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Highlights A LiDAR-guided automatic airflow control system for precision sprayers was developed. Three models were built to measure the amount of airflow required for apple trees. The study confirmed that adjusting the fan inlet could control airflow penetration into tree canopies. Results suggest that the system can reduce spray drift and off-target losses. Abstract. The airflow discharged from orchard airblast sprayers is a primary component for successfully carrying spray droplets to the target trees. Because of the variation in orchard tree canopies, control of the airflow to minimize off-target loss during spray application is essential. An automatic airflow control system for precision sprayers was developed to maximize spray droplet coverage on targets and minimize off-target loss while considering the tree canopy densities. The primary component of the system was an iris damper, which was designed as a retrofit attachment on the fan inlet of a three-point airblast intelligent sprayer. A 3D light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensor was installed at the top of the sprayer to acquire the tree canopy data. A motor was employed to control the damper opening with a micro-controller. To develop the models required for automatic airflow control, field experiments were conducted at three canopy density orchards with different cultivars (GoldRush, Gala, and Fuji). A total of 15 trees (five trees from each cultivar) were randomly selected, and five different damper openings (openings 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5) were tested for each tree. Opening 1 represented the same air inlet as a traditional precision airblast sprayer, while openings 2, 3, 4, and 5 were the sequentially reduced air inlets of the sprayer. A canopy density measurement algorithm was scripted to measure the canopy point density of individual trees. Three models were built to show relationships between (1) tree canopy point densities and airflows; (2) canopy densities and damper openings; and (3) damper opening and motor steps. The combination of the two models (2 & 3) was used to assess the amount of airflow required for a specific canopy density. Field validations for medium and high-density trees showed that the system achieved adequate spray penetration at the top, middle, bottom, back-left, and back-right positions of the tree sections and reduced off-target loss at the ground and edge of next row sections using openings 4 and 2, respectively. However, the mechanical motion of the damper required 3 s to move from minimum to maximum opening, so the average canopy density was recommended to control the airflow. The overall results suggested that the automatic airflow control system could reduce spray drift and off-target losses and improve spray application efficiency in orchards. Keywords: Automation, Canopy sensing, Fan inlet, Precision spraying, Variable rate application.

BACKGROUND: Invasive species threaten the productivity and stability of natural and managed ecosystems. Predicting the spread of invaders, which can aid in early mitigation efforts, is a major challenge, especially in the face of climate change. While ecological niche models are effective tools to assess habitat suitability for invaders, such models have rarely been created for invasive pest species with rapidly expanding ranges. Here, we leveraged a national monitoring effort from 543 sites over 3 years to assess factors mediating the occurrence and abundance of brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB, Halyomorpha halys), an invasive insect pest that has readily established throughout much of the United States. RESULTS: We used maximum entropy models to estimate the suitable habitat of BMSB under several climate scenarios, and generalized boosted models to assess environmental factors that regulated BMSB abundance. Our models captured BMSB distribution and abundance with high accuracy, and predicted a 70% increase in suitable habitat under future climate scenarios. However, environmental factors that mediated the geographical distribution of BMSB were different from those driving abundance. While BMSB occurrence was most affected by winter precipitation and proximity to populated areas, BMSB abundance was influenced most strongly by evapotranspiration and solar photoperiod. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that linking models of establishment (occurrence) and population dynamics (abundance) offers a more effective way to forecast the spread and impact of BMSB and other invasive species than simply occurrence-based models, allowing for targeted mitigation efforts. Implications of distribution shifts under climate change are discussed. © 2022 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry. Published version

With an increasing demand for high-resolution radar and wideband communication systems, the frequency spectrum is becoming a limited resource. Many such systems must coexist in a given frequency band. In order to minimize interference among these systems, a radar waveform design is used. Without a priori knowledge of the transmission channel and communication waveform, one viable strategy is to use spectral nulls for the frequencies used by communication system. This article describes an improved method for generating pseudonoise waveforms with limited range and Doppler sidelobes. The algorithm permits adjustable power spectral density of the generated waveform. An additional parameter, “significance factor,” is a tradeoff between power spectral density shape and sidelobe suppression depth. The method also allows the generation of a set of mutually orthogonal waveforms for multitransmitter scenarios. Effectiveness of the algorithm is confirmed by both numerical simulation and field trials.

The development of public transport systems is related to the implementation of modern and low-carbon vehicles. Over the last several years, there has been a clear progress in this field. The number of electric buses has increased, and the first solutions in the area of hydrogen fuel cells have been implemented. Unfortunately, the implementation of these technologies is connected with significant financial expenditure. The goal of the article is the analysis of effectiveness of financial investment, consisting in the purchase of 30 new public transport buses (together with the necessary infrastructure–charging stations). The analysis has been performed using the NPV method for the period of 10 years. Discount rate was determined on 4%, as recommended by the European Commission for this type of project. It is based on the case study of the investment project carried out by Metropolis GZM in Poland. The article determines and compares the efficiency ratios for three investment options-purchase of diesel-powered, battery-powered, and hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles. The results of the analysis indicate that the currently high costs of vehicle purchase and charging infrastructure are a significant barrier for the implementation of battery-powered and hydrogen fuel-cell buses. In order to meet the transport policy goals related to the exchange of traditional bus stock to more eco-friendly vehicles, it is necessary to involve public funds for the purpose of financing the investment activities.

Rynek publicznego transportu zbiorowego charakteryzuje się występowaniem monopolu naturalnego. W konsekwencji w Polsce realizacja przewozów odbywa się na podstawie ustanowienia podmiotu wewnętrznego (Rozporządzenie WE 1370/2007). W przypadku organizatorów publicznego transportu zbiorowego kontraktujących znaczny wolumen pracy eksploatacyjnej dochodzi do wdrożenia rozwiązań konkurencyjnych i zastosowania modelu opartego na konkurencji regulowanej. W modelu tym operatorów publicznego transportu zbiorowego wybiera się przez stosowanie procedury zamówień publicznych. Najczęściej przedmiotem postępowania jest obsługa jednej linii komunikacyjnej lub pakietu, o której realizację rywalizują podmioty prywatne oraz komunalne. Celem artykułu jest ocena rozwoju konkurencji regulowanej na silnie skoncentrowanym rynku transportu publicznego przez pryzmat rynku operatorskiego. Podstawowym źródłem danych są te udostępnione przez organizatorów transportu publicznego dotyczące udziału poszczególnych operatorów w obsłudze linii oraz wyniki postępowań przetargowych, które odzwierciedlają aktywność poszczególnych podmiotów w pozyskiwaniu nowych zleceń. Na podstawie przeprowadzonej analizy wskazano główne tendencje rozwoju rynku publicznego transportu zbiorowego w Polsce.

The article discusses the possibility of reducing the electricity costs of a selected department of an industrial plant by using a photovoltaic installation. This company is active in the production and assembly of railway and road automation devices, teletechnology, power engineering and sheet metal processing.

The public urban transport market takes the form of a natural monopoly. In some cases, especially in the situation of supply of a relatively large volume of operation work, the implementation of competitive solutions may result in: improving the quality of services or reducing the cost of vehicle-kilometers. The purpose of the article is to present the determinants of functioning of regulated competition on the public urban transport market in Poland. The conducted analysis focuses on the issue of market openness and access to participation in competitive procedures of private operators. The research covered urban transport markets in cities over 200.000 inhabitants and their characteristics in the scope of: the model of public transport organization (with particular emphasis on the level of opening of markets), the level of competition on the operator market and the method of selecting operators. On the basis of the conducted research, the scope of applying pro-competitive solutions in the scope of contracting services by the largest organizers of public urban transport in Poland was characterized.

Simple Summary Invasive species that are freed of associated natural predators increase in population and disrupt the management plans of growers. The brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys, is an invasive species that originated in Asia. A promising management tactic for the species is to release an associated parasitoid, the samurai wasp, Trissolcus japonicus. Populations of the samurai wasp have begun to adventively establish in several regions, including Pennsylvania. In order to monitor and use the species as an alternative management strategy to insecticides, it is imperative to understand the baseline populations during the early establishment phase. The aims of this study were to determine if the samurai wasp is already present in commercial orchards in Pennsylvania, where the brown marmorated stink bug has been present in high numbers since approximately 2010. Native Trissolcus wasps were also identified. This study found the samurai wasp in eight counties in Pennsylvania with several orchards containing populations of the species within orchard blocks. These baseline data provide a starting point for controlling H. halys naturally, which was previously controlled only with broad-spectrum insecticides. Abstract The samurai wasp, Trissolcus japonicus (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae), is an egg parasitoid associated with the brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae). Trissolcus japonicus is a candidate for classical biological control of H. halys populations. Since 2014, adventive populations of T. japonicus have been detected in 14 US states, in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Ontario, and in two European countries, Switzerland and Italy. Establishing baseline information about populations of T. japonicus is important, as this species is not host specific to H. halys and the potential ecological effects of the accidental introductions are not fully known. In this study, yellow sticky cards were deployed at commercial fruit orchards in nine counties in Pennsylvania separated by more than 400 km. Trissolcus japonicus was detected on cards in eight counties, and in two habitats, in the orchard and at the forest border. Other native species of Scelionidae known to attack the eggs of H. halys were also identified, including Trissolcus euschisti (Ashmead), Trissolcus brochymenae (Ashmead), and Telenomus podisi Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae). These results are important baseline ecological knowledge for both T. japonicus, which appears to be established in orchards throughout Pennsylvania, and other native Scelionidae.

Oriental fruit moth, Grapholita molesta (Busck), populations were monitored using standard sex pheromone lures (OFM L2) and kairomone-enhanced lures to aid the interpretation of trap captures with enhanced relative to conventional lures. Initially, comparison of 10 different lures showed that a10X load of OFM pheromone, codlemone, terpinyl acetate, and acetic acid were key components of the most attractive lures (TRE11034 and 1123). Subsequent trapping studies in mating disruption and non-disrupted orchards in the United States and Spain compared trap captures with TRE1123 and OFM L2 lures. Compared to the OFM L2 lure, the TRE1123 lure captured more moths in mating disruption and non-disrupted orchards, caught female moths, improved the precision of mean population estimates, and led to greater resolution of generational flights. Suppression of trap captures in mating disruption versus non-disrupted orchards was similar with both lures. There were significant linear correlations between weekly trap captures with the two lures in the majority of mating disruption and non-disrupted orchards across locations and years. Furthermore, regression of the slopes of trap capture regressions (i.e., attractiveness of enhanced lures relative to sex pheromone lures alone) versus moth density (as measured by mean cumulative moth capture with TRE1123 and OFM L2 lures) exhibited a significant positive relationship in non-disrupted orchards, indicating enhanced lures were relatively more attractive under high population densities. This relationship was not significant in mating disruption orchards, likely due to the density independent, non-competitive mechanism of mating disruption for oriental fruit moth when using high-dose reservoir dispensers.

The purpose of the article is to analyse the relationship between transport performance indicators and GDP in Poland. The research takes into consideration the impact of changes in freight transport performance and traffic volume on GDP. Particular emphasis has been put on the analysis of correlation between GDP and road traffic volume. The main thesis of the article is that the data obtained from the measurement of road traffic in the micro scale can be used for predicting the GDP volume at the regional and national level.

Public transport is a basic instrument for sustainable mobility in urban areas. The core of public transport in cities is often electrified railway system, underground and trams. Trolleybuses are also widely used in many countries. Therefore, urban public transport is one of the most electrified transport subsystems. The process of implementing electric buses is currently seen in Poland, and its economic effectiveness depends, among other things, on the energy prices and energy mix of the country. Electric energy from non-renewable sources increases both own costs and external costs, which impacts the effectiveness of mobility. The chapter presents an overview of the directions of the European transport policy in the field of electromobility development. A particular emphasis has been put on presenting the problems of electromobility in Polish conditions, as well as systematizing the provision of strategic documents in the context of its implementation and development. The chapter also presents a TCO comparative analysis for the electric bus and combustion bus.

This chapter is dedicated to the problems of sustainable urban mobility. Sustainable urban mobility is the basic instrument for improving the quality of urban natural environment by reducing the emission of air pollutants, noise and consumption of non-renewable natural resources by transport. In this paper, the authors present their observations concerning the paradigm of sustainable development in the formation of urban mobility based on the research on mobility preferences and behaviours of representatives of the creative class carried out at the University of Economics in Katowice. First of all, the paper presents issues related to the essence of the paradigm of sustainable urban mobility, particularly in terms of its inclusiveness. The existing literature on the relationships between the development level of urbanised areas and mobility was also reviewed. Furthermore, the legal acts of the European Union concerning the mobility policy framework were inventoried and characterised. The purpose of the article is to identify and analyse the transport behaviours and postulates of representatives of the so-called creative class in Poland. The paper presents the results of surveys conducted in three Polish metropolitan areas, in the total group of 450 creative sector workers.

Precision spraying is one of the most promising techniques to produce healthy and sustainably profitable crops. However, accurate canopy density measurements for precision spraying decisions are still a challenging endeavor, especially in orchards with uneven terrain conditions. A sensor fusion-based canopy point correction system was developed with a 3D light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensor and an inertial navigation system-global navigation satellite system (INS-GNSS) for accurate tree canopy density measurement. The LiDAR sensor was used to acquire the tree canopy architectures, while the INS-GNSS sensor was to evaluate the terrain slopes and the tree georeferenced locations. A mathematical model was developed to perform the simulation for correction of canopy points based on given changes in the roll, pitch, and yaw angles. A sensor fusion algorithm was developed to process the canopy point corrections for the tree fruit orchards with three different sloping conditions, including longitudinal, lateral, and combination of both slopes. Simulation results reported that the developed model established the correction of tree canopy points with varying roll, pitch, and yaw angles. Field evaluation results suggested that the developed system could be used for correcting canopy points at any sloping conditions in various terrains. The measured tree canopy density from the corrected canopy points reported a possible of off-target chemical reduction up to 13.87%, 5.19%, and 15.45% in orchard sites 1, 2 and 3, respectively. With the accurate tree canopy density measurement, it is anticipated that the developed system could be used to reduce the off-target deposition for precision spraying applications in uneven tree fruit orchards.

We describe a unique microsporidian species that infects the green stink bug, Chinavia hilaris; the brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys; the brown stink bug, Euschistus servus; and the dusky stink bug, Euschistus tristigmus. All life stages are unikaryotic, but analysis of the consensus small subunit region of the ribosomal gene places this microsporidium in the genus Nosema, which historically has been characterized by diplokaryotic life stages. It is also characterized by having the reversed arrangement of the ribosomal gene (LSU -ITS- SSU) found in species within the "true Nosema" clade. This microsporidium is apparently Holarctic in distribution. It is present in H. halys both where it is native in Asia and where it is invasive in North America, as well as in samples of North American native C. hilaris collected prior to the introduction of H. halys from Asia. Prevalence in H. halys from mid-Atlantic, North America in 2015-2016 ranged from 0.0% to 28.3%, while prevalence in C. hilaris collected in Illinois in 1970-1972 ranged from 14.3% to 58.8%. Oral infectivity and pathogenicity were confirmed in H. halys and C. hilaris. Morphological, ultrastructural, and ecological features of the microsporidium, together with a molecular phylogeny, establish a new species named Nosema maddoxi sp. nov.

This article presents an influence of using an energy storage device in order to reduce the oscillation of voltage and power of the underground traction substation and to limit the peak value of power consumed from it. Using the accumulator has an indirect beneficial influence on the environment because of the efficient energy use. In the work a simulation research of the underground traction substation and a substation equipped with supercapacitors was conducted in the communications peak and beyond it. Simulation studies were performed in toolbox Simscape Electrical formerly called SimPowerSystems and SimElectronics from Simulink products family.

This chapter is dedicated to the problems of sustainable urban mobility. The first part presents general issues related to the concept of urban mobility planning. In this context, particular emphasis was put on the discussion of changes in the existing rules of planning the development of urban transport systems in favour of the new paradigm of sustainable mobility policy. Moreover, the literature concerning the instruments for sustaining urban mobility was reviewed. The purpose of the article is to refer theoretical considerations to the actual actions taken in order to sustain mobility in the Silesian Metropolis. The circumstances of the development of transport system in this area were discussed, with particular focus on the provisions of strategic documents, legal and organizational solutions, as well as development of low-carbon mobility system.

Regulated competition is one of the models for organising public transport market in Poland. This model assumes that operators are selected in a competition procedure, with the application of public procurement procedure. Tender procedure in the operator selection process is applied in the markets with high volume of operation work, i.e. in big cities and inter-municipal associations. Therefore, the public procurement system is an effectively used tool for the opening and liberalisation of public transport markets. The scope and efficiency of liberalisation of urban transport depend to a large extent on the transport organiser. It is the transport organiser that has the possibility of opening the market by applying tender procedures in the operator selection process. The application of tender procedures provides the possibility of influencing market concentration and, consequently, the intensity of competition between operators. The purpose of this article is to present the public transport operator selection process with the application of public procurement system in Poland. The article synthetically presents the results of tender proceedings carried out by the public transport organiser in the Silesian Metropolis area, which is the largest transport organiser that fully applies the competition rules in the operator selection process. The market behaviours of operators were identified, and the intensity of competition was determined on the basis of analyses of tender documentation.

An unmanned ground-based canopy density measurement system to support precision spraying in apple orchards was developed to precisely apply pesticides to orchard canopies. The automated measurement system was comprised of a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensor, an interface box for data transmission, and a laptop computer. A data processing and analysis algorithm was developed to measure point cloud indices from the LiDAR sensor to describe the distribution of tree canopy density within four sections according to the position of the trellis wires. Experiments were conducted in two orchard sites, one with GoldRush (larger trees) and the other one with Fuji (smaller trees) apple trees. Tree leaves were counted manually from each section separated by trellis wires. Field evaluation results showed a strong correlation of 0.95 (R2 = 89.30%) between point cloud data and number of leaves for the Fuji block and a correlation of 0.82 (R2 = 67.16%) was obtained for the GoldRush block. A strong correlation of 0.98 (R2 = 95.90%) was achieved in the relationship between canopy volume and number of leaves. Finally, a canopy density map was generated to provide a graphical view of the tree canopy density in different sections. Since accurate canopy density information was computed, it is anticipated that the developed prototype system can guide the sprayer unit for reducing excessive pesticide use in orchards.

This paper presents the concept of using passive radar sensor as a part of critical infrastructure protection system. This work has been done within the framework of FP7 European Union project on Multitech SeCurity system for intercOnnected space control groUnd staTions (SCOUT). In the paper the system design is shown along with selected results from the SCOUT project trials during which the protection the infrastructure of the Italian Space Agency has been analyzed.

The paper deals with detection of drones using noise radar. The radar under consideration is a low-power, continuous-wave narrow-band noise radar. First, thethe-oretical analysis concerning power budget and velocity resolution is carried out. Next, the experimental setup is described. The results of a small drone detection are presented. It is demonstrated that in the experiment, the drone detection range was in the order of 300 m.

Liberalization of public transport in Poland has continued for 25 years. This process is intended to launch the competition mechanism, which in consequence will result in a decrease in prices and increase in quality of services in the long run. One of the instruments of liberalization consists in opening the market for new entities by applying the public procurement procedure. The purpose of the article is to analyze concentration level of the selected municipal transport markets in Poland. The conducted research has covered the following issues: development of market structure, behaviors of transport operators, and intensity of competition. The article also contains results of public tenders for transport services. The analysis of intensity of competition was performed on the basis of results of tenders and measurement of concentration.

This paper presents a study on nitrogen conversion in oxy-fuel coal combustion in a pilot scale CFB 0.1 MWth facility. The paper is focused on fuel-N behaviour in the combustion chamber when the combustion process is accomplished under oxy-fuel CFB conditions. The analysis is based on infurnace sampling of flue gas and calculations of the conversion ratios of fuel-nitrogen (fuel-N) to NO, NO2, N2O, NH3 and HCN. For the tests, O2/CO2 mixtures with the oxygen content of 21 vol.% (primary gas) and with the oxygen content varied from 21 to 35 vol.% (secondary gas), were used as the fluidising gas. Measurements were carried out in 4 control points located along the combustion chamber: 0.43 m, 1.45 m, 2.50 m and 4.88 m. Results presented below indicate that an increased oxygen concentration in the higher part of the combustion chamber has strong influence on the behaviour of fuel based nitrogen compounds.

In the paper the concept of a passive radar that uses several processing chains working with different setup parameters is considered. In the presented concept, the same signals are divided into blocks of different lengths, and processed simultaneously. In such way higher signal-to-noise ratios can be achieved for non-maneuvering targets by using longer integration time, whereas highly maneuvering targets can still be detected using shorter integration time.

In the paper the system concept of critical infrastructure protection is presented. The described system is developed within the framework of FP7 European Union project on Multitech SeCurity system for intercOnnected space control groUnd staTions (SCOUT). The goal of the SCOUT project is to study, design and analyze a risk-based approach of a security system relying on multiple technologies. The noise radar is one of key sensor in the system, which is able to detect and track a wide spectrum of threats. The signal processing in the noise radar is described along with its applicability in the system.

The purpose of this chapter is the analysis of behaviours of operators in the regulated competition market. The subject of study is the public transport market, which is organized by KZK GOP (Municipal Transport Union of the Upper Silesian Industrial District) in Katowice. This chapter contains analyses of: concentration of bus transportation market, results of tendering proceedings and action strategies of operators. This chapter in particular tackles the issue of the process of merging entities into consortia. The main conclusions of the performed analysis concern three issues. Firstly, municipal carriers have the dominant position in the market and usually do not compete with each other. Secondly, there is large pressure from private carriers. Thirdly, the phenomenon of coopetition occurs frequently; depending on the situation, carriers either compete or cooperate in the field of winning transportation orders. Cooperation manifests itself mainly in the process of establishing consortia, which allows the involved entities to meet the requirements specified in the terms of reference.

Mineralization of hydrogels, desirable for bone regeneration applications, may be achieved enzymatically by incorporation of alkaline phosphatase (ALP). ALP-loaded gellan gum (GG) hydrogels were mineralized by incubation in mineralization media containing calcium and/or magnesium glycerophosphate (CaGP, MgGP). Mineralization media with CaGP:MgGP concentrations 0.1:0, 0.075:0.025, 0.05:0.05, 0.025:0.075 and 0:0.1 (all values mol/dm3, denoted A, B, C, D and E, respectively) were compared. Mineral formation was confirmed by IR and Raman, SEM, ICP-OES, XRD, TEM, SAED, TGA and increases in the the mass fraction of the hydrogel not consisting of water. Ca was incorporated into mineral to a greater extent than Mg in samples mineralized in media A–D. Mg content and amorphicity of mineral formed increased in the order A B > C > D, but were significantly higher for samples mineralized in medium E. The attachment and vitality of osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells were higher on samples mineralized in media B–E (containing Mg) than in those mineralized in medium A (not containing Mg). All samples underwent degradation and supported the adhesion of RAW 264.7 monocytic cells, and samples mineralized in media A and B supported osteoclast-like cell formation. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This paper presents strategies of the target localization in passive bistatic radar in the presence of multiple receivers and non cooperative illuminators. One of the algorithms based on ellipsoid intersections is analyzed. The individual target position is calculated from the bistatic range (BR) measurements using closed form equation based on the time difference of arrival (TDOA) algorithm. Aim of the algorithm is to find the intersection of ellipsoids in 3D space, which is a challenging task. The main performance issues, complexity of calculation and limitation are presented. A method of complexity and a memory requirement reduction using the direction of arrival is proposed and analyzed. The paper also deals with parallel implementation of Spherical Intersections algorithm using Graphics Processing Unit (GPU).

The aim of this chapter is to examine the relations between public transport service procurement and the level of concentration of rail freight transport market. This chapter analyses the demand reported by the public sector for the services of rail freight transport in Poland. Procurement notices were characterised with regard to type of load, reported demand for transport activity volume and applied tendering procedure. This chapter presents the share of demand reported in public tenders against the total market demand. Moreover, in order to identify the market concentration level, measurement was performed on the basis of discrete and accumulated measures.