Publications related to Agricultural science

Geospatial Tools and Remote Sensing Strategies for Timely Humanitarian Response: A Case Study on Drought Monitoring in Eswatini

This article explores the escalating impact of natural disasters, particularly droughts, in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), with a specific focus on Eswatini. Over the last century, approximately 63 million people in SADC countries have ...

MDPI2024

Automation in steep terrain agriculture: an optimal controller to prevent tipping and slipping of tethered robots on slopes

Josephine Anna Eleanor Hughes, Max Mirko Polzin

Autonomous robots have the potential to fundamentally transform conventional farming methods, e.g. by enabling economically viable farming of sloped arable land. However, navigation on slopes in harsh conditions is challenging for robots as they must be pr ...

TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD2023

Linking Soil Structure, Hydraulic Properties, and Organic Carbon Dynamics: A Holistic Framework to Study the Impact of Climate Change and Land Management

Sara Bonetti

Climate change and unsustainable land management practices have resulted in extensive soil degradation, including alteration of soil structure (i.e., aggregate and pore size distributions), loss of soil organic carbon, and reduction of water and nutrient h ...

2023

RNA Sequencing of Arabidopsis thaliana Seedlings after Non-Thermal Plasma-Seed Treatment Reveals Upregulation in Plant Stress and Defense Pathways

Ivo Furno, Alan Howling, Alexandra Waskow

Not all agricultural practices are sustainable; however, non-thermal plasma treatment of seeds may be an eco-friendly alternative to improve macroscopic plant growth parameters. Despite the numerous successful results of plasma-seed treatments reported in ...

2022

Large-scale regionalised LCA shows that plant-based fat spreads have a lower climate, land occupation and water scarcity impact than dairy butter

Xun Liao

Purpose In light of the sustainable diet debate, we conducted a large-scale regionalised LCA to answer the following questions: (i) does the climate advantage hypothesis of plant-based fat spreads and creams over dairy butter and cream hold regardless of t ...

2020

Greater Contribution From Agricultural Sources to Future Reactive Nitrogen Deposition in the United States

Athanasios Nenes, Shuai Shao

Many sensitive ecosystems in areas protected for biodiversity conservation in the United States suffer from exposure to excess reactive nitrogen (Nr) released by fossil fuel combustion and agricultural practices and deposited onto the land surface and wate ...

2020

Quantification of Synthetic Polyesters from Biodegradable Mulch Films in Soils

Stephanie Christa Remke

Soil biodegradable mulch films composed of the polyester polybutylene adipate-co-terephthalate (PBAT) are being increasingly used in agriculture. Analytical methods to quantify PBAT in field soils are needed to assess its soil occurrence and fate. Here, we ...

2020

Species conservation in the face of global environmental changes: surface-based modelling of geo-environmental data to identify vulnerable populations

Estelle Rochat

Human activities are resulting in many land-use changes, particularly due to urbanisation and intensification of agricultural practices. Because of these changes, in addition to climate change, many species are facing habitat degradation. In order to avoid ...

EPFL2020

Producing Policy-relevant Science by Enhancing Robustness and Model Integration for the Assessment of Global Environmental Change

Marc Vielle, Frédéric Louis François Babonneau, Santosh Ram Joshi, Alain Haurie

We use the flexible model coupling technology known as the bespoke framework generator to link established existing modules representing dynamics in the global economy (GEMINI-E3), the energy system (TIAM-WORLD), the global and regional climate system (MAG ...

2019

Long-term effects of crop succession, soil tillage and climate on wheat yield and soil properties

Mathieu Raymond Santonja, María Paula Sanginés De Cárcer

Climate change is increasing crop losses and yield variability with impacts for global food security. In this context, conservation agriculture appears as a potential solution to maintain crop productivity, soil fertility and environmental sustainability. ...

2019

Transition of the Swiss Phosphorus System towards a Circular EconomyPart 2: Socio-Technical Scenarios

Claudia Rebeca Binder Signer, Jonas Ramon Mehr

A transition towards a circular economy of phosphorus (P) in Switzerland is a multi-faceted challenge as P use is subject to a variety of influencing factors comprising policy interventions, consumption trends, or technological innovations on different spa ...

2018

Time synchronization of consumer cameras on Micro Aerial Vehicles

Jan Skaloud, Martin Rehak

This article discusses the problem of time registration between navigation and imaging components on Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs). Accurate mapping with MAVs is gaining importance in applications such as corridor mapping, road and pipeline inspections or m ...

Elsevier2017

Integrated Sensor Orientation on Micro Aerial Vehicles

Martin Rehak

Mapping with Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs whose weight does not exceed 5 kg) is gaining importance in applications, such as corridor mapping, road and pipeline inspections, or mapping of large areas with homogeneous surface structure, e.g. forest or agricul ...

EPFL2017

Land-use change affects phosphorus fractions in highly weathered tropical soils

Thomas Guillaume

Deforestation and land-use change in tropics have increased over the past decades, driven by the demand for agricultural products. Although phosphorus (P) is one of the main limiting nutrients for agricultural productivity in the tropics, the effect of lan ...

Elsevier Science Bv2017

Improving slash-and-burn agriculture in Central Menabe, Madagascar

Justine Marie Gay des Combes

Slash-and-burn agriculture is considered as an important driver of deforestation in the tropics. In Madagascar, a biodiversity hotspot, this type of agriculture particularly threatens the tropical forest cover. On the south-western coast of the island, in ...

EPFL2017

Performance assessment of integrated sensor orientation with a low-cost GNSS receiver

Jan Skaloud, Martin Rehak

Mapping with Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs whose weight does not exceed 5 kg) is gaining importance in applications such as corridor mapping, road and pipeline inspections, or mapping of large areas with homogeneous surface structure, e.g. forest or agricult ...

Copernicus GmbH2017

Slash-and-burn agriculture and tropical cyclone activity in Madagascar: Implication for soil fertility dynamics and corn performance

Alexandre Buttler, Bjorn Jozef Maria Robroek, Robert Thomas Edmund Mills, Justine Marie Gay des Combes, Thomas Guillaume

On the western coast of Madagascar, the dry tropical forest of Kirindy may disappear in the next 50 years because of its rapid conversion into agricultural land by slash-and-burn cultivation. The slash-and-burn fields are cultivated during 3 years in avera ...

Elsevier Science Bv2017

Contrasting processes drive alpha and beta taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity of orthopteran communities in grasslands

François Gillet, Bertrand Fournier

Taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversities can respond differently to biotic and abiotic filters. However, biodiversity management tends to focus on a single index, generally taxonomic diversity, assuming a strong positive correlation among biodive ...

Elsevier Science Bv2017

Applicability Of New Approaches Of Sensor Orientation To Micro Aerial Vehicles

Jan Skaloud, Martin Rehak

This study highlights the benefits of precise aerial position and attitude control in the context of mapping with Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs). Accurate mapping with MAVs is gaining importance in applications such as corridor mapping, road and pipeline ins ...

Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh2016

Suppressed convective rainfall by agricultural expansion in southeastern Burkina Faso

Marc Parlange, Natalie Claire Ceperley, Gabriel George Katul, Theophile Mande, Scott W. Tyler

With the green economy being promoted as a path to sustainable development and food security within the African continent, the influx of agricultural land is proliferating at a rapid pace often replacing natural savannah forests. Where agriculture is prima ...

American Geophysical Union2015