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Protected cultivation or Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) system has increased tenfold in the last 25 years thanks to tremendous scientific and technical breakthroughs, mainly directed to increasing crop yields and adapting to tough ambient conditions. Currently, greenhouse areas are still spreading and the CEA system is one of the keystones for the agriculture forecasting scenario. However, the environmental acceptability of this very intensive agro-ecosystem is now being questioned. Energy inputs are source of the main economic and environmental weakness, especially for high-tech greenhouses, where IPM is well-established. Pesticides, common in low-cost greenhouses systems, are a major barrier-to IPM. To design and manage more robust CEA systems, both technological and ecological approaches have been chosen. This allowed for increased consideration of IPM issues among global greenhouse engineering innovation and better use of greenhouse system capacities to enhance dedicated IPM high-tech tools and management practices. On the other hand, ecological concepts were used to determine and characterize complex biotic interactions that lead to question the tenant of biological control as soon as IPM is implemented in greenhouses with sub-optimum physical pest control means. More specifically, microclimate at the boundary layer level has been investigated both from a physical and biological point of view in order to determine the best climate preferences of the main pests and beneficials. By the same token, the efficiency of diverse biocontrol plants to provide accurate shelter to natural enemies has been assessed International audience

We analyse the flux density variation associated to low frequency (LF) broadcasting transmitters observed by the ICE electric field experiment onboard DEMETER micro-satellite, observed from 01st Jan. to 09th Dec. 2010. We select five stations localised around the Mediterranean and the Black seas: Tipaza (252 kHz, 02°28’E, 36°33’N, Algeria), Roumoules (216 kHz, 06°08’E, 43°47’N, Monte Carlo), Polatli (180 kHz, 32°25’E, 39°45’N, Turkey), Nadour (171 kHz, 02°55’W, 35°02’N, Morocco) and Brasov (153 kHz, 25°36’E,45°40’, Romania). The detection of the LF transmitter signals by DEMETER micro-satellite is found to depend on the radiated power, the emitted frequency, and the orbit paths with regard to the location of the stations. This leads us to characterise the reception condition of the LF signals and to define time intervals where the detection probability is high. We show that LF signal are regularly recorded, each 12 days, when the satellite is above the broadcasting station. The signal intensity levels are principally significant during the solar activity. Hence we find that the solar and the geomagnetic activities are slightly correlated to the maxima of LF signal as recorded by DEMETER. Also we note a drop of the intensity level several days before the occurrence of earthquakes in/around the Mediterranean and Black seas. International audience

AbstractFrontal rain when illuminated by radar transmission gives rise to echoes which exhibit a characteristic layer of greater intensity near to the freezing level. Observations which establish the height of this layer or “bright band,” relative to that of the freezing level, are described. Measurements of the terminal velocities of snowflakes of known mass, a factor of importance in support of a possible explanation of the phenomenon, are also given.

We investigate the respective roles of climatic parameters and the flexural rigidity of the lithosphere in the erosion history and behavior of two adjacent rift escarpments along the northern coast of the Gulf of Aden, in Oman. At this 25 Myr old passive margin, we define a type 1 scarp, which is high, sharp-crested and has retreated 25-30 km inland from its master fault, and a type 2 scarp, which exhibits a more rounded profile, lower relief, and still coincides with its mapped normal fault trace. Since about 15 Ma, the margin has been seasonally affected by monsoon precipitation but with contrasting effects at the type 1 and type 2 escarpments depending on the position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone in the geologic past: during peak monsoon conditions, both scarps experienced heavy rainfall and runoff, whereas during monsoon-starved conditions (such as today), the type 2 scarp experienced a foggy, moist climate while the type 1 scarp remained much drier. In order to assess the relative effects of climate and flexural parameters on the present-day morphology of the Dhofar margin, we present onedimensional numerical models of erosion and flexure along two profiles representative of the type 1 and type 2 scarps. Unlike most surface process models previously published, where present-day topography is the only criterion by which to evaluate the quality of model outputs, model behavior here is additionally constrained by independent estimates of denudation provided by geological cross sections, well-defined fault traces, and other stratigraphic markers. The best fitting models indicate that the type 1 escarpment formed under relatively arid climatic conditions and was affected by significant erosion, recession and flexural uplift due to a low (7 km) effective elastic thickness. In contrast, the morphology of the type 2 fault scarp was smoothed by a more humid climate, but a high effective elastic thickness ( 15 km) prevented it from uplifting or receding. In addition, we show that the sedimentary load acting at the foot of the escarpments exerts significant influence on their morphological evolution, though this parameter is often neglected in other scarp evolution models. International audience

AbstractThe Microwave Humidity Sounder (MHS) has scan characteristics similar to those of the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit‐B (AMSU‐B). However, its radiometric characteristics are somewhat different, for two channels in particular. Both of these channels have more attenuation with the MHS than the AMSU‐B. Linear error analysis suggests that the improved noise characteristics of the MHS will let it have slightly lower errors than the AMSU‐B. Copyright © 2006 Royal Meteorological Society

Recent observation of large amplitude Langmuir waveforms during a Type III event in the solar wind have been interpreted as the signature of the electrostatic decay of beam-driven Langmuir waves. This mechanism is thought to be a first step to explain the generation of solar Type III radio emission. The threshold for this parametric instability in typical solar wind condition is investigated here by means of 1D-1V Vlasov-Poisson simulations. We show that the amplitude of the observed Langmuir beat-like waveforms is of the order of the effective threshold computed from the full kinetic simulations. The expected level of associated ion acoustic density fluctuations have also been computed for comparison with observations. Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Journal of Geophysical Research (Space Physics)

At the 10th Thermospheric Ionospheric GEospheric Research (TIGER/COSPAR) symposium held in Moscow in 2014 the achievements from the start of TIGER in 1998 were summarized. During that period, great progress was made in measuring, understanding, and modeling the highly variable UV-Soft X-ray (XUV) solar spectral irradiance (SSI), and its effects on the upper atmosphere. However, after more than 50 years of work the radiometric accuracy of SSI observation is still an issue and requires further improvement. Based on the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) data from the SOLAR/SolACES, and SDO/EVE instruments, we present a combined data set for the spectral range from 16.5 to 105.5 nm covering a period of 3.5 years from 2011 through mid of 2014. This data set is used in ionospheric modeling of the global total electron content (TEC), and in validating EUV SSI modeling. For further investigations the period of 3.5 years is being extended to about 12 years by including data from SOHO/SEM and TIMED/SEE instruments. Similarly, UV data are used in modeling activities. After summarizing the results, concepts are proposed for future real-time SSI measurements with in-flight calibration as experienced with the ISS SOLAR payload, for the development of a space weather camera for observing and investigating space weather phenomena in real-time, and for providing data sets for SSI and climate modeling. Other planned topics are the investigation of the relationship between solar EUV/UV and visible/near-infrared emissions, the impact of X-rays on the upper atmosphere, the development of solar EUV/UV indices for different applications, and establishing a shared TIGER data system for EUV/UV SSI data distribution and real-time streaming, also taking into account the achievements of the FP7 SOLID (First European SOLar Irradiance Data Exploitation) project. - For further progress it is imperative that coordinating activities in this special field of solar-terrestrial relations and solar physics is emphasized. International audience

The influence of the eastern Pacific equatorial circulation on the dynamics of the Northern Humboldt Current System is studied using an eddy‐resolving regional circulation model forced by boundary conditions from three distinct ocean general circulation models. The seasonal variability of the modeled nearshore circulation and the mesoscale activity are contrasted in order to evaluate the role of the density forcing. The seasonal variability of the surface and subsurface alongshore currents strongly depends on the amplitude and timing of the seasonal eastward propagating equatorial waves. The equatorward flow and upwelling intensity are also impacted by nonlinear processes, such as the seasonal generation of nearshore mesoscale eddies, which create alongshore pressure gradients modulating the surface current. Boundary conditions affect differently the intensity and phase of the eddy kinetic energy, as baroclinic instability is triggered by coastal waves during austral summer and fall, whereas it is sustained by the wind‐driven upwelling during austral winter. International audience