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Agronomy
Special Issues
Smart Strategies and Machines for Urban Green Areas and Landscape...
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Smart Strategies and Machines for Urban Green Areas and Landscape Sustainable Management

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Agricultural Biosystem and Biological Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2022) | Viewed by 10652

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Andrea Peruzzi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto 80, 56124 Pisa, Italy
Interests: sustainable management of turfs; non-chemical weed control in urban and suburban areas; use of automatic mowers in turfs and agriculture; precision agriculture; smart strategies and machines for organic and conservation management of agriculture
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Marco Fontanelli

E-Mail Website
Co-Guest Editor
Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto, 80, 56124 Pisa, Italy
Interests: farm mechanization and farm machinery; precision agriculture; conservation agriculture; nonchemical weed control; machine for turfgrass and landscape management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Michel Pirchio

E-Mail Website
Co-Guest Editor
Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, 56124 Pisa, Italy
Interests: innovative strategies for turfs management; use of automatic mowers in turfs and agriculture alternative weed control; urban green areas and landscape management; precision agriculture

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

Interest in the definition and application of sustainable strategies for urban green areas and landscape management is constantly increasing for researchers, policy makers, technicians, experts and common citizens. The approaching challenge on this topic is the achievement of a significant reduction in exhaust gas local emissions and noise pollution, using more appropriate tools and equipment. Additionally, the use of alternative methods to chemical applications for crop protection and weed control is increasingly promoted by policy-makers of the various administrative bodies (national governments, regions, municipalities, parks and reserve), aiming to preserve the environment from potential contaminations and to protect citizens and operators from potential risks to their health.

Moreover, smart strategies, technologies and automation aim to increase the efficiency of landscape-management operations like irrigation and lawn mowing. In this Special Issue, all contributions regarding innovative technologies and machines for the sustainable management of green areas and landscape are welcome, including applications in sport fields, municipalities, urban hard surfaces and sub-urban areas. Thus, we invite experts and researchers to contribute with original research, reviews and opinion pieces covering the topics of this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Andrea Peruzzi
Guest Editor

Dr. Marco Fontanelli
Dr. Michel Pirchio
Co-Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Innovative strategies and machines for urban green management
  • Innovative solutions for non-chemical weed control
  • Precision landscape management
  • Autononomous machines
  • Solutions for sustainable urban green and landscape management
  • Citizens and operators health preservation
  • Reduction in the risks of chemical pollution
  • GHG reduction

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

26 pages, 22997 KiB  
Article
Assessment of Urban Green Space Dynamics Influencing the Surface Urban Heat Stress Using Advanced Geospatial Techniques
by Bijay Halder, Jatisankar Bandyopadhyay, Aqeel Ali Al-Hilali, Ali M. Ahmed, Mayadah W. Falah, Salwan Ali Abed, Khaldoon T. Falih, Khaled Mohamed Khedher, Miklas Scholz and Zaher Mundher Yaseen
Agronomy 2022, 12(9), 2129; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy12092129 - 08 Sep 2022
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3114
Abstract
Urban areas are mostly heterogeneous due to settlements and vegetation including forests, water bodies and many other land use and land cover (LULC) classes. Due to the overwhelming population pressure, urbanization, industrial works and transportation systems, urban areas have been suffering from a [...] Read more.
Urban areas are mostly heterogeneous due to settlements and vegetation including forests, water bodies and many other land use and land cover (LULC) classes. Due to the overwhelming population pressure, urbanization, industrial works and transportation systems, urban areas have been suffering from a deficiency of green spaces, which leads to an increase in the variation of temperature in urban areas. This study investigates the conceptual framework design towards urban green space (UGS) and thermal variability over Kolkata and Howrah city using advanced remote sensing (RS) and geospatial methods. The low green space is located in the highly built-up area, which is influenced by thermal variations. Therefore, the heat stress index showed a high area located within the central, north, northwestern and some parts of the southern areas. The vegetated areas decreased by 8.62% during the ten years studied and the other land uses increased by 11.23%. The relationship between land surface temperature (LST) and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) showed significant changes with R2 values between 0.48 (2010) and 0.23 (2020), respectively. The correlation among the LST and the normalized difference built-up index (NDBI) showed a notable level of change with R2 values between 0.38 (2010) and 0.61 (2020), respectively. The results are expected to contribute significantly towards urban development and planning, policymaking and support for key stakeholders responsible for the sustainable urban planning procedures and processes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Strategies and Machines for Urban Green Areas and Landscape Sustainable Management)
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12 pages, 1658 KiB  
Article
Hot Foam and Nitrogen Application to Promote Spring Transition of “Diamond” Zoysiagrass (Zoysia matrella (L.) Merr.) Overseeded with Perennial Ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.)
by Lisa Caturegli, Mino Sportelli, Michel Pirchio, Giuliano Sciusco, Marco Volterrani, Matteo Tucci, Simone Magni, Alberto Minelli, Marco Fontanelli, Christian Frasconi, Michele Raffaelli and Andrea Peruzzi
Agronomy 2022, 12(5), 1049; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy12051049 - 27 Apr 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1451
Abstract
In transition areas, cool season turfgrasses are overseeded in autumn to maintain the high quality of dormant warm season turfgrasses, while in spring several agronomic methods (scalping, coring, topdressing, verticutting, irrigation, and targeted fertilization) or chemical desiccation are adopted to remove the cool [...] Read more.
In transition areas, cool season turfgrasses are overseeded in autumn to maintain the high quality of dormant warm season turfgrasses, while in spring several agronomic methods (scalping, coring, topdressing, verticutting, irrigation, and targeted fertilization) or chemical desiccation are adopted to remove the cool season turfgrasses from the stand. To reduce chemical applications, several methods of “thermal weeding” have been experimented with, but little is known about these methods in zoysiagrass (Zoysia spp. Willd) spring transition. A study was conducted at the University of Pisa, Italy, on Manila grass (Zoysia matrella (L.) Merr., cv “Diamond”) (Zm) overseeded with perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) (Lp) with the aim of comparing different methods of cool season grass suppression (scalping and hot foam) and different application rates of nitrogen. To assess treatment effect, green cover, turf quality, turf color, shoot density, and some vegetation indices (GLI, DGCI and NDVI) were determined. An average green cover of at least 90% was obtained on all plots seven weeks after the treatments. While scalping had minor effects on turf appearance and on polystand composition, hot foam had a stronger effect on turf color, green cover, and turf quality in the weeks following application. Once it had recovered from the hot foam treatments, the turf had a greater number of Zm shoots and a relevant reduction of Lp shoots. The hot foam was very effective in suppressing Lp while maintaining Zm recovery capacity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Strategies and Machines for Urban Green Areas and Landscape Sustainable Management)
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13 pages, 4552 KiB  
Article
Robotic Mowing of Tall Fescue at 90 mm Cutting Height: Random Trajectories vs. Systematic Trajectories
by Mino Sportelli, Marco Fontanelli, Michel Pirchio, Christian Frasconi, Michele Raffaelli, Lisa Caturegli, Simone Magni, Marco Volterrani and Andrea Peruzzi
Agronomy 2021, 11(12), 2567; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy11122567 - 17 Dec 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2687
Abstract
Tall fescue (Schedonorus arundinaceus (Schreb.) Dumort.) is often managed with a cutting height ranging from 70 to 100 mm in ornamental lawns. Some autonomous mowers have been specifically designed to maintain mowing height in the same range. Generally, autonomous mowers operate by [...] Read more.
Tall fescue (Schedonorus arundinaceus (Schreb.) Dumort.) is often managed with a cutting height ranging from 70 to 100 mm in ornamental lawns. Some autonomous mowers have been specifically designed to maintain mowing height in the same range. Generally, autonomous mowers operate by following random trajectories, and substantial overlapping is needed to obtain full coverage of the working area. In the case of tall grass, this may cause lodging of grass plants, which in turn may reduce turf quality. The introduction of a navigation system based on systematic trajectories has the potential to improve the performances of autonomous mowers with respect to machine efficiency and turf quality. With the aim of determining the effects of reduced mowing frequency and systematic navigation systems on turf quality and mower performances in terms of working time, energy consumption and overlapping, the performances of two autonomous mowers working with random and systematic trajectories were tested on a mature tall fescue lawn at 90 mm cutting height. The working efficiency was approximately 80% for the systematic trajectories and approximately 35% for the random trajectories; this was mainly due to the lower overlapping associated with systematic trajectories. Turf quality was slightly higher for the mower working systematically (a score of 8 using a 1–9 score with 1 = poor, 6 = acceptable and 9 = best) compared to the one working randomly (quality of 7 and 6 on a 1–9 scale with 1 = poor and 9 = best). No appreciable lodging was observed in either case. For tall, managed lawns, systematic trajectories may improve autonomous mowers’ overall performances. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Strategies and Machines for Urban Green Areas and Landscape Sustainable Management)
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14 pages, 1145 KiB  
Article
Factors Influencing Adoption of Compost Made from Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste and Purchasing Pattern: A Survey of Italian Professional and Hobbyist Users
by Lucia Vigoroso, Niccolò Pampuro, Giorgia Bagagiolo and Eugenio Cavallo
Agronomy 2021, 11(6), 1262; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy11061262 - 21 Jun 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2545
Abstract
Composting represents an alternative for the management of the organic fraction from municipal waste. However, the adoption of compost made from municipal waste is not yet widespread across all European countries, including Italy. Being ‘professional’ (i.e., farmers and gardeners) and ‘hobbyists’ the most [...] Read more.
Composting represents an alternative for the management of the organic fraction from municipal waste. However, the adoption of compost made from municipal waste is not yet widespread across all European countries, including Italy. Being ‘professional’ (i.e., farmers and gardeners) and ‘hobbyists’ the most representative categories of compost buyers in Italy, this study investigated their attitude toward municipal waste compost adoption and their purchasing pattern, pointing out criticalities and strategies to promote a wider use of this kind of compost. For the two categories of users, frequency of use of different information, buying habits, opinions on marketing issues, and factors which encourage compost utilization were investigated. The ‘professionals’ and ‘hobbyists’ reported different purchasing behaviors in terms of quantity, frequency, and preferred packaging format. The capability of compost from municipal waste to improve soil characteristics and its low environmental impact were identified as the most significant aspects for users, while availability of economic subsidies was not a determining factor for municipal waste compost adoption. With regard to the information sources, the broader use of personal communication channels like peers’ suggestions may have influence on compost adoption pointing out how social influence can promote sustainable behavior and influence users’ purchasing choices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Strategies and Machines for Urban Green Areas and Landscape Sustainable Management)
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