Università Iuav di Venezia

In recent years, the miniaturisation and standardisation of space-qualified hardware have enhanced the capabilities of small satellites, enabling them to perform cheaper and faster missions in orbit, intended as missions with shorter development cycles and reduced time from conception to in-orbit operations. In parallel, the need for Earth observation satellites is rising. Among the topics of interest, climate monitoring, environmental protection, and disaster management are included. Newest, more compact, lighter, and more efficient systems for space propulsion are also opening the possibility of using very low Earth orbits, which allow better on-ground resolution, faster end-of-life re-entry, and cheaper in-orbit insertion. The following paper aims to bring an overview of the potentialities and the feasibility of a small platform, HORUS, flying at a very low altitude for Earth imaging and observation, with a payload consisting of a telescope for high-resolution ground imaging. The proposed mission is a system-level assessment and, consequently, many of the performed analyses are preliminary. Fo this reason, preliminary mission planning and analysis is included, imposing only the spacecraft’s size and attitude. The paper will explore the different possibilities for Earth imaging given by this type of platform. Different configurations for ground station and picture collection combinations are proposed, suggesting that the proposed design could be employed in a large number of operational missions.

Measurement is essential for effective adaptation management and operation, and indicators and metrics (I&M) have a pivotal role. Surprisingly, systematic efforts to assess advances in the provision of adaptation I&M are scarce, and those that do exist often lack in-depth analysis of the types, characteristics, and applicability of the collected information. Here, we analyse 137 publications and 901 I&M sourced in the scientific literature (2007–2022) to measure adaptation to climate change in urban areas where governments are increasingly placing efforts to prepare populations and infrastructures. A lack of common terminology, standardisation, and guidelines has resulted in a field that is complex to track and understand. This complexity has led to a fragmented methodological landscape, marked by diverse, context-dependent, and occasionally conflicting approaches to the development of I&M. We argue that conventional approaches to I&M are largely inadequate and must better emphasise quantifiability, long-term assessment, and alignment with policy objectives.

ABSTRACT Soil degradation on abandoned or poorly managed terraces in the Mediterranean region poses a significant threat to the resilience of agroecosystems, particularly in hillside olive groves where erosion and nutrient depletion accelerate land abandonment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the short‐term effects of five different soil management practices (grass cover, organic mulch, herbicide application, pile burning and tillage) on soil physical and chemical properties, hydrological responses and nutrient and pollutant losses. A field trial with replicated microplots (five per treatment, 25 in total) on a Rendzic Leptosol was conducted on degraded terraces in southern Croatia. Natural rainfall events were monitored in 2024 (spring to autumn) to quantify runoff and sediment yield. Results showed that mulch and grass treatments significantly improved bulk density, water‐holding capacity and aggregate size while reducing runoff, sediment loss and nutrient export. In contrast, herbicide and fire treatments resulted in pronounced compaction, increased runoff and up to nine times higher losses of C, N, P, K and Cu compared to covered plots. Sediment was consistently enriched in nutrients and contaminants compared to soil, with element concentrations up to three times higher, especially under herbicide, fire and tillage. The study provides new insights into erosion‐induced chemical enrichment and degradation processes on Mediterranean terraces and emphasises the effectiveness of protective measures based on soil cover. The results highlight the disproportionate importance of exposed soils for the transport of fine, chemically enriched sediments and confirm that soil cover, particularly mulch or vegetation, provides substantial protection against both on‐site degradation and nutrient export from the site.

In Mali, West Africa, peasant culture challenges the assumption that urbanism extends across the entire territory due to worldwide capitalist development. This paper proposes a peasant perspective to examine the genealogy and spatial forms of Mali’s capital, Bamako, as seen from the ‘village in the city’ of Lassa. Lassa is considered a ‘key to return’ to looking at the city through the broader territory where it is historically and geographically rooted. An interweaving of ‘rural’ and ‘urban’ emerges at the core of the city’s configuration, prompting a rethinking of analytical frameworks by dissociating the concepts of ‘rural’ from ‘agrarian’, and ‘urban’ from the idea of ‘city’. The direct relation to soil, which shapes the way cities and territories are inhabited, appears as an actual freedom to envision the city beyond any spatial, political, or symbolic divide.