Châtenay-Malabry (FR - 92290), 23 April 2012


EFITA newsletter / 562 - European Federation for Information Technology in Agriculture, Food and the Environment


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Contact: Guy WAKSMAN
E-mail: guy.waksman(a)laposte.net

Porcelain Unicorn
Legendary British film director Sir Ridley Scott launched a global film making contest for aspiring directors. It's Titled "Tell It Your Way". There were over 600 entries. The film could be no longer than three minutes, contain Only 6 lines of narrative & be a compelling story. The Winner was "Porcelain Unicorn" from American director Keegan Wilcox. It's a story of the lifetimes of two people who are totally opposite, yet, very much the same – all told in less than 3 minutes.
See: Http://www.porcelainunicorn.com/


Workshop: Farm experiences on Controlled Traffic Farming and Conservation Agriculture Practises
24 - 25 May – ALNARP - Sweden
The workshop focuses on the adoption of precision guidance technologies at two farms in southern Sweden. The applications include: Controlled Traffic Farming, Strip Tillage and Direct Drilling. The themes will be introduces by international experts.
The workshop is arranged by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences jointly with the group CTF Europe and the ISTRO working group on Controlled Traffic Farmers.
Whether researcher, advisor, farmer or from the farm machinery industry, you are most welcome to join for inspiration on future farming practices for either one or both days.
See: http://www.ctfeurope.dk/2012/se-ctf
Contact: Hans Henrik PEDERSEN
E-mail: hanshenrik(a)ctfeurope.eu.


Modelling Environments for Biophysical Modelling in Hydrology and Agriculture: Object Modeling System 3 (OMS3) and Biophysical Model Applications (BioMA)
9 - 13 July - ISPRA, Italy
>>> Rationale
The need for integrated analysis, and the multiplicity of possible goals in analysis which require biophysical modelling, necessitates more than ever the capability of composing modelling solutions of known quality which are transparent to users and consist of reusable model components. There is a variety of modelling platforms and the number of model components and tools is growing; however, there is little interaction among developers of modelling platforms and the potential community of researchers who may benefit from new techniques and technologies in their work. This workshop is meant to provide this opportunity by illustrating the concepts at the base of two modelling frameworks, and by having a hands-on approach to both. The two modelling environments which will be presented are the Object Modeling System (OMS3) and the Biophysical Model Application (BioMA), briefly described below. Both are operational and allow running complex analyses in the biophysical domains of hydrology and agricultural production. The closing session will include a critical discussion on the concepts and realizations experienced during the week.

OMS3 – The Object Modeling System 3 (OMS3) is a framework for environmental model development, application, testing, validation, and deployment. It also facilitates technology transfer from the research organization to the program delivery agency. The framework provides a consistent and efficient way to create science components, build, calibrate, and evaluate models and then modify and adjust them as the science advances, in addition to re-purposing models for emerging customer requirements. OMS was first released in 2004 and the latest version 3.0 represents a major milestone towards an easier to use, more transparent and scalable implementation of an environmental modeling framework. OMS3 development is the result of an in-depth analysis of successful framework designs and software engineering principles as provided by general-purpose modeling frameworks. Like any modeling framework, OMS3 is enabling technology for modeling. The main goal of OMS3 development is an easier integration of model source code based on language annotations while being flexible to adopt existing legacy models. It is currently being used for water supply forecasting in the western USA (USDA-NRCS), watershed modeling in Indiana/Colorado, USA (USDA-ARS), and for cloud based delivery of models for the conservation delivery streamlining initiative CDSI (USDA-NRCS).

BioMA – Biophysical Model Application is a modular software platform to run modeling solutions against a spatially defined database. BioMA is used in analysis on agriculture and climate change in projects primarily for the European Commission, but also for other customers such as EU agencies and the World Bank. Modeling solutions range from single models to model compositions; models can be either static or dynamic. Modeling solutions currently implemented are the generic crop simulators Wofost and CropSyst, the rice model WARM, and a modeling solution for the simulation of cropping systems derived from APES. Other modeling solutions allow simulating plant diseases and climatic indices. The platform includes tools for sensitivity analysis, optimization, and simulation output evaluation; and also includes graphical user interfaces to run models and tools to further process and visualize data. The BioMA component-based architecture allows adding new modeling solutions independently by third parties, taking advantage of both the I/O capabilities and provided tools. Also, BioMA allows for composition of components to build modelling solutions. Last but not least, the components used in BioMA (models and tools) are framework-independent and can be reused in other systems without requiring the whole BioMA platform to be included.

>>>Requirements
Target participants are modellers with solid programming skills, and code developers. The part of the workshop working on code requires a laptop with installed NetBeans/Eclipse and Visual Studio 2010 (it can be the free version). Languages which will primarily be used are Java and C#, however OMS3 can also accommodate C++ and FORTRAN. More information will be provided to ensure that participants arrive at the workshop with most of the needed software already installed on their machines.

>>> Tentative agenda
> Overview of the workshop, presentation of the OMS3 and BioMA modelling platforms
>> OMS3:
- Interoperable modelling components; simulation models, DSLs, and tools (e.g., GIS, sensitivity/uncertainty, parameter estimation, etc.)
- Hands-on modelling applications (e.g., AgES-W, NewAge/UDig GIS, PRMS)

>> BioMA
- Building a reusable model component
- Composing a reusable modelling solution, developing the adapter for BioMA, running the new modelling solution
- Closing Session: Discussion, possible collaboration plans, interoperability strategies, workshop wrap-up
Contact: Andrea Emilio RIZZOLI
E-mail : andrea(a)idsia.ch


11th International Conference on Precision Agriculture,
15 – 18 July – INDIANAPOLIS
>>> Important ICPA deadlines
I. Awards (Deadline Monday April 16th, 2012): Please have all the documentation submitted for your nominee by or before April 16th, 2012 to awards@ispag.org.
Details of the awards are available at https://www.ispag.org/icpa/awards/.

II. Full Paper Submission (Deadline April 30th, 2012): Please upload your full papers for oral and two-page summaries for poster paper presentation by or before April 30th, 2012. Author’s instructions are available online on our website.
See: https://www.ispag.org/Publications/ISPA%20News/


Smart Agri-Food presented during the Tuinbouw Digitaal community meeting
The Smart Agri-Food project and the Future Internet PPP (#FIPPP) programme are presented during the Tuinbouw Digitaal (@tbdigitaal) community meeting, 19 March 2012 in Zoetermeer, The Netherlands. Tuinbouw Digitaal is the Digital Greenport of The Netherlands, which core is the collaboration between three active industry associations for chain information in the Dutch horticulture: Frugicom (fruit and vegetables), Florecom (flowers and plants) and EDI-Bulb (flower bulbs). See for more information: www.tuinbouwdigitaal.net (in Dutch).

The presentation can be downloaded here:
http://tuinbouwdigitaal.net/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=zTZSieuQu4Y%3d&tabid=2100
Contact : Cor VERDOUW
E-mail : cor.verdouw(a)wur.nl


The European Soil Portal and the European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC)
ESDAC provides for free a number of datasets such as the European Soil Database, Organic carbon data....
See: http://eusoils.jrc.ec.europa.eu/
Contact: Panos PANAGOS
E-mail: panos.panagos(a)jrc.ec.europa.eu


A lesson in Jewish history

According to the Jewish calendar, the year is 5,772.

According to the Chinese calendar, the year is 4,708.

This means, therefore, that the Jews went without Chinese food for 1,064 years.

This period in Jewish history is known by all Jews as The Dark Ages.

Contact: Israel KITRON
E-mail: noga96(a)yahoo.com


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