Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

What Temporal Resolution Is Required For Remote Sensing Of Regional Aerosol Concentrations Using The Himawari-8 Geostationary Satellite, Miles Sowden, Ute Mueller, David Blake

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Few studies have directly addressed the question of what temporal resolution is required for air quality studies using geostationary remote sensing data. If timescales are too large, there is a risk that events affecting air quality may be missed; and if too small, there is a possibility that large data files may be processed frequently, at significant computing cost and potentially without concomitant improvements in the monitoring of air quality. The problem is particularly significant in sparsely populated regional areas such as the Pilbara in Western Australia, where air quality issues arising from a range of events, dispersed over a …

Engaging Adolescent Kyrgyzstani Efl Students In Digital Storytelling Projects About Astronomy, Nadezhda Chubko, Julia E. Morris, David H. Mckinnon, Eileen V. Slater, Geoffrey W. Lummis

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This research is based on the Journey through Space and Time (JTST) educational astronomy project for primary and junior high school science curricula in Australia, which seeks to improve students' astronomy content knowledge through science inquiry. The focus of the current project is on the learning needs of students for whom the language of instruction is a foreign or second language (EFL/ESL). This article reports the results of a pilot case study conducted in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan in December 2017. The research employed a Type II Case Study design. Data were collected through video and audio recordings of classroom interactions. The …

Development Of An In-Field Method For The Detection Of Barium In Various Water Samples Using Differential Pulse Anodic Stripping Voltammetry, Samantha Ridgway, Magdalena Wajrak

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This work presents a reliable, cost-effective, rapid and in-field voltammetric method for the detection of barium. The optimized method consists of an ultrathin mercury film deposited in situ on a glassy carbon electrode in dilute potassium chloride without deoxygenation, using differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DP-ASV). Application of the method allowed for the quantitative determination of barium concentration in a variety of waters and brake pad dust samples. Comparative analysis of sample results from DP-ASV with inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) showed a mean percent difference of 1.8%.

The Nexus Between Social Impacts And Adaptation Strategies Of Workers To Occupational Heat Stress: A Conceptual Framework, Victor Fannam Nunfam, Kwadwo Adusei-Asante, Eddie John Van Etten, Jacques Oosthuizen, Samuel Adams, Kwasi Frimpong

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Adverse effects of occupational heat stress in the context of the changing climate on working populations are subtle but considerably harmful. However, social dimensions and impacts of climate change–related occupational heat concerns on workers’ safety and health, productivity and well-being are often overlooked or relegated as minor issues in social impact analyses of occupational heat exposure due to climate change. This paper offers a conceptual framework based on an appraisal and synthesis of the literature on social impacts of climate change–related occupational heat exposure on workers’ safety and health, productivity and social welfare and the quest to localise and achieve …

Surficial And Deep Earth Material Prediction From Geochemical Compositions, Hassan Talebi, Ute Mueller, Raimon Tolosana-Delgado, Eric C. Grunsky, Jennifer M. Mckinley, Patrice De Caritat

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Prediction of true classes of surficial and deep earth materials using multivariate spatial data is a common challenge for geoscience modelers. Most geological processes leave a footprint that can be explored by geochemical data analysis. These footprints are normally complex statistical and spatial patterns buried deep in the high-dimensional compositional space. This paper proposes a spatial predictive model for classification of surficial and deep earth materials derived from the geochemical composition of surface regolith. The model is based on a combination of geostatistical simulation and machine learning approaches. A random forest predictive model is trained, and features are ranked based …

Toward Collaborative Open Data Science In Metabolomics Using Jupyter Notebooks And Cloud Computing, Kevin M. Mendez, Leighton Pritchard, Stacey N. Reinke, David I. Broadhurst

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background

A lack of transparency and reporting standards in the scientific community has led to increasing and widespread concerns relating to reproduction and integrity of results. As an omics science, which generates vast amounts of data and relies heavily on data science for deriving biological meaning, metabolomics is highly vulnerable to irreproducibility. The metabolomics community has made substantial efforts to align with FAIR data standards by promoting open data formats, data repositories, online spectral libraries, and metabolite databases. Open data analysis platforms also exist; however, they tend to be inflexible and rely on the user to adequately report their methods …

Australian Vegetated Coastal Ecosystems As Global Hotspots For Climate Change Mitigation, Oscar Serrano, Catherine E. Lovelock, Trisha B. Atwood, Peter I. Macreadie, Robert Canto, Stuart Phinn, Ariane Arias-Ortiz, Le Bai, Jeff Baldock, Camila Bedulli, Paul Carnell, Rod M. Connolly, Paul Donaldson, Alba Esteban, Carolyn J. Ewers Lewis, Bradley D. Eyre, Matthew A. Hayes, Pierre Horwitz, Lindsay B. Hutley, Christopher R. J. Kavazos, Jeffrey J. Kelleway, Gary A. Kendrick, Kieryn Kilminster, Anna Lafratta, Shing Lee, Paul S. Lavery, Damien T. Maher, Núria Marbà, Pere Masque, Miguel A. Mateo, Richard Mount, Peter J. Ralph, Chris Roelfsema, Mohammad Rozaimi, Radhiyah Ruhon, Cristian Salinas, Jimena Samper-Villarreal, Jonathan Sanderman, Christian J. Sanders, Isaac Santos, Chris Sharples, Andrew D. L. Steven, Toni Cannard, Stacey M. Trevathan-Tackett, Carlos M. Duarte

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Policies aiming to preserve vegetated coastal ecosystems (VCE; tidal marshes, mangroves and seagrasses) to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions require national assessments of blue carbon resources. Here, we present organic carbon (C) storage in VCE across Australian climate regions and estimate potential annual CO₂ emission benefits of VCE conservation and restoration. Australia contributes 5–11% of the C stored in VCE globally (70–185 Tg C in aboveground biomass, and 1,055–1,540 Tg C in the upper 1 m of soils). Potential CO₂ emissions from current VCE losses are estimated at 2.1–3.1 Tg CO₂-e yr^-1, increasing annual CO …

Evaluation Of Incorporating Plastic Wastes Into Asphalt Materials For Road Construction In Ghana, Patricia Nana Ama Asare, Francis Atta Kuranchie, Eric Antwi Ofosu

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

In improving the aesthetics of the environment, the management of plastic wastes cannot be left out of the picture. Among the numerous ways that plastic wastes are managed, incorporating them into plastic roads is another viable option. This study quantified plastic wastes generation in Sunyani Municipality in Ghana and investigated the optimum percentage of asphaltic materials that could be made of plastic wastes for road construction in Ghana. Plastic Wastes were obtained from social gatherings, residential areas and restaurants, there was dialogue with key persons in the plastic industry and various experiments were also conducted for plastic wastes utilization in …

Knowledge Management Overview Of Feature Selection Problem In High-Dimensional Financial Data: Cooperative Co-Evolution And Map Reduce Perspectives, A. N. M. Bazlur Rashid, Tonmoy Choudhury

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The term "big data" characterizes the massive amounts of data generation by the advanced technologies in different domains using 4Vs volume, velocity, variety, and veracity-to indicate the amount of data that can only be processed via computationally intensive analysis, the speed of their creation, the different types of data, and their accuracy. High-dimensional financial data, such as time-series and space-Time data, contain a large number of features (variables) while having a small number of samples, which are used to measure various real-Time business situations for financial organizations. Such datasets are normally noisy, and complex correlations may exist between their features, …

Seagrass Soil Archives Reveal Centennial-Scale Metal Smelter Contamination While Acting As Natural Filters, Anna Lafratta, O Serrano, Pere Masque, Miguel Mateo, Milena Fernandes, Sam Gaylard, Paul Lavery

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The upper Spencer Gulf in South Australia hosts the world's largest single stream Pb-Zn smelter, which has caused environmental and health issues related to elevated metal concentrations in the surrounding environment. The area also has extensive seagrass meadows, occupying >4000 km². We reconstructed the fluxes of heavy metals over the last ~3000 years through a multi-parameter study of the soil archives formed by the seagrass Posidonia australis. Pb, Zn and Cd concentrations increased up to 9-fold following the onset of smelter operations in the 1880s, and the stable Pb isotopic signatures confirmed the smelter has been the main …

Effective Plant Discrimination Based On The Combination Of Local Binary Pattern Operators And Multiclass Support Vector Machine Methods, Vi N T Le, Beniamin Apopei, Kamal Alameh

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Accurate crop and weed discrimination plays a critical role in addressing the challenges of weed management in agriculture. The use of herbicides is currently the most common approach to weed control. However, herbicide resistant plants have long been recognised as a major concern due to the excessive use of herbicides. Effective weed detection techniques can reduce the cost of weed management and improve crop quality and yield. A computationally efficient and robust plant classification algorithm is developed and applied to the classification of three crops: Brassica napus (canola), Zea mays (maize/corn), and radish. The developed algorithm is based on the …

Climate Change And Occupational Heat Stress Risks And Adaptation Strategies Of Mining Workers: Perspectives Of Supervisors And Other Stakeholders In Ghana, Victor Fannam Nunfam, Eddie Van Etten, Jacques Oosthuizen, Kwadwo Adusei-Asante, Kwasi Frimpong

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Increasing air temperatures as a result of climate change are worsening the impact of heat exposure on working populations, including mining workers, who are at risk of suffering heat-related illnesses, injury and death. However, inadequate awareness of climate change-related occupational heat stress risks and adaptation strategies have been shown to render occupational heat stress management ineffective. A concurrent mixed-methods approach was used to assess the perceptions of climate change and occupational heat stress risks and adaptation strategies of mining workers among supervisory personnel and other stakeholders in Ghana. Questionnaires and interviews were used to elicit data from 19 respondents. Data …