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Interventions to connect humans with nature at system leverage points are crucial for sustainability transformations. Identifying hotspots of deep leverage points can help provide guidance and managerial suggestions. Contemporary research on sustainability encourages public participation amongst stakeholders and the production and use of scientific knowledge. This study argues that hillside rural activities connect humans with nature but alters the natural landscape. Therefore, to determine hillside rural activity hotspots is to identify leverage points for interventions to promote human–nature reconnection. To elucidate the status of hillside rural activities in rural areas as leverage points in sustainability transformations, this study used a public participation geographic information system (PPGIS) to inventory and verify the complex and diverse relationships between hillside rural activity and land use. Using the Zhuoshui River Basin as a case study, this study hosted PPGIS workshops to collect data on stakeholders' perceptions of hillside rural activities and their spatial locations. The analysis revealed that the respondents mostly identified shallow leverage points involving facility maintenance and agricultural production, and sales. Agricultural land use and water conservancy were closely associated with deep leverage points, indicating the necessity to maintain a foundation of continuous agricultural production. Entropic land use was also associated with deep leverage points. This study found that interventions at deep leverage points can highlight the need for proper land use management and the multitude of services it provides. Land use management interventions may facilitate sustainability transformations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) photogrammetry is an effective method for acquiring terrain information. However, in hillside areas, the terrain is complex, and the altitude varies greatly. The mission flight is planned by using equal altitude; in the actual shooting, the geometry and resolution of the pixel within the same image or between adjacent images will be inconsistent due to the different shooting distances. The number and accuracy of point clouds are affected. We propose a contour mission flight plan method, which involves designing flight plans based on the existing digital elevation model (DEM) and the desired flight altitude. This method for aerial photography is more effective in maintaining a consistent ground shooting distance during image capture. Experiments were conducted using a simulated DEM and the undulating terrain of the Kaohsiung Liugui area in Taiwan to verify the effect of contour mission flight planning in the hillside area. The results show that, due to the significant variation of terrain in the hillside area, the use of a contour mission flight plan for aerial photography can be more consistent with the originally planned altitude but requires more planning and operating time. The minor height difference, higher overlap, and improved accuracy of the results show that contour mission planning can provide a suitable solution for UAVs in hillside areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) photogrammetry is an effective method for acquiring terrain information. However, in hillside areas, the terrain is complex, and the altitude varies greatly. The mission flight is planned by using equal altitude; in the actual shooting, the geometry and resolution of the pixel within the same image or between adjacent images will be inconsistent due to the different shooting distances. The number and accuracy of point clouds are affected. We propose a contour mission flight plan method, which involves designing flight plans based on the existing digital elevation model (DEM) and the desired flight altitude. This method for aerial photography is more effective in maintaining a consistent ground shooting distance during image capture. Experiments were conducted using a simulated DEM and the undulating terrain of the Kaohsiung Liugui area in Taiwan to verify the effect of contour mission flight planning in the hillside area. The results show that, due to the significant variation of terrain in the hillside area, the use of a contour mission flight plan for aerial photography can be more consistent with the originally planned altitude but requires more planning and operating time. The minor height difference, higher overlap, and improved accuracy of the results show that contour mission planning can provide a suitable solution for UAVs in hillside areas.

• The influences of slope on the wind load of single-row PV modules and arrays are analyzed. • The influences of slope on the wind environment around PV modules are analyzed. • The mechanism of the wind-induced interference of hillside PV arrays is revealed. • The recommendation for wind resistance design on the PV array on the hillside is given. Accurate assessment of wind loads on PV modules is crucial for the economic efficiency and safety of PV power stations. Most of these studies focused on the PV arrays installed on flat ground, whereas research on the PV arrays installed on hillsides has been lacking. This paper carried out CFD simulations of single-row PV modules and arrays on a two-dimensional hillside. The results show that the slope can either enhance or weaken the wind load. The enhancement and weakening effects become stronger with larger slope. When the slope is 30°, the wind load of the single row of PV modules at the bottom of the hillside can be reduced by up to 80%, the load of the first row of the array can be reduced by up to 25%, the load of the single row of the PV modules at the top of the hillside can be enhanced by up to 150%, and the load of the last row of the array can be enhanced by up to 280%. The wind field in the range of 0.2 times the hillside length from the top of the hillside is more complex, and the wind load is quite different from that of the flat ground, which should receive special attention in the design process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Metropolitan Area of Mendoza (MMA), Argentina, has extended towards peripheral hillside areas without considering the environmental impact of this action. This growth has continued the urban model of flatland development, causing changes in the ecosystem and an increase in outdoor air temperature. This work proposes and evaluates urban schemes that incorporate design criteria with the objective of preserving environmental characteristics and mitigating the effect of urbanization on the microclimate. The proposed grid layouts, located in three predominant slopes, were linear organic and Cul-de-Sac. Methodologically, the microclimatic response of the proposed schemes was evaluated by applying ENVI-met software simulation. The results show that urban growth is possible when carefully considering environmental limitations which grant maximum air temperature reductions of up to 2 °C.

Copyright of ESTOA: Revista de la Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo de la Universidad de Cuenca is the property of ESTOA Revista de la Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo de la Universidad de Cuenca and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The purpose of this article is to present the developed methodology, a brief algorithm of mechanical-and-mathematical modeling to investigate the causes and mechanism of soil disruption from the hillsides and the results of its use for restoring the pre-landslide stress state using the example of one of the tragic landslides. The numerical finite element algorithm of studying the stress--strain state (SSS) of soil deposits of slopes of the inclined-layered structure is briefly described, with specific features of the use of isoparametric elements of the quadrangular shape with four nodes of arbitrary shape. For detailed studying the SSS, the cover soils of the steep slope of the inclined-layered structure, in height from the arch to the foot, are conventionally divided into three zones, each of which has layered structures. Studies of the geometry of its area and the angle of inclination of the slope showed that the two-layer structure of its original structure made a curved path repeating the outline of the gorge. The finite element method helped to model the soil deposits of the slope with the granite-basalt rock as close as possible to the landslide initial shape. The proposed methodology, the mechanical-mathematical model, algorithms and calculation examples allow predicting the possible occurrence of landslides on other countless hillsides of the Northern Tien Shan by determining stress concentration zones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of School Administrators is the property of School Administration Research Association, R.O.C. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Low nutrient availability, especially phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) supply is the major limitation to forage production in acid infertile soils of the tropics. A field study was conducted at the farm ‘La Esperanza’ located in Mondomo, Department of Cauca, in the coffee growing zone of Colombia. The main objective was to determine differences in root distribution, nutrient (N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S) acquisition and nutrient utilization of one C4 forage grass (Brachiaria dictyoneura) and two C3 forage legumes (Arachis pintoi and Centrosema macrocarpum) grown under two fertilization levels, cultivated either in monoculture or in association and harvested at four different ages.There were no significant differences in root biomass among the grass and legumes and their combinations. The native vegetation had the lowest root biomass; while the introduced grass (B. dictyoneura) had the highest root length density among all materials at all depths and ages and the native vegetation had the highest specific root length. As expected, nutrient uptake increased with age and with high fertilization in all species. Centrosema macrocarpun had the highest N and Ca uptake among all plant materials tested. Uptake of P, K and Mg was greater in the grass B. dictyoneura than in the other plant species and combination planting at all ages. On the other hand, the grass had the lowest Ca uptake. The grass and its mixture with the legumes A. pintoi and C. macrocarpun had the highest S uptake. A highly significant (pLa baja disponibilidad de nutrientes, especialmente fósforo (P) y nitrógeno (N) es el mayor limitante para la producción de forrajes en los suelos ácidos de baja fertilidad del trópico. En la finca La Esperanza. localizada en Mondomo, departamento del Cauca, zona cafetera de Colombia, se llevo a cabo un estudio con el objeto de determinar las diferencias en la distribución de raíces, absorción y utilización de nutrientes (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, y S) de una gramínea forrajera C4 (Brachiaria dictyoneura) y dos leguminosas C3 (Arachis pintoi y Centrosema macrocarpum) creciendo bajo dos niveles de fertilización y cultivadas en monocultivo y en asociación y cosechadas a cuatro diferentes edades. No se encontraron diferencias significativas en biomasa de raíces entre la gramínea y las leguminosas y sus asociaciones. La vegetación nativa presentó la menor cantidad de biomasa de raíces; mientras que la gramínea introducida (B. dictyoneura) presentó la menor cantidad entre todos los materiales en todas las profundidades y edades, y la vegetación nativa presentó la más alta longitud especifica de raíces. Como era de esperar, la absorción de nutrientes se incremento con la edad y con el mayor nivel de fertilización en todas las especies. Centrosema macrocarpun tuvo la más alta absorción de N y Ca entre todos los materiales evaluados. La absorción de P, K y Mg fue mayor en la gramínea que en las otras especies solas o asociadas. Por otro lado, la gramínea presentó la más baja absorción de Ca. La gramínea sola y las asociaciones con las leguminosas A. pintoi y C. macrocarpun presentaron la mayor alta absorción de S. Se encontró una alta correlación (P < 0.001) entre la densidad de longitud de raíces (profundidades 0 - 10 y 10 - 20cm) y la absorción de N y P. La eficiencia de uso de nutrientes (forraje producido/nutriente absorbido -g/g)) incrementó con la edad hasta las 38 semanas. A 55 semanas se observó una fuerte caída en la eficiencia de uso de nutrientes. Los valores de la eficiencia de uso de N, Ca y P fueron más altos con las gramíneas que con las leguminosas evaluadas. La eficiencia de uso K fue similar entre las tres especies. La gramínea mostró los mas altos valores de Mg y S, y la leguminosa A. pintoi el menor.

Copyright of Ciencia e Ingenieria Neogranadina is the property of Ciencia e Ingenieria Neogranadina and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In the northern highlands of Ethiopia degraded hillsides have been allocated to landless farmers for tree planting since the mid-1990s. The authors assessed the effect of hillside plantations on the livelihoods of landless farmers in the eastern part of the Tigray Region by using transect walks, focus group discussions, and pretested questionnaires. A matched-pairs design was used to compare crop yields, livestock holdings per household, and household incomes to test the differences before and eight years after the intervention. In addition, regression analysis was used to capture variables influencing hillside management. The findings revealed that the plantations significantly increased crop yields, livestock holdings, and the household incomes of all beneficiaries. In addition, tree planting on degraded hillsides had a positive impact on the livelihoods of formerly landless farmers. However, moisture stress and free-ranging livestock were crucial problems. The findings are highly relevant in a conservation context because many existing or planned hillside allocations to landless farmers are located on degraded steep slopes that are unsuitable for crop production. Thus, replicating the practice to other areas with similar environment and problems would be worthwhile, although the management should focus on careful planning to avoid conflicts of interest between beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Italy is a major grape producer, but further growth of the sector requires a reduction in production costs, which is in part obtainable with wider use of mechanical harvesting. Emilia-Romagna is one of the principal regions of Italian grape production, with around 30% of its wine-growing areas located on hills. The aim of this study was to conduct an analysis of grape harvesting by comparing the performances and costs of two mechanical harvesting systems: one with a self-propelled harvester and the other with a tractor-drawn harvester (trailed machine). Harvesting trials were conducted in two typical conditions of Emilia-Romagna: a vineyard in a flat area with Vitis vinifera L. cv. Trebbiano Romagnolo, and a vineyard in the hills with cv. Sangiovese. The cost of mechanical harvesting in these two vineyards was compared with that of manual harvesting and with the cost of machine rental, analyzing the cost-effectiveness by varying the labor costs and value of the harvested grapes. The technical and economic evaluation indicated that the two trial conditions affected the operating parameters of the harvesters, and the most important element of the costs is the indirect costs due to harvest losses. The material capacity of the self-propelled harvester was 45% more in the flat vineyard and 40% more in the hill vineyard than that of the trailed harvester. The system with the self-propelled harvester has fewer losses but is only cost-effective on large areas (45 and 51 ha). Considering the total harvesting cost in reference to unit yield, the values range from 40 to 45 € Mg-1 in the flat vineyard and from 50 to 60 € Mg-1 in the hill vineyard. Compared to manual harvesting, the break-even point of the trailed harvester is reached on areas of 7 to 8 ha, while an area of 12 to 14 ha is necessary for the self-propelled harvester. Compared to machine rental, the break-even point for purchasing a machine increases to 18 and 23 ha for the trailed harvester and to 27 and 30 ha for the self-propelled harvester in hill and flat vineyards, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To address the current lack of hillside agricultural machinery in China, a small remote-control tractor was designed, and its overall performance was tested. The results showed that the tractor exhibited good turning, with a minimum turning radius of 418 mm, which is suitable for use in mountainous regions in a narrow operating environment. The linear travel of the tractor was ideal, with a yawing rate of 0.86%. A parallelogram mechanism and subsoiling shovel were used with a single-furrow reversible plow to effectively solve the partial traction problems; the traction and adhesion performance were good. When the slip rate was 5% to 10%, the driving force from the driving wheel was optimal. The results suggest that this machine is suitable for the special operational requirements of mountainous areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Hillside Cu–(Au) deposit, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia, is a recently-discovered ore system within the 1.6Ga World-class Olympic iron oxide–copper–gold (IOCG) Province. The deposit is characterized by a skarn-style alteration zone. Analyses of feldspar, calcite, skarn minerals (garnet, pyroxene, clinozoisite and actinolite) and accessories (titanite, apatite and allanite), and grain-scale element mapping by laser-ablation inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry are used to assess the distributions of rare earth element (REE), incompatible and ore-forming elements in host rocks, prograde and retrograde skarn. Garnet is a major repository of HREE, especially in prograde skarn, whereas LREE-enriched clinozoisite is the principal REE-host in retrograde skarn. REE distribution patterns define a pronounced partitioning of elements among the dominant coexisting minerals. Compositional variation between assemblages, and also within individual grains, defines an evolution from early feldspar–pyroxene skarn through main-stage calcic skarn to the ore-stage. A switch from a prograde, HREE-dominant signature to a LREE-enriched signature is observed in both retrograde and distal skarn. Zr-in-titanite geothermometry supports transition from magmatic to hydrothermal, skarn-forming processes at temperatures of ~660°C; the initiation of ore-stage is about 100°C lower. Understanding REE distributions in all minerals within a complex, multistage ore system assists the development of vectoring tools that use trace element chemistry in exploration for similar IOCG deposits beneath regolith cover across the Olympic Province. Titanite and apatite show particular promise because of their characteristically distinct REE patterns in magmatic and hydrothermal stages, trace element responses to redox changes, and their widespread abundance throughout different lithologies in the area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human service organizations are uniquely positioned, given their scope of practice and access to consumers with the widest range of needs to significantly increase the national capacity for research if they were effectively equipped with the knowledge, skills, and funding to integrate research and development into their ongoing organizational activities. A university–community research partnership is one approach to achieving this goal. This article describes the Hillside/UB (HUB) Research Model, a formal research partnership between Hillside Family of Agencies (HFA) in Rochester, NY and the Buffalo Center for Social Research (BCSR) at the University at Buffalo (UB). The HUB research model combines the practice expertise and research subject access of HFA with the BCSR research expertise and resources to develop collaboratively a vibrant research partnership based on community-based participatory research (CBPR) principles that garners the strengths and assets of both partners to realize a true research to practice and practice to research agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A typical example of badlands in the Italian peninsula is the “calanchi” (plural of “calanco”), which may be defined as rapidly evolving, very dense and hierarchical drainage systems whose genesis is controlled by mineralogical characteristics, the granulometric composition of local lithotypes, structural conditions, hillside gradient and climate. In this work some of the morphometric characteristics of the hillside were compared on a statistical basis with those of the drainage network of the calanchi, for two large sample areas in Adriatic central Italy. It was possible to demonstrate how the hillside environment strongly affects the activation of the process and the characteristics of the calanchi, depending on their morphometric morphometric characteristics. In particular, the length/inclination ratio of the hillside conditions the hydrographic pattern of the calanco system. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study examines the impact of a sloping base on the movement of transients through groundwater systems. Dimensionless variables and regression of model results are employed to develop functions relating the transient change in saturated thickness to the distance upgradient and downgradient from recharge or withdrawal. Convolution of these transient response functions (made possible due to linearity of partial differential equations in the model) enables computation of changes in saturated thickness over recharge/withdrawal that varies over space and time. Establishing the criteria and form of these functions led to the discovery of fundamental underlying properties: upgradient and downgradient responses may be scaled to achieve a symmetrical relationship, expressions are developed to compute change in saturated thickness at the location of water use, and downgradient response at large times form a S-shaped curve that effectively adds a diffusive component to the average velocity of the kinematic wave approximation, where the hydraulic gradient is equal to the bed slope. Hydrogeologic data for three study regions in the High Plains Aquifer are summarized, and model results are presented for changes in saturated thickness. The transient response functions are used to reconstruct and interpret groundwater response to historical water-use practices and to predict future changes in saturated thickness for a series of hypothetical alternative water-use scenarios. Depressions in groundwater elevation are observed both upgradient and downgradient from areas of high water use; however, these depressions preferentially move downgradient over time and may continue to spread downgradient far into the future. This approach quantifies and provides understanding of the impacts of changes in natural and anthropogenic hydrologic forcings on aquifer systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groundwater flow is examined for recharge and extraction within a sloping aquifer. Fundamental equations are commonly formulated either in s- n coordinates where s is tangent to the base or in x- z coordinates where x is horizontal. Consistency between these two formulations is achieved here by incorporating the slope of the base directly into the hydraulic conductivity and aquifer diffusivity terms. A stepping model is developed for steady and transient flow, and comparisons between stepping and sloping models show that the stepping model approaches the exact solutions as the number of steps increases. This model is used to develop a set of nomographs and dimensionless parameters relating drawdown over time to distance upgradient or downgradient from a point of water use. While upgradient and downgradient responses differ with respect to the quantity of water removed or injected, it is shown that the response proportional to the change in saturated thickness is the same in both directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work was developed on the farm known as "La Orgulla" (the Pride), in Guantanamo province, Cuba. Its objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of sustainable soil conservation techniques. Techniques included 11 terraces, 16 soil dikes and living fences to prevent soil erosion. A divided parcel design was used to evaluate the soil accumulated by the three techniques across a 2.5 hectare area. The living fences were able to collect 7.0 m³ of soil, the dikes collected 2.2 m³, and the terraces collected 5.3 m³ of soil. Between the terraces and the dikes, the cooperative community was able to produce an additional 110 sacks of ñame fruit and bananas and 150 sacks of malanga tuber, earning an additional 2,676.69 pesos. The agrarian culture of the cooperative members was increased by finding theoretical-practical solutions to problems of sustainable production and interacting with the group of researchers and fifth-year agronomy students from the Center for Mountain Development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the necessity of going achieving in the country, supportably levels in the agriculture that assures the conservation and efficiency in the use of the available resources, are projected a study of the energy sources that used in the technologies of soil tillage for mountain conditions, with the objective of evaluating the use of the animals force during the tillage tools traction, constituting this a renewable, technically acceptable, economically viable and socially desirable energy alternative. The pilot idea begins its development in the environment of the Mountain Faculty of Agronomy of San Andres, of the University of Pinar del Rio, embracing San Andrés' valley with its forms and characteristic production sectors and being projected to the generalization in the mountainous areas of the agriculture. For the study a threefactorial experiment was designed where parameters like the work speed were evaluated, traction resistance and fatigue degree or fatigue of the animals. In a general way it was possible to demonstrate for the mountain conditions of San Andres, the elements that determine the correct formation of the groups for the plow labour, guaranteeing their energy efficiency, environment conservation and economic feasibility. In a general way with this work demonstrate the necessity to reorient the formation of groups during the use of the animal energy in the mountain agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]