Multisensor Data Fusion for High Quality Data Analysis and Processing in Measurement and Instrumentation

Multisensor data fusion （MDF） is an emerging technology to fuse data from multiple sensors in order to make a more accurate estimation of the environment through measurement and detection. Applications of MDF cross a wide spectrum in military and civilian areas. With the rapid evolution of computers and the proliferation of micro-mechanical/electrical systems sensors, the utilization of MDF is being popularized in research and applications. This paper focuses on application of MDF for high quality data analysis and processing in measurement and instrumentation. A practical, general data fusion scheme was established on the basis of feature extraction and merge of data from multiple sensors. This scheme integrates artificial neural networks for high performance pattern recognition. A number of successful applications in areas of NDI （Non-Destructive Inspection） corrosion detection, food quality and safety characterization, and precision agriculture are described and discussed in order to motivate new applications in these or other areas. This paper gives an overall picture of using the MDF method to increase the accuracy of data analysis and processing in measurement and instrumentation in different areas of applications.

Using an Electronic Nose to Rapidly Assess Grandlure Content in Boll Weevil Pheromone Lures

Samples of pheromone lures used in boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis （Boheman）, eradication programs are routinely analyzed by Gas Chromatography （GC） to ensure lures are adequately dosed with grandlure, the synthetic aggregation phero- mone produced by male weevils. However, preparation of GC samples is tedious, time consuming, and requires a moderate level of experience. We examined the use of a commercially-available electronic nose （e-nose） for rapidly assessing the grandlure contents of lures. The e-nose was trained to recognize headspace collections of grandlure emitted from new lures and after lures were aged under field conditions for 4 d, 7 d, 10 d, and 14 d. Based on cross-validation of the training set, the e-nose was 82% accurate in discriminating among the different age classes of lures. Upon sampling headspace collections of pheromone from a different set of field-aged lures, the e-nose was 〈50% accurate in discriminating 4 d, 7 d, and 10 d aged lures from the other age classes of lures. However, the e-nose identified new and 14 d aged lure samples with 100% accuracy. In light of these findings, e-nose technology shows considerable promise as an alternative approach for rapidly assessing the initial grandlure contents of lures used in boll weevil eradication programs.

Predicting the dynamics of local adaptation in invasive species

An invasive plant species may restrict its spread to only one type of habitat, or, after some time, may continue to spread into a different, often stressful, secondary, habitat. The question of whether evolution is required for an invasive species to spread from one habitat to another is currently hotly debated. In order for local adaptation to occur, genetic variation must be present within invasive populations. In this paper, I focus on the effect of habitat on the maintenance of genetic variation during the lag phase, the phase of population stability prior to expansion. Genetic diversity in invasive plant populations accumulates through multiple introductions, gene flow, mutation, and hybridization, but diversity is maintained by population level processes influencing effective population size （Ne）. I show that when the plastic response to the environment results in little variation in reproductive output among indi- viduals, Ne is maximized and genetic variation is maintained. Established models of plant competition show that below-ground competition reduces the variation in reproductive output, whereas competition for light increases variation in reproductive output. The same environments that maintain high Ne also reduce the opportunity for se- lection and minimize the response to selection, and thus the effects of the environment are synchronized to prevent genetic purges. When the primary invasion habitat supports high Ne, conditions are ripe for local adaptation to a secondary habitat, particularly if the secondary habitat has high opportunity for selection. When the primary invasion habitat supports low Ne, genetic diversity is less likely to be sufficient for local adaptation to secondary habitat to occur.

Development and prospect of unmanned aerial vehicle technologies for agricultural production management

Unmanned aerial vehicles have been developed and applied to support agricultural production management.Compared with piloted aircraft,an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle(UAV)can focus on small crop fields at lower flight altitudes than regular aircraft to perform site-specific farm management with higher precision.They can also“fill in the gap”in locations where fixed winged or rotary winged aircraft are not readily available.In agriculture,UAVs have primarily been developed and used for remote sensing and application of crop production and protection materials.Application of fertilizers and chemicals is frequently needed at specific times and locations for site-specific management.Routine monitoring of crop plant health is often required at very high resolution for accurate site-specific management as well.This paper presents an overview of research involving the development of UAV technology for agricultural production management.Technologies,systems and methods are examined and studied.The limitations of current UAVs for agricultural production management are discussed,as well as future needs and suggestions for development and application of the UAV technologies in agricultural production management.

Multispectral imaging systems for airborne remote sensing to support agricultural production management

This study investigated three different types of multispectral imaging systems for airborne remote sensing to support management in agricultural application and production.The three systems have been used in agricultural studies.They range from low-cost to relatively high-cost,manually operated to automated,multispectral composite imaging with a single camera and integrated imaging with custom-mounting of separate cameras.Practical issues regarding use of the imaging systems were described and discussed.The low-cost system,due to band saturation,slow imaging speed and poor image quality,is more preferable to slower moving platforms that can fly close to the ground,such as unmanned autonomous helicopters,but not recommended for low or high altitude aerial remote sensing on fixed-wing aircraft.With the restriction on payload unmanned autonomous helicopters are not recommended for high-cost systems because they are typically heavy and difficult to mount.The system with intermediate cost works well for low altitude aerial remote sensing on fixed-wing aircraft with field shapefile-based global positioning triggering.This system also works well for high altitude aerial remote sensing on fixed-wing aircraft with global positioning triggering or manually operated.The custom-built system is recommended for high altitude aerial remote sensing on fixed-wing aircraft with waypoint global positioning triggering or manually operated.

Process analysis for an alfalfa rotary dryer using an improved dimensional analysis method

All parameters in terms of wet alfalfa input capacity,dry alfalfa output capacity,alfalfa stem length,rotary speed,heated air temperature,air flow velocity and number of lifting flights fixed at the interior wall of rotary dryer were integrated and derived into fourπterms based on Jiang’s principle.The drying temperature was a significant factor influencing the drying rate and the post-drying quality of alfalfa hay.An improved G.Murphy theorem with high confidence was used to design an experimental program for alfalfa drying in a rotary dryer.Aπequation was derived by using the multiplication of component equations involving the drying parameters and most of its correlation coefficients were higher than 0.99.The validation results show that most of the relative errors ofπterms were lower than 10%and are acceptable in engineering practice.This empirical equation may be used to investigate the parameter interactive effects on conveyor performance,which may be useful in the design and selection of rotary dryers for drying alfalfa hay.

Quality control of the parasitoid wasp Trichogramma brassicae (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) over 45 generations of rearing on Sitotroga cerealella

Trichogramma brassicae(Bezdenko)is an important biological control agent that has been used widely against many lepidopteran pests.Commonly,colonies of Trichogramma are mass reared on factitious hosts such as Sitotroga cerealella(Olivier)over many generations.In this study,we evaluated the quality and performance of a colony of T.brassicae that had been reared for over 45 generations(G)using two-sex life table parameters and parasitism capacity.We found that female adult longevity was significantly different among sequential generations,ranging from 5.58±2.5 d(at G5)to 3.75±1.42 d(at G45).However,no significant difference was found in male adult longevity among different generations.Although female wasps survived longer until the 15th gener・ation,they allocated more days for egg laying at G5 and GIO.The highest values of gross reproductive rate(GRR),net reproductive rate(7.),intrinsic rate of increase(r),finite rate of increase(λ)and mean generation time(T)were found in G5 and GIO,which also showed significantly higher cq.No significant difference in the finite parasitism rate(co)was found among generations up to G15.These results suggest that T.brassicae wasps held under continuous laboratory rearing can be used successfully in biological control programs until the 15th generation without any loss of quality or performance.However,laboratory mass rearing colonies declined in quality after 15 generations and we suggest that they should be rejuvenated regularly by adding field-collected parasitoids periodically.

Spectral response of spider mite infested cotton:Mite density and miticide rate study

Two-spotted spider mites are important pests in many agricultural systems.Spider mites(Acari:Tetranychidae)have been found to cause economic damage in corn,cotton,and sorghum.Adult glass vial bioassays indicate that Temprano™(abamectin)is the most toxic technical miticide for adult two-spotted spider mite.From an aerial application standpoint,additional research is needed to identify aerial application parameters for this miticide.The objective of this study was to investigate spectral response of spider mite-infested cotton plants with different density levels of mites and treated with different rates of miticide.Results showed significantly different spectral signatures of cotton plants infested with different density levels of mites.By treating mite-infested cotton plants with five different Temprano rate treatments(control,one-eighth,one-fourth,one-half,and full rates),spectral reflectance curves were found to be significantly different.Four wavelengths of 550 nm,560 nm,680 nm and 740 nm were important for detecting the spectral differences among mite infested cotton plants treated with various rate of Temprano.Normalized Difference Vegetative Index imagery was able to detect different levels of cotton plant damage.Half-rate application of Temprano controlled mite-infested plants as effectively as the full-rate application.These findings may lead to reduced cost and quantity of miticides used to maintain effective crop production and protection.

Invasive grasses consistently create similar plant-soil feedback types in soils collected from geographically distant locations

Aims Plants of similar life forms and closely related species have been observed to create similar types of plant–soil feedbacks(PSFs).However,investigations of the consistency of PSFs within species have not yielded clear results.For example,it has been reported that species create different types of PSFs in their native and introduced ranges.The aim of this project is to examine if four species create similar PSF types from soils collected from widely distributed areas within their introduced range.The soil for this project was collected from three areas in western North America.With this design,we aim to determine species-and site-specific ability to create PSFs and if the type of PSF created is consistent in all soil from all three collection areas.The species examined are Agropyron cristatum,Centaurea solstitialis,Poa pratensis and Taeniatherum caput-medusae.Methods We used three-field collected soils(from northern Nevada,western Montana and eastern Montana)in a two-phase greenhouse experiment to quantify the type of PSFs created by four invasive species.The first phase was a conditioning phase wherein each invasive species created species-specific changes to the soil.The second phase of the experiment was the response phase wherein both the conditioning species and a native phytometer were grown in the conditioned soil and in unconditioned(control)soil.The final aboveground biomass was used to evaluate the effect of conditioning and to determine the type of PSF created by each invasive species.Important Findings Our results suggest that three of our four study species did show consistency in relation to PSF.Two species A.cristatum and T.caputmedusae consistently created PSF types that benefit conspecifics more than heterospecifics(and thus are‘invasive’PSF types)and P.pratensis consistently exhibited no,or‘neutral’,feedbacks.The fourth species(C.solstitialis)was inconsistent:in one soil,no feedback was created;in other soil,an invasive PSF was created and in the last soil,a feedback that relatively benefited the native phytometer was created.Thus,PSFs appear to uniformly contribute to the success of two species(A.cristatum and T.caput-medusae)but not C.solstitialis nor P.pratensis.