This paper summarises the main results derived from a study developed under the ESA funded PolSAR-Ap project, aimed to demonstrate the contribution of SAR polarimetry in diverse Earth observation products. The specific application treated here is the retrieval of phenology of agricultural crops by exploiting C-band polarimetric images. Using a set of 20 images acquired by Radarsat-2 during the ...

SUMMARY Globally, virus diseases are common in agricultural crops and have a major agronomic impact. They are countered through the deployment of genetic resistance against the virus, or through the use of a range of farming practices based upon the propagation of virus-free plant material and the exclusion of the virus vectors from the growing crop. We review here the current status of our kno...

The farmer requires detailed information on crop stress conditions in order to manage the crop growth. This information may be acquired by low granular satellite images to coarsely identify areas of interest within the field followed by ground measurements carried out by robotic surveying platforms for plant identification and segmentation. A novel concept for creating rational behaviors of sur...

An intentional outbreak of disease among livestock, or agricultural crops, will share a number of characteristics with those aimed at humans - unexpected pattern of disease in season or place, possible explosive incidence, unusual pathogen either in itself or of its genetic structure, difficult diagnosis - but there will also be notable differences: human cases, if they occur, will be coinciden...

Most agronomic situations involve a sequence of herbicide, fungicide, and insecticide application. On the other hand, use of pesticidal combinations has become a standard practice in the production of many agricultural crops. One of the most important processes influencing the behavior of a pesticide in the environment is its degradation in soil. It is known that due to several pesticide applic...

expect the government to do it for them." Through networks in professional societies, he notes, scientists could work in their local communities. He suggests that scientists help public education groups with materials and by volunteering to do some teaching. "The time and effort would be well worth it," he says, "because the public understanding of science is a priceless thing." Gary Ritchie (A...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the feasibility of implementing a physician based surveillance system of occupational respiratory diseases (PROPULSE) in Québec with regard to physician participation rate, characteristics of reported cases, and comparison with official statistics from the Workers' Compensation Board (WCB). METHODS All chest physicians and allergists in Québec were asked to report suspec...

A total of 124 coal workers and ex-coal workers receiving disability benefit for coal worker's pneumoconiosis and routinely reattending the Cardiff Pneumoconiosis Medical Panel during a 10-week period were studied. Those with complicated pneumoconiosis were excluded. Their current chest radiographs and their chest radiographs at the time of certification were read in random order by three reade...

Michael K. Lettau is an economist in the Office of Compensation and Working Conditions, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Thomas C. Buchmueller is an assistant professor at the Graduate School of Management, University of California, Irvine. Employers’ costs for total benefits grew roughly 50 percent faster than employee wages over the 1980–96 period, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Emplo...

If working tasks are carried out in inadequate conditions, workers with functional limitations may, over time, risk developing further disabilities. While several validated risk assessment methods exist for able-bodied workers, few studies have been carried out for workers with disabilities. This article, which reports the findings of a Study funded by the Italian Ministry of Labour, proposes a...