Impact of generated solar radiation on simulated crop growth and yield

The availability of observed daily solar radiation (OSR) is restricted to recent years. Its estimation through different methods is necessary to develop long-term data sets for agricultural and environmental applications. The objective of this study was to analyze the impact of using generated daily solar radiation (GSR) on simulated growth and yield of cotton, maize, and peanut. Nine locations representing Georgia's major crop belt were selected. Daily weather data from the Georgia Automated Environmental Monitoring Network (AEMN), including solar radiation, maximum and minimum temperature, and precipitation, were duplicated. The OSR was removed from one set and then generated using a stochastic procedure. The Cropping System Models (CSM)-CROPGRO-Cotton, CERES-Maize, and CROPGRO-Peanut of the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) v4 were used to simulate crop growth and yield at each location with both OSR and GSR and for rainfed and irrigated conditions. The statistical analysis included summary statistics, Pearson's coefficient of correlation, mean squared deviation (MSD) and its components, namely: squared bias (SB), squared difference between standard deviations (SDSD), lack of correlation weighted by the standard deviations (LCS), and regressions. Within locations, for the three crops under rainfed and irrigated conditions, GSR did not significantly affect simulated total evapotranspiration and aboveground biomass and yields. For the three crops, deviations of simulated water use and yields from GSR with respect to simulated water use and yields from OSR were lower for the rainfed than for the irrigated conditions. Yields from the CSM-CROPGRO-Cotton and -Peanut models had lower deviations than yields from the CSM-CERES-Maize model. LCS was the major component of the MSD suggesting that the extent of the difference between standard deviations of GSR and OSRG could affect the outputs of the crop models. Nevertheless, for most locations none of the MSD components of the GSR showed significant correlation with simulated yields and the overall performance of the models was not affected. It can be concluded based on the results of this study that GSR can be used as an input for crop model simulation models when OSR is not available.     

Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) in urban and rural precipitation in Germany

The use of the oxygenate methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) in gasoline has led to detectable concentrations in urban and rural air up to 160 ppbV. Results from MTBE measurement in precipitation have not been reported so far. In the present study, 120 samples of precipitation collected at 17 sampling locations all over Germany have been analyzed for their MTBE content. Analysis is performed by a combination of headspace-solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A 75 μm poly(dimethylsiloxane)/Carboxene fiber and a cryostat is used for SPME. The detection limit is 10 ng/l. In precipitation samples, MTBE was detected in wintertimes only with a maximum concentration of 85 ng/l. Measurement at Frankfurt/M City from 6 September 2000 to 12 March 2001 provided for 49% of the data concentrations in the range of 30–85 ng/l (n=17). Sampling in winter 2000/2001 at several German cities and rural locations showed that MTBE is more often detectable in urban (86%, n=78) than in rural (18%, n=42) precipitation. By comparing the results with corresponding temperatures and amounts of precipitation it can be concluded that the detection of MTBE in urban precipitation is observed at ambient temperatures lower than about 10–15°C. Moreover, the first precipitation after a dry period accumulates more MTBE than precipitation during or at the end of a wet period (wash-out effect). Highest concentrations occurred in snow samples. Corresponding mean air equilibrium concentrations of 0.04 ppbV (urban samples) and 0.01 ppbV (rural samples) are calculated. This is about one magnitude lower than year round and summertime measurements in the US and in Switzerland. Urban runoff (n=12) and corresponding precipitation sampling indicate that urban runoff might be composed of about 20% MTBE that is already transported by air and precipitation, whereas about 80% may be attributed to direct uptake of vehicle emissions and leakage near the road during precipitation.     

Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) in finished drinking water in Germany

In the present study 83 finished drinking water samples from 50 cities in Germany were analyzed for methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) content with a detection limit of 10 ng/L. The detection frequency was 46% and the concentrations ranged between 17 and 712 ng/L. Highest concentrations were found in the community water systems (CWSs) of Leuna and Spergau in Saxony-Anhalt. These CWSs are supplied with water possibly affected by MTBE contaminated groundwater. MTBE was detected at concentrations lower than 100 ng/L in drinking water supplied by CWSs using bank filtered water from Rhine and Main Rivers. The results from Leuna and Spergau show that large groundwater contaminations in the vicinity of CWSs pose the highest risk for MTBE contamination in drinking water. CWSs using bank filtered water from Rhine and Main Rivers are susceptible to low MTBE contaminations in finished drinking water. All measured MTBE concentrations were below proposed limit values for drinking water.     

The impact of storm Xynthia in 2010 on coastal flood prevention policy in France

Storm Xynthia occurred on 28 February 2010. It was one of the most destructive climatic events to hit metropolitan France for several decades, causing 47 victims in France, among whom more than half died in the department of Vendée. The occurence of various natural phenomena (atmospheric pressure, strength and orientation of the wind, tidal range) at the same time caused a major coastal flood in several urban areas from Vendée and Charente-Maritime (central Atlantic region of France). The evaluation of the disaster highlighted a number of problems, especially delays in approving the PPR-L (Plan de Prévention des Risques Littoraux) that allowed urbanization in the coastal flood plain that exposed population to major natural risks, such as sea level rise and floods. Since 28th February, 2010, the French government has focused on these issues and tried to define in a more accurate way the criteria used for the flood zonings of the PPR-L. A number of circulars and recommendations have been produced and they all specified rules of protection for properties against the risk of flood and the necessary measures for adapting or building current or future houses (e.g. height of the upper floor, presence of an upper floor refuge) in accordance with the level of risk. The objective of this paper is twofold: we wish to highlight the impact of the disaster Xynthia on the production of PPR-L in the short and medium terms while focusing on the example of the town of La-Faute-sur-Mer. We will also analyze the evolution of the regulations since 28 February 2010, with special attention paid to the proposed criteria to define the hazard.     

Structural differences in the drone olfactory system of two phylogenetically distant Apis species, A. florea and A. mellifera

Male insects that are attracted by sex pheromones to find their female mates over long distances have specialized olfactory subsystems. Morphologically, these subsystems are characterized by a large number of receptor neurons sensitive to components of the female's pheromones and hypertrophied glomerular subunits ('macroglomeruli' or 'macroglomerular complexes') in the antennal lobes, in which the axons of the receptor neurons converge. The olfactory subsystems are adapted for an increased sensitivity to perceive minute amounts of pheromones. In Apis mellifera, drones have 18,600 olfactory poreplate sensilla per antenna, each equipped with receptor neurons sensitive to the queen's sex pheromone, and four voluminous macroglomeruli (MG1-MG4) in the antennal lobes. In contrast, we show that drones of the phylogenetically distant species, Apis florea, have only 1,200 poreplate sensilla per antenna and only two macroglomeruli in their antennal lobes. These macroglomeruli are homologous in anatomical position to the two most prominent macroglomeruli in A. mellifera, the MG1 and MG2, but they are much smaller in size. The morphological and anatomical differences described here suggest major modifications in the sex-pheromone processing subsystem of both species: (1) less pheromone sensitivity in A. florea and (2) a more complex sex-pheromone processing and thus a more complex sex-pheromone communication in A. mellifera.     

Parameterizing soil and weather inputs for crop simulation models using the VEMAP database

Soil and weather data are critical for the operation of crop simulation models. However, in many cases they are not readily available, especially applications at a regional or larger spatial scale. The Vegetation/Ecosystem Modeling and Analysis Project (VEMAP) provides massive quantities of geo-referenced soil and weather data variables on a half-degree latitude–longitude grid covering the conterminous USA. The VEMAP data were derived from a range of products and analyses, including ground observations, cluster analyses, kriging interpolation, and data assimilation. The objective of this study was to convert the soil and daily weather data of VEMAP into a format that can be used in the popular modeling software Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT). Users can select appropriate soil or daily weather information for the area of interest. The conversion of the VEMAP data resulted in 5927 unique soil profiles and 3261 unique weather station files that encompass daily data from 1895 to 1993. To demonstrate the utility of this database in DSSAT, one representative county of the state of Georgia, USA was selected and a soybean simulation model was employed to simulate final yield using the extracted soil and daily weather data for the normal year (1961–1990). Meanwhile, the extracted daily weather data were compared with ground station observations from the National Weather Service Cooperative Observer Program (COOP). The paired t-test showed that no significant differences were found between the daily weather data and between simulated yields based on VEMAP and COOP weather data for the selected location. The outcome of this research showed that the VEMAP data can be used for crop model applications. However, further research is needed to assess the accuracy of the datasets for a variety of crops at a regional or national scale.