-water management. The experience gained during this study emphasizes the fact that the concept of a combined reservoir management of sediments as well as water can be an efficient measure to improve the sustainable long-term use of reservoirs and to contribute towards a safe water supply in water crisis regions.  相似文献   

Mutations in a human ROBO gene disrupt hindbrain axon pathway crossing and morphogenesis     

Jen JC  Chan WM  Bosley TM  Wan J  Carr JR  Rüb U  Shattuck D  Salamon G  Kudo LC  Ou J  Lin DD  Salih MA  Kansu T  Al Dhalaan H  Al Zayed Z  MacDonald DB  Stigsby B  Plaitakis A  Dretakis EK  Gottlob I  Pieh C  Traboulsi EI  Wang Q  Wang L  Andrews C  Yamada K  Demer JL  Karim S  Alger JR  Geschwind DH  Deller T  Sicotte NL  Nelson SF  Baloh RW  Engle EC 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2004,304(5676):1509-1513

The mechanisms controlling axon guidance are of fundamental importance in understanding brain development. Growing corticospinal and somatosensory axons cross the midline in the medulla to reach their targets and thus form the basis of contralateral motor control and sensory input. The motor and sensory projections appeared uncrossed in patients with horizontal gaze palsy with progressive scoliosis (HGPPS). In patients affected with HGPPS, we identified mutations in the ROBO3 gene, which shares homology with roundabout genes important in axon guidance in developing Drosophila, zebrafish, and mouse. Like its murine homolog Rig1/Robo3, but unlike other Robo proteins, ROBO3 is required for hindbrain axon midline crossing.  相似文献   

Federal paper-work explosion: new form bothers universities     

B Nelson 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》1967,156(781):1468-1469

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Heating of basalts with a carbon dioxide laser     

Blander M  Keil K  Nelson LS  Skaggs SR 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》1970,170(3956):435-438

Basalts heated strongly with focused infrared laser radiation vaporized and splattered. Electron microprobe analyses of condensate, ejecta, and residue show strong vapor fractionation trends which, for some elements, are different from what would be expected theoretically and from previously reported data on more siliceous materials. It appears that solution effects can account for these differences. Heating of materials by a powerful focused laser beam for the purpose of study of vapor fractionation is a convenient technique that is more versatile than previous methods such as heating in solar or arc image furnaces.  相似文献   

U. S. Patent System: Commission ecommends Reforms to President     

Nelson B 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》1966,154(3757):1629-1632

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Psychologists: Searching for Social Relevance at APA Meeting     

Nelson B 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》1969,165(3898):1101-1104

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University of Hawaii: Turmoil after President's Surprising Resignation     

Nelson B 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》1968,159(3818):961-963

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