1,720,973 research outputs found
Approaches for agro-energy land planning
Full text linkThe aim of the work is to present the X-land software application that, using an interdisciplinary approach, allows to plan agro-fuel supply chain at the regional level, integrating different informative layers (soil parameters, climate, field management and location with respect to collecting centres, processing plants and road network). X-land is designed to evaluate the potential use of the land for energy production and its side effects, supplying the existing processing plants and accomplishing with economic, energy and environmental targets
New approach to analyze relationships between agritouristic supply and territory,
No full textThis paper defines the phenomenon of agritourism in Friuli Venezia Giulia (NE Italy) at the end
of 2009, in the light of the multifunctionality of agritouristic farms and taking into account the
land use. The proposed statistical approach to outline the situation includes (a) the
classification of the variables linked to agritouristic supply to find the main supply types, (b) the
Principal Component Analysis (PCA) in order to classify the regional agritourisms according
to their supply and (c) the Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) to investigate the
relationships between agritouristic supply, agricultural land use and territory. Since the CCA is
widely used only in social and environmental sciences, this work represents its first application
in agribusiness field. The method becomes important during the agricultural policy planning
processes because it provides decision makers with a means of rapid assessment of the
relationships between rural supply and land uses on the territory
System simulation by SEMoLa
Full text linkSEMoLa is a platform, developed at DISA since 1992, for system knowledge integration and modelling. It allows to create computer models for dynamic systems and to manage different types of information. It is formed by several parts, each dealing with different forms of knowledge, in an integrated way: a graphical user interface (GUI), a declarative language for modelling, a set of commands with a procedural scripting language, a specific editor with code highlighting (SemEdit), a visual modelling application (SemDraw), a data base management system (SemData), plotting data capabilities (SemPlot), a raster maps management system (SemGrid), a large library of random number generators for uncertainty analysis, support for fuzzy logic expert systems, a neural networks builder and various statistical tools (basic statistics, multiple and non-linear regression, moving statistics, etc.).
The core part of the platform is the declarative modelling language (SEMoLa; simple, easy to use, modelling language). It relies on System Dynamics principles and uses an integrated view to represent dynamic systems through different modelling approaches (state/individual-based, continuous/discrete, deterministic/stochastic) without requiring specific programming skills. SEMoLa language is based on a ontology closer to human reasoning rather than computer logic and constitutes also a paradigm for knowledge management.
SEMoLa platform permits to simplify the routinely tasks of creating, debugging, evaluating and deploying computer simulation models but also to create user libraries of script commands. It is able to communicate with other frameworks exchanging - with standard formats - data, modules and model components
A software application for mapping livestock waste odour dispersion
Full text linkIn developed Countries, coexistence of livestock production and urban settlements is a source of problematic interactions that are regulated by specific legislation, often requiring the evaluation of the potential environmental impact of livestock odour emissions. For this purpose, dispersion models are powerful tools that can be classified as dynamic (Eulerian and Lagrangian) or static (Gaussian). The latter, while presenting some limitations in condition of wind calm and complex orography, are widely adopted for their ease of use.
OdiGauss is a free multilingual software application allowing to estimate odour dispersion from multiple point sources and to generate the related maps. Dispersion is calculated according to a Gaussian approach, as a function of wind speed and direction, precipitation, temperature, and solar radiation. OdiGauss incorporates a model of odour emissions from poultry farms (EmiFarm) which makes predictions based on manure production and management. Two case studies of software application on real poultry and swine farms are presented
Implementation and validation of Climak 3 weather generator
No full textWeather generators (WG) are stochastic models, which generates series of weather data of indefinite length with statistical properties similar to those of the original series. WG have been extensively used in different biophysical models, providing them with meteorological input data. Climak 3 is a new version of Climak (Danuso, 2002), capable to generate daily meteorological data of precipitation, minimum and maximum air temperatures, solar radiation, reference evapotranspiration and wind speed. The performance of Climak 3 was tested using meteorological datasets coming from different locations over the world. The results for Italy, Bulgaria and Argentina are presented and discussed
The suitability of Giant reed and Miscanthus silages for biogas production: a preliminary comparison
No full textAssessing ammonia emissions from liquid manure storage: a modelling approach applied to Danish and Italian conditions
No full textThis study has been focused on ammonia volatilization from liquid manure storages, with the aim of comparing the existent emission factors for Italian and Danish manure management. These two countries, situated in different agro-ecological zones, have a high potential for ammonia emissions. European Directives provide general guidelines to regulate the construction and management of manure storages (tanks or lagoons), but regulations in Italy and Denmark have led to different agricultural practices and abatement strategies. Thus, a method to reduce emissions being efficient in Denmark may be inefficient in Italy. Therefore, a modelling approach is suggested to assess ammonia emissions, because the high uncertainty level in measurement techniques and a number of variables that influence the process of volatilization (Shah et al. 2006). For this reasons, a simple model-based decision support system has been developed to predict emissions from storages in Denmark and the northern part of Italy
Energy production and carbon sequestration in wet areas of Emilia Romagna region, the role of Arundo Donax
No full textThis work investigated the utilization of giant reed as energy crop applied marginal areas of the municipality cluster "Unione Terre d'Argine" (UTA), Northern Italy. On one hand, the researchers modeled the giant reed productivity in terms of ton/year for each town of the cluster. They focused on those areas neighboring the local rivers and channels kept unused for farming activities: i.e. riverbanks or detention basin shores. On the other hand, experimental tests were performed to determine the behavior of giant reed as fuel in pilotscale gasification power plants. Results showed the high potential of small or pilot-scale gasifiers to increase the sustainability of river maintenance operations. From its gasification it is possible to produce electrical power together with biochar. Biochar is a powerful soil amendment that can be used straight in the riverbanks. The tandem process between giant reed growth and its gasification leads to 150 kg of CO2 sequestered for every ton of giant reed processed. Furthermore, the energy production from waste biomasses will help to perform better and more regular maintenance operation to the local rivers and channels, thus reducing the negative effects of possible floods
- …
