Near infrared hyperspectral imaging over the spectral range of 900–2500 nm was investigated for its potential to identify maize kernels inoculated with aflatoxigenic fungus (AF13) from healthy kernels and kernels inoculated with non-aflatoxigenic fungus (AF36). A total of 900 kernels were used with 3 treatments, namely, each 300 kernels inoculated with AF13, AF36 and sterile distilled water as control

Thermal and hygroscopic environments inside a duck house are two of the most important factors directly related to their productivity and energy costs. However, few quantitative analyses of these environments have been performed. The objective of this study was to develop a dynamic energy model for the combined and real-time quantitative analysis of thermal and hygroscopic environments inside a mechanically

Plant tissues are often heterogeneous. To accurately investigate these tissues, methods to spatially map these tissue stiffness values onto finite element models are required. The aim was to study the feasibility of using specimen-specific computed tomography data to inform the spatial mapping of Young's modulus values on finite element models. Specimen-specific finite element models with mapped elastic

Miscanthus is a dedicated biomass energy crop that can be used as an alternative energy source for biofuel production to decrease dependency on petroleum-based fuel sources. The mechanical properties of miscanthus pose harvest and handling issues because of the crop's stiff stalk, tall height, high yield and dense growth. This research examined the effects of a mechanical conditioning system for miscanthus

Commercial sand media filters adopt different underdrain designs, with pod, wand and spike designs being the most common. Studies about the consequences of using these configurations are often not conclusive since auxiliary elements and dimensions vary between filters. Here computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were carried out comparing underdrain designs in filters with equal sized diffuser

Global climate change has, in recent years, increased the frequency and intensity of meteorological disasters. In particular, damage to greenhouses caused by heavy snowfall continues to occur on farms in South Korea. Because heavy snowfall occurs over a relatively long time compared to other sudden meteorological disasters, if an appropriate warning system for heavy snowfall events is in place then

To prevent the formation of biofilm or to remove already formed biofilm on the transparent walls of the closed cultivation systems, it is important to ensure that there are sufficient wall shear stresses to disrupt the stability of the biofilm. A pilot-scale flat-panel photobioreactor and laboratory tubular system were used to determine the critical value of the wall shear stress. The formation of

A plant factory is an environmentally controlled facility that can sustain stable crop cultivation while ensuring fast production and better crop quality by manipulating temperature, humidity, lighting, nutrient supply, and other cultivation factors. It requires better cultivation planning to fully utilise the facility since the set up and operating costs are high. This study aims to schedule crops

A Cyranose 320 (eNose) and a Fast Gas Chromatograph (CG) analyser (zNose™) were used to measure the headspace odour of solid samples from dairy operations. The measurements of both sensors were trained by Levenberg–Marquardt Back-propagation Neural Network (LMBNN) to match human assessments. A trained human panel was used to assess the odours based on hedonic tone method and provide the model targets

In the hydro-transport of biomass feedstock by pipeline to bio-refineries, the rheology of the biomass slurry directly impacts the specifications and, therefore the cost of pipeline components. In this study, the rheological characteristics of untreated fine wood chip slurries across a broad range of slurry temperatures (5–15 °C) and solids concentrations (3–15 wt% dry-matter) were experimentally studied

Automated tracking of indoor housed farm animals is gaining an increasing interest in farming practice and research for monitoring animal behaviour and health. Several positioning solutions have become commercially available for different animal species, but the insight on how these systems perform in pig facilities is still limited. In this study the feasibility of tracking sows in a barn using an

Slightly sprouted wheat kernels are difficult to distinguish with the naked eye, and the mixing of sprouted kernels into sound wheat kernels will seriously reduce the quality of wheat products. This study explored the use of near-infrared hyperspectral imaging technology to identify sound wheat kernels and slightly sprouted wheat kernels, and obtained hyperspectral images on both sides of each wheat

Accurate weed mapping in early growing season is an essential step in the site-specific weed management system. This study focuses on validating the potential application of high resolution multispectral and thermal UAS images in classification of weed species and glyphosate-resistant weeds at early phenological stages. A field experiment was conducted to evaluate supervised classification methods

In the calculation of wind effects on civil constructions, the pressure coefficients, which are usually obtained from specific standards or by tests of reduced models in wind tunnels, are essential, and these coefficients are commonly established from solid and undeformable models. For greenhouses covered with plastic film, due to the flexibility of this material, there are instantaneous modifications

This research studied microclimate and evapotranspiration (ET) of pepper in high tunnel screenhouses and greenhouses. A study was carried out during three consecutive seasons, 2015–2016 (Season I), 2016–2017 (Season II) and 2017–2018 (Season III), in two high-tunnels. One was covered by a plastic sheet (greenhouse) and the other by a porous screen (17 mesh insect net; screenhouse). Other than the covers

A terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) instrument can scan trees to get three-dimensional (3D) point clouds with detailed tree structures. However, some factors, such as surrounding environment, tree structure, the characteristics and scanning parameters of TLS instrument, can affect the scanning result. Simulation of tree point cloud is an efficient way to avoid and analyse the influence of the above

Global warming has caused an increase in frequency and degree of heat stress over the last decades. In conventional livestock husbandry systems with insulated buildings, mechanical ventilation systems and high stocking density pigs and poultry can be more affected by climate change than in free range husbandry systems. To reduce heat stress in livestock buildings, adaptation measures are used. This

Core objectives of precision agriculture are to improve the economic and environmental performance of agricultural systems. This study used a long-term experiment in citrus to assess whether site-specific nutrient management was successful from these two perspectives. Variable and uniform rate fertilisation treatments were implemented in intercalated strips across two 25 ha citrus groves in São Paulo

The differences between temperatures in the animal occupied zone (AOZ) and temperatures measured by control system sensors are rarely explored. This experimental study quantifies the dry-bulb air temperature [hereinafter temperature] distribution inside a finisher pig building that combines natural ventilation through automatically controlled openings with a mechanical ventilation system. Year-long

Advanced slurry processing (anaerobic digestion, acidification and separation) is being promoted to generate renewable energy, reduce ammonia emissions and optimise storage and transport, respectively. However, these processes could affect slurry phosphorus (P) forms and bioavailability, and hence P dynamics in soil after application. This study investigated the effect of slurry processing, viz. separation

The fatigue load spectrum is one of the most important parts in accelerated durability testing of agricultural machinery; however, the traditional editing approach just focuses on influence of load amplitude on mechanical components, which is not suitable for the agricultural machinery, the loads of which are broad in frequency bandwidth and time-varying in stress amplitude. Therefore, considering

The prediction of soil sinkage under wheels and tracks is of significant importance for determining the off-road vehicle performance and level of compaction of agricultural soils. Bekker's theory for pressure and sinkage relationship has been widely applied to estimate the vehicle mobility performance for designing off-road vehicles for deformable terrains. However, the Bekker's constants, which reflect

An emerging scientific field is the study of safety and ergonomics in the agricultural sector during human-robot interaction. Human-robotic synergetic systems are considered to be the most mature way to circumvent problems appearing due to the complex and unpredictable nature of the agricultural environment, which contrasts with the stable domain found in industrial settings. In promising working ecosystems

With the application of hyperspectral imaging systems on high-throughput plant phenotyping, multivariable spectral data modelling methods have been proposed to predict plant physiological features such as biomass. However, most presented modelling methods are linear models such as the regression model between projected leaf area and plant biomass, which cannot accurately reflect some non-linear relationships

Effective ventilation reduces heat stress in sows. A numerical study was carried out to investigate the effects of airspeed and direction on the convective heat transfer around a sow having different postures and body mass. The convection characteristics of a sow were analysed in a virtual wind tunnel using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tools. The four postures of the standing, sitting, reclining

In a plant factory, improper design of the indoor ventilation system may cause tip burn on lettuce plants due to the existence of stagnant air in the leaf boundary layer and low transpiration rates. In this study, three types of air ducts with different pore numbers and diameters were designed to generate a constant horizontal airflow on the surface of plant canopy. A three-dimensional computational

Atomisation of agricultural spray solutions through nozzles is a mechanism for delivering pesticides to their target site. Previous research using mechanistic methods has shown that oil-in-water formulations produce more placid liquid sheets and succumb to a breakup mechanism that begins when holes nucleate within the liquid sheet caused by inhomogeneities of the spray system. The relationships between

The results of analysis of airflow resistance through a porous stone accumulator bed are presented with studies conducted in laboratory and in a full-scale facility. The Darcy–Weisbach equation and Ergun's equation were used to determine the flow resistance coefficients. It was found that a simplification of the Ergun's equation by omitting the viscosity term did not result in a significant error in

The combination of active and passive tillage tools has been acknowledged as an effective way of dealing with the soil compaction, due to reduced field trips required for preparing seedbed compared to conventional practices. A comparative analysis was carried out between an active-passive configuration of combined offset disc harrow (CODH) and conventional passively-driven mode of offset disc harrow

Tractors are widely used in agricultural production as the main agricultural power machinery. Hence, in terms of understanding the airborne emissions produced by agriculture, it is important to study the microscopic characteristics of soot particulate matter in tractor exhaust. The morphology and internal structure of soot particles emitted from an agricultural tractor under different operating conditions

Yield mapping for citrus fruit is a challenging task due to factors such as varying illumination conditions, clustering, and occlusions. Mapping the yield for immature citrus fruit presents an additional challenge that is the colours of fruit and leaves are almost identical. Commonly used machine vision techniques using colour cameras become less effective for immature citrus fruit detection. This

Agricultural machinery is crucial to agriculture because it enables field activities and production in large scale. Through mechanisation, agriculture requires inputs such as fuel and indirectly demands materials. Its impact can be assessed through energy, water and carbon footprints. Some studies have updated indices for agricultural machinery, showing different results from those of the 1970s and

The transverse distribution of the threshed material in a typical tangential-longitudinal flow combine harvester is uneven and this is likely to cause local accumulation of materials on the cleaning screen. Cleaning performance and efficiency reducing problems are easily caused. In this study, discrete element simulation was applied. The distribution position of the guide strips on the threshed outputs

In tea brick fermentation, the temperature in the fermentation chamber has an important influence on the reproduction and growth of the golden flower bacteria inside tea bricks. In order to form a uniform and suitable fermentation temperature, the study introduced an upward vertical wall attached ventilation based on the load distribution characteristics of the tea brick fermentation chamber and the

The ethanol concentration in batch cultivation with the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae was predicted on-line using a gas sensor array. Headspace samples were pumped past the gas sensors array for 10 s every five minutes and the voltage changes of the sensors were measured. For the calibration procedure no off-line sampling was used. Instead, a theoretical model of the process has been applied to simulate

This study proposes and implements inverse methods to estimate fluid-to-particulate heat transfer coefficient (hfp) of liquid-particulate solution (sweet potato puree and chickpea) during aseptic processing. The other physical and thermal properties of food were computed using forward techniques. A statistical analysis was conducted to assess the accuracy of the estimated results and performance of

Large-scale seedling production aims to improve their production capacity and competitiveness by improving productivity, reducing labour costs, and eliminating labour-intensive production processes. With the pursuit of continuously improving productivity, the development of automatic seedling production has become a key technology. However, achieving the automatic separation of rootless collected seedlings

The drying of biomass particles is an important industrial process where heat and mass transfer simultaneously occur. Following on from our previous work on convective heat transfer, here we report experimental results obtained by analysing the mass transfer between the gas and the surface of the wood particles, during drying in a mechanically stirred fluidised bed. It is assumed that, during the constant

A mathematical model of an evaporative pad cooling system to predict the dry-bulb temperature and relative humidity of air exiting the pad, its cooling efficiency and the water requirements for agricultural buildings was derived from first principles using mass and energy balances. The model uses the geometry of the evaporative pad as characteristic parameters and the water temperature, dry-bulb temperature

Models of the shadows cast by orchard trees can provide useful information to assist in canopy and nutrient management, estimation of potential yield and water use. In this study, an analytical model was developed that calculates the shape, size, position and orientation of the shadows cast by the tree canopy and described the diurnal and seasonal changes in those shadows. The objective of this study

Propane heating is both a financial and an environmental burden for broiler houses located in cold climate regions. Heat recovery can reduce propane consumption significantly, by preheating fresh air inflow with stalled air outflow. While there have been many studies on the improvement of broiler houses direct ventilation, little attention has been given to the integration of heat exchangers. In this

Oil-based emulsions are commonly formulations in agricultural spraying but their spray break-up behaviour and droplet characteristics differ from those when water is sprayed. In this paper, the effect of spray structure on the droplet characteristics, droplet size distribution and droplet velocity, were investigated using the high-speed photomicrography and image processing. Formation of the typical

A method for quantifying aggregate size distribution from the images of soil samples is introduced. Knowledge of soil aggregate size distribution can help to inform soil management practices for the sustainable growth of crops. While current in-field approaches are mostly subjective, obtaining quantifiable results in a laboratory is labour- and time-intensive. Our goal is to develop an imaging technique

Heat stress is a significant challenge in dairy farming systems. Dairy cows under heat stress will encounter impaired welfare leading to production losses. As the frequency and magnitude of heat stress events increase in the coming decades, a focus on heat stress reduction studies becomes important. Modelling and on-farm experiments have been used to assess the effects of heat stress on livestock over

Position and orientation data are critical for guiding and managing cooperative robot tasks in the greenhouse. Errors, however, associated with current positioning and orientation systems, such as indoor GPS compasses or the sensitivity of magnetic direction sensors to magnetic materials, limit their application in greenhouses. In this research, we develop and evaluate a positioning and orientation

Emissions and ventilation rates (VRs) in naturally ventilated dairy barns (NVDBs) are usually measured using indirect methods, where the choice of inside and outside sampling locations (i.e. sampling strategy) is crucial. The goal of this study was to quantify the influence of the sampling strategy on the estimation of emissions and VRs. We equipped a NVDB in northern Germany with an extensive measuring

In precision livestock farming, individual identification and analysis of feeding behaviour have a great impact on optimising the productivity and improving health monitoring. The sensors usually used to measure several parameters from an individual dairy cow (RFID, Accelerometer, etc.) are invasive, uncomfortable and stressful for animals. To overcome these limits, we have developed a non-invasive

Crop height and density estimation ahead of the combine harvester have been investigated over the last 30 years, but they remain a challenge. LiDAR technology is increasingly being investigated for phenotyping and monitoring of cereals. However, so far, little has been published about the influence of laser mounting position and robust online measurement of height and density from a single LiDAR scan

Accurate and automatic vegetation extraction from digital plant images in the field is a widely studied topic in precision agriculture. Many techniques focus on pixels or regions to be segmented as plants or back-grounds, such as colour index-based and learning-based methods. Different from a traditional two-class classification problem, the proposed method regarded vegetation extraction as a multi-class

Composites based on lignocellulosic fillers such as wood, miscanthus or common reed have received much attention due to their low cost and positive impact. Knowledge of the physico-chemical characteristics of plant flour is essential to obtain indications of the thermal stability and humidity behaviour of the resulting biocomposite. The different methods that can be applied to plant flours to characterise