Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Engineering at Victoria'

M. Beniušis „Kelto „Victoria Seaways“ šilumokaičio ir aušinimo vamzdyno virpesių tyrimas“. Laivų projektavimo ir statybos magistratūros studijų programos baigiamasis darbas. Darbo vadovas dr. P. Mažeika, Klaipėdos universitetas: Klaipėda, 2014. Raktažodžiai: virpesiai, laivas, keltas, virpesių tyrimai, šilumokaitis. Baigiamojo darbo teorinėje dalyje aprašoma virpesių klasifikacija, pagrindiniai virpesių žadintojai ir analizuojami įvairūs virpesių lygio mažinimo laive, virpesių skaičiavimo būdai. Eksperimentinėje dalyje pateikiama keltų „Victoria Seaways“ ir „Athena Seaways“ aušinimo sistemos dalies virpesių matavimo metodika. Nagrinėjami reiso Klaipėda-Kylis-Klaipėda metu atliktų matavimų rezultatai, bei nustatomos tiriamos aušinimo sistemos dalies padidintų virpesių lygio priežastys. Paskutinėje darbo dalyje pateikiamos išvados ir rekomendacijos.
M. Beniušis “Vibration research of heat exchanger and cooling piping in Victoria Seaways ferry”. Final work of the master studies of ship design and building program. Academic supervisor Dr. P. Mažeika, Klaipeda University: Klaipėda, 2014. Keywords: vibrations, ship, ferry, vibration research, heat exchanger. The theoretical part of the final work describes the classification of vibration, main excitations of vibration and analyses various methods for reduction of the vibration level on board and vibration calculation. The experimental part presents the vibration measurement methodology in the cooling systems of Victoria Seaways and Athena Seaways ferries. It examines the results of measurements carried out during Klaipėda-Kiel-Klaipėda trip and identifies the reasons for the recent level of vibration in the analysed cooling system. The final part of the work contains the conclusions and recommendations.

Abstract

The aim of the study was to do a minor field study in Kisumu, Kenya. My thesis in Ecological Economics C, 10p and the purpose was to explain the association between water hyacinth and sustainable development. What are the main effects on environments, ecological

and social effects in Kisumu in Kenya? This paper will address environmental, economical and social effects related to the water hyacinth. I have chosen the qualitative method because

I want to asses general impression and understand different processes and social connections. Interviews are made which aims to give a deeper focus by letting the interviewed person

describe and openly answer the questions. The study is conducted as a combination of literature reviews, qualitative interviews with parties or people who are involved and other

organisations in Kenya and from observations. The theoretical approach was Sustainable devolopment, control of social, economical and ecological perspective on regional development.

Sustainable development include social, ecological and economics, all three are depended of each other to make progress. From a social point of view the plants give people a

society and provide work and knowledge on how to recycle the weed. Economically, it is a disaster but the good opportunities come from recycling even if it contains a lot of water. Eutrofication and blocking of sunlight are the most ecological effects caused by water

hyacinth. If people are prepared to vote for honest representative no bribes will take place, these kind of statement are important and its time that people takes responsibility for their act,

mainly environmental responsibility which are important for our common future. It should be expensive to destroy the nature, on the other side you do not know the value according to

Dryzek. A suggested idea is to turn this into a tourist attraction which hopefully will become popular. To remove the weed by the biological method is the best controlled, cheapest and it

is the most sustainable method of weevil’s which eats the leaves of the plants.

Contact: Sunni Rahman

Telephone: +4670-768 52 54

E-mail: srn01001@student.mdh.se

Improving energy access through the provision of sustainable electrification is fundamental to reducing poverty and facilitating development in many areas of rural Sub Saharan Africa. The region currently suffers from severe energy inequality, with 81% of people relying on traditional forms of biomass for direct energy provision. A major reason for this is that centralised grid infrastructure in many countries remains under maintained and grid extension to remote rural areas poses as too much of a financial burden to governments. Solar PV mini grids are gaining increasing attention from policy makers, researchers, and developers in the region as they pose as a means of leapfrogging the necessity for centralised fossil-fuel based infrastructures. Despite this, a high number of mini grid projects in SSA remain in their pilot stage. A major reasoning for this is the difficulty associated with accurately predicting the future electricity demand of currently un-electrified communities, and following on from that, it is also difficult to incentivize local economies once electricity is made available. The aim of this work was to assess the feasibility of Buvu Island on Ugandan Lake Victoria housing a PV mini grid and ice plant so as to provide power to its three un-electrified communities, and flaked ice to the local fishing industry. Structured interviews were first held with developers in the region so as to assess current weaknesses in mini grid design methodologies and following from that the literature was used to develop a suitable methodology. Data gathered in the field was used to predict the electricity demand of the island, and the HOMER optimization tool was used to size an appropriate system. The modelled system includes an AC-coupled PV array, a lead acid battery bank, a back-up generator, and a converter. Within Uganda, it is the role of the grid operator to provide capital investment for the distribution network. Accordingly, within this study, such a system has been proposed and costed, however this does not impact upon mini grid feasibility. A full financial analysis was used to as to assess the feasibility of the mini grid and ice plant project over a twenty year lifetime. A reference scenario returned promising results, with an IRR of 23.5%, DSCR of 529%, and NPV of $114,651 assuming that daily electricity demand is 695 kWh / day, and 2.5 tonnes of flaked ice are sold per day. The business model is highly dependent on the sale of ice and if average sales drop below under 1.6 tonnes per day over the project lifetime the system becomes unviable. To overcome the problems associated with unpredictability of demand and encouraged new uses of electricity, the mini grid in this work is scaled to match current demand on the island – thus mitigating such risks. Additionally, a sensitivity study is included so as to fully characterise the range of mini grid operative models that may need be considered, and indeed the likely financial outcomes.
Att förbättra energitillgången genom tillhandahållande av hållbar elektrifiering är grundläggande för att minska fattigdomen och underlätta utvecklingen i många områden i Afrika söder om Sahara. Regionen lider för närvarande av allvarlig energifattigdom, då hela 81% av befolkningen förlitar sig på traditionella former av biomassa för energiförsörjning. En viktig orsak till detta är att den centraliserade nätinfrastrukturen i många länder förblir dåligt underhållen och att nätutvidgning till avlägsna landsbygdsområden utgör en för stor kostnad. PV-mini-nät får ökad uppmärksamhet från beslutsfattare, forskare och utvecklare i regionen då de utgör ett sätt att minska beroendet av centraliserad, fossilbränslebaserad infrastruktur. Trots detta kvarstår ett stort antal mini-nätprojekt i Afrika fortfarande i uppstartsfasen. En anledning till detta är svårigheten i att förutsäga det framtida elbehovet för de för närvarande oelektrifierade samhällena. Syftet med detta arbete var att bedöma lönsamheten av ett PV mini-nät lokaliserat på Buvu Island i Victoriasjön, Uganda. Strukturerade intervjuer hölls först med utvecklare i regionen för att utvärdera de nuvarande svagheterna i designmetoderna för mini-nät. Därefter användes litteratur för att utveckla en lämplig metodik. Data som samlats in genom fältarbete användes för att förutsäga öns efterfrågan på el, och optimeringsverktyget HOMER användes för att anpassa ett lämpligt system. Det modellerade systemet inkluderar en AC-kopplad solpanel, en batteribank, en reservgenerator och en omvandlare. I Uganda är det nätoperatörens ansvar att tillhandahålla kapitalinvesteringar för distributionsnätet. Följaktligen, inom denna studie, har sådana system föreslagits och kostnadsförts. Detta påverkar dock inte lönsamheten av mini-nät på ön. En fullständig ekonomisk analys användes för att bedöma lönsamheten under en tjugoårsperiod. Ett referensscenario gav lovande resultat, med IRR på 23,5%, DSCR på 529% och NPV på $ 114 651 förutsatt att den dagliga efterfrågan på el är 695 kWh, och 2,5 ton is säljs per dag. Affärsmodellen är mycket beroende av försäljningen av is och om den genomsnittliga försäljningen sjunker under 1,6 ton per dag under projektets livslängd förlorar systemet sin lönsamhet. För att komma över problemen förknippade med oförutsägbarhet av efterfrågan och uppmuntra till ny användning av elektricitet, anpassas mini-nätet i detta arbete för att matcha den nuvarande efterfrågan på ön. Dessutom inkluderas en känslighetsanalys för att fullständigt karakterisera utbudet av de olika modeller av mini-nät som kan behöva övervägas.

Access to safe drinking water is a challenge for rural communities in many developing countries. Drinking contaminated water endangers human health and impairs social and economic development. Arsenic (As) is a metalloid widely distributed into the environment and is highly toxic in its trivalent inorganic form. The natural occurrence of As in groundwater used for drinking has been associated to the insurgence of skin disorders and respiratory diseases in many parts of the world. Arsenic is frequently found in the form of sulphide in gold deposits. Human exposure to As via drinking water has resulted from gold mining activities in some instances in USA, Asia, South America and Africa. The problem of As in drinking water has been brought to attention in Tanzania only few years ago and further investigation are therefore needed to enable an early detection of harmful exposures. This study aims to assess occurrence, source and mobilization mechanisms of As in some drinking water sources within the Lake Victoria Basin, in Northern Tanzania. Rural communities living in areas known for artisanal and large-scale gold mining activities were the target of the present study. Fifty-four water samples were collected from a variety of drinking water sources (spring, borehole, river and shallow well) in Mara and Geita region during October 2016. pH, electrical conductivity (EC), Redox potential (Eh) and As were measured in situ. Major ions, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and trace elements, including As, were analysed in the sampled water at KTH-Royal Institute of Technology, in Sweden. 53% of the sampled water do not comply with the WHO recommended limit of 10 μg/L, representing a serious health risk for some rural communities within the Lake Victoria Basin. The spatial distribution of As in the area under investigation is highly heterogeneous and it is mainly influenced by local geology and proximity to the mining sites (approx. < 5 km). Lower As levels in boreholes than in rivers and shallow wells indicates contamination of surface drainage by mining activities and suggest that deep groundwater ( > 40 m) generally represent a source of safer drinking water. The field-measured Redox potential indicates oxidising conditions, suggesting that oxidation-dissolution of arsenic sulphide minerals is a major mechanism of arsenic mobilization in groundwater. However, this study reveals that several geochemical processes control fate and mobility of As, once it has been released into the aquatic environment. Large discrepancies between field and laboratory measurements of As indicates a strong partition of the metalloid into the particulate fraction. As revealed by the geochemical modelling, co-precipitation with iron /aluminium hydroxides and adsorption on clay minerals are presumed to be the major sinks for dissolved As. Moreover, a good match between peaks in As and dissolved organic carbon concentrations suggests that complexation by humic acids is responsible for enhanced As mobility. Overall, the present study has led to a better understanding of the problem of arsenic in proximity of gold mining areas in Tanzania and it calls for the development of affordable and sustainable solutions which would provide safe drinking water to the affected population.
Tillgången till rent, säkert vatten är en utmaning på landsbygdssamhällen i många utvecklingsländer. Åtgång på förorenat vatten riskerar människors hälsa och skadar social och ekonomisk utveckling. Naturlig förekomst av arsenik (As) i grundvatten är ett globalt miljöproblem, vilket utgör en allvarlig risk för människors hälsa på grund av metalloidens höga toxicitet. Med tanke på att arsenic sulfids mineraler är en viktigt del av guld insättning, har guldgruva aktiviteter anvisas som en orsak till att föroreningar av dränering och grundvatten i flera länder. Problemet med As i dricksvatten har uppmärksammats i Tanzania för några år sedan och det krävs ytterligare undersökning för att möjliggöra tidig upptäckt av skadliga exponeringar. Denna studie syftar till att bedöma förekomsten, källan och mobiliseringsmekanismerna för arsenik i vissa dricksvattenkällor i Lake Victoria Basin, i norra Tanzania. Landsbygdssamhällen som är kända för hantverksmässiga och storskaliga guldgruva arbeten var målet för den nuvarande studien. Femtiofyra vattenprover samlades från källvatten, borehålsvatten, floder och grundbrunn i Mara och Geita-regionen under oktober 2016. pH, redoxpotential (Eh), temperatur och elektrisk konduktivitet (EC) mättes i fält. Vattenprovernas koncentration av an- och katjoner, spårämnen (bl.a. arsenik), As(III) samt löst organiskt kol (DOC) analyserades i Sverige på Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan (KTH). Femtiotre procent av det provtagna vattnet överensstämmer inte med WHO:s rekommenderade gräns på 10 μg / l, vilket utgör en allvarlig hälsorisk fö vissa landsbygdssamhälen i Victoria-sjö. Den geografiska fördelningen av As i det undersökta området är högst heterogen och påverkas huvudsakligen av lokal geologi och närhet till gruvplatserna (ca <5km). Lägre As-nivår i borehål än i floder och grunda brunnar visar att föroreningar av dränering pågrund av gruvverksamhet och föeslår att djupt grundvatten (> 40m) i allmähet utgör en källa till säkrare dricksvatten. Däremot, visar denna studie att flera geokemiska processer kontrollerar förutbestämmelse och röligheten för As, nä det har blivit frisläppts ut i vattenmiljö. Stora skillnader mellan fält- och labbmäningar av As indikerar en stark partition av metalloid i partikelfraktionen. Som avslöjas av geokemisk modellering antas, samutfällning med järn / aluminiumhydroxider och adsorption på lermineraler vara de huvudsakliga sänkorna fö upplöst As. Dessutom antyder en bra matchning mellan toppar i As och upplösta organiska kolkoncentrationer att komplexbildning med humana och fulviska syror är ansvarig för föbättrad rölighet.

Southeast Australia have between 1997-2009 experienced a severe drought, referred to as the Millennium Drought. During these years the region experienced a 11.4% decline in mean annual rainfall, an unprecedented decrease in runoff and a decline in soil moisture and groundwater storage. The drought officially ended in 2010 when one of the strongest La Nina-events on record occurred. However, it is still unknown how the behaviour of the catchments changed during the drought and if this change persists in the years following the drought. Changes in catchment behaviour and fluxes are commonly determined using a catchment water balance, where the change in groundwater storage is assumed to be neglectable when studying longer periods of time. However, studies have showed that this assumption might be inaccurate for catchments that experience a climatic disturbance such as a severe drought. This study investigates if including the change in groundwater storage by using spatial groundwater head data can improve the catchment water balance. This was done by assuming that specific yields are unknown and to be determined in a calibration. An unknown scalar applied to the evapotranspiration was used to try to account for the uncertainties in the known fluxes and was also to be determined in the calibration. Two different calibration schemes were considered: one assuming no delay in groundwater head response to climate and one accounting for the delay. The fluxes were determined for the period before, during and after the drought. The results were analysed to determine if the catchments showed a change in behaviour during and after the drought. The results showed that when not accounting for the delayed response of the groundwater head, at least one of the specific yields in the catchments became infinitely small. Including the delayed groundwater head response did improve one of the catchments significantly by producing plausible specific yields for all geological units. A conclusion of this is that including the change in groundwater storage could improve the water balance. However, for it to do so a thorough analysis of the groundwater and subsurface needs to be conducted. Further, the water balance error was the third biggest flux after rainfall and actual evapotranspiration suggesting that the evapotranspiration scalar reduced the actual evapotranspiration too much. All fluxes did decrease during the drought, by how much differed between the catchments and the water balance components. Two of the catchments showed a change in behaviour during the drought that persisted in the years following the drought. The most likely fluxes to have caused this were the change in runoff and groundwater storage. The other two catchments showed a smaller change in behaviour during the drought and an indication that it was on its way back to the same state as before the drought. The likely fluxes to have caused the small change in behaviour was runoff and actual evapotranspiration.
Under åren 1997–2009 minskade den genomsnittliga årliga nederbörden över sydöstra Australien med 11.4% och den genomsnittliga årliga avrinningen var lägre än någonsin tidigare samtidigt som grundvattennivåerna sjönk. Denna torka brukar kallas the Millennium Drought och är den svåraste torkan i Australien i modern tid. Torkan tog officiellt slut 2010 då ett av de mest kraftfulla La Niña-fenomenen inträffade vilket bidrog till att april 2010 till mars 2012 var de blötaste två åren i australiensk historia. Trots att flera studier har gjorts kring torkan så är det ännu inte klarlagts hur avrinningsområdena i området påverkades och om de fortfarande är påverkade när torkan officiellt är över. Flödena inom ett avrinningsområde bestäms vanligtvis genom en vattenbalans. Då vattenbalansen över ett avrinningsområde studeras under en längre tid antas ofta att förändringarna i grundvattenmagasinen går att bortse från då grundvattennivån ofta återgår till samma stadie efter ett antal år. Nyare studier har dock visat att detta inte alltid är fallet vid exempelvis en svår torka och att det vid dessa fall inte är korrekt att anta att förändringen i grundvattenmagasinen är försumbar. I denna studie har en vattenbalans gjorts för fyra avrinningsområden i delstaten Victoria i Australien. Syftet har varit att avgöra om vattenbalansen kan förbättras om förändringen i grundvattenmagasinen inkluderas. Detta har gjorts genom att använda nyligen framtagen data för grundvattennivån i delstaten och antagit att den dränerbara porositeten är en okänd variabel. För att justera för osäkerheterna kring the kända flödena har en okänd faktor för evapotranspirationen inkluderats. De okända variablerna bestämdes i en kalibrering. Kalibreringen genomfördes för två olika kalibreringsscheman och för tre olika tidsperioder. Det ena kalibreringsschemat antog att grundvattnet direkt reagerade på effektiv nederbörd minus avrinning, medan den andra kalibreringsschemat tog hänsyn till en försenad reaktion. Kalibreringen gjordes för tidsperioderna innan, under och efter torkan. Resultaten visade att när ingen hänsyn togs till en eventuellt försenad reaktion av grundvatten så går värdet för dränerbar porositet i minst en geologisk enhet mot noll medan det andra värdet är rimligt. När hänsyn togs till en försenad reaktion av grundvattnet, fick fler avrinningsområde rimliga värden för dränerbar porositet för hela området. Slutsatsen som kan dras kring detta är att vattenbalansen kan förbättras om förändringen i grundvattenmagasinen inkluderas. Detta kräver dock en djupgående analys av grundvattnet och geologin i avrinningsområdet. Hur mycket flödena förändrades under och efter torkan varierar mellan avrinningsområdena och flödena, gemensamt var dock att alla flöden minskade under torkan. Två av avrinningsområdena påvisade en förändring i beteendet under torkan och de år som följde. Det är mest troligt att förändringarna i avrinning och grundvattenmagasinen har påverkat detta. De övriga två avrinningsområdena påvisade även de en förändring under torkan, om än mindre än för de föregående. Denna förändring ser även ut att vara på tillbakagående och att avrinningsområdet inom en snar framtid skulle kunna ha samma tillstånd som innan torkan. De mest troliga flödena som har påverkat dessa avrinningsområden är förändringar i avrinning och den faktisk evapotranspirationen.

This study explores shallow lake numerical hydrodynamic processes that support model development and validation, extreme events and effects of water circulation in Lake Victoria. Lake Victoria is the second largest freshwater lake in the world, and the largest in East Africa. It is the major freshwater reservoir and source for domestic, agriculture, industrial, fishery, and transport. The resources support livelihoods and ecosystem services for over 40 million people. The lake is severely affected by water quality degradation by pollution. This thesis aims at improving the understanding by following recommendation of the Lake Victoria Environment Management Project, Lake Victoria Basin Commission climate change adaptation strategy and action plan 2018-2023, Lake Victoria Basin Commission operational plan 2015-2020, and Lake Victoria Basin Commission report. These reports suggested detailed lake bathymetry survey, modelling of lake flow, study of lake hydrometeorological processes by modelling and simulation, to identify extreme weather events, assess water circulation effect, and study lake pollution near the shore. A numerical hydrodynamic model was built in the COMSOL Multiphysics (CM) software for assessing lake flows and water turn-over from river inflows which carry pollution. The work included the development of systematic methods for lake bathymetry that are relevant for lake numerical and hydrodynamic modelling. The hydrometeorological driven simulation model was employed to assess lake water balance, water circulation and soluble transport. Paper 1 creates a bathymetry from several methods and from several data sources, and a vertically integrated free surface flow model was implemented in CM. The model was used to investigate outflow conditions, mean velocities driven by river inflow, outflow, precipitation and evaporation. It is shown to be exactly conservative and give water level variation in reasonable agreement with measurements. The results indicate that the shallow water model is close to linear. An outflow model, linear in water level, predicts water level reasonable agreement with measurements. The findings suggest that the model should consider wind stress driven flow to provide more accurate lake flow behavior. Paper 2 performed an assessment of the hydro-meteorological processes and extreme weather events that are responsible for changing the characteristics of lake water balance, and changing streamflow variations, and lake transportation. We compare historical data over a long time with data from the model including water balance, sources of data uncertainty, correlations, extreme rain and inflow years, and seasonal variations. Solute loading and transportation was illustrated by tracing the water from the river inflows. The results indicate that the lake rainfall has a strong seasonal variation with strong correlations between tributary inflows and precipitation, and between lake outflow and water level. The tracer transport by mean flow is very slow. Flow increases somewhat in wet periods and is faster in the shallow Kenya lake zone than in the deeper Uganda and Tanzanian lake zones, where the major inflow, from the Kagera River, appears to strongly influence transportation.
Denna studie undersöker med numerisk metodik hydrodynamiska processer i den mycket grundaVictoriasjön och hur de påverkas av extrem väderlek, inflöden, och nederbörd. Victoriasjön är denandra största sötvattensjön i världen, och den största i Afrika. Den är färskvattenförråd och källa förhushåll, jordbruk, industri, fiske och transporter. Resurserna ger livsuppehåll och ekosystemtjänsterför mer än 40 miljoner människor. Sjön är utsatt för allvarliga föroreningar som försämrarvattenkvaliteten. Detta arbete avser att förbättra förståelsen genom att följa rekommendationer somgivits ut av Lake Victoria Environment Management Project (LVEMP), och Lake Victoria BasinCommissions (LVBC) rapporter om strategi för anpassning till klimatförändringar, åtgärdsplan2018-2023 och översiktsplan 2015-2020. Rapporterna föreslår detaljerad genomgång avdjupkartor, modellering av strömning i sjön i syfte att identifiera extrema väderhändelser,undersöka vattencirkulationen, och studera föroreningarna nära stränder. En hydrodynamisknumerisk modell har byggts i simuleringspaketet COMSOL Multiphysics (CM) för uppskattning avströmning och vattenutbyte från förorenade inflöden. Arbetet innefattade utveckling av metoder förvattendjups-modeller för hydrodynamiska studier. Simuleringsmodellen drivs avhydrometeorologiska data och används för vattenmängds-balans, cirkulation ochföroreningstransport.Artikel 1 skapar vattendjupskartan från flera data-mängder med olika metoder. En vertikaltintegrerad modell med fri yta implementerades i CM. Modellen ger vertikalt medelvärdesbildadehastigheter drivna av flodinflöden, utflöde, nederbörd och avdunstning. Modellen representerarvattenbalansen exakt och ger variationer i vattennivå i rimlig överensstämmelse med mätningar.Resultaten antyder att modellen är nära linjär och tids-invariant. En utflödesmodell ansatt somlinjär i vatten-nivån kan anpassas noggrant till historiska data. Bättre realism kan uppnås omvindens pådrivande verkan inkluderas.Artikel 2 går igenom de hydro-meteorologiska processer och extrema väder-händelser som ändrarvattenbalans, strömningsmönster och transport. Vi har jämfört data över femtio år med modellens,inkluderande vattennivå, källor för osäkerhet i data, korrelationer, år med extrema regn ochinflöden, och årstidsvariationer. Resultaten tyder på att nederbörden varierar kraftigt medårstiderna, och signifikanta korrelationer ses mellan nederbörd och inflöden, och mellan utflöde ochvattennivå.Transport av lösliga föroreningar illustrerades genom spårning av vatten från de olika inflödena.Spårämnestransport med vertikalt medelvärdesbildade hastigheter är mycket långsam.Strömningen ökar något i våta årstider och är snabbare i den grunda zonen i Kenya än i de djuparedelarna i Uganda och Tanzania. Det största inflödet som kommer från Kagera tycks ha stor inverkanpå transporten.

QC 20191106

This project is a combination of mechanical engineering and sustainable development in developing countries. The goal has been to build a windmill driven water pump and to design a small-scale irrigation system for SCC-Vi Agroforestry’s demonstration farm in Musoma, Mara region, Tanzania. The purpose was to enable SCC-Vi Agroforestry to demonstrate and spread knowledge about these techniques to farmers in the region.

In 2007, two students from Halmstad University conducted a field study in the Mara region and found that many farmers lack clean and running water. Back in Sweden they constructed a prototype of a windmill that employs wind energy to pump water using a semi-rotary pump. The intention is that local farmers should be able to build their own windmill, and thus have running water in their household. However, the windmill has never been built in Tanzania.

The windmill construction in this report is based on the prototype, but the original drawings were changed to fit the specific situation in Tanzania better. Important throughout the project has been to minimise cost and to only use material that local farmers can get hold of. Building and assembling of the windmill were then performed by the authors in co-operation with local workers. The windmill drives a pump that pumps water from a well to a tank for further use in irrigation.

Calculations have been made on the energy available in the wind and an energy analysis was then performed to see what wind speed is required for the system to work. If wind speed is low, the windmill can be adjusted by placing the connecting rod closer to the rotation centre where it requires less work to function. As a result of that, the volume of water per stroke will decrease and it will take longer time to fill the tank. This project was carried out during the rainy season when there is less wind; therefore the windmill has not been tested during optimal wind speed conditions. The tests that have been performed during the circumstances at the time showed that the performance of the windmill is consistent with the theoretical calculations.

A proposed design for a simple drip irrigation system has been developed based on the conditions at the project area. It is constructed of plastic pipes with holes that emit water. Covers are in place to prevent soil from clogging the holes. Building the irrigation system was not part of this project.

The process of allocating necessary resources like clean water, fuel/energy and food have resulted in an unsustainable use of natural resources causing problems with Soil erosion, soil fertility, desertification, deforestation, eutrophication and global warming. The purpose of this study was to gain information on the functional design of a waste management system enabling the organic components of domestic waste to be processed as useful resources while at the same time allow them to be re-circulated. The main part of this study was carried out at the Kendu SDA Hospital in the Rachyonyo district in western Kenya. For the case of this study two main objectives where chosen. The first was to develop a principal technological solution using three classed “appropriate technologies” found suitable for the purpose namely biogas, ecological water treatment systems and slow sand filtration. The second was to further analyse each included technology to further develop their potential to fit the concept. Results from the pilot facilities where then to be retrieved from the actual component selection and construction process itself, with performance analysis left for future studies.

The main purpose of the biogas system study has been to evaluate the original ideas of overall concept, details, materials and construction methods. The 1 m3 biogas system has improved significantly during the development process and is today not far from an implementation, i.e. construction on a slightly larger scale. The biogas system developed during the project has proven to have potential for digestion of both latrine and kitchen waste. Using the two as fuel for the process does not only remove a problem – it grants several benefits.

The ecological waste water treatment system main objective was to design and construct a pilot SSF-wetland. Results show that the construction process for smaller scaled SSF systems is simple and does not require trained personnel or specialized equipment and that significant cost reduction can be made by using locally available materials.

The slow sand filtration sub system concept is called PT SCX and though still in the stage of development proved to have great potential concerning both efficiency and sustainability. The PT SCX comprises the advantages of slow sand filtration with further development of individual system solutions. It was adapted to enable both integration to the IWESS solution and stand alone installations purifying even highly turbid surface water sources to drinking water quality.

The result from the study confirms the suitability of the three included technologies, ecological waste water treatment, biogas and slow sand filtration to work in an integrated system called IWESS- Integrated Water Energy and Sanitation Solution. The combined subsystems can together with source separated sewage offer full resource recovery enabling recirculation of both nutrients and water. In addition the system can be designed as a net producer of renewable and emission free energy.

Grindsamhällen, eller "gated communities" som är en välanvänd term även i Sverige, är något som fått en kraftigt ökad popularitet runtom i världen. Den största tillväxten av denna boendeform kan vi framförallt se i USA, men även Latin- och Sydamerika samt Sydafrika. Vad är då ett grindsamhälle? Definitionen av ordet skulle kunna beskrivas som ett inhägnat område med bostäder, med säkerhetsåtgärder såsom murar, staket och bevakade grindar, vilka syftar till att hålla utomstående människor borta från området. Denna boendeform har mött stark kritik och flera forskare menar att dessa områden leder till en ökad segregation. Så vilka orsaker anses då ligga bakom denna kraftiga ökning i efterfrågan på grindsamhällen? Den absolut största anledningen anses vara att man upplever en ökad rädsla att utsättas för brott och därför söker en trygghet bakom grindarna. En aspekt som var intressant att undersöka var hur effektiva grindsamhällen är på att ge sina invånare vad de eftersträvar. Vissa studier visar att kriminaliteten till och med kan vara högre i ett grindsamhälle jämfört med utanför.   Uppsatsen mynnar ut i hur förutsättningarna ser ut för etablering av grindsamhällen i Sverige. Undersökningar visar att efterfrågan på grindsamhällen i Sverige är stor, men det finns även hinder, som exempelvis allemansrätten, vilken komplicerar byggandet av staket. Denna motkraft anses dock inte vara tillräcklig och utvecklingen mot en framtid med grindsamhällen i Sverige kommer till slut att vara omöjlig att stoppa. Det övergripande syftet med arbetet har i första hand varit att ta reda på mer om fenomenet grindsamhällen, för att sedan sätta det i en svensk kontext. Metoden för att åstadkomma detta har till stor del bestått av en litteratursökning, där urvalet gjordes genom att endast studera litteratur som var relevant för frågeställningarna, samt att sålla bort litteratur som var allt för platsspecifik eller som inte hade ett neutralt förhållningssätt till ämnet.
Gated communities is a phenomenon that has seen a big increase in popularity all around the world last years. The largest growth can be seen primarily in the United States, but also in Latin- and South America as well as South Africa. So what is a gated community? The definition of the word could be described as a gated residential area, which has security measures such as walls, fences and guarded gates, which intend to keep nonresidents away from the neighborhood. This form of living has faced massive criticism, and several researchers argue that these types of neighborhoods lead to an increased segregation. So what are the underlying causes behind this steep increase in demand of gated communities? What has been regarded as the absolutely biggest reason is an increased fear of being subject to crime and the search for security behind the gates. An interesting aspect is to study how effective a gated community is to actually help its residents achieve what they are searching for. Some studies show that the crime rate may actually be higher inside a gated community compared to the outside. The essay comes down to how well the conditions for establishment of gated communities in Sweden are. Studies show that the demand for gated communities in Sweden is high, but there are some obstacles, for example the "Right of Public Access", which complicates the building of fences. However, this is considered to be insufficient and the development towards a future with gated communities in Sweden will ultimately be impossible to stop. The overall purpose of this thesis has been to find out more about the phenomenon gated communities and to put it in a Swedish context. The method for accomplishing this has mainly consisted of a literature search, where the selection was made by only studying literature relevant to the research questions, as well as not studying literature which was far too site-specific or that did not have a neutral approach to the subject.

Thesis (S.B. and S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2000.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 77-79).
by Peter Chong.
S.B.and S.M.

Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2005.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 88-91).
This research provides an overview of the underlying dynamics, drivers, top players, supply chain structure and challenges facing the apparel industry. We present the case of Limited Brands Inc. and describe the positioning of the company within the apparel industry. We then address business processes critical to the success of the Victoria's Secret Business Unit of Limited Brands. This research draws extensively on interviews with company officials at Limited Brands that provided rich insight into a wide range of supply chain practices specific to the Victoria's Secret business. The success of Victoria's Secret can be attributed to a set of important supply chain activities, driven primarily by a collaborative intra-company effort. Insights gained from this research can also be leveraged to understand other industries such as consumer packaged goods, computers, and electronics industries which face similar supply chain issues.
by Sumit Kumar.
M.Eng.in Logistics

Attitudes to large Victorian reservoir schemes range from being unnecessarily grandiose to being grateful for a wonderful legacy. The sizing of three Victorian reservoir schemes at Thirlmere for Manchester, Lake Vyrnwy for Liverpool, and Elan Valley for Birmingham, was strongly influenced by ambitious Corporations, and the Victorian engineers’ judgment of the demand forecast, respectively JF Bateman, Thomas Hawksley and James Mansergh. In this research, the “risk averseness” of design size is used as a surrogate for uncertainty, and a novel lag-time method, which involves extraction of data from supply and demand balance diagrams, enables comparisons. The full Elan scheme design is found to be the least risk averse, and the original Thirlmere scheme design the most risk averse. In comparison with a contemporary large reservoir design, the tentative conclusion is reached that using the lag-time model approach, the recent proposal by Thames Water Utilities for a 100 Mm3 design for an Upper Thames Reservoir, in terms of future supply and demand, is a more risky design size than any of the Victorian designs. Water resources planners would be interested in the analysis and comparison of risk averseness and efficiency of design for other types of historical and modern schemes.

User Experience Engineering (UxE) incorporates subject areas like usability, HCI, interaction experience, interaction design, "human factors", ergonomics", cognitive psychology", behavioral psychology and psychometrics", systems engineering", [and] "computer science," (Hartson, 1998). It has been suggested that UxE will be the main success factor in organizations as we enter the "loyalty decade" of software development, where the repeat usage of a product by a single customer will be the metric of product success (Alghamdi, 2010; Law & van Schaik, 2010, p. 313; Nielsen, 2008; Van Schaik & Ling, 2011). What is relatively unknown in the current academic literature is whether existing UxE methodologies are effective or not when placed in a longitudinal research context (Law & van Schaik, 2010). There is room for the exploration of the effects of long-term UxE practices in a real-world case study scenario. The problem, addressed in this study, is that a lack of the application of UxE-related processes and practices with an industrial partner had resulted in customer dissatisfaction and a loss of market share. A three-year case study was performed during which 10 UxE-related metrics were gathered and analyzed to measure the improvements in the design of the customer's experience that long-term UxE practices could bring to a small corporate enterprise. The changes that occurred from the corporate and customer's point of view were analyzed as the customer's experience evolved throughout this long-term UxE study. Finally, an analysis of the problems and issues that arose in the implementation of UxE principles during the application of long-term UxE processes was performed. First-hand training between the research team and company employees proved essential to the success of this project. Although a long-term UxE process was difficult to implement within the existing development practices of the industrial partner, a dramatic increase in customer satisfaction and customer engagement with the company system was found. UxE processes led to increased sales rates and decreased development costs in the long-term. All 10 metrics gathered throughout this study showed measurable improvements after long-term UxE processes and practices were adopted by the industrial partner.

This study shows the results of testing previous research that used remote sensing techniques to determine chlorophyll-a concentrations in turbid surface waters, and developing similar methods and models for Utah Lake using Landsat 7 ETM+ satellite imagery and field measured concentrations of chlorophyll-a. The data for the study included images acquired on June 22 and July 8, 2009. The field data included ground measurements taken on June 22 and July 6, 2009 from seven water quality sampling locations. The 48 hour time difference between the Landsat image acquisition (July 8) and the field measurement (July 6), and the small sample size for the data analysis were potential sources of error. The log transformation of red/near-infrared reflectance (i.e. ln[Band3/Band4]) had a high correlation with the field measured chlorophyll-a concentrations (R^2 = 0.9337). With this relationship, a model and 19 contour maps showing the spatial distribution of chlorophyll-a concentrations over Utah Lake was developed for the spring, summer, and fall seasons of 2003 to 2010. Generally about 90% of the Lake area had chlorophyll-a concentrations lower than 20µg/L. High concentrations of Chlorophyll-a (355µg/L and over) were observed mostly at the Provo Bay and Goshen Bay areas of the Lake. Occasionally, elevated levels of chlorophyll-a were observed at the northeastern, middle, and western sections of the lake. Utah Lake's average chlorophyll-a concentration is declining over time. In spring, the Lake average chlorophyll-a concentration reduced from 30.51µg/L in 2004 to 7.08µg/L in 2010. In summer, this average reduced from 132.13µg/L in 2003 to 36.58µg/L in 2010. Finally, in fall, the Lake average chlorophyll-a concentration reduced from 273.40µg/L in 2006 to 33.59µg/L in 2010. Field measured concentrations of phosphorus and model estimates for chlorophyll-a concentrations were highly correlated (R^2 = 0.9046). This suggests that the elevated levels of chlorophyll-a might be a result of the point and non-point discharge of phosphorus-laden wastewater from treatment plants, municipal storm drains, and agricultural activities.

Faubourgs de Bruxelles. Boulevards de Verviers. Quelle(s) réalité(s) ?Quelle(s) relation(s) ?

Pour les deux villes industrielles, le XIXe siècle a notamment été celui de l’expansion urbaine, au-delà des limites séculaires. Ce développement s’est matérialisé par des nouvelles voies de communication et des nouvelles bâtisses, dont les autorités publiques ont vu la nécessité de planifier l’organisation. Elles ont alors mis en place les moyens législatifs, humains et financiers pour maîtriser cette extension.

En partant de la fonction administrative appelée « inspecteur voyer des faubourgs de Bruxelles », une première partie de l’étude montre qu’à Bruxelles, capitale de la jeune Belgique, le service, le territoire, la mission de cet agent public, constituent une réelle particularité dans l’appareil administratif de la Province de Brabant.

En s’intéressant à l’évolution de cette fonction depuis son institution jusqu’à sa suppression, on découvre, non seulement un renforcement de cette originalité, mais on trouve aussi les rôle(s) et influence(s) qu’ont pu avoir les titulaires successifs. Parmi ceux-ci, il en est un qui a œuvré sur une longue période, de 1858 à 1904 :c’est Victor Besme. Il est bien connu des urbanistes comme auteur d’un plan d’ensemble qui a structuré le tissu urbain de la première couronne bruxelloise. Il est moins connu comme « électron libre » du « système voyer » qui s’est installé et confirmé dans la seconde moitié du XIXe siècle. Il est quasi inconnu comme ayant contribué à l’agrandissement de Verviers, à son « âge d’or ».

La notoriété acquise par l’inspecteur Besme à Bruxelles a conduit les autorités verviétoises à faire appel à ses services pour débloquer une situation devenue inextricable dans la cité lainière. En peu de temps, son analyse et le projet qu’il dépose font taire les dissensions et ouvrent la voie à la réalisation des rues d’un premier quartier, celui de l’Immobilière. Les relations qu’il noue à Verviers, la connaissance qu’il a des arcanes administratifs belges, permettent à Besme de déployer ses compétences également dans d’autres quartiers (Hanlet-Peltzer, Ile Adam) et de porter plusieurs casquettes, le plaçant parfois en équilibre entre la défense de l’intérêt général et celle de l’intérêt particulier, si pas de son intérêt personnel. C’est ainsi que le dossier des tramways verviétois fait en quelque sorte la synthèse de ces multiples postures.

Au final, on aura découvert deux villes différentes mais néanmoins comparables et même à rapprocher à certains égards, notamment pour ce qui est des préoccupations publiques de l’époque (assainissement, communication, extension). En examinant plus attentivement les éléments factuels, on aura appris à mieux connaître un homme multi-facettes, un « célèbre inconnu », dont l’itinéraire dans ces deux villes nous instruit sur la complexité qui se cache derrière des raccourcis. On aura aussi confirmé combien les mises en contexte, les liens et enchaînements, combien les particularités et les influences sont importants à étudier en urbanisme (et en architecture) car ils révèlent non seulement les lieux et les faits, mais font apparaître les systèmes, les structures et donnent un éclairage aux hommes qui les établissent, les occupent et les manœuvrent.
Doctorat en Art de bâtir et urbanisme
Une publication de la seconde partie de la thèse a été faite en 2016 par le Comité Scientifique d'Histoire de Verviers sous la référence suivante: D’HUART Th. Victor Besme et les extensions de Verviers sous Léopold II :genèse d’un patrimoine urbain, Comité scientifique d’histoire de Verviers (CSHV), Verviers, Mars 2016, 444p.
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

This thesis addresses high performance computing in Adaptive Optics (AO) simulation and the development and demonstration of a prototype AO instrument for future Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs). Adaptive Optics systems are used on astronomical telescopes for correcting the blurring effects of atmospheric turbulence on incoming starlight, improving image quality to that of the diffraction limit of the telescope. Extremely Large Telescopes will have primary mirror diameters in the 20 - 40 m range, driving the need for technology development in two key areas, among others: 1) adaptive optics simulation, and 2) wide field adaptive optics (WFAO). The Linear Adaptive Optics Simulator (LAOS) is at the forefront of adaptive optics simulation, opening up the capability to simulate ELTs with integrated AO systems on a single computer. This is computationally expensive and time consuming, and thus simulator performance is very important and can determine the feasibility of simulating such systems at all. Efforts were made to improve the existing LAOS performance and bring a larger range of problem sizes and AO instrument concepts including WFAO into the realm of possibility. WFAO will take advantage of the larger light collection and spatial resolution capabilities of ELTs. One WFAO instrument approach that addresses this is Multi-Object Adaptive Optics (MOAO), which will provide localized correction around a number (5 - 40) of selected science objects spread around the field of view, enabling extragalactic studies otherwise very costly to implement with other WFAO techniques. However, there are several risks that need to be retired. Many elements of an MOAO system, such as the use of atmospheric tomography, MEMS mirrors, and woofer-tweeter control have all been demonstrated to work in different lab settings and are included in advanced instrument concepts. Open loop control, however, is perhaps the greatest risk to MOAO, introducing unique requirements on the AO system. The Victoria Open Loop Testbed (VOLT) serves as a demonstration of open loop control – both on-sky at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory's 1.2 m telescope and in the lab – to facilitate the future development of MOAO. Our goal was to demonstrate open loop control with a simple on-axis natural guide star testbed.

This study investigates the experiences of first year engineering students to a newly implemented engineering problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum at Victoria University; its effects on their approaches to learning and their learning outcomes. This qualitative study, which uses ethnographic approaches for data collection and analysis, focuses on the learning cultures that emerge in multicultural PBL teams by interpreting the responses of students to the new emphasis on autonomous learning. In the first year of the curriculum change in this PBL setting, this research captures and theorises student approaches to learning as a team and their learning outcomes by analysing the ways in which these students approach and direct their learning as individuals and as a team.

This project analysed the development of a selection of international and national mentoring programmes in higher education institutions and specifically at Victoria University. Based on the analysis of successful international and national mentoring programmes, the performance of past Victoria University mentoring programmes and research on current mentoring programmes at the University, this thesis has developed core principles of a standardised mentoring programme.

This research initiative attempts to empirically determine, with reality-based evidence from un-biased sources, the cost disadvantage, energy advantage, and expected pay-back period associated with building an above-code residence in Victoria, BC. In addition, this initiative created a much-needed benchmark for contractors to gain a firm understanding of the construction details required to achieve the various levels of the “Step-Code” in the newest edition of the BCBC. It was important to gain this information specific to Victoria B.C. to make an appropriate estimation of the actual “cost challenge” for building above code in the local housing market. This was accomplished through: a simulated tendering process with local contractors, an energy analysis of a case-study residence with the same floor plan, and an in-depth study into the variables governing time-to-amortization. The contractors provided quotes for an “above code” residence (ACR), and a minimum-code residence (MCR) with the same floor plan. The results were then compared to the as-built construction costs of the residence. When compared to the MCR, it was found that the ACR has a cost-disadvantage of approximately 22.5% ($74,400), an energy advantage of 22.5 kWh/m2/yr , and a payback period of over 79 years when a fuel inflation rate of 2% is considered. However, many of the components in the ACR assemblies were either for aesthetic appeal (metal-roofing), or comfort (floor-cavity insulation), and therefore it was possible to reduce the cost-disadvantage to just 2.1% ($7,759), while maintaining an energy advantage of 15kWh/m2/yr and step-level 3 designation. This was dubbed the hybrid-residence (HR) as it employed a combination of above-code and minimum-code construction assemblies. The HR has a pay-back period of approximately 16 years when the same inflation rate is expected in the price of fuel.
Graduate

This thesis has two major purposes; first, to investigate whether engineering managers believe their undergraduate studies had a sufficiently strong focus on the development of management skills they need when practising as managers in industry. Secondly, if it is found that this focus needs to be stronger, to determine what additional management skills are required and to recommend a way by which additional management skills can be incorporated into the undergraduate engineering curricula.

Using the wind speed measurements collected at the University of Victoria School-based Weather Station Network over the last several years, an assessment of the local wind power potential is presented focusing on its residential use. It is found that, while the local winds are generally characterized by relatively small mean values, their spacial and temporal variability is large. More wind power is potentially available during the winter season compared to the summer season, and during daytime compared to nighttime. The examination of wind characteristics at 32 stations in the network reveals areas with wind energy potential 1.5-2.3 times larger than that at the UVic location, which represents a site with average wind power potential. The station with the highest potential is found to be that of Lansdowne. The probability distribution of the local wind speeds can be reasonably well described by the Weibull probability distribution, although it is recommended that seasonal variability of local winds be taken into consideration when estimating the Weibull fitting parameters. Based on a theoretical and statistical analysis, wind power output and its dependence on wind power density are estimated for five different locations in Victoria, B.C. Overall, it is found that the largest amount of power can be produced from the wind at Lansdowne during winter where, among the micro and small turbines considered, the FD2.5-300 and ARE10kW, respectively, would produce the largest amounts of power.

This study investigates the experiences of first year engineering students to a newly implemented engineering problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum at Victoria University; its effects on their approaches to learning and their learning outcomes. This qualitative study, which uses ethnographic approaches for data collection and analysis, focuses on the learning cultures that emerge in multicultural PBL teams by interpreting the responses of students to the new emphasis on autonomous learning. In the first year of the curriculum change in this PBL setting, this research captures and theorises student approaches to learning as a team and their learning outcomes by analysing the ways in which these students approach and direct their learning as individuals and as a team.

New survey data indicate that injection drug users (IDU) in Victoria, BC who share syringes do so with a single person. These partnerships pose an obvious health risk to IDU, as blood borne illnesses are transmitted through the sharing of injection equipment. Here we formulate an ordinary di erential equation (ODE) model of pair formation and separation. Susceptible-infectious (SI) disease dynamics are built into this model so as to describe the syringe-mediated transmission of human immune de ciency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) among IDU. We utilize a novel parameter estimation approach, and t the distribution of partnership durations observed in Victoria. The basic reproduction number is derived, and its qualitative behavior explored with both analytical and numerical techniques.

The biochemical composition of conifer foliage in the Greater Victoria Watershed District (GVWD), Vancouver Island, Canada, was examined using hyperspectral remote sensing data. Imagery acquired from the airborne sensor Advanced Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) was compared to sampled foliar chemical measurements to provide regional maps of biochemical distribution. The biochemical concentrations of nitrogen, chlorophyll and moisture derived from AVIRIS data were analyzed to provide an analysis of the forest canopy, comprised predominantly of Douglas-fir. The AVIRIS data were preprocessed to correct for atmospheric and geometric distortion, degradation, and noise inherent in the data in order to properly represent the forest canopy at the time of image acquisition. The AVIRIS data were used to investigate the relationship between the reflectance, absorbance and derivative values present in the imagery corresponding to the sampled chemical data. A total of 29 plots were used in a partial least squares regression analysis to analyze the relationship between the data sets to extract chemical constituents in the forest canopy. Nitrogen and total chlorophyll models have r2 values of 0.73 and 0.68 respectively. Due to the complexity of moisture interaction with hyperspectral data, regression models were unable to be computed for the AVIRIS data over the GVWD. Regression models were then applied to the entire AVIRIS dataset for regional mapping of the canopy biochemistry. The distribution of nitrogen and total chlorophyll in the forested areas of the GVWD was mapped.

This study explores three separate, but inter-related aspects of residential break and enter. The study, located in the Capital Regional District of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, offers a unique environment for this type of research with its thirteen municipalities, four municipal and one national police force confined geographically by sea on three sides and wilderness on the fourth. The first part of this research identifies spatial and temporal patterns of residential break and enters at the regional level and the municipal level. The results showed that patterns existed at the municipal level, but changed at the regional level. There was evidence that some of the patterns at the municipal level persisted over time. Temporally, break and enter is predominately an afternoon occurrence. No other consistent pattern was found daily, monthly, nor seasonally over the course of the study period. The second part of the study examines police perceptions about the location of residential break and enters high activity areas or 'hot spots'. Police perceptions were compared to actual hot spots to determine the degree of agreement. The research also explored the concordance between police perceptions of hot spot locations. The results indicated that police hot spots did not conform to actual hot spots; furthermore, there was only limited agreement amongst police on hot spot locations. The third part of the study examined burglar's use of space. Burglars were asked a number of questions to establish their geographical knowledge of the region. Information was obtained on the location of their offences, routes taken to offence sites, method of transportation, trip start location, motivation behind the offence, and purpose of the trip. The findings indicate that offenders commit the majority of their crimes within areas they know. The subjects in the study were motivated by the need for money, mainly to purchase drugs. The majority of Offence trips were initiated with the sole purpose of committing a burglary. Most journey to crimes emanated from the offenders' residence. Travel was restricted not so much by distance, instead by their knowledge of the region or by the necessity to obtain money for drugs.

A 616-year Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) chronology was developed to examine the history of drought and moisture variability in the Sooke Watershed, near Victoria, British Columbia. Ring-width chronologies were compared to historical precipitation, air temperature and drought variables (Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) and Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI)) to determine the climate/radial-growth response to moisture stress on the sampled stands. Correlations between the ring-width chronologies and climate variables revealed that May to July precipitation, May-June SPI and July PDSI were significant limiting factors to radial-width growth. A transfer function was established for each of these variables to create a proxy climate reconstruction of drought in the watershed. The summer precipitation model provided the most accurate representation of past moisture variability (R2 = 0.20) and reveals substantial variation in precipitation over the past six centuries. Evidence from the periodicity of the tree-ring record to suggest that some modes of atmospheric circulation are influencing precipitation supply to the watershed.

Wastes generated due to human activities pose a threat to the environment, and their safe and economical disposal is warranted. Landfilling of these wastes is still the most widely practised and viable alternative for their disposal. This is usually accomplished by using engineered waste containment systems in which compacted liners of predominantly clay soils are employed between waste and natural ground to act as barrier to chemical leaching. It follows that the design hydraulic conductivity of the clay is a governing parameter and many environmental regulations require this parameter to be less than 1x10"' m/s. Therefore, the precise assessment of hydraulic conductivity and the compatibility of the liner material with the permeant or leachate encountered, is paramount to ensure the effective performance of the clay liner. This thesis reports the test results of the compatibility and hydraulic conductivity of some Victorian soils used for liner construction.

The World Health Organization and the United Nations state that people normally access water through their place of residence. However, in North America people regularly need access to water services, such as toilets, fountains, or bathing facilities, when not in a private residence. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the current situation of access to water for personal uses for people outside a place of residence as an emergent research topic. To accomplish this, I conducted a literature review and a thematic analysis of nine key-informant interviews with stakeholders in Victoria. Findings from the research reveal that access to water for personal uses is limited in Victoria when outside a place of residence. Furthermore, the consequences and implications of this limitation directly and indirectly influence both individuals and the broader community. Finally, policy recommendations, action responses, and future research directions inform possible responses to address this issue.

Composting of biodegradable waste is an effective means of reducing landfill garbage and improving the state of our environment. The widespread adoption of this behaviour by community members is subject to various social psychological processes. Table top signs outlining a pro-composting injunctive norm, and models demonstrating the behaviour (descriptive norm) were employed in two shopping centre food courts and a fast food restaurant to attempt to increase the use of public compost bins. When diners viewed models composting ahead of them, they were more likely to compost as well. However, the signs had no effect on composting rates, either alone or in combination with the models. Results support the idea that behaving in a pro-environmental manner around others can have an influence on them to behave pro-environmentally as well.

Systems-level homelessness report cards are an intricate part of managing and resolving homelessness within a community. Homelessness report cards can be used to both educate communities around the complexities of homelessness and capture pertinent data required to formulate evidence-based strategies towards ending (rather than managing) homelessness. The process of developing and implementing homelessness report cards can be fraught with challenges relating to: limited resources; fragmented information; and political roadblocks. To help reduce the potential of these roadblocks, a system-level Homelessness Outcome Reporting Normative framework (the “HORN Framework”) was developed. The HORN Framework is based on a literature review and synthesis of the best-practice, systems-level homelessness report card development and implementation methods. The framework was then tested in a case study with the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness (GVCEH), through the creation of their 2010 Greater Victoria Homelessness Report Card. The framework and case study results are presented in this thesis.

The investigations reported in this thesis examined the relationships between biomass reduction (burning and mowing), soil disturbance, soil nutrient levels (N, P and K) and weed invasion in native grassland remnants in Victoria, Australia. The study was carried out at three native grassland remnant sites, Derrimut grassland reserve, Laverton grassland reserve and Victoria University of Technology, St. Albans campus grassland reserve on the westem edge of Melboume, Australia. These grassland remnants belong to the Western Basalt Plains grassland community which is listed as threatened in Victoria, and which forms part of the lowland temperate grasslands which once extended across south eastern Australia. A major threat to the survival of these communities is invasion by a variety of weeds. Weed invasion is often markedly enhanced by disturbance of the soil due to ploughing and overgrazing. It is known that some type of biomass reduction (burning, mowing or grazing) is required to prevent the dominant native perennial tussock grasses from over shadowing the diversity of forbs that grow between the tussocks, but the effects of various biomass reduction methods on weediness, and the underlying causes of weediness, have not been studied in any depth. The outcomes of the investigation are currently being applied to the management and rehabilitation of lowland grassland remnants. Most previous studies of lowland grassland rehabilitation and management have assumed that the key determinant of competition between native and exotic plant species in lowland grasslands is above-ground cover. The results reported in this thesis clearly show that below-ground competition for nutrients is also important in determining the extent of exotic and native plant growth in intact and disturbed areas. The successful establishment of native species during revegetation, with low levels of weed growth, will depend on the extent to which below ground growth of natives is achieved to lower available nutrient levels quickly, and prevent large scale growth of exotics. The management of lowland grassland remnants with low levels of flatweeds and annual grasses will likewise depend on the maintenance of a healthy sward of native vegetation which can keep available nutrients in the soil at low levels, especially when above-ground cover is removed by biomass reduction actions such as burning, mowing and grazing.

Little published information is available on the levels of soil nutrients and soil moisture on remnants of native (Basalt Plains) grasslands. This study investigated the association of soil nutrients and moisture with stands of the native grass Themeda triandra (Kangaroo Grass) and the noxious weed Nassella trichotoma (Serrated Tussock). Both mature and immature (i.e. recently burnt) stands of T. triandra and N. trichotoma were investigated, on disturbed and undisturbed soil.

This study evaluated anticipated changes to quality of life (QoL) from a reduction in private vehicle use, and the impact of social normative information on willingness to change transportation behaviour. Staff and students at the University of Victoria completed transport journals for a month, and participants in the low or high social norm condition received divergent information about the percentage of others who had switched to sustainable commuting. Unexpectedly, message content did not predict behavioural change, but mere receipt of a message, versus the control condition, did predict change. The results suggest that sustainable transport campaigns should highlight others‟ cooperation, regardless of their rate of cooperation, and target commuting behavior. Also, participants expected decreases to individually relevant QoL items and improvements to collectively relevant QoL items under a hypothetical reduction in private vehicle use. The findings may be employed by policy-makers to increase acceptance of transportation policies.

The Western Treatment Plant (WTP), operated by Melbourne Water, is identified as a major contributor of nutrient to Port Phillip Bay, especially in winter. To minimise eutrophication and maximise beneficial uses of the receiving waters of the Bay, the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) of Victoria has issued a more stringent waste discharge licence for WTP. Therefore, Melbourne Water has proposed a number of strategies to improve effluent quality into the bay and meet its new waste discharge licence requirements. These strategies include provision of lagoon treatment followed by grass filtration of all dry weather flows in winter. This thesis presents the results of a project established to determine the waste treatment efficiency, especially for nitrogen removal, and an optimal hydraulic loading rate for the proposed winter grass filtration system when fed with effluent from lagoons at WTP. The project involved hydraulic data acquisition and twice-weekly monitoring of influent, effluent, and wastewater quality within the bays for seven trial Italian Ryegrass filtration bays during a 22-week winter period from May to early October 1997. Four hydraulic loading rates of 20, 30, 40, and 50 mm/day, were used in the trials. There was a significant amount of cross flow between some ofthe grass filtration bays used in the trials. Also, infiltration losses were higher than the values expected on the basis of hydraulic conductivity values from studies conducted on soils in the area of the trials. On average, about 5.8 mm/day of flow was lost through infiltration while the net effects of rainfall and evapotranspiration account for about 1.2 mm/day of losses. The high infiltration losses may be due to the root channelling and cracks in the soil. The trials showed a temporal trend in most of the monitored parameters. Ammonia, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and BOD removals were generally higher during the first half of the trial period, while effluent colour was poorer during the first three and last five weeks of the monitoring period. The relatively higher ammonia and phosphorus removals during the first half of the trials were attributed to higher plant uptake and lower influent mass loading. Although nitrification/denitrification is identified as generally the most important nitrogen transformation and removal mechanism on the bays, its relative importance does not vary significantly with time during the entire grass filtration period. The poor colour levels are due to decaying organic matter left on the bays during present or previous grass filtration treatment. Dissolved oxygen concentration ofthe effluent also showed a temporal trend similar to that observed for ammonia, total nitrogen and phosphorus. This is due to ageing and reduced photosynthetic activity by the Italian Ryegrass, resulting in a lower rate of oxygen production on the bays during the second half of the trials. Apart from the first three weeks of the trials, most of the other effluent parameters generally remained fairly constant throughout the trials.

Within the context of global climate change and soaring energy prices, people are searching for inexpensive and renewable sources of energy; therefore, burning wood for home heating is increasing. Woodsmoke contains substances known to harm human health and is a major contributor to air pollution in many parts of the world; yet there is limited research into the health effects of woodsmoke and existing research suffers from methodological constraints. As a result, there is interest in producing robust woodsmoke exposure estimates for health research and air quality management purposes. Studying health and the environment is inherently spatial; however, research related to air pollution and health tends to be aspatial. As investigators begin to understand the influence of spatial processes on research findings, the importance of adopting a spatial approach to modelling exposure and health risk is becoming apparent. This thesis describes a spatially explicit model for predicting fine particulate matter (PM2.5) attributable to woodsmoke from residential heating in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Spatially resolved measurements of PM2.5 were collected for 32 evenings during the winter heating seasons of 2004/05, 2005/06, 2006/07 using a nephelometer installed in a passenger vehicle. Positional data were collected concurrently using a Global Positioning System (GPS). Levoglucosan, a chemical unique to woodsmoke, was measured to confirm the presence of woodsmoke in the measured PM2.5. The spatial scale for the analysis of woodsmoke data was determined using semivariograms to identify the maximum distance of spatial dependence in the data which typically occurred near 2700m. Different spatial approaches for modelling woodsmoke concentrations were evaluated both qualitatively in terms of transferability, meeting statistical assumptions, and potential for exposure misclassification; and quantitatively to assess the association between the model’s predicted PM2.5 concentrations and observed PM2.5. The baseline model characterized exposure based on the PM2.5 value from the closest fixed monitor (R=0.51, α=0.05). The Krigged model produced a seasonal average surface based on nephelometer measurements and showed the weakest performance (R=0.25, α=0.05). The regression models predicted concentrations of woodsmoke based on predictor variables available from census data, typically used in health research, and spatial property assessment data (SPAD), an underused data source at a finer spatial resolution. Different approaches to regression modelling were investigated. A regression model already developed for Victoria performed the best quantitatively (R=0.84, α=0.05); however, qualitative considerations precluded it from being selected as an appropriate model. A quantitatively (R=0.62, α=0.05) and qualitatively robust regression model was developed using SPAD (M6). SPAD improved the spatial resolution and model performance over census data. Removing spatial and temporal autocorrelation in the data prior to modelling produced the most robust model as opposed to modelling spatial effects post regression. A Bayesian approach to M6 was applied; however, model performance remained unchanged (R=0.62, α=0.05). The spatial distribution of susceptibility to health problems associated with woodsmoke was derived from census data relating to population, age and income. Intersecting the exposure model with population susceptibility in a Geographic Information System (GIS) identified areas at high risk for health effects attributable to woodsmoke.

Cross-linked Polyethylene (XLPE) underground cables are widely used in Victorian power distribution networks due to its lower Dielectric Dissipation Factor (DDF) over Ethylene Propylene Rubber (EPR) cable. Advancement in compounding technology led to the reduction of DDF in some EPR proprietary material. This research investigated the viability of silane-cured low-DDF Tree-Retardant EPR (TR-EPR) cable as an alternative over standard XLPE cable in Victoria. The thermal ageing behaviour of TR-EPR was studied by means of laboratory-based experimentation using accelerated ageing test to observe the time variation of its mechanical properties: tensile strength and elongation at break. Measurements of Partial Discharge (PD) were also conducted prior and after cable heating at service temperature. The results of the thermal ageing test and PD measurements were visually presented through graphs and plots. For the thermal ageing, a theoretical life model was used with the parameters determined using Least Square Regression Method (LSRM). Data from the TR- EPR thermal ageing test were mathematically extrapolated to service temperature through the Arrhenius law to determine the extent of validity of the results. The economic viability of the TR- EPR was also analysed. The results obtained can be utilised by network operators and large industrial companies when designing their underground cable system and taking into consideration the reliability and economy of the power system.

AGL Electricity (AGLE) is one of the four privately owned electricity distribution companies in the Australian State of Victoria. Due to its operations in a regulated environment, AGLE's objective is to meet the distribution network performance standards set by the Victorian government's Essential Services Commission (ESC). Two performance measures are of major importance: average minutes off supply per customer and average number of intermptions per customer. These performance measures are adversely impacted by unplanned outages caused by faults occurring mainly on overhead distribution feeders. To improve these two performance measures, there has been a need to implement a scheme on AGLE's overhead distribution network that would contain long term effects of a fault within the feeder section that directly experienced the fault, leaving the remaining feeder sections and their customers on supply. To achieve this goal a means of fault detection and location, augmented by automatic isolation of the faulty feeder section, is required. To that extent, AGLE was faced with a dilemma presented by typical fault detection and location scheme applications on complex distribution networks, i.e. reliable fault location resolution versus affordable implementation and maintenance costs. This dilemma was resolved through the extensive feasibility study carried out by the author of this thesis.

Introduction of IEC61850 standard for substation automation has envisaged higher efficiencies and reliability in operation of energy management systems (EMS). However, despite its benefits, utility companies are hesitant to adopt and integrate IEC61850 standard because of lack of knowledge and skills among engineers in power supply industry. Under this circumstance Victoria University has been a pioneer to model Victoria University Zone Substation Automation System based on IEC61850 standard which can be a test bench and training facility for people from industry and students in academic. Basically, the focus of this research project is concerned with the design and implementation of a model zone substation automation laboratory based on IEC61850. To simulate a real-world scenario, the model zone substation primary system is designed to match the exact requirements and arrangements as exists in Melbourne-Victoria grid terminal zone substations. Therefore, the Victoria University model Substation Automations Systems (SAS) also included two sub-transmission lines, two distribution transformers, bus couplers and feeders and their protection, control, measuring ang monitoring systems. For this SAS arrangements there are eight protection and control panels have been included to match the real-world scenario. Therefore, protection and control segregation have been designed for Main Protection (X - Protection) using ABB relays and Backup Protection (Y-Protection) using GE relays, and Communication switches, RTU and SCADA also from different venders like ABB, SIEMENS and other, and all of them compatible with the IEC61850 standard. For the designing purpose two stages have been defined; station bus level which includes configuration and communication between Protective Relays from ABB & GE, and stage two is process bus level including IEDs, CBs and Merging Units for sample values (SVs) Measurements. Through this project, interoperability facilities are inherent in IEC61850 communication standard are utilized to communicate and share substation events and reports among protection relays from different manufacturers such as ABB and GE and other. To implement this fundamental aspect of IEC61850 the overall communication system is connected to Ruggedcom switches and configured according to IEC61850 standards, using proprietary software packages and a system configuration (SCL). In fact, the main idea for development of Victoria zone substation laboratory is to provide power engineering students, and industries like utilities for hands on experience such as how to perform tests in IEC61850 functions using various software tools from different manufacturers. The main work for this research project was to identify the current industry requirements for SAS and design and develop a simulation system for the use of academic back ground. Therefore, to fulfil this task successfully my background as SAS design engineer work experiences contributed to a greater extent to design and implementation process of this research project. Moreover, with the extension of the IEC61850 from substation automation level to cover distribution & transmission automation for IEC61850- 9-2 LE. In short, Victoria University’s model zone substation laboratory can be utilized for R&D purposes customizing for any research studies based on IEC61850 communication standard, and given the capabilities offered by IEC61850 standard and limited implementation at substation level, development of a test bench for further utilization of IEC61850 in Power System Automation level is appreciable.

The thalassinidean ghost shrimp, Biffarius arenosus(Decapoda: Callianassidae), is a dominant component of coastal soft sediment communities in temperate south-eastern Australia. This thesis investigated the burrowing and feeding ecology of a population of shrimps inhabiting an intertidal sandflat in Western Port, Victoria.

In recent times, with regards to rural water supplies in Victoria and most other parts of Australia, emphasis is placed more on efficient use of existing water resources than on new resource developments. This is especially true for irrigation systems. This emphasis is mainly due to limited funds available for construction works, lack of suitable hydrologic sites, and the spirited and justifiable lobbying of enviromnental groups against construction of new projects. Hence to meet the increased water demands, efficient operation of existing irrigation systems is required. Recently with the high computational power of personal computers, irrigation scheduling based on an accounting of soil water budget components has become popular around the world. This research project focuses on such irrigation scheduling techniques, with the aim of improving the efficiency of water use, thus leading to conservation of water resources.

Floods are one of the most costly types of natural disasters in Australia and other parts of the world. It was reported that the average annual cost of flood damage in Australia was about $300 million as at 1994. However, the effects of flooding can be mitigated, and thereby reduce the loss of life and damage to property. Flood mitigation measures can be categorised into two groups. The first group, the structural measures, involves civil works in the flood plain and/or catchment. The second group, the non-structural measures, includes flood forecasting, flood warning and emergency planning, planning controls and acquisition of flood prone land within the catchment, and providing flood insurance to affected people. The flood damage mitigation in the catchment or basin depends on complex social, economical and environmental conditions. It is not always feasible to completely control or manage flood damage through structural measures due to economic, technological, environmental and social constraints. Therefore, non-structural measures such as flood forecasting and warning often play an important role in minimizing flood damage, especially, when there are no feasible structural measures that can be implemented. While planning, design, construction and operation of most structural measures can be done using definite mechanisms, the decisions of non-structural measures, especially flood forecasting and warning, are complex and are not uniquely defined. Therefore, such decisions require the aid of mathematical model results, and require both quantitative and qualitative decision modelling steps. Thus, these decisions can be effectively obtained through the use of a Decision Support System. The Decision Support Systems (DSSs) have recently become popular in making decisions related to complex water resource problems. However, the design and the development of some of these applications do not contain all essential elements of a modern-day DSS, such as effective databases and file management facilities, user-friendly interfaces, appropriate simulation models, spatial and graphical data display and analysis modules, and facilities for effective decision making. Moreover, the theory of DSS and computer science has developed rapidly since the initial development of some of these applications. Furthermore, only a few applications of DSS in flood control and warning exists in the literature. These applications cited in the literature mostly deal with planning aspects of flood control, and not real-time flood forecasting and warning. Therefore, considering the above facts, it is timely and necessary to develop an effective DSS to facilitate decision making of flood warning using all recent advances in DSS theory and computer science, and combining all necessary and desirable elements of a DSS into one system. The Maribyrnong River basin is a medium size catchment located in the northwest of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. Its low-lying flood plains along the lower sections of the river have been frequently being inundated by floods. A flood warning system has been established in 1975 after a major flood in 1974 to minimise flood damage in the lower part of the catchment. This system uses several numerical models such as the RORB model and the HEC-2 model for flood forecasting. However, there is no single computer-based system that integrates these models to facilitate analysis of different scenarios in controlling and managing the flood damage, and in making objective and effective decisions. Furthermore, the use of these separate models is time consuming and can lead to errors in transferring information from one model to another. Therefore, a computer-based DSS for flood forecasting and warning in the Maribyrnong River basin would enhance the effectiveness of flood warning in this catchment. As part of this research, the author has defined the DSS as an interactive computer-based system that helps decision-makers to use data and models to solve semi-structured problems effectively. This DSS should allow the user to participate in principal steps of the decision making process, to simulate many steps in the process of decision making, to investigate alternative scenarios, to seek the overall goal for decision, and to improve the effectiveness of decision making. The author also suggested a DSS in water resources, which in most cases deals with spatial data display and analysis, should include five essential components: a database subsystem, a modelbase subsystem, an interface subsystem, a decision support subsystem, and a spatial and graphic data display and analysis subsystem. Most previous research work on DSS development, especially in the area of water resources do not give details of the conceptual system design and details of the subsystems. This thesis provides the details of the conceptual system designs of all subsystems and their major functions. These approaches will help further system development of the DSS of this thesis. The general concept used in this thesis can be used for DSS studies in other water resource studies and in other fields. Based on well-designed system, a unique decision support system, DSSFCMR (Decision Support System for Flood Control in the Maribyrnong River basin) was developed in this thesis to help decision making in flood forecasting and warning from data entry to search of final decisions. The DSSFCMR consists of five subsystems, namely Database Management System (DBMS), Modelbase, Spatial and Graphic Data Display and Analysis (SGDDA), Decision Support, and Interface. The DSSFCMR can consider various forecast rainfall depths in three different forecast periods. The developed Database subsystem can perform various tasks for database management related to flood warning. The URBS hydrological and HEC-RAS hydraulic models in the Modelbase subsystem are used to calculate flood hygrographs and corresponding flood water levels along the flood prone area respectively. Based on the calculated water levels, the shapefile for flood inundated area is instantly created, which is then used for spatial analysis of the flood inundated area through the developed interactive map interface. Two separate methods were developed in the SGDDA subsystem to perform spatial data display and analysis of the flood inundated area for use by different users (with different computer skills) and/or for organizations with different levels of resources. The process of complicated data transfer within DSSFCMR (e.g. the peak discharge to the flood water level, then flood water level to the shapefile of flood area) is automated by the developed system functions. The technology developed for decision choice support in this study helps to locate the required scenarios from many scenario results using the database technology. All functions are properly integrated together for the benefit of the user to make the decisions effectively. The use of DSSFCMR to provide decision support for flood forecasting and warning in the Maribyrnong River basin was illustrated. The application was on the flood event that occurred on 04 October 1983, but under 1997 topographical conditions. Essentially, the application concentrated on flood forecasting and warning decisions at a particular time during the event. The system effectively performed calibration of the URBS and HEC-RAS models, forecasting of flood hydrographs, calculation of flood water levels, spatial data display of flood inundated areas and decision selection support for flood warning at this particular time. Generally, the developed system DSSFCMR can efficiently forecast flood hydrographs and calculate the flood water levels; the process of complex data transfer is done automatically and quickly; the data can be displayed flexibly in various formats; the system is easy to use by different users with different computer skills; the user can use DSSFCMR to investigate decision making variables related to flood warning (e.g. people relocation) conveniently and quickly. In summary, this system helps the decision maker to make the decisions in relation to flood forecasting and warning in the Maribyrnong River basin effectively.

As power industry enters the new century, powerful driving forces, uncertainties and new functions are compelling electric utilities to make dramatic changes in their information communication infrastructure. Expanding network services such as real time measurement and monitoring are also driving the need for more bandwidth in the communication network and reliable communication infrastructure. These needs will grow further as new remote real-time protection and control applications become more feasible and pervasive. Information embedded power system via wide area network (IEPS-W) is the solution to accommodate the growing demand of wide area monitoring, protection and control. IEPS-W is an extension of traditional power systems with added monitoring, control and telecommunications facilities. Various power system communication protocols are being used within IEPS-W to transmit critical data in real time along with decades old Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System (SCADA). Most of the protocol in used are not originally developed to use in wide area computer network (WACN) environment. However, protocol developers upgrade their protocols and use it in WACN. This requires experimental investigation of various power system communication protocols before employing it on the power grid. An experimental platform was set up at Victorian Network Switching Centre owned by SP AusNet PTY LTD (an Australian Transmission and Distribution company based in Victoria) in order to experimentally analyse the performance characteristic of Distributed Network Protocol (DNP3) over wide area network (WAN). In this experiment, real time data were sent from Intelligent Electronic Devices to utility control center using WAN. Experimental work reveal that measurement delays associated with DNP3 over WAN is high, as this type of network is much more complex due to the added complexities of routing and switching. This requires further development of DNP3 protocol to be reliably used in IEPS-W. Hence, DNP3 was further developed using Optimized Network Engineering Tools (OPNET). OPNET is the industry‘s leading simulator specialized for network research and development. Finally, a new protocol has been developed based on DNP3 protocol to reliably and securely transmit power system data for IEPS-W.

The phylogeny of typical spider orchid (Caladenia subgenus Calonema) is investigated for the first time. The analyses were performed using 17 RAPD and 10 ISSR primers on 30 taxa representing the three spider orchid groups (the dilatata, patersonii and reticulata groups) yielding 135 RAPD and 63 ISSR polymorphic markers. The average number of polymorphic markers produced from 17 RAPD and 10 ISSR primers were 5.12 and 4.48, respectively. 76 RAPD markers and 38 ISSR markers were polymorphic within spider orchid species. The highest number of amplified DNA fragments were produced from OPE15 (8.77 fragments) and UBC 842 (6.71 fragments) while OPF04 (2.93 fragments) and UBC 825 (3.02 fragments) gave the smallest number of amplification products. The average Dice genetic similarity of pairs of individuals within a species ranged from 0.772 to 0.939 based on RAPD and from 0.770 to 0.976 for ISSR data.

Water grids are a diverse and interconnected water supply systems that are emerging in response to the pressures of climate variability, climate change, and population growth. Water grid operation is guided by operating rules, which aim to manage supply and demand to meet multiple management criteria such as maximising water security, minimising operational cost, and minimising energy use. However, the diversity and interconnectedness of these water grids increases the number of possible configurations of the operating rules, and combined with uncertainty in forecast conditions, makes find optimal operating rules more challenging. Further, trade-offs between the criteria mean that multiple sets of operating rules can be considered optimal. Thus, this thesis proposes and demonstrates a framework of methods to meet these challenges and identify a set of optimal operating rules to support short-term – 1 to 5 year – operational planning of water grids.