BACKGROUND Environmental health research employs a variety of metrics to measure heat exposure, both to directly study the health effects of outdoor temperature and to control for temperature in studies of other environmental exposures, including air pollution. To measure heat exposure, environmental health studies often use heat index, which incorporates both air temperature and moisture. Howe...

Weather is a key source of income risk, particularly in emerging market economies. This paper uses a randomized controlled trial involving a sample of Indian farmers to study how an innovative rainfall insurance product affects production decisions. We find that insurance provision induces farmers—particularly educated farmers—to shift production toward higherreturn but higher-risk cash crops. ...

Dual-process theories of recognition memory hypothesize separate underlying familiarity and recollection processes, but the necessity of multiple processes is debated. Previous research has suggested that scalp-recorded event-related brain potentials (ERPs) may index the activity of separate familiarity and recollection processes. Other research indicates that the amnestic drug midazolam impair...

This paper examines the characteristics that determine demand for micro-insurance when individuals have personal or observed experience with a rare weather event: the severe 2010 flooding in Pakistan. Using a sample of 384 individuals (192 in floodaffected and 192 non-affected villages matched using pre-flood propensity data), we combine post-flood survey data with behavioral experiments, to te...

In two experiments, we investigated the role of perceptual information in spurious recognition judgments. Participants viewed lists of words in various unusual fonts. The frequency with which each font was presented was manipulated at study: Each font was presented with 1 or 12 different words in Experiment 1 and with 1 or 20 words in Experiment 2. Although the participants were instructed in a...

This article examines the role of subjective familiarity in the implicit and explicit learning of artificial grammars. Experiment 1 found that objective measures of similarity (including fragment frequency and repetition structure) predicted ratings of familiarity, that familiarity ratings predicted grammaticality judgments, and that the extremity of familiarity ratings predicted confidence. Fa...

This paper discusses a methodology to model precipitation indices and premium prices for index-based drought insurance for smallholders. Spatial basis risk, which is borne by the insured, is a problem, especially in variable topography. Also, site-specific drought risk needs to be estimated accurately in order to offer effective insurance cover and ensure financial sustainability of the insuran...

Numerous methods exist and were developed for global radiation forecasting. The two most popular types are the numerical weather predictions (NWP) and the predictions using stochastic approaches. This article presents a methodology for determining the best method to use, according to a rule related to the spatial resolution, temporal step and location. We propose to compute a parameter noted  ...