Pós graduação no INPE: a aliança pesquisa-desenvolvimento e ensino

A formação de recursos humanos em nível de pós-graduação no Brasil na área espacial teve início na década de 60, no Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais. A fim de constituir um corpo de especialistas para desenvolver as suas atividades, o instituto inicialmente se apoiou em uma estrutura que combinou o envio de pesquisadores para o exterior com a criação de programas de pós-graduação. Com vistas a analisar as estratégias adotadas para a constituição do núcleo de formação de mestres e doutores, este trabalho apresenta as atividades da pós-graduação no instituto, com foco nas décadas de 60 e 70. Também é apresentado um quadro do perfil dos egressos dos programas de Astrofísica e Geofísica Espacial formados até 2005, com o objetivo de identificar e analisar parte dos resultados obtidos por este núcleo de formação.

A contribuição da biblioteca para a construção e difusão do conhecimento no Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (Inpe)

Diante do avanço das tecnologias da informação e comunicação (TICs), o cenário das bibliotecas é alterado principalmente em relação às formas de acesso às informações. Os sites de bibliotecas passam a funcionar como ferramentas de interação entre as fontes de pesquisa e os usuários. Para um estudo da contribuição da biblioteca na construção e difusão do conhecimento no Inpe, são conceituados a sociedade da informação e o conhecimento científico e tecnológico que são a matéria-prima e, também, o produto gerado no Instituto. O artigo trata da Internet e faz uma abordagem sobre os tipos de bibliotecas, como se classificam em relação às TICs e como podem contribuir para a difusão da informação e a produção do conhecimento. Caracteriza-se o Inpe, sua realidade atual, bem como de sua biblioteca. Narra-se como foi desenvolvido o site Biblioteca On-line, como se encontra hoje e quem são seus usuários.

Layout, conforto e satisfação dos usuários em escritórios: uma avaliação pós-ocupação no edifício da sede administrativa do INPE-CRN

This research aimed to identify the link between the layout of workspaces in offices and the design strategies for environmental comfort. Strategies surveyed were focused on the thermal, visual and luminic comfort. In this research, visual comfort is related to issues of visual integration within and between the interior and exterior of the building. This is a case study conducted at the administrative headquarters of Centro Regional Nordeste do Instituto de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE-CRN), located in Natal/RN. The methodological strategy used was the Post-Occupancy Evaluation, which combined the survey data on the building (layout of workspaces, bioclimatic strategies adopted in the design, use of these strategies) with some techniques aimed at acquiring qualitative information related to users. The workspace layout is primordial to satisfaction and productivity of workers. Issues such as concentration, communication, privacy, personal identity, density and space efficiency, barriers (access, visual and even ventilation and lighting), among others, are associated with the layout. The environmental comfort is one of the essential elements to maintaining life quality in workplace. Moreover, it is an important factor in user`s perception of the space in which he or she are inserted. Both layout and environmental comfort issues should be collected and analyzed in the establishment phase of the programming step. That way, it is possible to get adequate answers to these questions in subsequent project phases. It was found that changes in the program that occurred over time, especially concerning persons (number and characteristics), resulted in changes in layout, generating high density and inflexible environments. It turns difficult to adjust the furniture to the occupants` requirement, including comfort needs. However, the presence of strategies for environmental quality provides comfort to spaces, ensuring that, even in situations not considered optimal, users perceive the environment in a positive way. It was found that the relationship between environmental comfort and layout takes the following forms: in changing the perception of comfort, depending on the layout of the arrangements; adjustments in layout, due to needs for comfort; and the elevation of user satisfaction and environmental quality due to the presence of strategies comfort even in situations of inadequate layout

Modeling the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of deforestation-driven carbon emissions: the INPE-EM framework applied to the Brazilian Amazon

We present a generic spatially explicit modeling framework to estimate carbon emissions from deforestation (INPE-EM). The framework incorporates the temporal dynamics related to the deforestation process and accounts for the biophysical and socioeconomic heterogeneity of the region under study. We build an emission model for the Brazilian Amazon combining annual maps of new clearings, four maps of biomass, and a set of alternative parameters based on the recent literature. The most important results are as follows: (a) Using different biomass maps leads to large differences in estimates of emission; for the entire region of the Brazilian Amazon in the last decade, emission estimates of primary forest deforestation range from 0.21 to 0.26 similar to Pg similar to C similar to yr-1. (b) Secondary vegetation growth presents a small impact on emission balance because of the short duration of secondary vegetation. In average, the balance is only 5% smaller than the primary forest deforestation emissions. (c) Deforestation rates decreased significantly in the Brazilian Amazon in recent years, from 27 similar to Mkm2 in 2004 to 7 similar to Mkm2 in 2010. INPE-EM process-based estimates reflect this decrease even though the agricultural frontier is moving to areas of higher biomass. The decrease is slower than a non-process instantaneous model would estimate as it considers residual emissions (slash, wood products, and secondary vegetation). The average balance, considering all biomass, decreases from 0.28 in 2004 to 0.15 similar to Pg similar to C similar to yr-1 in 2009; the non-process model estimates a decrease from 0.33 to 0.10 similar to Pg similar to C similar to yr-1. We conclude that the INPE-EM is a powerful tool for representing deforestation-driven carbon emissions. Biomass estimates are still the largest source of uncertainty in the effective use of this type of model for informing mechanisms such as REDD+. The results also indicate that efforts to reduce emissions should focus not only on controlling primary forest deforestation but also on creating incentives for the restoration of secondary forests.