Dry Bulb Research Articles

Climate extremes likely to drive land mammal extinction during next supercontinent assembly

Mammals have dominated Earth for approximately 55 Myr thanks to their adaptations and resilience to warming and cooling during the Cenozoic. All life will eventually perish in a runaway greenhouse once absorbed solar radiation exceeds the emission of thermal radiation in several billions of years. However, conditions rendering the Earth naturally inhospitable to mammals may develop sooner because of long-term processes linked to plate tectonics (short-term perturbations are not considered here). In ~250 Myr, all continents will converge to form Earth’s next supercontinent, Pangea Ultima. A natural consequence of the creation and decay of Pangea Ultima will be extremes in p_{mathrm{CO}_2} due to changes in volcanic rifting and outgassing. Here we show that increased p_{mathrm{CO}_2}, solar energy (F⨀; approximately +2.5% W m−2 greater than today) and continentality (larger range in temperatures away from the ocean) lead to increasing warming hostile to mammalian life. We assess their impact on mammalian physiological limits (dry bulb, wet bulb and Humidex heat stress indicators) as well as a planetary habitability index. Given mammals’ continued survival, predicted background p_{mathrm{CO}_2} levels of 410–816 ppm combined with increased F⨀ will probably lead to a climate tipping point and their mass extinction. The results also highlight how global landmass configuration, p_{mathrm{CO}_2} and F⨀ play a critical role in planetary habitability.

Thermal and economical performances analyses of a desiccant wheels-assisted atmospheric water harvesting system used in humid climate regions

The thermal and economic performance of an atmospheric water harvesting system that uses four-stage desiccant wheels to pre-humidify processed air was analyzed. A vapor-compression refrigerator was used as the cold source. Two types of heat sources, i.e., heat pump and solar water heater, were considered, and their performance was evaluated. First, thermal performance of the system using different heat sources was analyzed under humid ambient conditions (relative humidity was 40–90 %, dry bulb temperature was 15–35 °C). The results showed that the water harvesting rate was 25.1–94.1 kg/h under these ambient conditions. When a heat pump was used, the water harvesting efficiency with heat recovery was 0.97–2.48 kg/kWh, and 2.41–4.59 kg/kWh when the solar water heater was used. The economic performance of the system was investigated by using diesel generators as the power source. To provide drinking water for 100 people, who consume 3–8 kg/day/person, as compared with bottled water sold in the market, the recovery period of the systems with heat recovery were 0.97–2.58 years and 0.34–0.91 years when the heat pump and solar water heater were used, respectively.

HadISDH.extremes Part I: A Gridded Wet Bulb Temperature Extremes Index Product for Climate Monitoring

HadISDH.extremes is an annually updated global gridded monthly monitoring product of wet and dry bulb temperature-based extremes indices, from January 1973 to December 2022. Data quality, including spatial and temporal stability, is a key focus. The hourly data are quality controlled. Homogeneity is assessed on monthly means and used to score each gridbox according to its homogeneity rather than to apply adjustments. This enables user-specific screening for temporal stability and avoids errors from inferring adjustments from monthly means for the daily maximum values. For general use, a score (HQ Flag) of 0 to 6 is recommended. A range of indices are presented, aligning with existing standardised indices. Uniquely, provision of both wet and dry bulb indices allows exploration of heat event character — whether it is a “humid and hot”, “dry and hot” or “humid and warm” event. It is designed for analysis of long-term trends in regional features. HadISDH.extremes can be used to study local events, but given the greater vulnerability to errors of maximum compared to mean values, cross-validation with independent information is advised.

HadISDH.extremes Part II: Exploring Humid Heat Extremes Using Wet Bulb Temperature Indices

Heat events may be humid or dry. While several indices incorporate humidity, such combined indices obscure identification and exploration of heat events by their different humidity characteristics. The new HadISDH.extremes global gridded monitoring product uniquely provides a range of wet and dry bulb temperature extremes indices. Analysis of this new data product demonstrates its value as a tool for quantifying exposure to humid verses dry heat events. It also enables exploration into “stealth heat events”, where humidity is high, perhaps enough to affect productivity and health, while temperature remains moderate. Such events may not typically be identified as “heat events” by temperature-focused heat indices. Over 1973–2022, the peak magnitude of humid extremes (maximum daily wet bulb temperature over a month; TwX) for the global annual mean increased significantly at 0.13 ± 0.04°C (10 yr)−1, which is slightly slower than the global annual mean Tw increase of 0.22± 0.04°C (10 yr)−1. The frequency of moderate humid extreme events per year (90th percentile daily maxima wet bulb temperature exceedance; TwX90p) also increased significantly at 4.61 ± 1.07 d yr−1 (10 yr)−1. These rates were slower than for temperature extremes, TX and TX90p, which respectively increased significantly at 0.27 ± 0.04°C (10 yr)−1 and 5.53 ± 0.72 d yr−1 (10 yr)−1. Similarly, for the UK/Europe focus region, JJA-mean TwX increased significantly, again at a slower rate than for TX and mean Tw. HadISDH.extremes shows some evidence of “stealth heat events” occurring where humidity is high but temperature remains more moderate.

Optimizing the performance of cotton Bundle-based solar evaporative cooling system using a CFD Model: Model Development, Validation, and optimization

A Solar Evaporative cooling system is an energy-efficient, environmentally friendly, and low-cost air conditioning system. It is an economical air conditioning system for any type of cooling application, such as cold storage of horticulture products and ventilation systems. In this work, a computational fluid dynamics CFD-based model was used to study the parametric effect and to optimize the evaporative air cooler. The system used cotton bundles for the absorption and evaporation of water. Heat and mass transfer processes were coupled using user-defined functions. The accuracy of the model was validated by the experimental results. The predicted results well agreed with experimental results; with average errors of 13.39% (pressure drop), 2.347% (supply air temperature), and 2.22% (supply air relative humidity). The effects of airspeed, porosity, and thickness of the bundle on the cooling performance of evaporative cooling were studied. The incoming air had a dry-bulb temperature of 33 °C and a relative humidity of 28.4%. The study assessed the velocity, temperature, and relative humidity distribution in a cooling chamber. The optimum cooling system reduced the air temperature by up to 12℃ and increased relative humidity to 94% at 1.69 m/s inlet air velocity, 20 cm bundle thickness, and 30.23% porosity.

Improvement of methods of obtaining urban TMY and application for building energy consumption simulation

In the development process of building energy conservation design, the correct provision of local Typical Meteorological Year (TMY) data is a prerequisite and basic work to evaluate building energy consumption, which directly affects the fine use of outdoor data for building energy conservation. Based on the recorded and observed data of meteorological stations in China, the acquisition and correction methods of TMY were studied by mathematical statistics and target searching, and the building energy consumption simulation of urban office buildings was conducted to verify the accuracy of the method, including:(1) Reviewed the generation method for TMY and the acquisition of data.(2) Based on the existing TMY data, the best spatial interpolation method of adjacent stations is studied by using the standard deviation method, and the selection method of the best number of stations on a large regional scale is given.(3) An improved method of urban environment TMY is proposed. The dry bulb temperature and relative humidity of the building site are corrected to generate TMY under Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. The research in this paper improves the coverage and accuracy of urban TMY data and supplies basic research support for building energy-saving designs.

Performances of 34 shallot accessions in Lembang highland

Identification of the appearance of shallot accession is needed in the selection of new superior varieties of shallots. Therefore, performance identification of shallot accessions from various parental backgrounds was carried out. Thirty-four shallot accessions were planted on open land in Lembang highlands (1250 m asl) from May to September 2022. The performance of shallot plants was observed starting from percentage of flowering, number of tillers, plant fresh weight, bulb dry weight, weight loss, bulb number, weight, height and diameters of bulbs and cloves. The data were analysed descriptively. The results showed that there were 11 accessions with 100% flowering percentage, 10 accessions with more than 5 tillers per plant, 5 accessions with weight loss potential of less than 40%, 3 accessions with more than 10 bulbs per plant, 6 accessions with bulb weight more than 10 grams, 11 accessions with bulb diameter more than 2.5 cm and 6 accessions with clove diameter more than 2.5 cm. There were 2 accessions that have a combination of superior traits, namely accessions BLK and C89.

Effect of Humic acid and Ascorbic acid on Growth and Yield of Onion (Allium cepa L.) under Valley Conditions of Garhwal Himalaya

An experiment was conducted at Horticultural Research Center, Chauras Campus, Department of Horticulture, H.N.B Garhwal University, Srinagar (Garhwal), Uttarakhand to assess the impact of humic acid and ascorbic acid on growth and yield of onion bulb. The experiment was formulated with foliar application of humic acid 0, 30, 50 and 70 ppm and Ascorbic acid 0, 25, 40 and 60 ppm concentration at 30 and 45 days after transplanting with three replications under randomized block design. The maximum plant height (39.44 cm), number of leaves per plant (10), highest bulb length (5.93 cm), bulb diameter (5.47 cm), bulb fresh weight (88.20 g), bulb dry weight (13.88 g) and bulb yield per plot (6.39 kg) were obtained with the spray of Humic acid 70 ppm + Ascorbic acid 40 ppm (T15), while minimum were recorded with control (T1).

Optimization-informed Rule Extraction for HVAC system: A Case Study of Dedicated Outdoor Air System Control in a Mixed-Humid Climate Zone.

In the era of post-Coronavirus Disease 2019, the dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS), which provides 100% outdoor air for the building, is widely acknowledged as it can ensure acceptable indoor air quality by delivering fresh outdoor air to occupied space. The DOAS with a proper design and operation can provide sufficient ventilation and dehumidification while achieving energy efficiency. Nonetheless, there is limited guidance in determining the optimal control sequence of the DOAS for the designers and operators to implement in practice. Accordingly, in practice, a number of issues have been acknowledged in the design and control phases of DOAS, including insufficient ventilation and dehumidification, and increasing supply air dry-bulb temperature in fear of over-cooling, which might cause significant discomfort and energy waste. There have been efforts to develop high-performing DOAS controls for better energy efficiency. However, such controls are often complex, or difficult to interpret, for building designers and operators to consider in practice. In this regard, this paper explores a simulation-based framework for generating a supply air temperature control sequence of the DOAS not only to ensure improved energy-saving potential but also to guarantee the implement-ability of the control logic. The U.S Department of Energy prototype primary school with dynamic occupancy profiles was modeled with a whole building simulation program, EnergyPlus. The model consists of a DOAS with an exhaust air energy recovery system for ventilation and fan-coil units for space cooling and heating. Then, a Genetic Algorithm was adopted to find the true optimal supply air temperature control sequence in terms of minimizing the energy cost of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system operation. Lastly, Decision Tree was adopted to extract rules out of the optimums to derive an implementable sequence of operation for the DOAS supply air temperature. A total of 12 week-simulation including four weeks of heating, cooling, and shoulder seasons, separately, under the weather condition of New York City was conducted for the case study. This case study identified that the optimization-informed rule extraction-based control, when compared to conventional outdoor air temperature-based reset control, could save about 13% of energy cost and 25% of energy consumption throughout the heating, cooling, and shoulder seasons. It is notable that the energy-saving was mainly achieved by reducing the heating energy consumption. Importantly, it nearly corresponds to the true optimal control result, which reduces approximately 14% of energy cost and 27% of energy consumption. From the results, it can be highlighted that the optimization-informed rule extraction can be as energy effective as the optimal control, while significantly reducing the complexity of the control.

PENGARUH PEMBERIAN PUPUK KANDANG AYAM DAN POC TERHADAP PERTUMBUHAN DAN PRODUKSI BAWANG MERAH (Allium cepa L.)

This study aims to determine the effect of chicken manure and liquid organic fertilizer on shallots (Allium cepa L.). This study used a Randomized Group Design (RAK) with 2 factors. The first factor is chicken manure consisting of 4 levels, namely: K0 = Control (without treatment), K1 = 1.83 kg/plot (equivalent to 15 tons/Ha), K2 = 2.44 kg/plot (equivalent to 20 tons/Ha) and K3 = 3.05 kg/plot (equivalent to 25 tons/Ha). The second factor is POC consisting of 3 levels, namely: P1 = 3 ml/240ml water/plant, P2 = 6 ml/240ml water/plant and P3 = 9 ml/240ml water/plant. Data analysis used analysis of variance and Duncan test. The results showed that chicken manure had a significant effect on plant height, number of leaves, number of tubers per sample, number of tubers per plot, wet tuber weight per sample, wet tuber weight per plot, dry tuber weight per sample and dry tuber weight per plot. Increasing the dose of manure will increase the growth and production of shallot plants. Chicken manure has a significant effect on plant height, number of leaves, dry bulb weight per sample and dry bulb weight per plot, but has no significant effect on the number of bulbs per sample, number of bulbs per plot, wet bulb weight per sample, wet bulb weight per plot. Chicken manure had a significant effect on the dry weight of bulbs per plot, but had no significant effect on plant height, number of leaves, number of bulbs per sample, number of bulbs per plot, wet bulb weight per sample, wet bulb weight per plot and dry bulb weight per sample.

Experimental and theoretical study on cooling performance of membrane roof with circulated water film

Membrane roofs are widely used in buildings for excellent daylight and visual effects. Nevertheless, excessive solar penetration results in an overheated indoor thermal environment. The experimental and theoretical study on the cooling performance of circulated water film technology on membrane roofs was conducted. The scale experiment results indicated that with circulated water film the membrane surface temperatures decreased rapidly to a level slightly above the water temperature, where the polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) membranes were 0.4 and 2.4 °C higher than water temperature. While the indoor air temperature gradually decreased in instances where PVDF roofs were utilized, the application of ETFE roofs did not yield a significant decrease in temperature. Subsequently, we derived an analytical solution for the dynamic two-dimensional heat and mass transfer process of the water film flowing on the membrane with incident solar radiation, which was validated by experiment. The analysis of influential factors indicated that the temperature drop increased with absorbed solar radiation and outdoor dry-bulb temperature, and decreased with the ambient wet-bulb temperature. Conversely, the cooling performance exhibited minimal sensitivity to variations in water film thickness. The indoor operative temperature dropped by 0.5–0.8 °C in the membrane roofed atrium with water film. The water film effectively cools the indoor thermal environment with membrane roofs.

First Report of Basal Rot of Onion Caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cepae in Saudi Arabia.

Onion (Allium cepa L.) is a globally important crop worldwide including Saudi Arabia. In November 2020, 2-month-old onion plants (cv. Redwing) in commercial fields within the Sajir area of Riyadh region (∼ 1.4 ha), showed symptoms of yellowing, wilting, stunting, bulb discoloration, rot in the basal parts of bulb and decrease in roots. In the advanced stages, the affected plants collapsed and died. The incidence of symptomatic plants ranged from 30 to 65% in the surveyed fields. To isolate the pathogen, symptomatic onion plants (n =20) were sampled. Diseased tissues from roots and bulbs were cut into small pieces (4 × 4 mm), sanitized with 1% sodium hypochlorite solution for 2 min, submerged in 70% alcohol for 20 s, then rinsed with sterile water, before plating on potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium. The plates were incubated at 25°C for 6 days. Subcultures of the mycelia grown out of the diseased tissues produced purplish pink fungal colonies on PDA. On carnation leaf agar, cultures were characteristic of Fusarium oxysporum as described by Leslie and Summerell (2006), with the presence of unicellular microconidia (3.8 to 7.8 × 1.7 to 2.5 μm, n= 50) without septa in false heads or short monophialides and slightly curved macroconidia (16.3 to 28 × 4.2 to 6.1 μm, n= 50) with two to four septa. Older mycelia developed many chlamydospores that were single or in short chains. To further confirm the pathogen identification, DNA was extracted from single-spore cultures of three representative isolates using the DNeasy Plant Mini kit (QIAGEN, Hilden, Germany). Three different fungal nuclear regions of internal transcribed spacer (ITS), elongation factor 1-α, (TEF1-α) and the second largest subunit of DNA-directed RNA polymerase II (RPB2) DNA were amplified by PCR and sequenced with the following primers: ITS4 and ITS5 (White et al. 1990); EF-1 and EF-2 (O'Donnell et al. 2008); and fRPB2-5F and fRPB2-7cR (Liu et al. 1999), respectively. Phylogenetic analysis based on the alignment of the ITS, TEF1-α, and RPB2 sequences using MEGA7 placed these isolates in the F. oxysporum clade. The ITS, TEF1-α, and RPB2 sequences of an isolate FOC-OR9 were submitted to GenBank (OL721757, OL764494, and OL764495 respectively). To confirm the forma specialis cepae, a fragment of the F. oxysporum f. sp. cepae gene Secreted In Xylem 3 (SIX3) was amplified by PCR (Kalman et al. 2020). The SIX3 amplicon (∼ 277-bp) was sent for sequencing, and the sequence was submitted to GenBank (OL828265). BLASTn analysis of the sequences showed 100% identity with F. oxysporum f. sp. cepae (KP746408). To fulfill Koch's postulates, pathogenicity tests were performed with healthy onion bulbs cv. "Redwing" of 100-150 g each. Prior to inoculation of onion bulbs, the dry bulb scales, one of the fleshy inner scales, as well as the roots were removed. Bulbs were then surface sterilized (as described above) and injected with 20 µl of a conidial suspension (106 spores/ ml) into the basal plate of each bulb and approximately 1 cm deep into the tissue. Six bulbs were inoculated for each isolate, placed in a mesh bag, and incubated at 28 °C in the dark. Six bulbs injected with sterile water and six non-inoculated bulbs served as controls. At the 4th week post inoculation, necrotic rot symptoms and brown discoloration were observed on the basal plates of these inoculated bulbs (similar symptoms to those observed in the field), while control treatments showed no symptoms. The pathogen was re-isolated from the basal plates onto PDA and identified morphologically and molecularly as F. oxysporum f. sp. cepae, thus fulfilling Koch's postulates. The test was repeated twice. This pathogen was previously reported causing onion basal rot in United Kingdom (Taylor, et al., 2013). To our knowledge, this is the first report of basal rot in onion caused by F. oxysporum f. sp. cepae in Saudi Arabia. It is recommended that preventive management should be considered as this disease may cause significant economic losses for onion growers in Saudi Arabia. Also, Fusarium mycotoxin contamination of onion bulb could pose a public health risk.

Experimental study on a -86°C cascade refrigeration unit with environmental-friendly refrigerants R290-R170.

Ultralow-temperature refrigeration faces significant issues linked to the security of the cold chain for the production, storage, transportation, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. The use of environmentally friendly refrigerants in cascade refrigeration systems (CRS) to provide low-temperature range is motivated by the high demand for ultralow-temperature refrigeration units. In the current study, a CRS is built to generate a low temperature of -86°C for the storage of COVID-19 vaccines. In the CRS, the natural refrigerant combination R290-R170 is used as high-temperature and low-temperature fluids. The pull-down performance of the -86°C freezer is explored experimentally, and the stable operating performance is determined at two different dry bulb and wet bulb temperatures. Various status monitors are set up to analyze the CRS's operation features, and several temperature monitors are put in the freezer to analyze temperature variations. The power consumption of the CRS is examinedand evaluated. Finally, several key findings are summarized. The current work is the first to involve experimental measurements on -86°C temperature generated by a CRS, which can substantially enhance experiment data in ultralow-temperature refrigeration and contribute to a more in-depth understanding of the operation performance of a -86°C ultralow-temperature freezer.

Assessing the thermal efficiency and emission reduction potential of alcohol-based fuel curing equipment in tobacco-curing

So far, coal, petroleum, and natural gas are still the most widely used fuels, and the emissions of SO2, NOX and particulate matter produced from their combustion have a serious influence on the air. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a clean fuel. In this study, the bulk curing barns were equipped with different fuel equipment, Barn A used traditional coal heating equipment; Barn B used biomass briquettes fuel (BBF) integrated heating equipment; Barn C equipped with alcohol-based fuel (ABF) heating equipment. The temperature of the outer surface of the heating equipment, the exhaust gas of the chimney, and the curing heat efficiency and energy consumption were analyzed. Compared with the barn BBF and barn coal, the barn ABF can meet the flue-cured tobacco curing highest temperature requirements of 68 °C, the accuracy of the target dry bulb temperature (DBT) curve during the curing of flue-cured tobacco was 93.4%. At the same time, during ABF combustion, the emissions of CO2 and CO were 40.82% and 0.19%, respectively. However, no emissions of NOX, SO2, and H2S were detected in the chimney exhaust. Compared with the barn BBF and barn coal, the thermal efficiency of barn ABF heating equipment in the barn was increased by 44.78% and 86.28%, respectively. Additionally, the coast per kilogram of dry tobacco was reduced by 19.44% and 45.28%, respectively. Therefore, compared to barn coal and barn BBF, the barn ABF can control temperature changes more accurately, and shows an obvious advantage in environmental protection and heat utilization efficiency.

DETECTION OF DISCOMFORT INDEX WITH REMOTE SENSING TECHNOLOGY: THE CASE OF ANTALYA PROVINCE

Abstract. Thermal adaptation and thermal comfort indices are critical in determining the thermal comfort of the outdoor environment. They also play an essential role in research on heat stress, an environmental threat that can affect individuals' productivity, health and even survival. Urban growth and the resulting expansion of impervious surfaces affect the thermal characteristics of a landscape by raising Land Surface Temperatures (LST). The resulting warming can lead to thermal discomfort, the prevalence of heat-related health problems, air pollution, increased water use and energy demand for air conditioning, among others. Recently, efforts to understand the effects of urbanization and landscape changes on indoor and outdoor temperatures have increased significantly. Together with remote sensing technology, this study aims to understand human heat stress, and geographic information system (GIS) is a tool used in the research. In the estimation of heat stress, besides temperature, physiological status, environmental impact and relative humidity factors are also important. The discomfort index (DI) is a heat stress indicator proposed by Thom (1959), which expresses the contribution of air temperature and relative humidity to human thermal comfort. The discomfort index proposed by Thom (1959) was calculated as DI=0.5Ta+0.5Tw (Ta: dry bulb temperature, Tw: wet bulb temperature) modified by SOHAR, Adar and Laky (1963). In the study, the dry bulb temperature, assumed to be equal to the air temperature, was taken monthly from MODIS LST data at 1km resolution. Relative humidity was produced by interpolating 73 meteorological data in the study area at 1km resolution. Wet bulb temperature is difficult to measure, so it was calculated from dry bulb temperature and relative humidity data so that the discomfort index as a measure of heat stress in the study area was calculated with a resolution of 1 km. The discomfort index was calculated monthly and annually and classified according to Thom's 4 comfort classes. According to the calculation results, Antalya's average discomfort index value for the whole year is 24.9 °C, indicating that Antalya is a moderately comfortable place. This value varies monthly, especially in April and October when the heat stress is the highest.

Change of Seasons: Boston Marathon Wet Bulb Globe Temperature Index in October

The importance of providing wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) heat stress flag category measurements in real time is well recognized by road race directors, and it is bound to become even more important with the rise of extreme weather and pandemic outbreaks. The purpose of this paper is to describe the WBGT index and its components measured during the 125th running of the Boston Marathon on October 11, 2021, for qualitative comparison to measurements made similarly on its traditional April date, 2014 to 2019. Monitoring occurred at the 7 km, 18 km, and 32 km marks of the race in the towns of Ashland, Natick-Wellesley, and Newton. The outdoor WBGT index was calculated from direct hourly measurements of the dry bulb, black globe, and natural wet bulb temperatures from 0900 to 1500 h. The WBGT index was not different among towns; thus, the average hourly values for the 3towns were compared to historical data averaged identically. Although the black globe temperature fluctuated considerably in response to changing cloud cover, on average, partly cloudy skies kept the solar load comparable to what has been observed in April. Dry bulb and wet bulb temperatures were higher than those on most April dates shown, which resulted in a yellow (or amber) flag day for most of the race. The historic October Boston Marathon was among the warmest in recent history. Like the impact of COVID-19 on the 2021 Boston Marathon, future climate challenges around outdoor activities could necessitate rescheduling; they underscore the importance of real-time WBGT index measures.

Garlic Mite, Aceria tulipae (Acarida: Eriophyidae): A Review

Garlic (Allium sativum), belonging to the family Amarylidaceae, is a bulbous plant which is widely used as a condiment for its pungent flavour. India holds second position in garlic production after China. It is attacked by many insect pests. The most hazardous pest is Garlic mite (Aceria tulipae). This mite is also known as dry bulb mite or onion mite. It attacks in both field and storage condition. In field condition a typical pig tail appearance is seen in infected plants. In storage condition reddish brown spots appear on the garlic cloves due to the feeding of this mite. This article accrued different aspects of Aceria tulipae, viz., host range and host specificity, invasive history and distribution, morphology, taxonomic confusion, dispersal, biology and relationship with abiotic factors, population dynamics, damage symptoms in field and storage and its management.

Energy Forecasting in Buildings Using Deep Neural Networks

Abstract The building sector is responsible for the largest portion of the total energy consumption in the United States. Conventional physics-based building energy models (BEMs) consider all of the building characteristics in order to accurately simulate their energy usage, requiring an extensive, complex, and costly process, particularly for existing buildings. In recent years, data-driven models have emerged as an additional path toward the prediction of energy consumption in buildings. The purpose of this work is to present a methodology for predicting the energy consumption of buildings using deep neural networks (NNs). Three machine learning algorithms, including a linear regression model, a multilayer perceptron NN, and a convolutional NN (CNN) model, are proposed to solve an energy consumption regression problem using outside dry-bulb temperature as the only input. To assess these methods, a building in Melbourne, FL, is considered and modeled in EnergyPlus. Ten years of data were used as inputs to the EnergyPlus model, and the energy consumption was calculated accordingly. The input to the machine learning algorithm (average daily dry-bulb temperature) and the output (daily total energy consumption) are used for training. Cross-validation was performed on the trained model using actual weather data measured onsite at the building location. The results showed that all three proposed machine learning algorithms were trained successfully and were able to solve the regression problem with high accuracy. However, the CNN model provided the best results when compared with the other two methods. This work also investigates different data filtering techniques that provide the best positive correlation between inputs and outputs for a similar type of problem. Results from this work aim to be used toward accurate energy forecasting that facilitates achieving higher energy efficiency in the building sector. The presented framework provides a readily simple model that allows accurate prediction of outputs when supplied with new inputs and can be used by a wide range of end users.

Monitoring and performance evaluation of a green wall in a semi-arid Mediterranean climate

Green walls are gaining popularity as a sustainable cladding solution for buildings, offering various advantages for the built environment and human well-being. However, there is a lack of research on plant selection guides and field data in semi-arid Mediterranean climates, limiting our understanding of green wall potential. To address these gaps, this study assesses the hygrothermal and sound insulation performance of a modular living wall in a semi-arid Mediterranean climate and develops a plant-selection guideline for green wall applications. The experiment involves a comparative assessment between the modular living wall and a bare-wall-reference facade. Measurements of air temperature, relative humidity, and sound pressure were taken, along with thermal imaging, to record the surface temperatures of the experimental facades. Results reveal that the modular-living wall significantly decreased dry-bulb air temperature (up to 8 °C) and reduced sound pressure by up to 5.1 dB. Additionally, relative humidity in the air cavity behind the modular living wall consistently increased by 6.6%, with a maximum absolute humidity differential of 8.6 g/kg. Thermal imaging showed a surface temperature difference of up to 27 °C, with foliage having a higher leaf-area-index proving more efficient in reducing the surface temperature of the green wall.Overall, the modular living wall effectively protected building walls from high solar radiation and temperatures, resulting in reduced energy requirements for space cooling. However, proper irrigation and plant health maintenance are necessary. This study fills important research gaps, providing valuable insights into the potential benefits and performance of green walls in semi-arid Mediterranean climates.

SAFE WORKING CONDITIONS IN HOT MINE ENVIRONMENT – THE ANALYSIS OF DIFFERENT INDICES

The article presents the discussion and practical examples relating to the interpretation of the notion of safe working areas in hot environment based on various indices (American Effective Temperature (ATE), climate equivalent temperature (t zk ) and the Silesian temperature (TS)). The first, theoretical part includes an analysis of the allowable dry bulb temperatures in line with the threshold values for the specified indices in case of various relative humidity and airflow velocity values. Also, the variability of the studied allowable working areas was exhibited for hypothetical extreme cases (such as an airflow of 0 m/s or the relative humidity of φ = 0%) as well as for actual conditions registered in headings. The second part consisted in the analysis of the allowable full-time working conditions for two selected cases of driving roadways. The analysis was conducted for two indices applied in the first part and complemented with an appraisal considering the dry bulb temperature (t s ) and the wet kata thermometer units (K w ). It has been exhibited that while regulating the airflow and the dry bulb temperature in the heading, significant differences in the interpretations (ranges) of safe working areas occur depending on the index that is being used. The conducted works indicate that by applying air cooling in the heading (decreasing the psychrometric temperatures considering the thermodynamic process corresponding to sensible air cooling) or by increasing the airflow, the requirements of the microclimate indices are fulfilled in the following order: ATE, t zk , TS.