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Publications

NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.

2020

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Abstract

The reliability of short-term weather forecast provided by COSMO model in simulating reference evapotranspiration (ET0) was evaluated in 7 study sites distributed in 4 countries (Italy, Norway, Romania and Spain). The main objective of the study was to assess the optimal scenario for calculating ET0, using the FAO-56 Penman-Monteith (PM) equation, by separately considering the accuracy in the use of “past” and “forecast” data input. Firstly, each forecasted variable (air temperature, Tair; relative humidity, RH; wind speed, u2; solar radiation, Rs) and ET0 were compared with in situ observations at hourly and daily scales. Moreover the seasonality effect in the forecast performance was evaluated. Secondly, simulated ET0 were computed every three days with: (i) a “past scenario” that used the observed data input measured in situ during the previous three days, (ii) a “forecast scenario” that used the forecasted input variables for the next three days; and compared with (iii) actual ET0 obtained from the in situ measured data. A general good agreement was found between observed and forecasted agro-meteorological parameters at the different explored time-scales. The best performance was obtained for Tair and Rs, followed by RH and u2. Globally, the comparison between ET0 from the measured and forecasted data input showed high performance, with R2 and RMSE of 0.90 and 0.68 mm d−1. ET0 simulations resulted more accurate using the “forecast scenario” (1.7% overestimation), rather than using the “past scenario” (2.6% underestimation). These results open promising perspectives in the use of forecast for ET0 assessment for different agriculture practices and particularly for irrigation scheduling under water scarcity conditions.

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Abstract

Apples are an important source of bioactive compounds, especially mineral nutrients. Minerals (both macro- and micro-elements) are responsible for the functioning of the human body, and involved in the metabolism and production of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, vitamins and enzymes. The objective of this study was to determine and compare the content of some minerals (K, P, Ca, Mg and Fe) of two different apple cultivars (‘Red Aroma Orelind’ and ‘Discovery’), both in peel and pulp, grown in organic and integrated production systems in western Norway in 2015. Samples of fruits were prepared by microwave digestion using an Ethos 1 microwave system. All analyses were performed in triplicate on a Thermo Scientific iCAP 6500 Duo ICP. The results showed that potassium was found in the largest quantity in both apple cultivars and in both management systems and average concentration was 944.3 µg g-1 of fresh weight (FW). Calcium was in second place with average of 180.6 µg g-1 FW. Both apple cultivars had largest amounts of both K and P (in peel and flesh) from organic production compared to fruits coming from the integrated production system. The cultivar ‘Red Aroma Orelind’ had a significantly higher level of Fe in organic fruits compared to integrated. The present study showed that the highest values of K/Ca, (K+Mg)/Ca and Mg/Ca were obtained from the cultivar ‘Discovery’ under organic production (both in peel and flesh). Regarding significantly higher concentrations of P, K, Mg, Fe and balanced mineral ratios in organic apples, it can be concluded that those fruits have higher quality, and are at lower risk of bitter pit when stored.