Estimating the impacts of water pricing on smallholder irrigators in North West Province, South Africa

Worldwide growing water scarcity has increased the call for economic instruments to stimulate rational water use in agriculture. Furthermore, cost-recovery is now widely accepted as a cornerstone of sustainable water management. In many developing countries, where agricultural water use is often still subsidised, water pricing policies are developed for allocating water efficiently and achieving sustainability of water systems. However, the impacts of water pricing policies on irrigation water use and on farm production systems is mostly unknown. We introduce an innovative two-stage methodology that allows estimating these effects at farm level. Applying the method to small-scale irrigators in South Africa, we show that water demand is quite responsive even to small changes in water price. In addition, the introduction of a water price significantly decreases farm profit. This appears to be a problem primarily for the poorer farmers.     

Image processing-based study of soil porosity and its effect on water movement through Andosol intact columns

The soil pore network and marcoporosity are important factors affecting water and solute transport. The transfer of contaminants to water resources is of particular importance in the Valle de Bravo watershed as it provides 10% of the drinking water for the 20 million inhabitants of Mexico City. This watershed is composed mainly of Andosols with unique mineralogical and physical characteristics. Soil porosity is usually examined on thin sections, using various image analysis techniques. We propose a novel methodology combining image analysis and a displacement experiment to study relationships between soil structure and water tracer transport parameters. H₂¹⁸O displacement experiments were conducted through intact soil columns sampled at three depths from a representative cultivated Andosol profile. The soil structure and pore characteristics were obtained by image analysis on thin sections obtained from each column at the end of the displacement experiment. The total 2D porosity (for pores larger than 50 μm) varied from 80% of the total section area in the topsoil to around 60% in the subsoil. Tubular pores were the most abundant in the soil profile, but ploughing of the topsoil had destroyed sections of these pores and replaced them with packing pores. Water transport in the intact subsoil columns was always in physical non-equilibrium, showing the existence of preferential flow pathways. In the topsoil, one column out of three showed no preferential flow, demonstrating that soil ploughing also homogenised pore connections. Pore connectivity was larger in the ploughed topsoil than in their deeper soil horizon counterparts. Our methodology offers a 2D quantitative characterisation of the macroporous network at 50 μm resolution and the determination of water transport parameters on the same intact soil samples. 3D characterisation of soil porosity using X-ray computed tomography (CT) gives a better picture of pore connection but usually has lower spatial resolution and a larger cost.     

FSWM: A hybrid fuzzy-stochastic water-management model for agricultural sustainability under uncertainty

A hybrid fuzzy-stochastic water-management (FSWM) model is developed for agricultural sustainability under uncertainty, based on advancement of a multistage fuzzy-stochastic quadratic programming (MFSQP) approach. In MFSQP, uncertainties presented in terms of fuzziness and randomness can be incorporated within a multilayer scenario tree, such that revised decisions are permitted in each time period based on the realized values of the uncertain events. Moreover, fuzzy quadratic terms are used in the objective function to minimize the variation of satisfaction degrees among the constraints; it allows an increased flexibility in controlling the system risk in the optimization process. Results of the case study indicate that useful solutions for the planning of agricultural water management have been obtained. In the FSWM model, a number of policies for agricultural water supply are conducted. The results obtained can help decision makers to identify desired water-allocation schemes for agricultural sustainability under uncertainty, particularly when limited water resources are available for multiple competing users.     

基于倍四元数和Groebner基的6R机械手的位置反解

提出了一般6R机械手的位置反解的新算法,该算法是把齐次变换矩阵转以倍四元数形式表示,建立了倍四元数形式的串联6R机械手运动学方程,再通过线性消元和两次应用分次字典序Groebner基消去5个变元,得到一个一元16次方程.此方法没有增根,是一种对空间任意尺寸6R机械手进行建模和求解的新算法.其中求解Groebner基采用了计算机代数系统进行有理数运算,目前的求解速度尚不是很高,需进一步改进.     

草方格铺设机器人多体动力学仿真与试

采用Pro/E和ADAMS软件相结合的方法,建立了草方格铺设机器人动力学模型,同时探讨了二者联合建模仿真的一般步骤.模型添加必要的边界条件后,对纵向压轮和横向插刀正常动作时的草方格铺设机器人振动状态进行了仿真.通过仿真,得到了牵引车、纵向铺设机构、横向铺设机构、纵向压轮和横向插刀质心的位移、速度以及加速度曲线.分析了这些曲线出现波动的原因,为进一步的优化提供了数据.通过试验,得到实际状态下的试验曲线,并与仿真曲线进行对照,证实了草方格铺设机器人仿真模型和仿真结果的合理性和可靠性.     

实现连架杆给定角位移的机构综合方

对于给定的两连架杆4组对应角位移,可综合得到无穷多个机构解,要求设计者快速、准确地从中选取位置点、综合出满足各项设计要求的最优机构比较困难.为此,根据映射理论,提出把无限的布氏曲线所形成的无穷多机构解表示在有限的区间内,进而通过机构解分析得到感兴趣的所有机构属性直观图,包括机构的类型分布、缺陷分布、最小传动角和杆长比等.同时,为避免位置点及机构选取的盲目性,可考虑施加约束条件构成可行机构解区间,在此区间上绘制机构性能分析图,并确定满足实际工程需要的最优机构解.     

发酵方法对柿果醋中香气成分的影

采用顶空固相微萃取法、结合气相色谱质谱联用技术,对自然发酵和常规发酵柿果醋中香气成分进行了分离与分析比较,分别从2种柿果醋中分离鉴定出挥发性化合物63种,均含有酯类、羧酸类、醇类、烃类、醛酮类、酚类及少量其他化合物.常规发酵柿果醋香气成分中含有酯类33.78%、醇类32.38%和烃类1.08%,高于自然发酵柿果醋的含量;自然发酵柿果醋香气成分中含有羧酸类61.25%、醛酮类9.66%和酚类6.13%,高于常规发酵柿果醋的含量.采用常规发酵法生产的柿果醋具有较好的感官质量.     

永磁式涡流缓速器制动性能影响因素敏感性分析

在分析永磁式涡流缓速器制动力矩与结构参数关系的基础上,将均匀设计和回归分析方法引入到永磁式涡流缓速器制动性能影响因素敏感性分析中。以某型号的永磁式涡流缓速器为例,建立了制动力矩随转子鼓内半径、永磁体周向长度、气隙宽度、转子鼓轴向宽度和永磁体高度5个结构参数变化的回归模型,重点讨论了结构参数间交互作用以及各结构参数对制动力矩的影响程度,基于均匀试验设计和制动性能敏感性分析的结果,采用全排列法对结构参数进行了优化。     

提辊式拔棉秆阻力分析

机械化拔棉秆对提高农业生产效率有重要意义.以提辊式拔棉秆机械的工作部件为研究对象,并对提辊建立数学模型,分析其受力和各项功耗,得出各项阻力在总阻力中所占的比例关系;根据各参数与总阻力之间的数学关系建立函数图像,分析得出影响牵引阻力的主要参数与阻力之间的关系;结合试验,进一步得到提辊参数间的优化组合,为提辊式拔棉秆机械的进一步优化设计提供参考.     

苹果可溶性固形物含量的检测方法——基于可见光近红外光谱技术

为了快速检测苹果的可溶性固形物(SSC)含量,采用可见光近红外光谱技术,结合主成分分析(PCA)和BP神经网络技术,来建立苹果SSC的预测模型.获取苹果样本在345～1039 nm波段的漫反射光谱,采用DPS数据处理系统对其进行主成分分析,并提取出累计可信度大于95 %的5个新主成分.建立一个3层的BP神经网络模型,并将这5个新的主成分作为BP神经网络模型的输入量,其结果是98 %以上预测样本的预测相对误差在5 %以下.该研究表明,采用近红外光谱技术来建立苹果可溶性固形物的预测模型是可行的.