Forest certification—or, as it is sometimes called, green certification—aims to identify forestland that is managed to meet agreed-upon standards and, sometimes, to label products originating from those forests. The underlying goal of forest certification is to promote forest practices that are environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable over the long term....
Simultaneous translation, which translates concurrently with the source language speech, is widely used in many scenarios including multilateral organizations. However, it is well known to be one of the most challenging tasks for humans due to the simultaneous perception and production in two languages. On the other hand, simultaneous translation...
A toolkit for farmers, Extension agents, community organizers, and other agricultural professionals interested in starting and maintaining a successful farmer network. The publication is divided into two sections: an instruction guide (with information on establishing, promoting and managing a farmer network) and a toolbox (with tips, examples, case studies, and...
Earthquake engineering analyses are often performed using shallow, crustal earthquake motions (e.g., 1940 El Centro). However, large areas of the world are subject to subduction zone earthquake motions (e.g., the Pacific Northwest). A subduction zone earthquake motion is characterized by its long duration (e.g., strong shaking lasts for more than...
In this work we consider a model for pattern-producing vegetation in semi-arid regions of the world proposed by Klausmeier. It is a coupled nonlinear diffusion-advection evolutionary PDE system describing the vegetation density and water amount. The model was studied extensively by J.Sherratt who took into consideration the field data for...
Successful pruning relies on accurately identifying the 3D structure of tree branches and leaders. However, this task is arduous in an agricultural setting due to the complexity of scenes, the presence of clutter, and variable weather conditions. This project addresses these challenges by leveraging advancements in 2D image segmentation and...
Structure-forming invertebrates belong to a polyphyletic group of primarily sessile and sedentary megafauna that can significantly enhance the complexity of physical habitats. A number of these organisms, including cold-water corals and sponges, are known to be slow growing and vulnerable to physical disturbance. In addition, as filter feeders, these invertebrates...