A rice yield estimation system was developed based on the crop growth model ORYZA and SAR-derived key information such as start of season (SOS) and leaf area growth rate. Results from study sites in ...South and South-east Asian countries suggest that incorporating remote sensing data, specifically Synthetic aperture radar (SAR), into a process-based crop model improves the spatial distribution of yield estimates. This article highlights the detailed methodology of SAR data incorporation into crop yield simulation and comprehensive validation of yield forecast and estimates in the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Tamil Nadu, India. Remote sensing data assimilation into a crop model effectively captures the responses of rice crops to environmental conditions over large spatial coverage, which otherwise is practically impossible to achieve. A process-based crop simulation model is used in the system to ensure that climate information is captured, and this provides the capacity to deliver a mid-season yield forecast for national planning and policy for rice. Good agreement between SAR-based yield and crop-cut-based yield and official yield statistics and ensuring efficiency of the processing suggest that the system is a promising solution for the needed timely information on rice yield for application in food security and policies, climate disaster management, and crop insurance programs.
Dental plaque biofilms are the causative agents of caries, gingivitis and periodontitis. Both mechanical and chemical strategies are used in routine oral hygiene strategies to reduce plaque build-up. ...If allowed to mature biofilms can create anoxic microenvironments leading to communities which harbor pathogenic Gram-negative anaerobes. When subjected to high velocity fluid jets and sprays biofilms can be fluidized which disrupts the biofilm structure and allows the more efficient delivery of antimicrobial agents.
To investigate how such jets may disrupt anoxic niches in the biofilm, we used planar optodes to measure the dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration at the base of in-vitro biofilms grown from human saliva and dental plaque. These biofilms were subject to "shooting" treatments with a commercial high velocity microspray (HVM) device.
HVM treatment resulted in removal of much of the biofilm and a concurrent rapid shift from anoxic to oxic conditions at the base of the surrounding biofilm. We also assessed the impact of HVM treatment on the microbial community by tracking 7 target species by qPCR. There was a general reduction in copy numbers of the universal 16S RNA by approximately 95%, and changes of individual species in the target region ranged from approximately 1 to 4 log reductions.
We concluded that high velocity microsprays removed a sufficient amount of biofilm to disrupt the anoxic region at the biofilm-surface interface.
Monitoring rice crop systems in the Philippines is essential to attain food security for the country. Information on the exact location and extent of rice as well as how rice is grown and how it is ...affected by different factors is very important for developing and disseminating location-specific technologies to increase production sustainability. Moreover, baseline information is important to assess crop damage in the event of natural disasters such as flood and drought and is useful to different stakeholders. PhilRice Philippine Rice Research Inst. Maligaya, Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, Philippines, IRRI International Rice Research Inst., Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines and SARMAP have developed a methodology to map rice extent using Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) satellite images processed using RICEscape software under the Remote sensing-based Information and Insurance for Crops in Emerging Economics (RIICE) project. ASAR sensors offer an effective alternative to conventional methods of rice monitoring because of their all-weather imaging capability. The authors present and assess their preliminary map of rice extent at 1 ha resolution for the whole country based on 350 images acquired between 2003-2010 and a three month field campaign to determine the accuracy. This first high-resolution map of rice for the whole country based on ASAR demonstrates the information that can be delivered to the DA Department of Agriculture, Quezon City, Philippines and other stakeholders via a Philippines Rice Information System (PRISM) as a decision support tool and information portal for food security applications.
PDF
