Related Environmental Data Research Articles

A computer-based system for the management of the rust disease of French prunes

Rust (Tranzscheliu discolor) is the most important disease of French prunes in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Infection by this fungus occurs only when leaves are wet. The length of time for which the leaves are wet and the temperature during such periods are major determinants of whether infection occurs and its likely severity. The use by prune growers of new rust management strategies depends on knowledge of infection events and therefore requires ready access to environmental data from orchards. To satisfy this need, microprocessor-based device called a Prune Rust Infection Predictor (PRIP) was developed. The instrument measures air temperature, rainfall, and the presence or absence of free water tree canopies. Measurements are taken at 5-min intervals during wet periods. The instrument calculates whether or not conditions have been suitable for rust infection and potential severity of infection. The system has been operated by advisory staff of NSW Agriculture Fisheries since the 1988/1989 growing season. Potential infection period and related environmental data are collected by personal computers via permanently installed telephone lines from PRIPs located within prune orchards. Prune growers are then advised by recorded telephone messages and given appropriate disease mangement advice. Cumulative potential infection period values are used to provide a prognosis of current-season rust epidemic severity. An expert system is also being developed to assist growers in making decisions on specific rust management options.

A concept for detecting unexpected changes in the environment early

A project was established under the auspices of the German Federal Ministry of Research and Technology with the task of developing a concept for the early recognition of signals for unexpected deleterious changes in the environment. Predictive assessments of products (e.g., chemicals) and technologies as regards their potential environmental impacts contain numerous sources of error and uncertainties. Therefore, appropriate observation systems are needed in order to detect unexpected developments in the environment and in human health. Long-term storage of samples (environmental specimen banking) is the third basic activity that must be undertaken within an early warning system. When monitoring the environment for unwanted changes, it is not sufficient to trace some individual agents, preselected for their well-known capacity to inflict harm. The following avenues of identifying symptoms of change in the environment were identified: development and deployment of “key indicators”; acquisition and correlative treatment of conventional monitoring data from different sources; and execution of concise studies in environmental problem areas. Key indicators are defined as scientific measurement and observation methods which respond to early stages of anthropogenically induced environmental changes and are capable of responding to a multitude of simultaneously present agents. A series of examples is discussed. Approaches concerning how the statistical evaluation of available sets of environment-related data could reveal unexpected developments are presented.

Map Display Formats for Environmental Geologic and Related Data: ABSTRACT

A variety of map formats can display basic geologic and related environmental data derived from aerial photographs, detailed field investigations, and published and unpublished studies. These depictions provide information on natural environments for various types of environmental maps directed toward selected uses and audiences. Examples include: 1. Geology and Natural Environments of Padre Island National Seashore, Texas, which employs a typical map format of colors, symbols, and written descriptions to show the location and distribution of barrier-island and lagoon environments. Color photographs of each mapped environment provide visual reference for the intended popular audience composed of National Seashore visitors. 2. Sediment Distribution, Bathymetry, Faults, and Salt Diapirs: Submerged Lands of Texas, Galveston-Houston Sheet, which displays surficial sediments, water depth, and structural features using contours, colors, and symbols, with colors keyed to a unique color-coded End_Page 552------------------------------ sediment-classification diagram. The map also depicts the precise locations of the hundreds of sediment-sampling points from which data were obtained. 3. Composite Environmental Suitability Map: Brazoria County Geopressured-Geothermal Prospect Area, which uses a series of transparent-translucent overlay sheets on which specific environmental characteristics are shown in varying shades (intensities) of gray to map relative environmental suitability for geopressured-geothermal fluid production and disposal activities. 4. Lavaca and Lower Guadalupe River Basins Environmental Geologic Map, which consists of units that are defined in terms of substrate lithology, soils, landscape morphology, biologic assemblages, and geologic processes. Derivative maps prepared from the environmental geologic map include substrate materials, active geologic processes, and biologic assemblages. End_of_Article - Last_Page 553------------

Current Use of Computers by Exploration Geologists: ABSTRACT

Many geologists are beginning to use the computer as an aid in solving exploration problems. The six types of computer applications discussed here are typical of those currently being used. Industry-supported well-data systems provide large volumes of scout-type data on punched cards or magnetic tape which can be filed, sorted, and retrieved rapidly to fulfill specified requirements. The computer also is used to handle large technical data files of individual companies. Micropaleontological data from several thousand wells which penetrated portions of the Tertiary section in the Louisiana and Texas Gulf Coast area are stored on magnetic tape and retrieved by suitable programs, together with related environmental data, for the preparation of isopachous and biofacies maps from which paleogeography may be interpreted. Correlative electric-log markers or formation tops are recorded on punched card or magnetic tape to allow rapid preparation of structural and isopachous maps using the computer in combination with automatic plotting equipment. Current programs can accept data from wells cut by normal faults and restore to the figures on isopachous maps the thickness of the sections removed by the faults. Maps can be prepared indicating fault patterns, structural data, isopachous values, and isoliths of sandstones and combinations of sandstones. Truncation, onlap, shale-out, and other stratigraphic features coded by the geologist on the input data forms are repeated on printed results and plotted maps to aid in contouring and interpretation. The results of such computations are available in a format su table for further applications such as automatic contouring and trend analysis. Computers can be programmed to prepare facies maps from quantified descriptive lithologic information. This use of the computer provides a rapid and economical method of performing the calculations required for a large variety of maps showing various combinations of end members. These maps are used to interpret paleogeography, depositional environments, and trends favorable for the presence of porosity and hydrocarbon accumulation. Computers are also used for more complex types of statistical analysis, such as factor analysis. By this technique, large numbers of variables can be grouped or clustered into a smaller number of factors, each representing a combination of related variables or samples, retaining essential information and eliminating redundancy. Samples thus grouped into classes or factors have a certain degree of similarity and can be used to define and map facies. Trend analysis is a statistical technique requiring the use of the computer to separate observed quantitative data into a regional component and a residual component. This technique has proved useful in the interpretation of isopachous and structural maps based on subsurface data, seismic maps, gravity maps, and magnetic maps. Computer programs designed to compute the gravity effect of a known or postulated structure are useful for interpretation of deep salt-mass configurations. Models of assumed structures can be constructed from seismic or subsurface data and modified until the computed gravity agrees with observed gravity, thus indicating that the final model is a close approximation to the true structural conditions. End_of_Article - Last_Page 169------------