Magnetic detector made on a semiconductive substrate

Excitation circuit is formed by a single planar coil of an essentially square shape (9) with the magnetic core (10) in the f of a diagonal cross with the legs (101, 102) extending towards the corners of the square defined by the outer circumference (90) the coil. The arrangement allows the two planar components (H1, H2) of an external magnetic field (Hext) to be measured

Integrated planar fluxgate sensor

Planar magnetic sensor, made in particular via CMOS techniques on a semiconductor substrate (1) of for example parallelepiped shape. It includes an amorphous ferromagnetic core (10) in the shape of a Greek cross which occupies the two diagonals of the square defined by the outer contour (90) of the excitation coil (9), the latter being made in the form of a planar winding of square shape. One thus measures, via flat detection coils (70, 80 and 71, 81) which are mounted in series and in a differential arrangement, the two orthogonal components (H1, H2) of the external magnetic field (Hext)

CMOS planar 2D micro-fluxgate sensor

An electronic compass made of a new planar 2D micro-fluxgate sensor is presented. The magnetometer is integrated in a standard CMOS process, and uses a post-processed cross shape ferromagnetic amorphous core. This core is diagonally placed above a single square excitation coil common to both measurement axes. The silicon chip includes the driving and readout electronics, the excitation and pick-up coils made of the two CMOS process metallization layers. The ferromagnetic core is integrated from commercially available amorphous metal ribbons, by using a post-process compatible with standard IC technologies. Such a ferromagnetic core presents outstanding magnetic characteristics compared to usual electroplated cores. The micro-fluxgate works with a pulse shape driving current which allows the sensor output to be independent of the driving frequency. The current pulse width ratio of 1:8 reduces drastically the power consumption. For magnetic fields within ±60 μT, the micro-fluxgate sensor exhibits a magnetic sensitivity of 3760 V/T at 125 kHz with an amplification gain of 26.4 dB. The angle error on the Earth’s magnetic field is ±1.5°. The chip has a power consumption of 12.5 mW for a 20 mApeak driving current; its area is 5.3 mm2

A new compact 2D planar fluxgate sensor with amorphous metal core

A new compact 2D planar fluxgate sensor using a ferromagnetic amorphous metal core is described. The fluxgate sensor consists of two orthogonal planar metallic coils and a ring shaped amorphous magnetic ribbon mounted on a PCB substrate. Each planar coil is used alternatively as excitation or as pick-up coil. An electronic interface drives alternatively the two coils and performs a feedback on each sensing coil in order to compensate for the two measured magnetic field omponents. The sensing element has a magnetic sensitivity of 55 VrmT at an excitation frequency of 8.4 kHz with a 160 mApeak driving current. Used as an electronic compass, the reached precision angle is better than 1degree

Modeling adaptive forest management of a semi-arid Mediterranean Aleppo pine plantation

Adaptive forest management (AFM) aims to adapt a forest to water availability by means of an artificial regulation of the forest structure and density. Areas vulnerable to water scarcity situations, such as the Mediterranean region, might require AFM to optimize the hydrological cycle under normal and future global change conditions. This study uses the process based model (PBM) BIOME-BGC to predict the effects of AFM in an unmanaged semi-arid Mediterranean Aleppo pine plantation. At the same time, it seeking to increase the spatially explicit information to initialize the model runs. To this end, the model has been slightly modified, and canopy average specific leaf area and canopy water interception coefficient have both been introduced as functions of canopy coverage, which was obtained using airborne laser scanning (LiDAR) technology. The model was then calibrated and evaluated using sap flow, soil moisture and throughfall field data obtained during one year from three forest coverages (85, 73 and 26%, respectively). Calibration and evaluation of the model show acceptable accuracy, with the Nash Sutcliffe coefficient ranging between 0.39 and 0.76 for calibration and 0.35 and 0.75 for evaluation. The model was then applied to analyze and predict the need for forest management in a Mediterranean public forest indicated a possible optimization of the hydrological cycle to establish a new equilibrium between blue and green water. This new scenario reduced water interception and plant transpiration (green water), and increased water runoff and/or percolation (blue water).The authors want to thank the associate editor and the anonymous reviewers, not only for the attention they paid to our work, but also for the very precious suggestions they provided. This study is a component of three research projects: "CGL2011-28776-C02-02, HYDROSIL" and CGL2014-58127-C3-2, Silwamed, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and FEDER funds, and Determination of hydrologic and forest recovery factors in Mediterranean forests and their social perception, led by Dr. E. Rojas and supported by the Ministry of Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs. The authors are grateful to the Valencia Regional Government (CMAAUV, Generalitat Valenciana) and the VAERSA staff for their support in allowing the use of the La Hunde experimental forest and for their assistance in carrying out the fieldwork. The fourth author thanks the Mundus 17 Program, coordinated by the University of Porto-Portugal.González-Sanchis, MDC.; Campo García, ADD.; Molina Herrera, A.; Fernandes, TJG. (2015). Modeling adaptive forest management of a semi-arid Mediterranean Aleppo pine plantation. Ecological Modelling. 308(24):34-44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2015.04.002S34443082