THE DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF EXPERIMENTS. By Oscar Kempthorne. New York, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1952. 631 pp. $8.50. This book by a teacher of statistics (as well as a consultant for \"experimenters\") is a comprehensive study of the philosophical background for the statistical design of experiment. It is necessary to have some facility with algebraic notation and manipulation to be able to use the volume intelligently. The problems are presented from the theoretical point of view, without such practical examples as would be helpful for those not acquainted with mathematics. The mathematical justification for the techniques is given. As a somewhat advanced treatment of the design and analysis of experiments, this volume will be interesting and helpful for many who approach statistics theoretically as well as practically. With emphasis on the \"why,\" and with description given broadly, the author relates the subject matter to the general theory of statistics and to the general problem of experimental inference. MARGARET J. ROBERTSON

The Design and Analysis of Experiments

Precision agriculture (PA) is the application of geospatial techniques and sensors (e.g., geographic information systems, remote sensing, GPS) to identify variations in the field and to deal with them using alternative strategies. In particular, high-resolution satellite imagery is now more commonly used to study these variations for crop and soil conditions. However, the availability and the often prohibitive costs of such imagery would suggest an alternative product for this particular application in PA. Specifically, images taken by low altitude remote sensing platforms, or small unmanned aerial systems (UAS), are shown to be a potential alternative given their low cost of operation in environmental monitoring, high spatial and temporal resolution, and their high flexibility in image acquisition programming. Not surprisingly, there have been several recent studies in the application of UAS imagery for PA. The results of these studies would indicate that, to provide a reliable end product to farmers, advances in platform design, production, standardization of image georeferencing and mosaicing, and information extraction workflow are required. Moreover, it is suggested that such endeavors should involve the farmer, particularly in the process of field design, image acquisition, image interpretation and analysis.

The application of small unmanned aerial systems for precision agriculture: a review

The days where swarms of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will occupy our skies are fast approaching due to the introduction of cost-efficient and reliable small aerial vehicles and the increasing demand for use of such vehicles in a plethora of civil applications. Governments and industry alike have been heavily investing in the development of UAVs. As such it is important to understand the characteristics of networks with UAVs to enable the incorporation of multiple, coordinated aerial vehicles into the air traffic in a reliable and safe manner. To this end, this survey reports the characteristics and requirements of UAV networks for envisioned civil applications over the period 2000–2015 from a communications and networking viewpoint. We survey and quantify quality-of-service requirements, network-relevant mission parameters, data requirements, and the minimum data to be transmitted over the network. Furthermore, we elaborate on general networking related requirements such as connectivity, adaptability, safety, privacy, security, and scalability. We also report experimental results from many projects and investigate the suitability of existing communication technologies for supporting reliable aerial networking.

Survey on Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Networks for Civil Applications: A Communications Viewpoint

The production of topographic datasets is of increasing interest and application throughout the geomorphic sciences, and river science is no exception. Consequently, a wide range of topographic measurement methods have evolved. Despite the range of available methods, the production of high resolution, high quality digital elevation models (DEMs) requires a significant investment in personnel time, hardware and/or software. However, image-based methods such as digital photogrammetry have been decreasing in costs. Developed for the purpose of rapid, inexpensive and easy three-dimensional surveys of buildings or small objects, the ‘structure from motion’ photogrammetric approach (SfM) is an image-based method which could deliver a methodological leap if transferred to geomorphic applications, requires little training and is extremely inexpensive. Using an online SfM program, we created high-resolution digital elevation models of a river environment from ordinary photographs produced from a workflow that takes advantage of free and open source software. This process reconstructs real world scenes from SfM algorithms based on the derived positions of the photographs in three-dimensional space. The basic product of the SfM process is a point cloud of identifiable features present in the input photographs. This point cloud can be georeferenced from a small number of ground control points collected in the field or from measurements of camera positions at the time of image acquisition. The georeferenced point cloud can then be used to create a variety of digital elevation products. We examine the applicability of SfM in the Pedernales River in Texas (USA), where several hundred images taken from a hand-held helikite are used to produce DEMs of the fluvial topographic environment. This test shows that SfM and low-altitude platforms can produce point clouds with point densities comparable with airborne LiDAR, with horizontal and vertical precision in the centimeter range, and with very low capital and labor costs and low expertise levels. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

/pdf/topographic-structure-from-motion-a-new-development-in-4n8nrbcixp.pdf

Topographic structure from motion: a new development in photogrammetric measurement

The availability of high-resolution Digital Surface Models of coastal environments is of increasing interest for scientists involved in the study of the coastal system processes Among the range of terrestrial and aerial methods available to produce such a dataset, this study tests the utility of the Structure from Motion (SfM) approach to low-altitude aerial imageries collected by Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) The SfM image-based approach was selected whilst searching for a rapid, inexpensive, and highly automated method, able to produce 3D information from unstructured aerial images In particular, it was used to generate a dense point cloud and successively a high-resolution Digital Surface Models (DSM) of a beach dune system in Marina di Ravenna (Italy) The quality of the elevation dataset produced by the UAV-SfM was initially evaluated by comparison with point cloud generated by a Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) surveys Such a comparison served to highlight an average difference in the vertical values of 005 m (RMS = 019 m) However, although the points cloud comparison is the best approach to investigate the absolute or relative correspondence between UAV and TLS methods, the assessment of geomorphic features is usually based on multi-temporal surfaces analysis, where an interpolation process is required DSMs were therefore generated from UAV and TLS points clouds and vertical absolute accuracies assessed by comparison with a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) survey The vertical comparison of UAV and TLS DSMs with respect to GNSS measurements pointed out an average distance at cm-level (RMS = 0011 m) The successive point by point direct comparison between UAV and TLS elevations show a very small average distance, 0015 m, with RMS = 0220 m Larger values are encountered in areas where sudden changes in topography are present The UAV-based approach was demonstrated to be a straightforward one and accuracy of the vertical dataset was comparable with results obtained by TLS technology

https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/5/12/6880/pdf

Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) for High-Resolution Reconstruction of Topography: The Structure from Motion Approach on Coastal Environments

Rangeland comprises as much as 70% of the Earth's land surface area. Much of this vast space is in very remote areas that are expensive and often impossible to access on the ground. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have great potential for rangeland management. UAVs have several advantages over satellites and piloted aircraft: they can be deployed quickly and repeatedly; they are less costly and safer than piloted aircraft; they are flexible in terms of flying height and timing of missions; and they can obtain imagery at sub-decimeter resolution. This hyperspatial imagery allows for quantification of plant cover, composition, and structure at multiple spatial scales. Our experiments have shown that this capability, from an off-the-shelf mini-UAV, is directly applicable to operational agency needs for measuring and monitoring. For use by operational agencies to carry out their mandated responsibilities, various requirements must be met: an affordable and reliable platform; a capability for autonomous, low altitude flights; takeoff and landing in small areas surrounded by rugged terrain; and an easily applied data analysis methodology. A number of image processing and orthorectification challenges have been or are currently being addressed, but the potential to depict the land surface commensurate with field data perspectives across broader spatial extents is unrivaled.

Unmanned aerial vehicle-based remote sensing for rangeland assessment, monitoring, and management.

Vascular plants have been considered as autonomous organisms especially when their performance has been interpreted at the genome and cellular level In reality, vascular plants provide a unique ecological niche for diverse communities of cryptic symbi‑ otic microbes which often contribute multiple benefits, such as enhanced photosynthetic efficiency, nutrient and water use and tolerance to abiotic and biotic stress These benefits are similar to improvements sought by plant scientists working to develop ecologically sustainable crops for food, fiber and biofuels Native desert plants include a community of indigenous endosymbiotic fungi that are structural components with cells, tissues, cell cultures and regenerated plants These fungi regulate plant growth and development and contribute genes and natural products that enable plants to adapt to changing environments A method developed for transferring these endophytes from cell cultures to non‑host plants promises to be a revolutionary approach for the development of novel plant germplasm and has application in the field of plant biotechnology

https://jornada.nmsu.edu/bibliography/08-033.pdf

Do symbiotic microbes have a role in plant evolution, performance and response to stress?

https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/jrm/article/download/19958/19576

Grazing Intensity on Vegetation Dynamics of a Typical Steppe in Northeast Inner Mongolia

https://jornada.nmsu.edu/bibliography/09-029.pdf

Kris M. Havstad

Papers

Unmanned aerial vehicle-based remote sensing for rangeland assessment, monitoring, and management.

Do symbiotic microbes have a role in plant evolution, performance and response to stress?

Grazing Intensity on Vegetation Dynamics of a Typical Steppe in Northeast Inner Mongolia

Improving Field-Based Experimental Research to Compliment Contemporary Management

Approaches to Predicting Broad-Scale Regime Shifts Using Changing Pattern-Process Relationships Across Scales