The Need for Ultraviolet to Understand the Chemical Evolution of the Universe and Cosmology.

We identify an important set of key areas where an advanced observational Ultraviolet capability would have major impact on studies of cosmology and Galaxy formation in the young Universe. Most of these are associated with the Universe at z < 3–4. We address the issues associated with Dark matter evidence in the local Universe and the impact of the Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium WHIM on the local Baryon count. The motivations to make ultraviolet (UV) studies of supernovae (SNe) are reviewed and discussed in the light of the results obtained so far by means of IUE and HST observations. It appears that UV studies of SNe can, and do lead to fundamental results not only for our understanding of the SN phenomenon, such as the kinematics and the metallicity of the ejecta, but also for exciting new findings in Cosmology, such as the tantalizing evidence for “dark energy” that seems to pervade the Universe and to dominate its energetics. The need for additional and more detailed UV observations is also considered and discussed.Finally we show the enormous importance of the UV for abundance evolution in the Intergalactic Medium (IGM), and the importance of the He II studies to identify re-ionization epochs, which can only be done in the UV.     

Predicting coffee yield based on agroclimatic data and machine learning

Theoretical and Applied Climatology - Climate directly and indirectly influences agriculture, being the main responsible for low and high yields. Prior knowledge on yield helps coffee farmers in...     

Multi-model climate projections of the main cyclogenesis hot-spots and associated winds over the eastern coast of South America

Climate Dynamics - In this study, multi-model ensembles are used to understand regional features of future climate trends of cyclones and associated winds in eastern South America. For this, we...     

Effet auto-épurateur de la lithologie des affleurements géologiques dans un climat semi-aride: cas du bassin versant de l'Oued Mellègue (Nord-Ouest de la Tunisie)

Résumé

Le Nord-Ouest de la Tunisie renferme plus que 81% des eaux de surface et 95% des mines et gîtes miniers. Le bassin versant de l'Oued Mellègue, situé dans cette zone, englobe 13 mines de plomb, zinc, fer, strontium, fluor, barium et phosphates. L'impact des rejets de ces mines sur les eaux de surface a été apprécié grâce à plusieurs compagnes d’échantillonnage. Les résultats d'analyse par ICP/MS de ces échantillons montrent qu'ils renferment des quantités non négligeables d'Al, As, B, Ba, Br, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mo, Ni, Sr, U et de Zn. L'analyse des ces éléments dans les eaux du Mellègue, de ses affluents et dans la retenue de Nebeur montre que leurs concentrations sont inférieures aux normes d'eau potable. Ce comportement pourrait être dû à la nature des affleurements géologiques formés par des carbonates des argiles et des évaporites, à l'absence de cours d'eau drainant directement les rejets, à la formation de minéraux secondaires caractérisés par une importante rétention des métaux et à l’étendue des bassins versants non pollués.