Author Full Names Article Title

Munoz-Garcia, M. A.; Moreda, G. P.; Raga- Water harvesting for young trees using
Peltier modules powered by photovoltaic
Arroyo, M. P.; Marin-Gonzalez, O.
solar energy

Bautista-Olivas, Ana L.; Tovar-Salinas,

ATMOSPHERIC HUMIDITY AS OPTIONAL
Jorge L.; Palacios-Velez, Oscar L.;
Mancilla-Villa, Oscar R. SOURCE OF WATER FOR DOMESTIC USE

Gao Penghui; Guo Zhi; Zhang Donghai;
Zhou Xingye; Zhou Guoqing
Mladjen, Jovanovic; Dragoslav, Pavic;
Minucer, Mesaros; Ugljesa, Stankov;
Milana, Pantelic; Tatjana, Armenski;
Dragan, Dolinaj; Srdan, Popov; Dorde,
Cosic; Ljiljana, Popovic; Ana, Frank;
Vladimir, Crnojevic
Performance analysis of evaporation-
freezing desalination system by humidity
differences
Water shortage and drought monitoring
in Backa region (Vojvodina, North Serbia)
- setting-up measurement stations
network
 Early detection of drought onset using
Behrangi, Ali; Fetzer, Eric J.; Granger,
near surface temperature and humidity
Stephanie L.
observed from space
 The effects of humidity on combustion
Ge, Bing; Tian, Yinsheng; Zang, Shusheng characteristics of a nonpremixed syngas
flame

Indoor air purification using

Yu, Q. L.; Brouwers, H. J. H. heterogeneous photocatalytic oxidation.
Part I: Experimental study
Wang, X. Y.; Zhang, Z.; Zhou, X. B.; Liu, P.; PLANTING PATTERN AND IRRIGATION
EFFECT ON FARMLAND MICROCLIMATE
Chen, Y. H.
AND YIELD OF WINTER WHEAT

Woo, Myung-Heui; Grippin, Adam; Anwar, Effects of Relative Humidity and Spraying
Diandra; Smith, Tamara; Wu, Chang-Yu; Medium on UV Decontamination of
Wander, Joseph D. Filters Loaded with Viral Aerosols
Bautista-Olivas, Ana Laura; Tovar-Salinas,
TRACE METALS CONCENTRATION IN
Jorge Leonardo; Mancilla-Villa, Oscar CONDENSED WATER FROM THE
Raul; Flores-Magdaleno, Hector; Ramirez-
ATMOSPHERIC HUMIDITY IN THE
Ayala, Carlos; Arteaga-Ramirez, Ramon;
VALLEY OF MEXICO
Vazquez-Pena, Mario

Dobos, Attila; Vig, Robert; Nagy, Janos;
Kovacs, Kalman
Evaluation of the correlation between
weather parameters and the normalized
difference vegetation index (NDVI)
determined with a field measurement
method
 Monitoring stomatal conductance of
Maes, W. H.; Achten, W. M. J.; Reubens, B.; Jatropha curcas seedlings under different
Muys, B. levels of water shortage with infrared
thermography
 The Potential for Mesoscale Visibility
Ryerson, William R.; Hacker, Joshua P.
Predictions with a Multimodel Ensemble

Peltier, Robert Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center,

Virginia City, Virginia

Fu, Aihong; Chen, Yaning; Li, Weihong
Sun Xiaozhou; Feng Zhiming; Yang
Yanzhao; Zhang Weike
ANALYSIS ON REGIONAL CLIMATE AND
ATMOSPHERIC DROUGHT
CHARACTERISTICS IN THE NORTH
SLOPE OF TIANSHAN MOUNTAIN IN
XINJIANG, CHINA
Climate-induced Changes in Spring Maize
Water Requirement in Xiliaohe River
Watershed
Adamczewska-Sowinska, Katarzyna; The yield of eggplant depending on
Krygier, Magdalena; Turczuk, Joanna climate conditions and mulching

Regional atmospheric anomalies

Lu, Er; Luo, Yali; Zhang, Renhe; Wu,
responsible for the 2009-2010 severe
Qiuxia; Liu, Liping drought in China
 Solar powered evaporative cooled
Mansuri, Shekh Mukhtar; Sharma, P. K.;
Samuel, D. V. K. storage structure for storage of fruits and
vegetables

Estimation of daily pan evaporation using

Tabari, Hossein; Marofi, Safar;
artificial neural network and multivariate
Sabziparvar, Ali-Akbar non-linear regression
Fan, Junliang; Wu, Lifeng; Zhang, Fucang; Climate change effects on reference crop
Xiang, Youzhen; Zheng, Jing evapotranspiration across different
climatic zones of China during 1956-2015
Zimmermann, Ulrich; Bitter, Rebecca;
Ribeiro Marchiori, Paulo Eduardo;
Rueger, Simon; Ehrenberger, Wilhelm;
Sukhorukov, Vladimir L.; Schuettler,
Annika; Ribeiro, Rafael Vasconcelos
A non-invasive plant-based probe for
continuous monitoring of water stress in
real time: a new tool for irrigation
scheduling and deeper insight into
drought and salinity stress physiology
Gaudin, Damien; Finizola, Anthony;
Delcher, Eric; Beauducel, Francois;
Allemand, Pascal; Delacourt, Christophe;
Brothelande, Elodie; Peltier, Aline; Di
Gangi, Fabio
Influence of rainfalls on heat and steam
fluxes of fumarolic zones: Six months
records along the Ty fault (Soufriere of
Guadeloupe, Lesser Antilles)
 STUDY CONCERNING FOREST ECOLOGIC
RECONSTRUCTION ON DEGRADED LAND
Blaj, Robert IN RANGE OCOLUL SILVIC VALEA
CIBINULUI, SALISTE, ROMANIA
 Stability parameter and genotype mean
El Soda, Mohamed; Nadakuduti, Satya estimates for drought stress effects on
Swathi; Pillen, Klaus; Uptmoor, Ralf root and shoot growth of wild barley pre-
introgression lines
 The water cycle in closed ecological
Nelson, Mark; Dempster, W. F.; Allen, J. P. systems: Perspectives from the Biosphere
2 and Laboratory Biosphere systems
Gullino, Maria Lodovica; Pugliese,
Massimo; Paravicini, Alessandro; Casulli, NEW PHYTOTRON FOR STUDYING THE
Enzo; Rettori, Andrea; Sanna, Mattia; EFFECT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON PLANT
PATHOGENS
Garibaldi, Angelo
 Using models and spatial analysis to
Wang, Qing; Liu, Xuehua; Yue, Tianxiang; analyze spatio-temporal variations of
Wang, Chenliang; Wilson, John P. food provision and food potential across
China's agro-ecosystems
Odubanjo, Obafemi Odutola; Olufayo, Water Use, Growth, and Yield of Drip
Ayorinde Akinlabi; Oguntunde, Philip Irrigated Cassava in a Humid Tropical
Gbenro Environment
 Source Title

COMPUTERS AND ELECTRONICS IN

AGRICULTURE

AGROCIENCIA
DESALINATION

GEOGRAPHICA PANNONICA
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF REMOTE
SENSING
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF
HYDROGEN ENERGY

APPLIED CATALYSIS B-
ENVIRONMENTAL
JOURNAL OF ANIMAL AND PLANT
SCIENCES

APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL

MICROBIOLOGY
INTERCIENCIA
IDOJARAS
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST
METEOROLOGY
WEATHER AND FORECASTING

POWER
FRESENIUS ENVIRONMENTAL BULLETIN

CHINESE JOURNAL OF POPULATION

RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT
FOLIA HORTICULTURAE

JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-

ATMOSPHERES
INDIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL
SCIENCES

IRRIGATION SCIENCE
JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY
THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL
PLANT PHYSIOLOGY
JOURNAL OF VOLCANOLOGY AND
GEOTHERMAL RESEARCH
SCIENTIFIC PAPERS-SERIES
MANAGEMENT ECONOMIC
ENGINEERING IN AGRICULTURE AND
RURAL DEVELOPMENT
MOLECULAR BREEDING
ADVANCES IN SPACE RESEARCH
JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL
ENGINEERING
ECOLOGICAL MODELLING
SOIL AND WATER RESEARCH
 Abstract

Young trees transplanted from nursery into open field require a minimum
amount of soil moisture to successfully root in their new location, especially
in dry-climate areas. One possibility is to obtain the required water from air
moisture. This can be achieved by reducing the temperature of a surface
below the air dew point temperature, inducing water vapor condensation on
the surface. The temperature of a surface can be reduced by applying the
thermoelectric effect, with Peltier modules powered by electricity. Here, we
present a system that generates electricity with a solar photovoltaic module,
stores it in a battery, and finally, uses the electricity at the moment in which
air humidity and temperature are optimal to maximize water condensation
while minimizing energy consumption. Also, a method to reduce the
evaporation of the condensed water is proposed. The objective of the system
is to sustain young plants in drier periods, rather than exclusively irrigating
young plants to boost their growth. (c) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Water shortage in arid and suburban areas is a worldwide problem, so it is

necessary to evaluate options for obtaining water by unconventional
methods. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate a source of water
supply through collection by condensation of water vapor from the
atmosphere, with the prototype higroiman (hygromagnet) CP-HI-03, which
induces the dew-point conditions. In this study conducted in Mexico City
from March 14 to June 3, 2008, the performance of seven levels of
temperature and two times of operation of the prototype were analyzed.
Means of results of relative humidity, air temperature, coil temperature and
volume of water collected with the prototype were analyzed with the Tukey
test (p <= 0.05). The maximum amount of water collected was obtained with
a relative humidity of 69.8 % at an average temperature of the higroiman of -
10.6 degrees C condensing 1.980 L in a 15 h period. With the higroiman,
water from the air is obtained and with higher relative humidity higher
amount of water is obtained with less consumption of electric energy.
Faring severer global shortage of fresh water and finite energy resource, it is
of paramount importance to develop the new energy-efficient desalination
methods to solve those problems. A new freezing seawater desalination is
proposed in this study that sea water can be frozen driven by humidity
difference (humidity difference denotes absolute humidity difference)
between air and liquid surface in a 0 C environment, which utilizes latent
heat of vaporization to freeze seawater and thereafter produces fresh water.
Based on heat and mass balance equations, the theoretical model of this
desalination process was built and it was verified through experimental
results obtained from our experimental unit. The effects of humidity
difference and airflow rate on fresh water production were studied and they
were confirmed to be the key factors for the water production of evaporation-
freezing desalination. The theoretical data was consistent with experimental
data, and the water production characteristic of this desalination approach
was well illustrated by the theoretical model. The results in this research
would be in favor of further studies and engineering applications for the
evaporation-freezing desalination driven by humidity difference. (C) 2014
Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Water shortage and drought, as the most important hydro-climatic hazards,

cause significant damages in case of most continents including SE Europe. An
experimental field established in Backa region (Vojvodina Autonomous
Province, North Serbia) for the purpose of droughts/water shortage
monitoring and remote sensing under ongoing IPA project, Water shortage
hazard and adaptive water management strategies in the Hungarian-Serbian
crossborder region (WAHASTRAT). The main objective of this project is to
determine water shortage conflicts on a local and regional level, and to reveal
the frequency, extent and severity of future hydro-climatic hazards. The
locations of eight measurement stations selected on the principle of
representativeness in term of terrain configuration and soil cover. An area in
which measurement stations were placed, covers about 1000 km(2) (12% of
total area of Backa) and includes geomorphic units which reliable represent
the relief of the whole Backa region. Measurement stations were placed on 4
out of 5 most common soil types in the Backa and Vojvodina: chernozem,
alluvial soils, smonitza and saline and alkali soils. A measurement equipment
system was constructed for the requirements of the WAHASTRAT project.
The aim was to design a user-friendly and affordable IT solution, which
would enable continuous remote monitoring of meteorological parameters
and soil moisture. Independent solar-powered measurement stations are
able to automatically measure air temperature, air humidity, wind speed,
wind direction, precipitation and soil moisture.
Drought is associated with severe societal impacts ranging from shortages of
water for human consumption to agricultural failure and famine. An
important aspect of drought forecast is determining the onset, which is
critical for early warning efforts and water resources and agriculture
planning. Indices of precipitation shortage have been widely used to detect
the onset of drought because precipitation deficits often lead to shortages in
other hydrologic variables such as soil moisture and runoff. The present work
demonstrates that atmospheric temperature and humidity observations from
the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) contain information that can be
used to detect drought onset earlier than that obtained from precipitation
deficit. By calculating the standardized indices for precipitation, near-surface
temperature, vapour pressure deficit, and relative humidity, we show that in
many regions of the world signals of drought onset can be detected from
near-surface temperature and humidity data a few months earlier than those
obtained from precipitation deficit. In particular, vapour pressure deficit
showed higher effectiveness than relative humidity or temperature only. The
outcome was generally consistent for the three- and six-month
accumulations studied here. Further analysis using 65years (1960-2014) of
monthly temperature and humidity data derived from the Parameter-
elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM) data set over
the continental United States suggests that there is a good agreement
between drought early detection signals obtained from AIRS and that from
ground stations during the overlapped (2003-2014) period. Analysis using
longer record suggests that the frequency of successful early detection of
drought onset using temperature and humidity data shows regional shift
towards eastern United States in the recent years.
With the rapid development of economy, environmental protection and
energy shortage are becoming more and more acute in China. The Integrated
Gasification humid air (IGHAT) cycle is highlighted in providing efficient and
clean options for meeting future coal-utilizing power generation needs.
Syngas combustion in humid air is a bottleneck problem in IGHAT cycle for
power generation. This paper carried out experiments on a non-premixed
model combustor, equipped with a double-swirled syngas burner. Planar
laser induced fluorescence (PLIF) of OH radical measurement is adopted to
identify main reaction zones and burnt gas regions as well. With the
temperature and emission measurements in the exhaust section, some
important characteristics of the syngas flame are investigated overall. And
the effects of the CO/H-2 molar ratio consisting of syngas fuel are
investigated under different humidity. With the increase of CO/H-2 ratios, the
concentration field of OH radicals is gradually away from the nozzle exit, and
the nozzle exit almost no existence of OH radicals, forming a typical lifted
flame. In addition, fluorescent signal strength of OH radicals pronounced
weakening, the flame gradually appeared W type distribution and more and
more obvious with the increased of humidification amount. At the same time
there are almost no changes of the average exhaust temperature of
combustor or CO and NOx. emissions. The study can provide a reliable
database for high moisture gas turbine combustor design and combustion
numerical simulation. (C) 2016 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published
by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Heterogeneous photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) has shown to be a promising

air purifying technology in outdoor conditions using TiO2 as photocatalyst
activated with UV light. Also to indoor air quality more and more attention is
paid because of the very important role it plays on human health, and it can
be influenced by many factors like ventilation system, building materials,
furniture, cooking, and outdoor pollutants. The present work addresses the
indoor air purification using photocatalytic oxidation. The photocatalytic
reaction setup is introduced for the assessment of the indoor air quality. A
modified TiO2 that can be activated with visible light (VIS) is used as
photocatalyst due to the shortage of UV light in indoor condition. One special
wall paper is applied as the substrate for the coating of the photocatalyst in
the present study. Nitric oxide (NO) is one typical indoor air pollutant, which
is used as target pollutant for the photocatalytic oxidation with indoor
concentration level. Influential parameters like initial NO concentration, flow
rate, relative humidity of the experimental environment, irradiance,
photocatalyst dosage that can affect the PCO are studied. Furthermore, the
second part content of the present study is introduced at the end of this
paper. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
The use of water resources should be restricted until a suitable irrigation and
planting system is developed in the North China Plain. This study was aimed
to study the effects of planting pattern and irrigation on the farmland
microclimate, and indentify possible ways to improve the yield of winter
wheat. The field experiments in a randomized complete block design with
four replicates were conducted during the 2008-09 and 2009-10 growing
seasons in Taian, China. The three planting patterns were: 25 cm uniform
row planting pattern (U), 20 + 40 wide-narrow row planting pattern (WN),
and 20 + 40 furrow planting pattern (F). Three irrigation treatments applied:
were 90, 135, and 180 mm during the whole growth period. Results showed
that F had 3.5% lower diurnal soil temperature at the 5cm soil depth, 4.7%
lower diurnal air temperature at 5cm above the ground, 14.8% lower diurnal
relative humidity (RH), 4.8% higher soil water content (SWC) at the 0 cm to
30 cm soil depth, and 9.7% higher yield as compared with U. Irrigation
decreased soil temperature and air temperature but increased RH and SWC.
The yield of 135 mm irrigation was 6.4% higher than that of 90 mm. The
grain yield of winter wheat was not significantly difference between 135 and
180 mm irrigation from 2009-10 (P > 0.05). Therefore, F and 135 mm
irrigation were regarded the best combination as the optimum conditions for
winter wheat considering the water shortage problem in China.

Although respirators and filters are designed to prevent the spread of

pathogenic aerosols, a stockpile shortage is anticipated during the next flu
pandemic. Contact transfer and reaerosolization of collected microbes from
used respirators are also a concern. An option to address these potential
problems is UV irradiation, which inactivates microbes by dimerizing
thymine/uracil in nucleic acids. The objective of this study was to determine
the effects of transmission mode and environmental conditions on
decontamination efficiency by UV. In this study, filters were contaminated by
different transmission pathways (droplet and aerosol) using three spraying
media (deionized water [DI], beef extract [BE], and artificial saliva [AS])
under different humidity levels (30% [low relative humidity {LRH}], 60%
[MRH], and 90% [HRH]). UV irradiation at constant intensity was applied for
two time intervals at each relative humidity condition. The highest
inactivation efficiency (IE), around 5.8 logs, was seen for DI aerosols
containing MS2 on filters at LRH after applying a UV intensity of 1.0
mW/cm(2) for 30 min. The IE of droplets containing MS2 was lower than that
of aerosols containing MS2. Absorption of UV by high water content and
shielding of viruses near the center of the aggregate are considered
responsible for this trend. Across the different media, IEs in AS and in BE
were much lower than in DI for both aerosol and droplet transmission,
indicating that solids present in AS and BE exhibited a protective effect. For
particles sprayed in a protective medium, RH is not a significant parameter.
The shortage of drinking water is a serious problem that makes it necessary
to seek new options to mitigate it, being atmospheric water harvesting an
option. However, it is necessary to ensure the obtained water quality,
especially in areas with high levels of air pollution, such as the Valley of
Mexico. This study evaluated, in water collected by condensation in the Valley
of Mexico, the following variables: electric conductivity (EC) and pH,
measured with a conductivity meter/potentiometer; and concentrations of
Al, As, Ba, Cd, Cu, Cr, Fe, Hg, Mn, Pb and Zn, determined by an inductively
coupled plasma (ICP) spectrophotometer, following the methods
recommended by EPA and APHA. The study was conducted in three areas:
one in Texcoco, State of Mexico; and two in Mexico City (central and northern
areas). In each site, 25 samples were taken from May to August 2010. Water
was collected with a prototype called 'Higroiman' (hygro-magnet), which
lowers the temperature of the contact surface with environment to induce
the dew point and condense the atmospheric humidity. A test of means
(Tukey, P <= 0,05) was applied to the results and these were compared with
the permissible limits of drinking water established by WHO. The EC of
atmospheric water is between 56,4 and 87,05 mu S.cm(-1), while pH values
are between 6,58 and 6,63. In some samples, Al, Fe and Pb exceeded the
permissible limits.
The level of nitrogen supply of a plant population can be quickly measured
with non-destructive optical measurement devices and the differentiated
determination of nitrogen shortage, while the replenishment of nitrogen can
also be carried out. The level of nitrogen supply is based on the fact that the
chlorophyll content of crops is in close correlation with nitrogen content and
that the amount of chlorophyll can be easily measured on the basis of the
light absorption of chlorophyll molecules. The successfulness of optical
measurements can be influenced by the change of weather parameters;
therefore, it is important to know the correlations between the measurement
results and weather parameters when it comes to practical use. The
GreenSeeker Model 505 measurement device determines the relative
chlorophyll content in the form of the normalized difference vegetation index
(NDVI) calculated on the basis of the intensity of the reflected red and
infrared rays of light from the crop population. The measurements were
performed in alfalfa population with 10 replications at five measurement
heights and four measurement times. The weather parameters were
measured by a weather station located in the middle of the alfalfa population,
and the correlations between the meteorological data and the NDVI values
were examined. During the statistical evaluation of the results, it was
established that the NDVI measurement is primarily influenced by the
relative humidity of the air, secondly by air temperature, and thirdly by wind
speed. Relative humidity was in strong correlation with the NDVI values
which were also influenced by the measurement height and time. Regression
was not significant in the case of the 20 cm measurement height, but the
measurements above 40 cm height showed significant correlations. The
correlation was shown to be strong at each measurement time, but the
influence of humidity was the lowest at 11:00 and 14:00 in local time.
Model simulations and experimental measurements were used to investigate
the applicability of infrared thermography for the estimation of stomatal
conductance and drought stress under sub-optimal meteorological
conditions. The study focused on the stomatal conductance index I-g,
calculated from the leaf temperature and the temperature of a dry and wet
reference leaf. The simulations revealed that I-g is influenced by leaf
dimension, wind speed and air temperature and not or hardly by leaf angle,
albedo, relative humidity or insolation. In addition, I-g was found to be very
sensitive to differences in wind speed, air temperature, insolation, leaf
dimension and leaf angle between the measured and the reference leaves. In
the experimental part, we evaluated if infrared thermography can be used to
improve the knowledge on the water use of Jatropha curcas L, a tropical
biofuel crop. Thermal images from Jatropha seedlings grown under three
different drought treatments were made on a day with very variable
insolation and a day with very low insolation. Smaller newly formed leaves
and the active control of the leaf angle proved efficient ways of Jatropha to
protect leaves under drought stress from overheating. I-g, assessed in four
different ways, and four simplified drought stress indices were derived and
related to the measured stomatal conductance (g(s)) of the seedlings. The
strongest correlation with g(s) and the highest discriminative power between
the different water treatments were achieved when I-g was calculated by
taking the average leaf temperature per plant and the temperature of the dry
and wet reference leaves of this plant, rather than the average temperature of
several reference leaves. Using the difference between the dry reference and
the measured leaf (T-dry - T-1) as a simplified index gave similar results,
although correlations were weaker. Other simplified thermal indices were
not well correlated with leaf stomatal conductance or with water treatment.
Recommendations were formulated for the measurement of I-g and (T-dry -
T-1). (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
This work examines the viability of producing short-range (<20 h)
probabilistic fog predictions in remote locations, absent an observational
history, using an uncalibrated 4-km, 10-member Weather Research and
Forecasting Model (WRF) ensemble configured to closely match the Air Force
Weather Agency Mesoscale Ensemble Forecast Suite. Three distinct sources
of error in the final predictions are considered separately to facilitate a better
understanding of the total error and appropriate mitigation strategies. These
include initial condition error, parameterization of subgrid-scale processes,
and error in the visibility parameterization used to convert NWP model
output variables to visibility. The raw WRF predictions are generally not
skillful in valley and coastal regions, where they produce a shortage of light
fog predictions with visibilities of 1-7 mi (1.6-11.3 km) in favor of excessive
forecasts of zero cloud water, corresponding to no fog. Initial condition error
and visibility parameterization error are shown to play a relatively minor
role compared to error in the parameterization of subgrid-scale processes.
This deficiency is caused by a negative relative humidity bias, which results
from a warm overnight bias. A second-order source of error arises from an
inconsistent delineation of fog and haze in the NWP model compared to the
verifying observations. Results show that under most conditions it is
necessary to deviate from the perfect-prog assumption, and to introduce
some method of statistical postprocessing to obtain skillful visibility
predictions from the ensemble.

Dominion's 585-MW Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center, located in

southwestern Virginia, relies on two circulating fluidized bed boilers that
burn coal and local waste coal mixed with up to 20% biomass. The project
also features one of the industry's largest air-cooled condenser systems to
minimize the plant's water usage. The $1.8 billion project entered
commercial service July 10, on budget and on schedule.
The drought as a universal natural disaster not only can cause the
agricultural disaster, but also has a serious impact on industrial production,
urban water supply and ecological environment. To explore whether global
warming could tend to increase atmospheric drought in the north slope of
Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang, China, we collected the daily mean
temperature, precipitation, water vapor pressure and air relative humidity of
four typical counties (Yining, Jinghe, Shihezi and Qitai counties) on the north
slope of Tianshan Mountains, and analyzed the characteristics of temporal
and spatial variations of climatic factors and the humid tendency of the north
slope of Tianshan Mountains. The results showed that 1) temperature rose
and precipitation increased in all of the four in 1961-2013; 2) water vapor
pressure decreased in Yining county but increased in other counties; and 3)
air relative humidity in Yining county and Shihezi decreased, but unchanged
in Jinghe and Qitai counties. To relieve the drought tendency in Yining
County, it may be appropriate to reduce the county's cultivated land area and
return farmland to forest and pasture land, which can not only reduce crop
production losses, but also alleviate water shortage in the area.

Xiliaohe River watershed plays an important role in regional and national

grain security. With the development of society and economy, water
consumption that increased dramatically causes water shortages. Crop water
requirement can provide quantitative basis for making regional irrigation
scheme. In this study, spring maize water requirement is calculated by using
PenmanMonteith formula and spring maize coefficient from May to
September at 10 meteorological stations in Xiliaohe River watershed from
1951 to 2005. The variation trend of the spring maize water requirement
during the whole growing stage, water requirement in every month, and
meteorological influencing factors are obtained by using Mann-Kendall
method, and the degree of grey incidence between the water requirement
and meteorological influencing factors are shown. The results are the spring
maize water requirement during the whole growing stages increases at half
of the stations in Xiliaohe River watershed, and are remarkably affected by
the water requirement in May. The monthly mean, maximum and minimum
air temperature form May to September show an increasing trend in Xiliaohe
River watershed in recent 55 years. The monthly mean and minimum air
temperature increases notably. The relative humidity, precipitation, wind
speed and sunshine show a decreasing trend with variety for different
months. The monthly maximum air temperature, wind speed, sunshine and
monthly mean air temperature have the highest correlation degree with
spring maize water requirement from May to September.
The field production of eggplant in moderate climates is difficult as it
depends heavily on thermal conditions. Eggplant is a species that is sensitive
to low temperatures, and temperatures below 16 degrees C constrain the
growth of young plants. Other disadvantageous factors include: temperatures
that are too high, water shortage and excessive soil humidity. The growth
conditions for eggplant can be improved by using mulches. The purpose of
the experiment was the assessment of eggplant cropping while using
synthetic mulches of polyethylene foil and polypropylene textile. The
research took five years (2008-2012) and on the basis of the obtained results
it was possible to determine the influence of weather conditions on the
yielding of this species. It was proven that eggplant cropping significantly
depended on the air temperature and the amount of rainfall during the
vegetation period. The highest yield was observed when the average air
temperature was high and at the same time rainfall was evenly distributed
throughout the vegetation season. It also turned out that the agro-technical
procedure which significantly increased eggplant fruit cropping was
mulching the soil with polyethylene black foil, or transparent foil, previously
having applied a herbicide.

The severe drought that emerged in summer 2009 and persisted in the
subsequent fall and winter in southwest China caused a significant shortage
of drinking and drainage water. Precipitation during the drought is much less
than normal, and the meteorological drought extent exceeds the climatic
mean in almost all the days during the period. The warmer-than-normal
surface temperature facilitates the hydrological and agricultural drought
through enhancing surface evaporation. The less-than-normal water vapor in
the atmosphere and warmer-than-normal air temperature both contribute to
the lower-than-normal relative humidity and thus the less-than-normal
precipitation. The water vapor transport during the drought has no
significant change in track but is much weaker in strength across the
southwest. The weaker-than-normal water vapor transport and convergence
in the fall and winter make it hard for the air to form heavy rains. The
warmer-than-normal temperature corresponds to positive anomalies of
geopotential thickness, with negative anomalies of geopotential height at
lower levels but strong positive anomalies at middle and upper levels. The
warmer-than-normal air temperature is important to the maintenance of the
drought at this time of the year under the dry atmospheric condition. The
persistent warm temperature makes it hard for the air to become saturated
and thus hard for even light rains, which are efficient in mitigating drought, to
form. The inherent mechanism in the atmosphere, namely, the positive
feedback between less precipitation and warm temperature, helps maintain
the drought.
A solar powered evaporative cooled storage structure (ECSS) was designed
and developed for storage of fresh fruits and vegetables to increase their
shelf-life. The structure consists of a solar powered exhaust fan and cooling
pump for providing water to the pads. Cooling pads of different materials
such as wood shaving, khas and celdec were used. The system works on the
principle of a simple desert cooler. The pads are wetted with the help of
circulating water through a solar powered pump and an exhaust fan sucks
the cool air through the pads of the structure. The areas for the cooling
system considered were 2.25 m(2), 4.5 m(2), 6.75 m(2) and 9 m(2)
respectively. The results showed that under the no-load condition, the
average air cooling efficiency was highest for CELdek at 78.67%, compared to
73.82% for wood wool and 70.75% for khas pad material and the maximum
difference in relative humidity (RH) and dry bulb temperature between
ambient and inside the cooler was 59% and 14.6 degrees C when these
materials were used in all four sides in the ECSS. This environment helped in
keeping the vegetables fresh for significantly more time. This is very useful in
rural areas where there is shortage of electricity or its supply is erratic for
storage of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Measurement of evaporation (E) rate from various natural surfaces is known

as the key element in any hydrological cycle and hydrometeorological
studies. Due to the shortage of pan evaporation (E (P)) data, the estimation of
E (P) for such studies seems necessary. The main aim of this paper was to
estimate daily E (P) using artificial neural network (ANN) and multivariate
non-linear regression (MNLR) methods in semi-arid region of Iran. Five
different ANN and MNLR models comprising various combinations of daily
meteorological variables, that is, relative humidity (RH), air temperature (T),
solar radiation (SR), wind speed (U) and precipitation (P) were developed to
evaluate degree of effect of each of these variables on E (P). The comparison
of models estimates showed that the ANN 5 model characterized by Delta-
Bar-Delta learning algorithm and Sigmoid activation function which uses all
input parameters (T, U, SR, RH, P) performed best in prediction of daily E (P).
The sensitivity analysis revealed that the estimated E (P) data are more
sensitive to T and U, respectively. A comparison of the model performance
between ANN and MNLR models indicated that ANN method presents the
best estimates of daily E (P).
Global climate change has been an increasing challenge to agricultural
ecosystems, which will significantly affect the reference crop
evapotranspiration (ET0) and subsequently crop water requirements. In this
study, the temporal trends and magnitudes of key climatic variables and the
accompanying effects on ET0 during 1956-2015 were evaluated at 200
meteorological stations across the temperate continental zone (TCZ),
temperate monsoon zone (TMZ), mountain plateau zone (MPZ), and
subtropical monsoon zone (SMZ) of China. Results show that maximum and
minimum temperatures have increased significantly over the past 60 years,
whilst relative humidity, wind speed and sunshine hour exhibited significant
decreasing trends across all climatic zones. The overall decreasing trends in
annual ET0 were more pronounced than the increasing trends, whereas more
increasing trends were found in spring and winter. Abrupt changes for
climatic variables and ETc, series were detected in 1990s in the MPZ, while in
1980s in the other climatic zones mainly due to the aggregated emission of
greenhouse gases and air pollution from energy consumption in recent
decades. Relative humidity was the most sensitive climatic variable in all
climatic zones except for the MPZ where ET was most sensitive to sunshine
hour. However, ET had different responses to changing climatic variables in
different regions and climatic conditions. The negative contribution of wind
speed to the decrease in ET0 was greater than the other climatic variables in
the TCZ and the TMZ, whilst the significant increase in minimum temperature
and the decrease in sunshine hour contributed most to increasing ET0 in the
MPZ and to decreasing ET0 in the SMZ, respectively. Although ET0 displayed
a generally decreasing trend during 1956-2015, there was a significantly
increasing trend from 1985 to 2015 across China except for the SMZ,
especially in the arid and semi-arid zones of China during dry seasons (spring
and winter). This may lead to the increase in crop water requirements and
aggravate the water shortage in these areas in view of the increase in ET0 in
response to ongoing climate change. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights
reserved.
The non-invasive, magnetic leaf patch clamp pressure probe (also termed
ZIM-probe) allows for the first time to measure continuously turgor pressure
changes of plant leaves over long periods of time with high precision and in
real time. The probe has become an important tool in plant physiology,
molecular biology and ecology, but also in agriculture because the probe is
very robust and user-friendly. Growers receive the information about the
water status of their plants by wireless telemetry, mobile network and
internet on an as-needed basis and can thus adjust very precisely both the
timing of irrigation and the quantity of water to apply. Effects of air and leaf
temperature, relative humidity, illumination and wind on turgor pressure can
be monitored very sensitively both under indoor and outdoor conditions.
Even the effects of blue and red light as well as of oscillations of stomata
aperture on turgor pressure can be monitored by the probe with high
sensitivity. Similarly, water deficit due to increase of the osmotic pressure in
the nutrition solutions resulted in significant changes of the probe signals.
Multiple probe readings open up new possibilities to resolve (together with
other techniques) the mechanisms of short-and long-distance water
transport, particularly how plants can cope with water shortage. The
applications of the magnetic probe are numerous and one can expect highly
interesting developments in plant water relations in the nearest future.
Fumarolic zones are permeable areas where both steam and heat are
expelled to the atmosphere. Surface fluxes and flows, which are
representative of the intensity of the hydrothermal circulation in depth, can
be monitored by thermometers, thermal infrared cameras, spectrometers, or
condensers. However, the superficial activity of fumarolic zones can be
modified by the meteorological conditions, in particular the rainfalls, which
might result in erroneous estimations. From this perspective, we developed a
set of physical equations to quantify the effects of rainfalls on the thermal
behavior of fumarolic zones. Results were faced to continuous measurements
achieved at the Ty fault fumarolic zone (La Soufriere volcano, Guadeloupe,
Lesser Antilles) during six months in 2010, using six vertical series of
thermometers measuring the heat transfer in the ground and one condenser
measuring the rising steam flux. Results demonstrate that in the absence of
rainfalls, heat and steam flux reach an equilibrium that is representative of
the geothermal flux in depth. Conversely, after the rainfalls, the cooling of the
ground provokes a deepening of the condensation level. The related soil
temperature drop can be estimated by computing the heat required to warm
the infiltrated water up to boiling temperature while the recovery rate is
directly linked to the geothermal flux. Our observations allow defining in
which conditions flux are at steady state, but also to build a first-order
numerical model allowing estimating both the physical parameters of the
ground (thermal conductivity, precipitation efficiency coefficient and surface
flux constant) and the long-term thermal behavior of the hydrothermal
system. In particular, our results predict that the hydrothermal activity must
vanish on the zones where the geothermal flux drops under a certain
threshold (60 W/m(2) at La Soufriere). The existence of this limit may have
strong implications for the precipitation rate of minerals and the possible
reactivation of the fumarolic zones during volcanic crises. (C) 2015 Elsevier
B.V. All rights reserved.
The study examines the stationary conditions, determine solutions to
improve degraded land, assessing the cost of ecological restoration work
needed in the area of improving degraded lands at Rapa - Copacel, estimated
benefits of the project and its viability. Objectives of the paper: need to
introduce in the circuit of productive forest lands within the improvement of
the area La Rapa - Copacel danger zone where activation of the phenomena of
degradation (erosion, landslides) predominate. Out of 102.33 ha as area for
improvement, the effective area of 101.6 ha is forested, representing a
difference of 0.73 ha, 1.2 m wide strip that is to be the place for hedges.
Viability of the project results from the ratio calculated benefit/cost = 2.3
which justifies the need and opportunity for investment. Opportunity project
results in immediate and potential beneficial effects of the a forestation
namely stabilization by stopping land erosion and landslides with positive
influences on human settlements, infrastructure and communication lines,
reducing the intensity of land degradation processes and the gradual
improvement their production capacity as the direct effect of forest cultures,
the role of forests in improving the main factors of environmental water, air,
climate, reducing extreme values of climatic factors (temperature,
evapotranspiration, wind speed, humidity) and air purification by the
ozoning phyithoncide releasing the destructive effect of microbes; regulating
rainfall, ensuring constant and permanent water flow, reducing the effects of
drought and floods, improving stationary conditions for the maintenance and
development of herbaceous vegetation and forest. It specifies the role and
sanogene functions of the forest - ambient of the forest, an constructive and
necessary factor for the ecosystems and human health, and its other roles:
aesthetic role attribute of all forests - contemplating a sylvan landscape with
positive effects on the psyche (lights, shadows, colors, contrasts, echo), thus
improving the appearance of the landscape area surrounding Loamnes;
diversifying and increasing social functions, conservation of biodiversity,
creating a favorable climate for wildlife, creating database, nectarous
economic effects are related to obtaining wood in a wood shortage area.
The goal of the present study was to select BC2-lines from a cross between
Hordeum vulgare and H. vulgare ssp. spontaneum and to identify
introgressed candidate regions responsible for a superior pre-flowering
development across environments including drought stress conditions by
using stability parameter and genotype mean estimates. Three experiments
were carried out under controlled environmental conditions. Drought stress
was induced by permanent suboptimal water supply, stress cycles in
continuously drying soils, and increased transpiration demands by reducing
relative humidity of the air. The environmental effects on shoot dry weight,
leaf area, tiller number, and root lengths of 36 lines and the recurrent parent,
the spring barley cultivar 'Scarlett' was tested in ten different conditions.
Results showed that 11 genotypes responded significantly (P = 0.05) different
from the recurrent parent in at least one of the measured traits. The
introgressions of those lines were assigned to five genome regions, which
have been suggested as QTL regions for related traits before. Regions on
chromosome 4H influence tillering and one region each on 2H, 5H, and 7H
probably has effects on shoot dry weight and leaf area. Introgressions on the
mentioned regions increased trait values in every case. Leaf area was highly
correlated to shoot dry weight and tiller number while the correlation
between shoot dry weight and tiller number was not significant. A weak
correlation was observed between tiller number and root lengths. Slopes of
response curves of lines to increasing water shortage did not significantly
differ from the population mean and from the recurrent parent. Results give
hint that superior genotypes within the population develop well under both
well-watered and drought stress conditions.
and mini-ocean coral reef ecosystems. By contrast, the Laboratory Biosphere
- a small (40 m(3) volume) soil-based plant growth facility with a footprint of
15 m(2) - is a very simplified system, but with similar challenges re salinity
management and provision of water quality suitable for plant growth. In
Biosphere 2, water needs included supplying potable water for people and
domestic animals, irrigation water for a wide variety of food crops, and
recycling and recovering soil nutrients from wastewater. In the wilderness
biomes, providing adequately low salinity freshwater terrestrial ecosystems
and maintaining appropriate salinity and pH in aquatic/marine ecosystems
were challenges. The largest reservoirs in Biosphere 2 were the ocean/marsh
with some 4 x 10(6) L, soil with 1 to 2 x 10(6) l, primary storage tank with 0
to 8 x 10(5) L and storage tanks for condensate and soil leachate collection
and mixing tanks with a capacity of 1.6 x 10(5) L to supply irrigation for farm
and wilderness ecosystems. Other reservoirs were far smaller - humidity in
the atmosphere (2 x 10(3) L), streams in the rainforest and savannah, and
seasonal pools in the desert were orders of magnitude smaller (8 x 10(4) L).
Key technologies included condensation from humidity in the air handlers
and from the glass space frame to produce high quality freshwater,
wastewater treatment with constructed wetlands and desalination through
reverse osmosis and flash evaporation were key to recycling water with
appropriate quality throughout the Biosphere 2 facility. Wastewater from all
human uses and the domestic animals in Biosphere 2 was treated and
recycled through a series of constructed wetlands, which had hydraulic
loading of 0.9-1.1 m(3) day(-1) (240-290 gal d(-1)). Plant production in the
wetland treatment system produced 1210 kg dry weight of emergent and
floating aquatic plant wetland which was used as fodder for the domestic
animals while remaining nutrients/water was reused as part of the
agricultural irrigation supply. There were pools of water with recycling times
of days to weeks and others with far longer cycling times within Biosphere 2.
By contrast, the Laboratory Biosphere with a total water reservoir of less
than 500 L has far quicker cycling rapidity: for example, atmospheric
residence time for water vapor was 5-20 min in the Laboratory Biosphere vs.
1-4 h in Biosphere 2, as compared with 9 days in the Earth's biosphere. Just
as in Biosphere 2, humidity in the Laboratory Biosphere amounts to a very
small reservoir of water. The amount of water passing through the air in the
course of a 12-h operational day is two orders of magnitude greater than the
amount stored in the air. Thus, evaporation and codensation collection are
vital parts of the recycle system just as in Biosphere 2. The water cycle and
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in its recent fourth
assessment report predicts that, because of higher concentrations of
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, until 2100 the global mean temperature
would rise between 0.6 and 4 degrees C, in combination with changes in
precipitation and an increased frequency of extreme weather events. Despite
this trend, the extent and mechanisms through which elevated CO2 affects
plant diseases remain uncertain. Increases in CO2 and temperatures are also
expected to induce complex effects on plant pathogens. Although research on
the effects of climate change continues to be limited, new tools are permitting
to study the effects of climate variables on infection rates in the case of some
pathosystems. The shortage of critical epidemiological data on individual
plant diseases needs to be addressed using experimental approaches. A
useful tool for such types of studies is represented by phytotrons. Hereby, a
new phytotron typology, built with the specific aim of studying the effect of
climate change on plant disease, is described. Beginning from a general plant
overview, key mechanical and electrical systems are described (i.e. air
temperature and relative humidity control, lighting and CO2 control system
etc.) as environmental parameters and operation cycle are summarized. In
particular both parameters which could be set and monitored and those
measured and stored are reported. After a suitable testing period, several
operation cycles were performed in order to assess the control system's
stability and to optimize the management of all systems involved and the first
experimental trials were carried out. The effect of three different simulated
climatic conditions: 450 ppm of CO2 with standard temperature (ranging
from 18 to 24 degrees C or 18 to 26 degrees C), elevated CO2 (800 ppm) with
standard temperature and elevated CO2 (800 ppm) with elevated
temperature (4 degrees C higher than standard) on the development of grape
powdery and downy mildew were tested.
In order to better regionalize and discuss the rationality/irrationality of the
spatial patterns China' food provision, food production and population data
was collected and GIS spatial analysis and modeling methods were used.
Multi-level spatial analysis and contrast between North and South China was
carried out from three aspects: (1) Ecosystem food provision potential
(EFPP). Step-by-step-modifying models were constructed to assess EFPP,
parameters including solar radiation, temperature, humidity, topography,
soil, and landuse. (2) Conversion ratio of the EFPP (CRFP), representing the
ratio of actual food production to the EFPP. High EFPP and low CRFP means
high remaining food potential for future exploration (or protecting,
increasing). (3) Population pressure of food provision (PPFP). PPFP was
calculated based on food production, population, nutrition ingredient, and
consumption standards. High PPFP means food deficiency. Results: (I) The
EFPP in South and Southeast China is much higher than in the North regions,
while the CRFP is the opposite; this means the South and Southeast China has
more remaining food potential to explore (or to protect). CRFP in Northeast
China is the highest (81%), indicating the food provision in Northeast China
is approaching its maximum potential. In the future it is not wise to rely
solely on food provision increases in North China, which may aggravate some
problems like water shortage and ecosystem deterioration. (2) PPFP in the
South and Southeast of China is much greater than in the North and has been
rising, indicating that South and Southeast China have deficiency in food
supply and is more and more dependent on food transportation from North
China. It is necessary to preserve the fertile and high-yielding croplands as
well as reclaim new food resources in the southern and eastern to improve its
food self-sufficiency. From the above results, we can derive that the North
Grain to South (NGS) pattern of China is irrational. This is in opposition to the
present pattern of NGS but consistent with some other studies of domain
experts, who also claim the NGS pattern may need adjustment. (C) 2015
Published by Elsevier B.V.
Field experiments were conducted at the Agricultural Engineering
Experimental Farm of The Federal University of Technology, Akure, during
2006/2007 and 2007/2008 seasons to investigate the response of cassava
under drip irrigation. The experiment was laid out in a randomised complete
block design (RCBD) with three replications. The treatments were based on
four different water regimes; with T-100 receiving 100% available water
(AW), T-50 and T-25 receiving 50% and 25% of AW and To with zero
irrigation (control treatment). Disease free stems of the cassava cultivar TMS
91934 were planted at a spacing of 1 m by 1 m. The results indicated that T-
100 full treatment produced the highest average total dry matter yield of
49.12 and 37.62 t/ha in 2006/07 and 2007/08 cropping seasons,
respectively. However, the average total dry matter production in T-50, T-25,
and T-0 showed significant differences in their values. Low total dry matter
yields of 7.12 and 5.92 t/ha, respectively, were associated with T-0 for the
two cropping seasons. The total water use of 1491.75 and 1701.13 mm was
recorded for T-100, while total water use of 729.00 and 651.13 mm were
obtained for T-0 in the two cropping seasons. The water use efficiency
determined for the two cropping seasons ranged between 7.38 kg/ha and
32.93 kg/ha. The percentages of total water applied from total water use for
T-100 were 51.11% and 61.72%, while 14.83% and 17.85% were recorded
for T-25 for 2006/07 and 2007/08 cropping seasons, respectively.
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