Browsing by Subject "Index"
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Item Developing and Testing a Trafficability Index for Planting Corn and Cotton in the Texas Blackland Prairie(2010-07-14) Helms, Adam J.The Texas Blackland Prairie is one of the most productive agricultural regions in Texas. This region provides a long growing season coupled with soils that have a high water holding capacity. However, the soils also provide significant challenges to producers because the high water holding capacity is a product of a high clay percentage. This research was aimed to develop and test an expert-based trafficabililty index, based upon soil moisture, for planting cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) and corn (Zea mays L.) on the Texas Blackland Prairie. Testing the index focused on quantify the potential effect of high soil moisture at planting on seed furrow sidewall compaction and associated plant growth response. Once the trafficability index was developed, three workable soil moisture regimes were recreated in no-tillage and conventional tillage plots at the Stiles Farm Foundation in Thrall, Texas. The index nomenclature included: "Dry-Workable", "Optimal" and "Wet-Workable". After planting corn and cotton into conventional and no tillage plots, 0.45 x 0.20 x 0.15 m intact soil blocks were removed from each plot and kept in a controlled environment. At 28 days, each block was destructively harvested to quantify plant root and shoot growth responses. Each of the three soil moisture indexes was replicated thrice per crop, and the whole experiment was replicated twice in time, n = 48 blocks. The trafficability index was created using three producer experts, and over 10 interviews to collect a range in soil moisture samples. From "Wet Workable" to "Dry Workable", the gravimetric soil moistures were 0.17, 0.22, and 0.26 g g-1. For corn and cotton, a positive relationship between plant growth factors and planting at soil moisture existed. Plants planted at the highest soil moisture emerged faster and developed more root and shoot biomass than those planted at the lowest soil moisture. No evidence of a detrimental plant response because of seed furrow, sidewall compaction from planting at too high a soil moisture content could be quantified. Furthermore, the cotton plants in no-tillage performed better than in conventional tillage, but corn performed better in conventional tillage. Because the results showed an advantage to plant growth by planting in the "Wet Workable" index, the tillage practice that allows the producer to enter the field with a planter at higher moisture contents appears to have an advantage.Item Development of an index to rate the completeness and quality of mitigation project definition(2010-05) Muramatsu, Tadahisa; Borcherding, John D.; Menches, Cindy L.In the summer of 2008, two hurricanes made landfall along the Texas coast causing billions of dollars in damage. Texas received presidential disaster declarations, which resulted in the state receiving over $350 million in hazard mitigation funds. Over 500 requests for mitigation projects were submitted to the government from communities impacted. Not all requested projects could be funded. As a result, those communities that submitted requests for well-defined mitigation projects were the primary beneficiaries of the federal mitigation funds. To better understand the factors that characterize a “welldefined” mitigation project, this study developed an index to rate the completeness and quality of mitigation project definitions. The study incorporated concepts from research on quality community planning and from project definition rating methods. The rating tool consists of detailed descriptions of the project scope elements along with a scoring method for the completeness and quality of the project’s definition. The rating tool and the detailed descriptions help to develop a “well-defined” mitigation project definition as well as to evaluate it.Item Government Regulations and Housing Markets: An Index to Characterize Local Land Use Regulatory Environments for Residential Markets in the Houston - Galveston Area(2012-07-16) Estevez Jimenez, LuisAffordability continues to be a major challenge for housing in America. According to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University (JCHS), in 2006, 57 million households were moderately and severely cost burdened in America. Although high housing prices and the lack of real income growth are cited as the main factors behind the housing affordability problem, it has been proven that land use regulations have some responsibility in this matter as well. Data from the JCHS suggests that between 2002 and 2005, the average appreciation percentage in housing prices was greater in most stringent regulatory environments when compared to less restrictive environments. Despite this fact, and compared to analyses performed in other states, the relationship between the stringency of local land use regulatory environments and housing has not been fully addressed in Texas. The methodological approach used to characterize this relationship has been by means of the creation of a composite index measuring the stringency of local regulatory environments. In response to this lack of evidence of the characteristics of local land use regulatory environments in Texas, this research created the first city-level index characterizing local regulatory environments for housing markets in the Houston-Galveston Area. The index was created taking into account both the different and the most recent practices for the creation of indices. The index created proved to be a valid and reliable measure capable of taking into account the different aspects of the relationship between land use regulations and housing markets. Correlation procedures allowed the detection of a significant relationship between the stringency of local land use regulatory environments and local traits such as median family income, race distribution, poverty, and median housing values. After alternative indices were developed for a sensitivity and uncertainty analysis, the index proved to be a statistically robust measure against modifications on the different assumptions used for its creation. Further research could use this new composite index in empirical analysis to look at the statistical effect of regulatory environments on variables such as housing values and rent prices.