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Topic Review Video
Humipedon
The soil covers our entire planet and corresponds to the most superficial part of the earth's crust. Exposed to the attack of atmospheric agents and living organisms, the soil is organized in layers recognizable to the naked eye, more organic towards the atmosphere or water (if submerged), more mineral towards the rocky part of the bottom. To facilitate its study, specialists divided the soil into three sections: richer in organisms part -> 1. Humipedon; bottom still in contact with the unaltered rock section -> 3. Lithopedon; in-between, central, mineral part -> 2. Copedon. The present encyclopedia entry describes the variability of the humipedons of planet Earth. They have been subdivided in ecological groups and classified into different humus systems. The aim is to display them and diffuse their knowledge.
  • 983
  • 30 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Exposure Routes and Health Risks Associated with Pesticides
There are four main pesticide application methods, including hydraulic spraying, backpack spraying, basal trunk spraying, and aerial spraying. Pesticide application methods are mainly selected by considering the habits of target pests, the characteristics of target sites, and the properties of pesticides. Humans are directly exposed to pesticides in occupational, agricultural, and household activities and are indirectly exposed to pesticides via environmental media, including air, water, soil, and food. Human exposure to pesticides occurs mainly through dermal, oral, and respiratory routes. People who are directly and/or indirectly exposed to pesticides may contract acute toxicity effects and chronic diseases. Although no segment of the general population is completely protected against exposure to pesticides and their potentially serious health effects, a disproportionate burden is shouldered by people in developing countries. Both deterministic and probabilistic human health risk assessments have their advantages and disadvantages and both types of methods should be comprehensively implemented in research on exposure and human health risk assessment. Equipment for appropriate pesticide application is important for application efficiency to minimize the loss of spray solution as well as reduce pesticide residuals in the environment and adverse human health effects due to over-spraying and residues. Policymakers should implement various useful measures, such as integrated pest management (IPM) laws that prohibit the use of pesticides with high risks and the development of a national implementation plan (NIP) to reduce the adverse effects of pesticides on the environment and on human health. 
  • 1.3K
  • 30 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Design Considerations of Fixed and Floating Offshore Structures
Offshore structures exist in a variety of forms, and they are used for a variety of functions in varied sea depths. These structures are tailored for certain environments and sea depths and other design considerations. 
  • 5.1K
  • 29 Jul 2022
Topic Review
STEPLand Framework
This contribution assesses a new term that is proposed to be established within Land Change Science: Spatio-TEmporal Patterns of Land (‘STEPLand’). It refers to a specific workflow for analyzing land-use/land cover (LUC) patterns, identifying and modeling driving forces of LUC changes, assessing socio-environmental consequences, and contributing to defining future scenarios of land transformations. Researchers define this framework based on a comprehensive metaanalysis of 250 selected articles published in international scientific journals from 2000 to 2019. The empirical results demonstrate that STEPLand is a consolidated protocol applied globally, and the large diversity of journals, disciplines, and countries involved shows that it is becoming ubiquitous. The main characteristics of STEPLand are provided and discussed, demonstrating that the operational procedure can facilitate the interaction among researchers from different fields, and communication between researchers and policy makers.
  • 454
  • 29 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Forest Health Monitoring
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are platforms that have been increasingly used over the last decade to collect data for forest insect pest and disease (FIPD) monitoring. These machines provide flexibility, cost efficiency, and a high temporal and spatial resolution of remotely sensed data. 
  • 590
  • 28 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy for Food Quality Evaluation
Laser-induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) is becoming an increasingly popular analytical technique for characterizing and identifying various products; its multi-element analysis, fast response, remote sensing, and sample preparation is minimal or nonexistent, and low running costs can significantly accelerate the analysis of foods with medicinal properties (FMPs). 
  • 647
  • 28 Jul 2022
Topic Review Video
Morpho-Functional Classification of the Planet’s Humipedons
A morpho-functional classification of the humipedons could be defined as this: 1) Classification: ordering things = summarizing the complexity of reality = putting nature in boxes, to "possess" nature, to "enumerate", divide, understand nature, get to know our home (oikos) = putting a name on things (just like names for people); 2) Type of classification: Morpho-functional; not objects  but "machines" has to be classified, "running systems", "natural clocks" full of interconnected cogwheels and that may indicate the time, systems that inform us about how they live; morpho stays for visible forms that characterize each "machine" and which communicate with us: if there are those visible forms, then we are facing that type of "system"; 3) Some soil scientists classify (morpho-functionally) only humipedons (not all the soil profiles), only the organic (H and O) and organo-mineral (A) horizons of the soil profile. Because they think these horizons are highly connected to the present day evolution of the ecosystems. The other parts of the soil are very important too, but they don't work at the speed that interests present day evolution, from one to 100 years.
  • 668
  • 27 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Achieving Environmental Sustainability in Africa
The concept of sustainability requires that the production of goods and services fulfills present demands without jeopardizing the potential to satisfy the needs of future generations. The environment is a finite resource; a healthy environment benefits the ecosystem and all life. Therefore, to sustain the planet, the ecosystem, and all life on it, it is critical that environmental resources be appropriately managed and preserved. Fighting environmental degradation has been a key priority for advanced and emerging countries. Environmental degradation has posed a danger to the economic well-being of the entire world, as it is linked to the success of various macroeconomic factors.
  • 833
  • 27 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Data Used in Urban Flooding Management
Data-driven approaches to urban flooding management require a comprehensive understanding of how heterogenous data are leveraged in tackling this problem.
  • 1.0K
  • 27 Jul 2022
Topic Review
UAV-Based Forest Health Monitoring
Technological advances have led to the increasing use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for forestry applications. One emerging field for drone application is forest health monitoring (FHM). Common approaches for FHM involve small-scale resource-extensive fieldwork combined with traditional remote sensing platforms. UAVs have shown that they can meet the demands of flexible operation and high spatial resolution. This is also reflected in a rapidly growing number of publications using drones to study forest health. 
  • 860
  • 27 Jul 2022
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