The Google Earth Engine (GEE) portal provides enhanced opportunities for undertaking earth observation studies. Established towards the end of 2010, it provides access to satellite and other ...ancillary data, cloud computing, and algorithms for processing large amounts of data with relative ease. However, the uptake and usage of the opportunity remains varied and unclear. This study was undertaken to investigate the usage patterns of the Google Earth Engine platform and whether researchers in developing countries were making use of the opportunity. Analysis of published literature showed that a total of 300 journal papers were published between 2011 and June 2017 that used GEE in their research, spread across 158 journals. The highest number of papers were in the journal Remote Sensing, followed by Remote Sensing of Environment. There were also a number of papers in premium journals such as Nature and Science. The application areas were quite varied, ranging from forest and vegetation studies to medical fields such as malaria. Landsat was the most widely used dataset; it is the biggest component of the GEE data portal, with data from the first to the current Landsat series available for use and download. Examination of data also showed that the usage was dominated by institutions based in developed nations, with study sites mainly in developed nations. There were very few studies originating from institutions based in less developed nations and those that targeted less developed nations, particularly in the African continent.
The Google Earth Engine (GEE) is a cloud computing platform designed to store and process huge data sets (at petabyte-scale) for analysis and ultimate decision making ...
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•Crude glycerol composition is dependent on trans-esterification process.•Impact of impurities on lipid production is dependent on their concentration and the strain ...tolerance.•Purified glycerol gives better results than crude glycerol.•Choice of glycerol purification technique is dependent on the final usage of glycerol.
Crude glycerol (CG) is a by-product formed during the trans-esterification reaction for biodiesel production. Although crude glycerol is considered a waste stream of the biodiesel industry, it can replace expensive carbon substrates required for lipid production by oleaginous micro-organisms. However, crude glycerol has several impurities, such as methanol, soap, triglycerides, fatty acids, salts and metals, which are created during the trans-esterification process and may affect the cellular metabolism involved in lipid synthesis. This review aims to critically present a variation in crude glycerol composition depending on trans-esterification process and impact of impurities present in the crude glycerol on the cell growth and lipid accumulation by oleaginous microbes. This study also draws comparison between purified and crude glycerol for lipid production. Several techniques for crude glycerol purification (chemical treatment, thermal treatment, membrane technology, ion-exchange chromatography and adsorption) have been presented and discussed with reference to cost and environmental effects.
How farmers perceive climate change has an influence on how they adapt to climate change. Climate change perception and vulnerability were assessed based on the household survey information collected ...from randomly selected 118 farmers of Kalapara subdistrict in Bangladesh. This paper identified the socio-economic covariates of climate change perception and vulnerability in relation to agricultural adaptation. It was also determined whether their perception was consistent with meteorological information. Findings revealed that the farmers had a moderate level of perception of and vulnerability to climate change. An overwhelming majority (98%) of the respondents perceived a warmer summer and 96% of them observed a colder winter compared to the past. Among the farmers, 91% believed that rainfall had increased and 97% thought that the timing of rainfall had changed. The belief of increase in soil salinity and associated loss was prevailing among 98 and 99% of them, respectively. Observed climate data were mostly aligned with the farmers' perception with respect to temperature, rainfall, floods, droughts and salinity. Positive correlations were found among the perception of climate change, the perception of vulnerability and the number of adopted adaptation practices. Farmers' level of understanding of climate change, vulnerability and adaptation practices could be improved by involving them in different organizations, such as climate field school and farmer associations. It could accelerate the dissemination of agricultural adaptation practices among them to cope with adverse agricultural impacts of climate change.
•Farmer climate change perceptions mostly tracked with meteorological data.•General farmers and climate field school farmers had the same level of perceptions.•Climate change perception and adaptation practices were positively correlated.•Climate field school farmers had better level of adoption of adaptation practices.
Accurate measurement and mapping of biomass is a critical component of carbon stock quantification, climate change impact assessment, suitability and location of bio-energy processing plants, ...assessing fuel for forest fires, and assessing merchandisable timber....
In recent decades, factors such as the worldwide growing concern for pollution induced climate changes, increasingly stringent emission norms for vehicles and depleting petroleum resources coupled ...with volatility in their prices have motivated and accelerated development of sustainable and clean alternatives for transportation systems. Electrification of vehicular technology (EVT) is considered as a promising and sustainable alternative for future transportation systems. In evolution of EVT, instability of fuel price, fuel economy, range, performance and costs are the governing factors and prime concerns for researchers, auto manufacturers and customers. These factors are decided by the design of the electric propulsion system (EPS) for vehicular application and its suitable integration with various electrical and mechanical components. In this paper, a comparative overview of EVT along with a comprehensive analysis of EPS and a brief discussion on power flow control and management algorithms for EVT is presented. The paper also highlights the ongoing technological advancements and future challenges in the roadmap of EPS for the electrification of vehicular technology.
Climate change and variability are a major threat to the agricultural sector globally. It is widely accepted that the changes in temperature, rainfall patterns, sea water level and concentration of ...CO
2
in the atmosphere will have the most devastating impacts on agricultural production. This paper examines the past and future crop production and food security in Kenya under variable climate. From the review, it is evident that the country is already experiencing episodes of climate change, manifested by seasonal changes in precipitation and temperature of varying severity and duration despite overreliance on rain-fed agriculture. The findings also reveal that climate change would continue to negatively affect crop production and food security to the already vulnerable communities in the arid and semi-arid areas. Future projections also indicate that climate variability will likely alter cropping patterns and yields in several regions. As the country is faced with a high population growth rate and rapid urbanization, crop production and food security systems need to become more adaptive as uncertainties of projected climate variability and change unfold. This study is important in providing decision makers and interested stakeholders with a detailed assessment of climate impacts and adaptation strategies geared towards improved crop production and food security.
Soil erosion is a global environmental threat, and Land Use Land Cover Changes (LUCC) have significant impacts on it. Nepal, being a mountainous country, has significant soil erosion issues. To ...examine the effects of LUCC on water erosion, we studied the LUCC in Sarada, Rapti and Thuli Bheri river basins of Nepal during the 1995-2015 period using the Remote Sensing. We calculated the average annual soil loss using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation and Geographical Information System. Our results suggest that an increase in the agricultural lands at the expense of bare lands and forests escalated the soil erosion through the years; rates being 5.35, 5.47 and 6.03 t/ha/year in 1995, 2007 and 2015, respectively. Of the different land uses, agricultural land experienced the most erosion, whereas the forests experienced the least erosion. Agricultural lands, particularly those on the steeper slopes, were severely degraded and needed urgent soil and water conservation measures. Our study confirms that the long term LUCC has considerable impacts on soil loss, and these results can be implemented in similar river basins in other parts of the country.
In 2014, FIGO’s Committee for Gynecologic Oncology revised the staging of ovarian cancer, incorporating ovarian, fallopian tube, and peritoneal cancer into the same system. Most of these malignancies ...are high‐grade serous carcinomas (HGSC). Stage IC is now divided into three categories: IC1 (surgical spill); IC2 (capsule ruptured before surgery or tumor on ovarian or fallopian tube surface); and IC3 (malignant cells in the ascites or peritoneal washings). The updated staging includes a revision of Stage IIIC based on spread to the retroperitoneal lymph nodes alone without intraperitoneal dissemination. This category is now subdivided into IIIA1(i) (metastasis ≤10 mm in greatest dimension), and IIIA1(ii) (metastasis >10 mm in greatest dimension). Stage IIIA2 is now “microscopic extrapelvic peritoneal involvement with or without positive retroperitoneal lymph node” metastasis. This review summarizes the genetics, surgical management, chemotherapy, and targeted therapies for epithelial cancers, and the treatment of ovarian germ cell and stromal malignancies.
Synopsis
The 2014 FIGO staging incorporates ovarian, fallopian tube, and peritoneal cancer into the same system. This review summarizes the updated staging and treatment of these malignancies.
•The recent developments of crop models, remote sensing, and data assimilation are summarized.•Advantage and disadvantage of different data assimilation methods are compared.•Impacts of different ...error sources on the different parts of the data assimilation chain are analyzed.•It presents further opportunities and development direction of data assimilation for future studies.
Timely and accurate estimation of crop yield before harvest to allow crop yields management decision-making at a regional scale is crucial for national food policy and security assessments. Modeling dynamic change of crop growth is of great help because it allows researchers to determine crop management strategies for maximizing crop yield. Remote sensing is often used to provide information about important canopy state variables for crop models of large regions. Crop models and remote sensing techniques have been combined and applied in crop yield estimation on a regional scale or worldwide based on the simultaneous development of crop models and remote sensing. Many studies have proposed models for estimating canopy state variables and soil properties based on remote sensing data and assimilating these estimated canopy state variables into crop models. This paper, firstly, summarizes recent developments of crop models, remote sensing technology, and data assimilation methods. Secondly, it compares the advantages and disadvantages of different data assimilation methods (calibration method, forcing method, and updating method) for assimilating remote sensing data into crop models and analyzes the impacts of different error sources on the different parts of the data assimilation chain in detail. Finally, it provides some methods that can be used to reduce the different errors of data assimilation and presents further opportunities and development direction of data assimilation for future studies. This paper presents a detailed overview of the comparative introduction, latest developments and applications of crop models, remote sensing techniques, and data assimilation methods in the growth status monitoring and yield estimation of crops. In particular, it discusses the impacts of different error sources on the different portions of the data assimilation chain in detail and analyzes how to reduce the different errors of data assimilation chain. The literature shows that many new satellite sensors and valuable methods have been developed for the retrieval of canopy state variables and soil properties from remote sensing data for assimilating the retrieved variables into crop models. Additionally, new proposed or modified crop models have been reported for improving the simulated canopy state variables and soil properties of crop models. In short, the data assimilation of remote sensing and crop models have the potential to improve the estimation accuracy of canopy state variables, soil properties and yield based on these new technologies and methods in the future.
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