Physics, Instrumentation, Environment and Space (DPHY)

https://www.onera.fr/en/dphy-physique-instrumentation-environnement-espace

he Department of Physics, Instrumentation, Environment and Space (DPHY) designs innovative instruments and evaluates certain aerospace environments and their consequences on on-board systems.

The DPHY develops in particular:

  • New inertial instruments for guidance-navigation, geodetics geodesy or fundamental physics, based on micro/nano technologies, electrostatic or atomic interferometry
  • Methods and instruments for the metrological characterisation of flows and plasmas, based on optical spectroscopy, specific sensors or sources such as tunable lasers, OPO, LIDAR, photoacoustics, etc.
  • Plasma sources and electric thrusters

It studies:

  • Lightning and its impact on aircraft
  • The space environment and its effects on electronic materials and components, and the resulting charge and contamination on satellites