Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of Land Use Units in the Kadzel Sub-Catchment Basin in Diffa, Niger

Environmental degradation linked to land occupation and use, such as climate change and anthropogenic activities, has led to the modification of the landscape units of the Kadzel sub-watershed. The objective of this study is to analyze the dynamics of land use units in the Kadzel area in Diffa between 1992 and 2022 and to propose a future scenario for sustainable environmental management. The approach used relies on remote sensing and geographic information systems to analyze the dynamics of land use units. Additionally, the Markov Cellular Automata (CA) model was used to predict future land use. The land cover maps were produced from a supervised classification by maximum likelihood based on the true and false color compositions of bands 4/3/2 (TM5), 3/2/1 (ETM+) and 7/5/4 (8 OLI). Ten occupation classes were discriminated. Between 1992 and 2022, there was a decrease in the areas of irrigated crops (4.91% and 2.88%), of shrubby tree steppes (14.31% and 9.48%), field-fallow complexes (22.23% and 10.52%), and degraded areas. Grassy steppes (25.76% and 13.32%). However, this reduction has been beneficial for wastelands, urban areas and bodies of water. Based on predictive modeling, it is predicted that by 2052, urban areas, fallow field complexes and bare soils will constitute the main types of housing units. The regressive trend in natural resources appears to continue into the future with current land use practices.

Collision mitigation and vehicle transportation safety using integrated vehicle dynamics control systems

The aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of vehicle dynamics control systems （VDCS） on both the collision of the vehicle body and the kinematic behaviour of the ve- hicle＇s occupant in case of offset frontal vehicle-to-vehicle collision. A unique 6-degree-of- freedom （6-DOF） vehicle dynamics/crash mathematical model and a simplified lumped mass occupant model are developed. The first model is used to define the vehicle body crash parameters and it integrates a vehicle dynamics model with a vehicle front-end structure model. The second model aims to predict the effect of VDCS on the kinematics of the occupant. It is shown from the numerical simulations that the vehicle dynamics/crash response and occupant behaviour can be captured and analysed quickly and accurately. Yurthermore, it is shown that the VDCS can affect the crash characteristics positively and the occupant behaviour is improved.

Bio-inspired interactive kinetic façade:Using dynamic transitory-sensitive area to improve multiple occupants’visual comfort

The architectural form of the façade determines its identity as well as interactions with micro-climate forces of the ambient environment,such as solar radiation.The dynamic nature of daylight and occupants’positions can cause some issues such as heat gains and visual discomfort,which need to be controlled in real-time operation.Improving daylight performance and preventing visual discomfort for multiple occupants simultaneously is challenging.However,integrating the biomimicry principles of morphological adaptation with dynamic,complex fenestration,and human-in-loop systems can lead us to find an optimal solution.This research builds on relevant literature study,biomimicry morphological approaches,and parametric simulations,to develop a bio-inspired interactive kinetic façade for improving multiple occupants’visual comfort simultaneously,inspired by plant’s stomata movement and behavior principles.Learning from the transitory stage and hunting new position of stomata’s patchy patterns,leads us to identify the dynamic transitory-sensitive area of attraction point on the façade that is triggered by the dynamic sun-timing position and multiple occupants.The annual climate-based metrics and luminance-based metric simulation results of 810 bioinspired interactive kinetic façade alternatives prove that the elastic-deformable-complexkinetic form triggered by the dynamic transitory-sensitive area can improve the visual comfort of multiple occupants simultaneously.In particular,the bio-inspired interactive kinetic façade with grid division 8x1 displays extraordinary daylight performance for south direction that prevents visual discomfort by keeping cases in the imperceptible range while providing an adequate average Spatial Daylight Autonomy of 60.5%,Useful Daylight illuminance of 90.47%,and Exceed Useful Daylight illuminance of 2.94%.