Fast and Accurate Modeling and Sensitivity Analysis of an Acquisition System for Very Low-g Accelerations to be Used in Spacecraft Testing and Environmental Noise Measurements

The paper presents a low-g acceleration acquisition system, realized at the Test Centre Division, Europeans Space and Technology Centre of the European Space Agency. The system has been developed in the frame of an investigation on MEMS based sensors for the detection of very low g accelerations. A possible use of this type of technology is in the field of environmental noise measurement or in specific spacecraft testing where the effects of micro-vibrations induced by the activations of actuators need to be monitored. A Simulinkbased approach is proposed for fast, accurate and reconfigurable modeling of the measuring system (sensor plus acquisition chain). The paper shows how such models are essentials to exactly predict the distortion and noise sources, to allow for fast set-up of the experiments, and to manage the signal conditioning process. The validity of the proposed technique is assessed by comparing the predicted results with tests on the real implemented system

Modeling, Sensitivity Analysis, and Prototyping of Low-g Acceleration Acquisition Systems for Spacecraft Testing and Environmental-Noise Measurements

This paper presents the modeling and the comparison of two acquisition systems developed at the Test Centre Division, European Space and Technology Centre, of the European Space Agency in the frame of two investigations: 1) on microelectromechanical- systems-based sensors for the detection of very low-g accelerations and 2) on the feasibility of a compact and low-power multisensor acquisition platform for environmental tests of spacecrafts or subsystems. A Simulink-based approach is proposed for fast, accurate, and reconfigurable modeling of both systems, taking into consideration the sensors and the acquisition chain. This paper aims to highlight the importance of the models as key tools to predict the distortion and noise sources, to allow fast setup of the experiments, and to manage the signal conditioning process. The validity of the proposed technique, applied to the two acquisition systems, is assessed by comparing the predicted results with tests on the real system. Finally, this paper aims to prove, by comparing the two approaches (dedicated acquisition system and multisensor acquisition platform), the importance of the characterization of the whole acquisition system when high performances need to be achieved

An open strip-field system at its tipping point in the German-Dutch River Dinkel catchment. Part 1

Three questions were addressed. Firstly, where in pre-19th century landscape did farmers hold strips, camps, meadows and shares in commons? Secondly, did farmers each own strips and camps or were some specialised strip and others exclusively camp farmers? Finally, can we corroborate or reject one of the alternative hypotheses: strip-field-first versus camp-first. The area of interest is the current cadastral district cum medieval parish Epe at today’s German-Dutch border as pars pro toto for the surrounding area of about 100 kilometer diameter in the NW European cover sand belt. Our key data source was the 1827 A.D. cadastre complemented by the historical topographic map and geological, soil and elevation maps. For population estimates, we used six tax registers from 1499-1750 A.D. All parcels per farmstead were identified in the cadastral registry, farms located on parcel maps and hamlet territories delineated as the aggregate of its farms. The following farm features were extracted from the cadastre and averaged per settlement: number of strips and strip-fields, parcel type, farm size, tenure, number of meadows, oak camps, crop camps and pasture camps. Next, the following landscape features were identified from the map set per settlement: farmstead pattern, type of settlement, commons, strip-field, soil and watercourse. We presented the historical context, followed by a description and discussion of farm and landscape features of settlement categories. Finally, we synthesised our findings and discussion, concluding with a hypothetical narrative consistent with our findings, and provided answers to our research questions.https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rlsh202021-04-17hj2020Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorolog

Agroecological transformation for sustainable food systems : Insight on France-CGIAR research

This 26th dossier d’Agropolis is devoted to research and partnerships in agroecology. The French Commission for International Agricultural Research (CRAI) and Agropolis International, on behalf of CIRAD, INRAE and IRD and in partnership with CGIAR, has produced this new issue in the ‘Les dossiers d’Agropolis international’ series devoted to agroecology. This publication has been produced within the framework of the Action Plan signed by CGIAR and the French government on February 4th 2021 to strengthen French collaboration with CGIAR, where agroecology is highlighted as one of the three key priorities (alongside climate change, nutrition and food systems)