Digital Twins in Agriculture: Orchestration and Applications.

Digital Twins have emerged as an outstanding opportunity for precision farming, digitally replicating in real-time the functionalities of objects and plants. A virtual replica of the crop, including key agronomic development aspects such as irrigation, optimal fertilization strategies, and pest management, can support decision-making and a step change in farm management, increasing overall sustainability and direct water, fertilizer, and pesticide savings. In this review, Digital Twin technology is critically reviewed and framed in the context of recent advances in precision agriculture and Agriculture 4.

Dataset for the characterisation of thermal stratification in horizontally configured electric water heaters.

A test station was designed and built to measure the thermal stratification (vertical thermal gradients) in a horizontal 150 L electric water heater storage device for different external environmental and user-emulating inputs, ambient temperature, inlet water temperature, water draw flow rate, thermostat temperature and heating coil active time. Stratification measurement consists of 66 temperature sensors that coarsely map three-dimensional temperature gradients within the horizontally configured heating device, under different operational conditions. Other significant temperatures such as inlet, outlet, ambient, thermostat feedback, and wall temperatures were also recorded.

[The threat of wide dissemination of anthelmintic resistance by veld ram performance testing units].

A veld ram performance testing unit consists of an association of stud or commercial ram breeders, who compare the performance of selected rams under field conditions on common pastures. The best performers are subsequently auctioned at public sales. To date, at least 10 Merino veld ram clubs have been established in various centres in South Africa.