Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Experimental geography'
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Jellis, Thomas. "Reclaiming experiment : geographies of experiment and experimental geographies." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2013. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:39de7269-7ddf-4aaa-a4a1-ae6ad9ed17bb.
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This thesis investigates the injunction to experiment in the social sciences and, more specifically, geography. This is both a geography of certain ways of thinking experiment, and an exploration of how particular strands of geographical thinking are being re-imagined and reworked as experimental under the influence of ideas and practices from within and beyond the discipline. Against the backdrop of recent debates about the status of experiment, it poses a number of key questions about what it means to be experimental, how experimental practices emerge and travel, and how these processes are inflected by the organization and atmospheres of particular sites of experimentation. These questions are addressed through a form of attentive participation at four key sites: The SenseLab and the Topological Media Lab in Montreal, the Institut für Raumexperimente in Berlin, and FoAM in Brussels. Based upon these encounters, and drawing upon the work of a range of exemplary experimentalists, the thesis develops the argument that there are new spaces of experiment which are worthy of such examination as part of a renewal of experimentation within geographical thinking. As such, the thesis outlines the logics of these forms of experiment and proposes the notion of ecologies of experiment. It also speculates on the possibilities for re-imagining what constitutes a geographical experiment, foregrounding the necessity of reactivating experiment as an ongoing ethos that needs careful cultivation and tending.
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Mercer, Theresa. "An experimental study of the environmental impacts of CCA-treated wood waste land application." Thesis, University of Hull, 2010. http://hydra.hull.ac.uk/resources/hull:2683.
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Chromated copper arsenate (CCA) has been the most commonly used wood preservative in the UK; up until its partial ban in 2004. The preservative prolongs the service life of wood by 20-50 years by making it resistant to biological attack. As such, in-service CCA treated wood is expected to be a major component of the UK wood waste stream in the future. Concerns over the impact of the chemical constituents of this treatment on both the environment and human health have prompted the introduction of legislation to ensure that such waste is disposed of safely in Hazardous Waste Landfills. Despite this, studies have shown that this waste can still enter into the landscape mulch market due to inadequate detection methods and increasing societal pressures to recycle. A series of laboratory and field-based simulations were used to quantify leaching of copper, chromium and arsenic from CCA-treated wood waste mulch and evaluate the factors involved in promoting leaching. The distribution and behaviour of the metals in the soil column and leachate were also assessed. The samples generated in the study were analysed for a range of physico-chemical measurements, elemental and speciation concentrations. Results show that arsenic, chromium and copper leaches from CCA waste wood; at times to levels exceeding regulatory thresholds by two to three orders of magnitude. Furthermore, the more toxic and mobile species of arsenic (As III) and chromium (Cr VI) were detected in both soil and leachate samples. A mass balance was produced which demonstrated that CCA wood tends to leach on initial exposure to a leachant and also during weathering of the wood. When in contact with soil, metal(loid) transport is reduced due to complexation reactions. With higher water application or where the adsorption capacity of the soil is exceeded, the metal(loid)s are transported through the soil column as leachate. Overall, there was a loss of metal(loid)s from the system that could be due to loss of water, volatilisation of arsenic and plant uptake. Due to the toxicity and concentration levels of the leached elements identified in the current study, it is apparent that adverse environmental and human health impacts may result from direct and indirect exposure to the environmental media.
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Ryves, David Bruno. "Diatom dissolution in saline lake sediments : an experimental study in the Great Plains of North America." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 1994. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1317542/.
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Environmental reconstructions are limited by the quality of the original data from which they are derived. In situations where microfossils are poorly preserved problems may arise, both through taxonomic uncertainty and more subtly from the alteration of the death assemblage as a result of the differential robustness of species. Diatom dissolution tends to be a particular problem in saline lakes. Laboratory-based dissolution experiments on fresh, modern diatoms collected from lakes in North and South Dakota and Saskatchewan were carried out to establish the abundance and composition changes of assemblages as dissolution progressed. Analysis of experimental results demonstrates that species exhibit regular dissolution relationships and can be ranked according to susceptibility to dissolution. Changes in valve morphology for selected key taxa were categorised under scanning electron and light microscopy into 'dissolution stages'. These data provide the basis for developing dissolution indices for individual taxa and assemblages, which can be related to absolute abundance changes of diatom valves. Experimental data were applied to two separate weighted averaging (WA) transfer functions to predict measured dissolution parameters (such as dissolved silica) and to a salinity transfer function developed from the Northern Great Plains. In the former case, models incorporating dissolution stage counting were more accurate and robust (as validated by jackknifing). Species and samples were downweighted according to species robustness (dissolution rank) within the WA transfer function. Downweighting either, or both, species and samples in the transfer function algorithm lead to minor improvements in model performance in terms of both r2 and standard error (as RMSE), despite incomplete coverage of species. A short core from Spiritwood Lake, North Dakota, was used to test the differences variable weighting had on reconstructed salinity. Results suggest Spiritwood Lake is only responsive to more extreme climatic events, and has remained fresh (<0.5g/l TDS) or subsaline (0.5-<3g/l TDS) throughout the last 150 years. The approach of variable sample and species weighting to the rest of the NGP surface sediment assemblage training set may improve the model further, which could be tested at sites with an historical record of salinity.
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Gill, Graham Anthony. "An experimental investigation into the design and perception of line symbol series on route planning maps." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 1986. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.280792.
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Clarke, Shawne Arianne. "An experimental study on the influence of climatic fluctuations on solifluction, Fosheim Peninsula, Ellesmere Island, Northwest Territories." Thesis, University of Ottawa (Canada), 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/4538.
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A field experiment, involving direct manipulation of surface microclimate, was undertaken in the continuous permafrost zone to examine the influence of climatic fluctuations on solifluction rates and movements throughout the active layer. Movements and soil temperature were measured continuously from 1993-1997 using five electro-mechanical meters and thermocouple cables on an 8$\sp\circ$ colluvial slope in Hot Weather Creek valley, Ellesmere Island. Natural variation of movement among the years and the meters was measured until summer of 1996 when surface climatic treatments (surface warming, wetting, a combination of these two, and cooling) were performed. The longer-term effects of the treatments were monitored until August 1997. Near-surface measurements alone do not provide an accurate picture of solifluction in areas with two-sided freezing ("cold" permafrost) because there can be substantial variation in movement rates at depth. In addition, multi-year average rates potentially hide a considerable range of annual variability and do not allow for the examination of a relationship between climatic fluctuations and annual movement. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
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Shad, Tabasam Jamal. "Geographical science and the Holy Qur'an : an experimental study of physical and agricultural geography in the Holy Qur'an." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 1997. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.301342.
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Susino, George James. "Microdebitage and the Archaeology of Rock Art: an experimental approach." University of Sydney. School of Geosciences, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/606.
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The search for a reliable and non-invasive technique for the dating of rock art has produced an array of different, localised, and limited techniques. This is one of them. Still in its experimental stage, the recognition of quartz microdebitage produced by the pecking of engravings is the aim of this project. This investigation aims to establish whether microdebitage from rock engravings can be distinguished from other sediments. Analysis of microdebitage from rock engraving experiments was used to determine the difference between experimental and naturally derived particles. This research discusses methodology, and applications for the recognition of quartz grain features, derived from experimental and natural material from Mutawintji National Park (Broken Hill, NSW, Australia) and the Sydney region (NSW Australia). A three-step process was devised for this research: What features occur on non-cultural quartz grains? What features occur on rock engraving quartz grains? Are they different? Can rock engraving quartz microdebitage be identified under natural conditions? Microdebitage from rock engravings was examined using optical and scanning electron microscopy to identify diagnostic attributes, with the objective of assessing the potential of microdebitage for spatial and temporal archaeological investigation. Characteristics of the quartz grains in the microdebitage were compared with quartz from differing environments. The observation of diagnostic features on quartz grains made it possible to discriminate between microdebitage from rock engravings and the natural soil background. This knowledge may be applied to excavated material from archaeological sites, for identifying episodes of rock engraving and other lithic activity in temporal relation to other evidence of cultural activity.
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Busson, Henri. "Four essays on location choice : theoretical and experimental studies." Thesis, Rennes 1, 2015. http://www.theses.fr/2015REN1G019.
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Les choix de localisation des ménages conduisent à divers problèmes tels que la ségrégation entre ménages riches et ménages pauvres et à des inégalités spatiales entre les régions. Cette thèse étudie ces phénomènes à l'aide de modèles théoriques et d'expériences menées en laboratoire. Pour commencer, une expérience dont l’objectif est d’analyser les conditions sous lesquelles est réalisée pour voir sous quelles conditions différentes structures urbaines peuvent être obtenues. En effet, aux Etats-Unis, les riches sont majoritairement en banlieue et les pauvres en centre-ville alors que l'opposé est observé dans les grandes villes européennes. Il apparait que le ratio « coût d'opportunité du temps/la demande de logements » est un facteur essentiel pour expliquer ces types de structure. Ensuite, une étude théorique est menée pour obtenir des structures de villes plus complexes, où les riches et les pauvres sont beaucoup moins en situation de ségrégation. La théorie montre que les politiques publiques peuvent donner des résultats très différents. Puis, nous étudions la répartition du capital humain entre les régions. Dans les pays où elle est inégale, on observe une croissance trop faible dans les régions pauvres et une augmentation des inégalités spatiales. Pour combattre ces inégalités, il est montré qu'il est possible de faire revenir les travailleurs qualifiés dans les régions pauvres car il existe des complémentarités avec les travailleurs non qualifiés. Des études ont montré que ces derniers augmentent la productivité des travailleurs qualifiés. Enfin, une étude expérimentale est faite pour étudier les choix de consommation. Nous testons l’hypothèse de l'existence d'un consommateur représentatif souvent faite en Nouvelle Economie Géographique. Il en ressort que les modèles existant ne prennent pas assez en compte l’hétérogénéité des goûts des consommateursSeveral problems such as spatial inequalities between regions and spatial segregation within cities arise from households’ location choices. The purpose of this dissertation is to address these problems with theoretical and experimental studies. To begin, a laboratory experiment has been conducted in order to understand under which conditions different urban structures emerge. Indeed, in the U.S., spatial segregation occurs and the richer households are located in the suburbs while the poor ones are located downtown. The opposite pattern is observed in several major European cities. It appears in our study that the ratio ‘transportation costs/demand for land’ is a key factor for explaining these two types of segregation. Then, a theoretical model is used to reproduce several types of urban structures, where poor and rich households are located in the same neighborhoods. The theory predicts that policy interventions can lead to very different outcome. Then, the spatial distribution of human capital among regions is studied. Because skilled workers are mainly attracted toward wealthier regions, economic growth is lower in the poorer regions and spatial inequalities increase. The theoretical model predicts that it is possible to bring back the skilled workers in poor regions because there exists complementarities between skilled and unskilled workers. Indeed, the presence of unskilled workers enhances skilled workers' productivity, making their return more profitable. To finish, a laboratory experiment has been conducted to study consumers' behavior. Because in New Economic Geography models, the existence of a representative consumer is often assumed. The relevance of this hypothesis is tested. It appears that the existing models do not take enough into account heterogeneity in tastes among the consumers
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Kaurivi, Jorry. "Mapping the spatial and temporal dynamics of the velvet mesquite with MODIS and AVIRIS: Case study at the Santa Rita Experimental Range." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/280711.
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The general objective of this research is to develop a methodology that will allow mapping and quantifying shrub encroachment with remote sensing. The multitemporal properties of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) -250m, 16-day vegetation index products were combined with the hyperspectral and high spatial resolution (3.6m) computation of the Airborne Visible-Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) to detect the dynamics of mesquite and grass/soil matrix at two sites of high (19.5%) and low (5.7%) mesquite cover in the Santa Rita Experimental Range (SRER). MODIS results showed separability between grassland and mesquite based on phenology. Mesquite landscapes had longer green peak starting in April through February, while the grassland only peaked during the monsoon season (July through October). AVIRIS revealed spectral separability, but high variation in the data implicated high heterogeneity in the landscape. Nonetheless, the methodology for larger data was developed in this study and combines ground, air and satellite data.
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Knight, Deborah Frances. "Geographic enchantments : the trickster and crone in contemporary fairy tales and storytelling." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10036/4195.
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Fairy tales are enchanting geographical stories, which affectively organize space-time in socially, politically, and ethically significant ways. Despite this, fairy tales have been neglected in the discipline of geography, and the inter-discipline of fairy tale studies has rarely interrogated the spatialities of tales, or of storytelling more widely. This thesis addresses this lacuna by theorizing the relationship between fairy tales, storytelling, and geography through the subversive folkloric figures of the trickster and crone. It posits, first, that we understand fairy tales as iterative stories that constitute mythic communities; and second, that trickster and crone figures are enchanting territorializing and deterritorializing refrains that subvert this mythic community. These two concerns are explored through Nolan’s (2008) Batman film The Dark Knight, and Maitland’s (2009) short story Moss Witch. An experimental research approach provides insight into these ‘worldly,’ enchanting, and symbolically rich stories, without sacrificing their liveliness or ‘systematizing’ them for ideological gain. The research begins with an interpretive textual analysis to address the symbolic traditions of the fairy tale refrains. Collage enables a ‘retelling’ of the stories as materially and visually expressive media. Genealogical analysis traces the material-discursive matterings of the geographical refrains within academic ‘storytelling.’ These combined approaches ‘story’ the trickster and crone as spatial patterns with affective force. Trickster refrains are animating forces of destruction and chaos. They shift between the centre and periphery of mythic community, violently overturn its seemingly ordered realities, and unfold insecure and profane in-between places, where (human) community can no longer be sustained. The crone refrain enacts a ‘wilding’ in fairy tales, entangling the civilized, storied human polis (or culture more generally) with the nonhuman ‘environment,’ and undermining both relational accounts of being and more romantic discourses of dwelling. Going forward, continued engagement with this nexus of geography, storytelling, and fairy tales promises to enrich our multidisciplinary endeavours, highlight our theoretical ‘matterings’ of fairy tales, and enable more responsible engagement with these endlessly enchanting stories.
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Martin, Elandriel Jean. "The X-33 and the X-38 experimental aircraft: environmental connections with aerospace science." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2001. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/2030.
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The purpose of this project fosters in students a sense of place and connection with their home area. It also provides students a real-world basis upon which to study the concepts of weather and geography.
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Barja, Yáñez Miguel Ángel. "On the Slope and Geography of Fibred Surfaces and Threefolds." Doctoral thesis, Universitat de Barcelona, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/655.
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In this tesis we study numerical propieties of surfaces and threefolds, mainly fibred over curves, the so called "slope" of the fibration. We prove partially a conjecture of Fujita on the semiampleness of the direct image of the relative dualizing sheaf of a fibration.We give new lower bounds of the slope of a fibred surface depending on data of the general fibre (existence of involutions) and on data of the hole surface (the fibration not being the Albanese morphism, for example).
We study the case of threefolds over curves. We prove that, in general, the relative algebraic Euler characteristic is nonnegative and give lower bound for the slope. We classify the lowest cases of the invariants.
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Drevet-Démettre, Lucie-Emmanuelle. "Quand l'aéroport devient ville : géographie d'une infrastructure paradoxale." Thesis, Bordeaux 3, 2015. http://www.theses.fr/2015BOR30028/document.
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L’aéroport est un objet géographique protéiforme, caractérisé par son « obsolescence accélérée » (BANHAM, 1962). Depuis les années 1990, son ultime mutation s’articule autour d’un processus de diversification fonctionnelle engendré par l’injection d’activités nouvelles, parfois éloignées du transport aérien, dans l’objectif d’accroître les profits et la rentabilité de l’infrastructure dans un contexte de privatisation généralisée. Cette évolution concerne les plus grands hubs mondiaux, notamment Paris-CDG, quatrième aéroport du monde selon le trafic passagers international. Cette tendance, qui a donné naissance au concept opérationnel d’airport city, tel qu’il est désigné par les observateurs et opérateurs anglo-saxons, attise doublement la curiosité géographique. En premier lieu, parce qu’elle interroge la fonction première de l’infrastructure de transport qu’est l’aéroport, qui devient alors un objet spatial non identifié qu’il convient de redéfinir. En second lieu, parce que cette désignation d’airport city, traduite par les opérateurs francophones par ville aéroportuaire, interroge la ville et surtout ce qui fait la ville dans ses dimensions matérielle et idéelle, c’est-à-dire l’urbanité et la citadinité. Suffit-il d’injecter des fonctions urbaines dans un espace pour en faire de la ville ? La ville aéroportuaire n’est-elle qu’une ville fonctionnelle ? En s’efforçant d’évaluer la pertinence géographique de la notion d’airport city, cette thèse impose de faire de l’urbanité et de la citadinité des concepts opératoires afin de les confronter au terrain aéroportuaire. Elle s’efforce également de replacer l’aéroport au centre de l’étude géographique en proposant un ajustement de l’échelle d’observation à l’ensemble de la zone aéroportuaire, évitant ainsi la synecdoque particularisante réduisant l’aéroport au terminal. Dans l’évaluation de la citadinité, elle a également pour objectif de saisir les spatialités de l’ensemble de la société aéroportuaire (passagers, employés, accompagnants, SDF, etc.)Airports are protean geographical objects characterized by their « accelerated obsolescence » (BANHAM, 1962). Since the 1990s, their final transformation has been structured around a process of functional diversification engendered by new activities, which are sometimes very different from air transport, in order to increase the infrastructures’ profits and profitability in a context of widespread privatization. The world’s largest hub airports are concerned by this evolution, especially the Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle airport, the world’s fourth busiest airport by international passenger traffic. This trend, which has given birth to the operational concept of airport city, as the Anglo-Saxon operators and observers call it, stirs up the geographical curiosity in two ways. Firstly, it questions the primary function of airports, which become unidentified spatial objects that need to be redefined. Secondly, the concept of airport city questions the city itself. Indeed, what makes a city a city on a material (urbanity) and conceptual (“citadinity”) level? Can a space with urban functions be considered as a city? Is the airport city only a functional city? By assessing the geographical relevance of the concept of airport city, this thesis aims at making the concepts of urbanity and “citadinity” operational concepts, so as to compare them with the airport ground. By adjusting the observation scale to the whole airport area, it also replaces the airport at the centre of the geographical study. Thus, the airport is not simply viewed as a terminal. Finally, this thesis aims at understanding the whole airport society’s spatiality (passengers, employees, accompanying people, homeless people…) by assessing the concept of “citadinity"
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Serrano, Tovar Tarik. "Spatial analysis in MuSIASEM. The use of geographic information systems and land use applied to the integrated analysis of rural systems' metabolism." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/286179.
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Esta tesis doctoral trata sobre explorar y desarrollar procedimientos para poder incorporar herramientas de análisis espacial, y en concreto Sistemas de Información Geográfica (SIG o GIS en sus siglas en inglés), en una de las aproximaciones posiblemente más interesantes para estudiar temas de sostenibilidad: el Análisis Integrado Multi-Escala del Metabolismo de las Sociedades y Ecosistemas (MuSIASEM en sus siglas en inglés). En particular, estamos ante un ejercicio metodológico con el propósito de desarrollar, ensayar y proponer herramientas que puedan ser utilizadas para la evaluación integrada de la sostenibilidad de sistemas socio-ecológicos, y en concreto de sistemas rurales.
Así pues, esta tesis combina discusiones a nivel teórico con casos de estudio prácticos. El desarrollo de una metodología robusta ha supuesto tratar con teorías sobre complejidad, mientras que las pruebas y calibraciones de los métodos resultantes requerían trabajo empírico con casos prácticos reales. Así pues, esta tesis se desenvuelve a través de tres partes principales: una primera parte introductoria que desarrolla la teoría, una segunda parte con tres casos de estudio y una tercera parte con reflexiones sobre las lecciones aprendidas respecto a la metodología.
La primera parte está dividida en tres capítulos donde primero realizo una introducción general al contexto en que se basa y motiva esta tesis, un segundo capítulo en el cual explico la aproximación MuSIASEM, sus teorías de fondo y en donde justifico la elección del uso de esta aproximación frente a otras, y un tercer capítulo donde desarrollo la teoría y metodología general para analizar sistemas rurales probadas en la segunda parte. La segunda parte de la tesis contiene el núcleo de esta investigación aplicada; los tres casos de estudio. La primera aplicación se trata de un caso de estudio del Laos rural, donde desarrollo un sistema de contabilidad capaz de mover la información cuantitativa sobre el funcionamiento metabólico de ciertas tipologías de sistemas agrícolas a través de niveles y escalas, basándome en la información sobre uso del suelo y SIG. Este método cuantitativo puede escalar hacia arriba y hacia abajo la caracterización de elementos definidos a diferentes niveles jerárquicos de organización, los cuales pueden ser solo percibidos y representados en dominios descriptivos no equivalentes. El segundo caso de estudio fue realizado en Guatemala e incluyó trabajo de campo empírico. Allí, establecí un procedimiento para generar información geográfica a nivel local para ser utilizado en el análisis metabólico del sistema, para luego poder simular escenarios teniendo en cuenta los limitantes impuestos por la geografía de la zona. El tercer caso de estudio es más complejo, pues se trata de un análisis de la Isla de Mauricio, en el cual se integran muchas dimensiones y escalas (energía, alimentos, agua, dinero, uso del suelo, actividad humana), y se generan y analizan datos a través del uso de SIG y teledetección para simular posibles escenarios de desarrollo.
La parte final de la tesis desarrolla primero algunas reflexiones sobre el ámbito particular de esta tesis (el uso de SIG en MuSIASEM), y por último un capítulo concluyendo con algunas observaciones teóricas.This doctoral dissertation is about exploring and developing procedures making it possible to incorporate spatial analytical tools, and more concretely Geographic Information Systems (GIS), into one of the most interesting approaches to study sustainability issues: the Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM). In particular, this is a methodological exercise having the goal to develop, test and propose tools that can be used for the integrated assessment of the sustainability of socio-ecological systems, and more specifically rural systems. Therefore, this thesis combines both theoretical discussions and practical case studies. The development of a robust methodology required dealing with the theory of complexity, whereas the test and calibration of the resulting methods required ground-based with empirical work. Thus, the dissertation goes through three main parts: an introductory part developing the theory, a second part with the three case studies and a third part with the conclusive reflections on the lessons learned about the methodology. The first part is divided in three chapters where I firstly make a general introduction to the context motivating this thesis, a second chapter in which I explain the MuSIASEM approach, the background theories and I justify why I have chosen this approach rather than others, and a third chapter where I develop the general theory and methodology to analyse rural systems tested in the second part. The second part of this dissertation contains the core of the applied research; the three case studies. The first application is a case study of rural Laos, where I develop a system of accounting capable of handling the quantitative information about the metabolic performance of typologies of farming systems across levels and scales based in the land use and GIS information. This quantitative method can scale-up and scale-down the characterization of elements defined on different hierarchical levels of organization, which can only be perceived and represented on non-equivalent descriptive domains. The second case study was undertaken in Guatemala and it included empirical field work. There, I established a procedure to generate geographic information at local level to be used for the metabolic analysis of the system, in order to later simulate scenarios taking into account geographic constraints. The third case study is more complex, it is an analysis of Mauritius Island integrating many dimensions and scales (energy, food, water, money, land use, human activity) and handling data through the use of GIS and remote sensing to simulate possible scenarios of development. The final part of the dissertation develops some reflections about the particular scope of this thesis (the use of GIS in MuSIASEM), and a last chapter of concluding theoretical remarks.
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Engelmann, Sasha. "The cosmological aesthetics of Tomás Saraceno's atmospheric experiments." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2017. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:481978b1-eb92-4fa9-a514-2bcbbfdd7612.
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This dissertation proposes cosmological aesthetics as a critique of and contribution to geologic, geomorphic and geographical aesthetics. This argument is developed in the context of human geographers' growing interests in the dark, imperceptible and unknown forces and fields of Earth and the cosmos. Attention to such cosmic phenomena amplifies the porosity of distinctions between humans, nonhumans and matter; therefore we require an aesthetic theory at the limits of sensing. In developing this aesthetics, this dissertation draws conceptual support in particular from the non-anthropocentric philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead and from Isabelle Stengers' "ecologies of practice". At the same time, the elaboration of cosmological aesthetics emerges from a site-based creative ethnography of Studio Tomás Saraceno in Berlin, and more specifically, from a series of experiments in transdiciplinary collaboration, writing and teaching with Tomás Saraceno. This dissertation interrogates how the surfaces, webs, envelopes and interstices populating and propagating in Saraceno's artwork affect the transmission and distribution of sensation across spaces and scales: in short, how these forms become technologies of cosmo-aesthetic adventure. By engaging with Saraceno's art projects, from On Space Time Foam to hybrid webs and the Aerocene, and by participating in the atmospheric experiments of aerosolar sculptures, this dissertation articulates two core propositions of cosmological aesthetics: first, that aesthetic experience can create tangible, sensible relations with contexts that are far removed, or much wider than, the particular conditions in which we experiment. And second: such adventures in aesthetics emerge from practices bound together by the forces of obligation, attachment and crucially, imagination. Employing foremost the device of the web, cosmological aesthetics explores propositions for bodies to be creatively extended in a vast and vibrating cosmos.
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Coch, Caroline. "Pathways and Transit Time of Meltwater in the Englacial Drainage System of Rabots Glacier, Kebnekaise, Sweden." Thesis, Stockholms universitet, Institutionen för naturgeografi, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-116256.
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Following the crash of a Norwegian Hercules aircraft on Rabots glaciär in the Kebnekaise mountain range in 2012, a field campaign was initiated in order to assess the fate of the hydrocarbon pollution in the system. It is hypothesized that soluble components of the aircraft fuel will be transported within the glacial meltwater. This thesis focuses on constraining the likely transit time and dispersion of the meltwater as a proxy for potential pollution pathways. Therefore, the hydrologic configuration of Rabots glaciär was studied during the ablation season 2013 by means of dye tracing experiments and discharge monitoring in the proglacial stream. The analyses of the dye return curves and stream monitoring suggest that Rabots glaciär exhibits a widely efficient drainage system towards the end of the ablation season, but with analyses revealing heterogeneity in the drainage system form. The seasonal evolution of efficiency was also assessed, showing an increase over time, although was hampered by early onset of melting before the field season began. There are different hydrological configurations on the north and south side of the glacier, possibly influenced by shading. The system on the north side is routing meltwater along the glacier bed over a long distance as indicated by the turbid outlet stream. Water routing on the southern side likely occurs through englacial channels. This configuration may be influenced by the thermal regime and distribution of cold surface layers. It has further been revealed that both systems are likely to be disconnected from each other. Pollution that is transported with the meltwater down from the crash site on the southern side does not reach the drainage system on the northern side. Besides revealing potential pathways for soluble hydrocarbon pollutants, this case study contributes to the previously very limited knowledge of Rabots glacial hydrology, and our general understanding of polythermal glacier hydrology.
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Netterberg, Max, and Simon Wahlström. "I valet och kvalet : Hur den geografiska kunskapen påverkar ditt livsmedelsval." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Kulturgeografiska institutionen, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-415352.
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Vid inhandling av livsmedel är det lätt att frångå vetskapen om hur en produkt gått från jord till butikshylla. Genom att undersöka geografiska hållbarhetsfaktorer av ett antal livsmedelsprodukter och därefter genomföra ett butiksexperiment har denna studie undersökt i vilken grad ytterligare information angående hållbarhetsfaktorer kan få konsumenter att handla mer hållbart. Kvantitativ experimentdata stöds av kvalitativa semi-strukturerade intervjuer med tio respondenter för att besvara studiens frågeställningar. Butiksexperimentet kunde inte påvisa signifikant skillnad i konsumenters inköpsbeteende då konsumenter hade tillgång till utökad information angående produkters hållbarhetsfaktorer. I kombination med intervjuerna visade resultaten på ett attityd-beteende-gap bland konsumenter då samtliga respondenter sade att de skulle bli påverkade i fall de hade mer information om en produkts hållbarhetsfaktorer. För att besvara frågor som den här studien lämnar öppna föreslås vidare liknande studier som pågår under längre tid och där informationen angående produktionsförhållanden presenteras på ett sätt som tydligare framställer ett fördelaktigt alternativ.
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Delventhal, Matthew J. "Population and income across time and space." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/643302.
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En aquesta tesi investigo teòricament i empíricament l'evolució dels nivells de població i ingressos a tot el món. En el primer capítol, titulat "El Globus com a Xarxa", em pregunto: quina importància tenen els costos de transport en caiguda dels patrons de població i creixement dels ingressos des de 1000 CE? Per respondre a aquesta pregunta, edito un model espacial dinàmic quantitatiu amb un sector agrícola i no agrícola, i la fertilitat endogena, la migració, la innovació i la difusió de la tecnologia. En aquest model existeix un llindar endogen per als costos globals de transport, que es caracteritza per una simple estadística de xarxa. Si els costos de transport estan per sobre d'aquest llindar, el món convergeix a un estat de malaltia. Si els costos del transport cauen per sota d'aquest llindar, l'economia mundial entra en un procés de creixement sostingut de la població i els ingressos per càpita. Prenent aquest model a les dades, divideixo el món en 2.249 3 graus en quadrícules de 3 graus. Assigno a cada local un potencial agrícola determinat pel clima exògens i les característiques del sòl. Defecto els costos de transport bilaterals calculant la ruta més barata entre cada parell d'ubicacions, donada la col·locació natural de rius, oceans i muntanyes. Calculem el model perquè, l'any 1000, el món es trobi en estat de malaltia. A continuació, retiro el cost de l'aigua i el transport terrestre de forma exògena de manera coherent amb l'evidència històrica i fa un seguiment de l'evolució endogen de la població i els ingressos fins a l'any 2000. Qualitativament, aquest exercici genera un creixement lent però accelerat tant en la població com en la renda per càpita durant els primers 800 anys, un repunt abrupte en el creixement després de 1800 CE amb Europa al capdavant, i un gran augment en la dispersió d'ingressos per càpita després de 1800 CE. Quantitativament, el model representa el 55% de la variació de la densitat de població en 10 regions majors en 1000 CE, el 44% de la variació en ingressos per càpita entre regions en 1800 CE, i és capaç de generar un 43% de la dispersió total en ingressos per càpita el 2000 CE.
El segon capítol es titula "La transició demogràfica a través del temps i l'espai". La transició demogràfica, és a dir, el pas d'un règim d'alta fertilitat / alta mortalitat a un règim de baixa fertilitat / baixa mortalitat és un procés que gairebé tots els països de la Terra han sofert o estan experimentant. Són iguals totes les transicions demogràfiques? Han canviat amb la velocitat i la forma al llarg del temps? I com relacionen el desenvolupament econòmic? Busco respondre aquestes preguntes posant un conjunt de dades de taxes de naixement i mortalitat en 188 països amb més de 250 anys. Després, calculant dates d'inici i dates finals per a les transicions dels països de la nostra mostra, documento 3 fets nous. Em sembla, en primer lloc, que la velocitat mitjana de les transicions ha augmentat constantment amb el pas del temps. En segon lloc, documento que l'ingrés per càpita al començament d'aquestes transicions és més o menys constant al llarg del temps. En tercer lloc, descobrim l'evidència del contagi demogràfic, l'entrada d'un país en la transició demogràfica està fortament relacionada amb els veïns geogràfics i lingüístics que ja han entrat en la transició fins i tot després de controlar altres observables.
En el meu tercer capítol "La difusió de la demografia: una exploració quantitativa", construeixo un model transparent de la transició demogràfica en la tradició de Barro, Becker i Lucas amb diversos països. A més del compromís estàndard entre la quantitat i la qualitat entre el nombre de nens i la quantitat d'educació que hi ha, també hi ha difusió tecnològica entre ubicacions. Com a exercici quantitatiu, introduïm un canvi tecnològic esbiaixat per l'habilitat que s'allunya de la Gran Bretanya a la resta del món. Tot i la seva simplicitat, el model té bastant èxit en comparar els patrons observats de la transició demogràfica a tot el món, tant pel que fa al temps com a la ubicació geogràfica.In this thesis I investigate theoretically and empirically the evolution of population and income levels across the world. In the first chapter, titled "The Globe as a Network," I ask: how important are falling transport costs for patterns of population and income growth since 1000 CE? To answer this question, I build a quantitative dynamic spatial model with an agricultural and a non-agricultural sector, and endogenous fertility, migration, innovation and technology diffusion. In this model there exists an endogenous threshold for global transport costs, which is characterized by a simple network statistic. If transport costs are above this threshold, the world converges to a Malthusian steady state. If transport costs fall below this threshold, the world economy enters a process of sustained growth in population and income per capita. Taking this model to the data, I divide the globe into 2,249 3 degree by 3 degree quadrangles. I assign each location an agricultural potential determined by exogenous climate and soil characteristics. I infer bilateral transport costs by calculating the cheapest route between each pair of locations given the natural placement of rivers, oceans and mountains. I calibrate the model so that in the year 1000 the world is in a Malthusian steady state. I then drop the cost of water and land transport exogenously in a way that is consistent with historical evidence and track the endogenous evolution of population and income until the year 2000. Qualitatively, this exercise generates slow but accelerating growth in both population and income per capita for the first 800 years, an abrupt takeoff in growth after 1800 CE with Europe in the lead, and a large increase in the dispersion of income per capita after 1800 CE. Quantitatively, the model accounts for 55% of the variation in population density across 10 major regions in 1000 CE, 44% of the variation in income per capita across regions in 1800 CE, and is able to generate 43% of the overall dispersion in income per capita in 2000 CE. The second chapter is titled "The Demographic Transition Across Time and Space." The demographic transition, i.e., the move from a regime of high fertility/high mortality into a regime of low fertility/low mortality, is a process that almost every country on Earth has undergone or is undergoing. Are all demographic transitions equal? Have they changed in speed and shape over time? And, how do they relate to economic development? I seek to answer these questions by putting together a data set of birth and death rates for 188 countries that spans more than 250 years. Then, by estimating start dates and end dates for the transitions of the countries in our sample, I document 3 new facts. I find, first, that the average speed of transitions has increased steadily over time. Second, I document that income per capita at the start of these transitions is more or less constant over time. Third, we uncover evidence of demographic contagion the entry of a country into the demographic transition is strongly associated with its geographic and linguistic neighbors having already entered into the transition even after controlling for other observables. In my third chapter "The Diffusion of Demography: A Quantitative Exploration," I build a transparent model of the demographic transition in the tradition of Barro, Becker, and Lucas with multiple countries. In addition to the standard quantity-quality trade-off between how many children to have and how much to educate them, there is also technology diffusion between locations. As a quantitative exercise, we introduce a skill-biased technological change that diffuses away from Britain to the rest of the world. Despite its simplicity, the model is quite successful in matching observed patterns of the demographic transition across the globe, both in terms of timing and geographical location.
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Hidalgo, Galiana Amparo. "Evolution of thermal tolerance and size of the geographic range in closely related species of water beetles." Doctoral thesis, Universitat de Barcelona, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/286361.
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This thesis studies a group of aquatic beetles (Agabus brunneus complex) that present important differences in the size of their geographic ranges. This complex is composed by an insular species (A. rufulus), a continental species with restricted range (A. ramblae) and another continental species (A. brunneus) that posses a wide range of distribution (A. brunneus) with the aim of study the factors implied in those differences. For this purpose we integrated the phylogeny/ phylogeography of the group and the evolution of the ecological niche together with morphological study and thermal tolerance of species. This complex of species diversified at the end of Pleistocene in Iberian Peninsula probably after the colonization of A. ramblae from Morocco. One of the resultant species (A. brunneus) at some point of the diversification acquired the ability to resist colder temperatures and was able to disperse to colder climates. To understand range variability from another perspective we used population proteomics to analyse the response of several populations for A. ramblae and A. bruneus facing temperatures that they might experience on field. We decided to analyse the variability at several levels in two populations of (A. ramblae) when working with natural populations obtaining satisfactory results for the reproducibility of our experimental methodology. When we analysed globally two populations for each species (one from Morocco and one from Iberian peninsula for each) we saw that the diversification observed in the phylogeny was encompassed with changes at the proteomic response. The more common proteins identified belong to energetic metabolism and stress proteins. The latter were detected to express differentially between the two species studied, showing a different response to thermal stress. This work address the possibility of employing population proteomics in natural populations of non-model species and being able of recovering the stress response facing an environmental factor like temperature. We show as well that differences in range size can be encompassing with the acquisition of capacity to face thermal stress.Esta tesis parte del estudio de un grupo de especies de escarabajos acuáticos (Agabus brunneus complex) que poseen diferencias importantes en el tamaño de sus rangos geográficos, contando con una especie insular (A. rufulus), una continental de rango restringido (A. ramblae) y una continental de rango amplio (A. brunneus) para estudiar los factores implicados en esas diferencias. Este complejo de especies diversificó a finales del Pleistoceno en la península ibérica posiblemente tras la colonización de A. ramblae desde Marruecos. Una de las especies resultantes A. brunneus en algún momento de la diversificación desarrolló la capacidad de resistencia a bajas temperaturas lo que le facilitó el poder extender su rango hacia climas más fríos. Se empleó la proteómica de poblaciones para analizar la respuesta de varias poblaciones de A. brunneus y A. ramblae frente a temperaturas que pueden experimentar en la naturaleza. Al estudiar la variabilidad a distintos niveles entre dos poblaciones naturales de A. ramblae obtuvimos una buena reproducibilidad de nuestros experimentos. Al analizar de forma global dos poblaciones para cada especie (Marruecos y península ibérica para ambas) descubrimos que la diversificación de la filogenia ha ido acompañada de cambios en la respuesta a nivel de expresión proteínica. La mayoría de las proteínas identificadas están relacionadas con el metabolismo energético y con proteínas del estrés, estas últimas se expresan diferencialmente entre las dos especies analizadas, indicando una diferente respuesta al estrés térmico. El presente trabajo abre la posibilidad de realizar este tipo de experimentos empleando poblaciones naturales de especies no modelo y demuestra que la respuesta frente al estrés de un factor ambiental, en este caso la temperatura, puede recuperarse empleando para ello la proteómica. Así mismo las diferencias en el tamaño del rango pueden ir acompañadas de la adquisición de distinta capacidad de respuesta frente al estrés térmico.
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Theves, Denise Wildner. "Meus alunos e minha aldeia me fazem experimentar ideias para ensinar geografia." reponame:Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações da UFRGS, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10183/17869.
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O presente estudo reflete sobre as práticas de interação pedagógica da geografia, no intuito de buscar uma ação docente que traga o dia-a-dia dos alunos para a sala de aula, superando a fragmentação dos saberes e a mera transmissão do conhecimento, oportunizando, dessa forma, múltiplas aprendizagens. Considera-se que na escola precisamos aprender a vida, refletindo e compreendendo nossa condição humana. Isso é possível se constituirmos um espaço pedagógico que instaure ligações entre o afetivo e o intelectual, aspecto em que o papel do professor é fundamental. A metodologia utilizada baseou-se na escuta, na observação e na análise das práticas realizadas por duas turmas do Ensino Fundamental, uma de escola particular e outra de escola da rede pública municipal, ambas localizadas em Lajeado. Os trabalhos desenvolvidos e os dados coletados são discutidos e avaliados com base nas reflexões teóricas de Helena Callai, Nestor A. Kaercher, Edgar Morin, Nelson Rego, Milton Santos, Rosângela D. de Almeida, Elza Passini, Dirce Suertegaray, Neiva Schäffer, Lana Cavalcanti, Antonio C. Castrogiovanni, entre outros. As práticas pedagógicas propostas promoveram o envolvimento dos alunos e possibilitaram a constatação de que a geografia escolar pode auxiliar na leitura do mundo de forma plural, contraditória e dinâmica, além de oportunizar a religação dos saberes.The present work thinks ower the practices of pedagogical interaction of geography, with intention to search a teaching action that brings the day by day of the students to the classroom, improving the fragmentation of the knowings and the simple transmission of knowledge, giving, in this way, multiple learnings. Considering that in school we need to learn the life, reflecting and understanding our human condition.It is possible if we form a pedagogical space that makes links between the afective and the intelectual, aspect that teacher's role is essential. The methodology was based on listening, observation and analysis of the practices realized with two classes at Primary School, one private school and another public school, both located in Lajeado. The works developed and the elements collected are discussed and avaluated in this dissertation with base on teorical reflexions of Helena Callai, Nestor A. Kaercher, Edgar Morin, Nelson Rego, Milton Santos, Rosângela D. de Almeida, Elza Passini, Dirce Suertegaray, Neiva Schaffer, Lana Cavalcanti, Antonio C. Castrogiovani, among others. The pedagogical practices proposed involved the students and make possible to prove that geography can assist the reading of the world in a plural, contradictory and dinamic form, besides the chance of the knowledge links.
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Thelin, Mikael. "Elevers val av gymnasieskola : En experimentell studie om elevers geografiska, akademiska och sociala preferenser." Licentiate thesis, Uppsala universitet, Kulturgeografiska institutionen, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-223752.
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Increased possibilitiesof choosing one’s school of preference hasbeen raised as a key factor in many countries to promote equal opportunitiesand higher quality of education. This has been endorsed by policymakers whoassume that students make well-informed rational choices and that students only stress academic quality whendeciding which school to attend. If this is true, it will benefit schools ofhigh academic quality, rendering improved school quality overall. To date,little research has examined the validity of these assumptions despite theprofound effects they have had for changing the school systems in manycountries. This study employs an experimental approach to investigate therelative importance of attributes in school choice. Specifically the study isbased on experimental data from 587 prospective high school students inHalmstad, Sweden. The purpose is to contrast the principal school qualityattributes behind the policy change (academic reputation and programfeasibility), with the presence of friends and geographical attributes such asdistance, location and accessibility, while controlling for individualcharacteristics. The results are disturbing as they reveal flaws in theassumptions that motivated the school choice policy reform. The study presents evidence of differencesin preferences and that grades are the most important background characteristic for this difference. The study also shows that all studentsare not rational to the same extent as theory predicts. Hence theSwedish school reforms have been based on a slightly biased theory. Finally, the study indicates that differentgeographic contexts (e.g. where the studentslive) affect students' preferences.
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Klaus, Marcus. "Land use effects on greenhouse gas emissions from boreal inland waters." Doctoral thesis, Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-134767.
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Anthropogenic activities perturb the global carbon and nitrogen cycle with large implications for the earth’s climate. Land use activities deliver excess carbon and nitrogen to aquatic ecosystems. In the boreal biome, this is mainly due to forestry and atmospheric deposition. Yet, impacts of these anthropogenically mediated inputs of carbon and nitrogen on the processing and emissions of greenhouse gases from recipient streams and lakes are largely unknown. Understanding the ecosystem-scale response of aquatic greenhouse gas cycling to land use activities is critical to better predict anthropogenic effects on the global climate system and design more efficient climate change mitigation measures. This thesis assesses the effects of forest clearcutting and nitrate enrichment on greenhouse gas emissions from boreal inland waters. It also advances methods to quantify sources and sinks of these emissions. Short-term clearcut and nitrate enrichment effects were assessed using two whole-ecosystem experiments, carried out over four years in nine headwater catchments in boreal Sweden. In these experiments, I measured or modeled air-water fluxes of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), combining concentration, ebullition and gas-transfer velocity measurements in groundwater, streams and lakes. By using Swedish national monitoring data, I also assessed broad-scale effects of forest clearcutting by relating CO2 concentrations in 439 forest lakes to the areal proportion of catchment forest clearcuts. To improve quantifications of CO2 sources and sinks in lakes, I analyzed time series of oxygen concentrations and water temperature in five lakes on conditions under which whole-lake metabolism estimates can be inferred from oxygen dynamics given the perturbing influence of atmospheric exchange, mixing and internal waves. The experiments revealed that aquatic greenhouse gas emissions did not respond to nitrate addition or forest clearcutting. Importantly, riparian zones likely buffered clearcut-induced increases in groundwater CO2 and CH4 concentrations. Experimental results were confirmed by monitoring data showing no relationship between CO2 patterns across Swedish lakes and clearcut gradients. Yet, conclusions on internal vs. external CO2 controls largely depended on whether spatially or temporally resolved data was used. Partitioning CO2 sources and sinks in lakes using time series of oxygen was greatly challenged by physical transport and mixing processes. Conclusively, ongoing land use activities in the boreal zone are unlikely to have major effect on headwater greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, system- and scale specific effects cannot be excluded. To reveal these effects, there is a large need of improved methods and design of monitoring programs that account for the large spatial and temporal variability in greenhouse gas dynamics and its controls by abiotic and biotic factors.
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Lima, Maria das Graças de. "A Didática do professor de geografia: caso da cidade de São Paulo." Universidade de São Paulo, 2001. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/8/8136/tde-30032015-102316/.
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O estudo aqui sistematizado apresenta uma explicação para os problemas presentes no processo de ensino-aprendizagem do ensino escolar de geografia na cidade de São Paulo. A pesquisa bibliográfica abrangeu a produção educacional acerca das Reformas sugeridas pelo sistema nacional; a produção referente às propostas pedagógicas e curriculares sugeridas pelo sistema estadual de ensino de São Paulo; e a produção, considerada clássica para a geografia brasileira, concernente ao período de Institucionalização do ensino no estado de São Paulo fins do século XIX e decorrer do século XX. Esta análise, somada à pesquisa realizada junto aos professores (questionário e entrevistas abertas 1999 2000), possibilitou uma interação para os problemas encontrados com o ensino dessa disciplina escolar. A análise por nós realizada sobre os documentos base das reformas indicou uma séria limitação quanto às questões didáticas, levando à necessidade do aprofundamento quanto a institucionalização do ensino no estado de São Pulo, referência adquirida com a leitura de clássicos da geografia. A organização precursora experimentada pelo sistema paulista de ensino, advinda das necessidades impostas pelo desenvolvimento econômico, concentraram-se principalmente nas condições necessárias para este processo (experiências didáticas, adoção de métodos de ensinos modernos, implementação de propostas curriculares). Este deslocamento para o sistema estadual evidenciou que as medidas tomadas para sua organização haviam contribuído e, influenciado, sobremaneira, a proposta sugeridas pelo sistema nacional. Evidenciavam também os reflexos dos embates políticos travados entre educadores, cujas posições políticas eram antagônicas. A pesquisa realizada sobre a formação e atuação dos professores de geografia da cidade de São Paulo (ensino fundamental e médio), permitiu reconhecer e compreender sua prática como reflexo da história de organização do sistema de ensino, tanto estadual quanto federal. A realização da análise bibliográfica e a pesquisa realizada junto aos professores evidenciaram que, partindo do conhecimento pedagógico, os problemas resultaram da não vinculação direta entre o sistema de ensino e a realidade brasileira. E no que diz respeito ao conhecimento da geografia, os problemas encontrados resultam, entre outras coisas, da ausência de pesquisas sobre as relações possíveis entre o conhecimento didático e a utilização dos instrumentais técnicos acumulados pela área. As informações levantadas junto aos professores, comprovam a ausência da preocupação com o conhecimento didáticos nas propostas sugeridas pelos órgãos oficiais, porém, evidenciaram também uma peculiaridade, a de que parte destes professores demonstram preocupação com o conhecimento didático. Esta peculiaridade sinaliza um caminho possível para os problemas encontrados com o processo de ensino-aprendizagem, indicando também a urgência de reflexões pautadas pelas questões didáticas e não apenas pedagógicas do ensino escolarThis paper presents an explanation to the problems found in the teaching-learning process of Geography in São Paulo city`s schools. The bibliographical research included the educational production on the Reforms suggested by country system, the production on the pedagogical and course propasals suggested by the São Paulo states teaching system; and the production, so-called classical to the Brazilian Geography, regarding the institution period of its teaching in São Paulo state ending of the XIX Century and alapsing of the XX Century. This analyses plus the surveys carried out with the teachers (questionnaires and open interviews 1999/2000), made possible an interpretation to the problems found on this school subject teaching. Theanalyses made about the Reforms base documents, indicated a worrying limitation on the didactic questions, leading to the need of depth regarding the teaching institution in São Paulo state, reference acquired by reading the classics on Geography. The precursory organization experienced by the paulista system of teaching resulting from the needs imposed by the economical development, concentrated mainly on the necessary conditions for this process (didactics experiments, adoption of modern methods of teaching, course proposals accomplishment). This displacement to the state system demonstrated that the measures taken for its organization would have excessively contributed and influenced the proposals suggested by the country system. Demonstrated also the reflexes of the political collisions engaged by professors which positions were opposing. The research carried out about the Geography teacher`s formation and performance in São Paulo city (primary and high school systems) has permitted to recognize and understand their practice as the organization history reflex of both state and national teaching system. The bibliographical analyses doing and the survey carried out with the teachers, demonstrated that, airsing from the pedagogical knowledge, the problems result from the nondirect entailment between the teaching system and the Brazilian reality. And concerning the Geography knowledge, the foud problems result from the lack of researches about the possible relation between the didactic knowledge and the utilization of technical tools gathered by the area. The information arisen from the teachers, proved the lack of concerning on the didactic knowledge with the suggested proposals by the official offices, but, demonstrated also a peculiarity, that part of these teacher chow they are concerned about didactic knowledge. This peculiarity signals a possible answer to the problems found on Geography teaching-learning process, indicating also the urgency of reflection based on didactic questions and not only on the school system pedagogical ones
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Silva, Karla de Andrade e. "Análise da variabilidade espacial da precipitação e parâmetros hidrológicos em bacia experimental: estudo da transformação da chuva em uma pequena bacia hidrográfica urbana." Universidade de São Paulo, 2003. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/18/18138/tde-16112016-093025/.
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A primeira parte deste trabalho consistiu na instalação de pluviógrafos e linígrafos e levantamento de eventos hidrológicos com a obtenção de dados da distribuição espacial de precipitações observadas e hidrogramas resultantes. Experimentos de infiltração de água no solo foram realizados a partir de infiltrômetro de disco a fim de caracterizar a variabilidade espacial da condutividade hidráulica na bacia, obtendo-se dois conjuntos de dados que mostraram ser lognormalmente distribuídos com médias iguais a 15,8 mm/h e 5,47 mm/h. Estudo teórico foi conduzido na segunda parte do trabalho compreendendo o desenvolvimento de modelo hidrológico. A concepção do modelo parte da premissa de que toda a área da bacia possa ser representada por células derivadas de um modelo numérico de terreno (MNT), especificando-se em cada célula o equacionamento hidráulico-hidrológico. As heterogeneidades do solo e da precipitação foram estudadas através de simulação do modelo considerando-se distribuições espaciais diferentes para a condutividade hidráulica saturada e eventos de chuva. Os resultados mostraram que as diferenças entre as vazões de pico podem ser maiores que 100% , considerando-se graus de resolução máximo e mínimo quanto à precipitação, e reafirmaram o consenso de que o conhecimento da distribuição espacial da chuva é fundamental na calibração de modelos hidrológicos distribuídos.In first part of this work consists on the installation of pluviographic, water-height graphs and surveying of hydrological events with obtained data from spatial distribution of precipitation observed and resultant hydrograms. Experiments of water infiltration in the soil were done by an infiltrometer disc to characterize the spatial variability of hydraulic conductivity and the losses of infiltration in the basin obtaining two sets of data that showed to be lognormally distributed in average equal to 15.8 mm/h and 5.47 mm/h. A theoric study was conduced in the second part of work comprehending the development of hydrologic model distributed. The conception of the model proceed from the premise that allbasin area can be represented by cells derived from a Digital Terrain Model (DTM) specifying in each cell the hydraulic equation - hydrologic. The soil heterogeneity and the precipitation were studied by model simulation considering spatial distributions different to the hydraulic conductivity satured of the soil and to pluvial events. The results pointed out the differences among peak outflow can be more than 100% considering minimum and maximumresolution degrees as the precipitation and affirmed the consensus that the acquaintance of the pluvial spatial distribution is fundamental in the adjustment of hydrologic models distributed.
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Premer, Stefan, and Brenda Nansubuga. "Organisational Learning in Business Model Innovation in the Bottom of Pyramid market : An empirical fieldwork about the market introduction of clean cookstoves in Mozambique." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Företagsekonomi, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-148135.
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There is a need for cleaner technology initiatives into the Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP) market to combat the effects of climate change. The difficulty of these initiatives lies in their business model innovation process, as those organisations struggle in finding adequate strategies to establish their business in the BoP market. The BoP market is characterised as highly uncertain, which makes the operation of businesses challenging. Hereby the thesis aims at answering the question on how organisational learning occurs in business model innovation in the BoP market. Through a case study approach, the thesis intends to understand the requirements to establish a functioning business model by analysing organisational learning under business model innovation within the BoP market. This has been realised through a three week field study in Northern Mozambique, observing the market introduction of a cleantech company operating in this context. Hereby the business model innovation process and the environment of operation was analysed. This research contributes to the current discussion of business model innovation in BoP markets by detecting organisational learning as a useful mechanism and adding relevant insights on how organisational learning occurs in this specific context. Therefore the study opens the discussion on organisational learning in business model innovation in the context of the BoP market by asking for further studies on the topic.
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Yang, Qian. "Applications of Satellite Geodesy in Environmental and Climate Change." Scholar Commons, 2016. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/6440.
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Satellite geodesy plays an important role in earth observation. This dissertation presents three applications of satellite geodesy in environmental and climate change. Three satellite geodesy techniques are used: high-precision Global Positioning System (GPS), the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR). In the first study, I use coastal uplift observed by GPS to study the annual changes in mass loss of the Greenland ice sheet. The data show both spatial and temporal variations of coastal ice mass loss and suggest that a combination of warm atmospheric and oceanic condition drove these variations. In the second study, I use GRACE monthly gravity change estimates to constrain recent freshwater flux from Greenland. The data show that Arctic freshwater flux started to increase rapidly in the mid-late 1990s, coincident with a decrease in the formation of dense Labrador Sea Water, a key component of the deep southward return flow od the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Recent freshening of the polar oceans may be reducing formation of Labrador Sea Water and hence may be weakening the AMOC. In the third study, I use InSAR to monitor ground deformation caused by CO2 injection at an enhanced oil recovery site in west Texas. Carbon capture and storage can reduce CO2 emitted from power plants, and is a promising way to mitigate anthropogenic warming. From 2007 to 2011, ~24 million tons of CO2 were sequestered in this field, causing up to 10 MPa pressure buildup in a reservoir at depth, and surface uplift up to 10 cm. This study suggests that surface displacement observed by InSAR is a cost-effective way to estimate reservoir pressure change and monitor the fate of injected fluids at waste disposal and CO2 injection sites.
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Martínez, Gutiérrez Patricia Guadalupe. "Patrones geográficos de distribución y abundancia de presas de los grandes carnívoros del Neotrópico." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/456313.
Full textAbstract:
El objetivo general fue generar modelos espaciales de predicción de abundancia de presas de jaguares y pumas en el Neotrópico. Primero identificamos a las principales especies presa consumidas en la región Neotropical mediante una revisión bibliográfica. También evaluamos si el método tradicional de identificación del depredador a través de la apariencia de las excretas generaba un sesgo en la información disponible. Encontramos que sí generaba un sesgo, así que nos basamos en estudios que usaron métodos altamente fiables de identificación. Elegimos al pecarí de collar, al pecarí de labios blancos, al oso hormiguero gigante y a la paca común para generar los modelos espaciales de predicción de abundancia. Primeramente, usamos al pecarí de collar para probar si la posición de las poblaciones de la especie con respecto al centroide de su nicho ecológico describía las abundancias mejor que su posición en relación al centroide geográfico de su distribución. También evaluamos la forma de la relación entre la abundancia y la distancia al centroide del nicho (DCN), probando si ésta definía la abundancia máxima esperada en cada sitio mejor que la abundancia media. Además, evaluamos si la inclusión de la influencia humana (IH) al modelo ayudaba a explicar mejor la variación geográfica de la abundancia poblacional que la DCN por sí sola. Por último, seleccionamos el mejor modelo para generar un modelo espacial de predicción de abundancia. Posteriormente, evaluamos la importancia de la IH no solamente para determinar los patrones de abundancia a gran escala, sino también como predictor de la distribución de las tres especies de presa restantes: el pecarí de labios blancos, el oso hormiguero gigante y la paca común. Específicamente, evaluamos si al añadir la IH al conjunto de variables ambientales mejoraban las predicciones de los modelos de nicho. Además, analizamos la relación entre la DCN y la IH con las abundancias poblacionales de las distintas especies, y evaluamos cuál era el mejor modelo para cada especie, si el que incluía ambos factores, o el que incluía solamente alguno de ellos. Finalmente, usamos el mejor modelo para generar la predicción espacial de abundancia de cada especie. No encontramos una relación significativa entre la abundancia de pecarí de collar y la distancia al centroide geográfico. Por el contrario, las abundancias poblacionales de la mayoría de las especies disminuyeron al alejarse del centroide de su nicho ecológico. La excepción encontrada a este patrón (i.e. la paca común) pudo deberse a que la especie se ve muy influenciada por factores locales no incluidos a escala espacial gruesa. Más allá de las variables ambientales, la IH fue un factor muy relevante a considerar en los modelos de abundancia, ya que en la mayoría de las especies ésta disminuyó al aumentar el nivel de IH. La excepción encontrada a este patrón (i.e. el oso hormiguero gigante) pudo deberse al grado de tolerancia de la especie a la presión humana. Además, para las dos especies de pecaríes la relación abundancia-DCN, así como la relación abundancia-IH presentaron tanto altas como bajas abundancias cerca de las condiciones óptimas y sólo bajas lejos de éstas. En estos casos el mejor modelo dependió del cuantil analizado (abundancia máxima vs. abundancia mediana) y de la tolerancia de la especie a la presión humana. Finalmente, las áreas en las que se espera una mayor abundancia de las cuatro presas se localizaron principalmente en la subregión Amazónica de la región Neotropical.The general objective was to generate spatial models of abundance predictions of prey of jaguars and cougars in the Neotropics. First, we identified the main prey in the Neotropical region through a literature review. We also assessed if the traditional method of predator identification in the field through faeces appearance would bias the information available. We found that it had an effect, thus we used studies based on high-confidence identification methods. We selected the collared peccary, the white-lipped peccary, the giant anteater, and the spotted paca to generate the spatial models of abundance predictions. First, we used the collared peccary to evaluate whether the geographic variation in the population abundance was related to the location with respect to the centroid of its ecological niche or to the centroid of its geographic range. Moreover, we assessed the shape of the abundance-niche centrality relationship, testing whether the distance to the niche centroid (DNC) defined the maximum expected abundance better than the mean abundance. Furthermore, we tested whether including human influence (HI) improved the relationship between abundance and DNC. Finally, we created a spatial model of abundance predictions of collared peccary using the best model. Secondly, we assessed the importance of HI not only in determining the large-scale patterns of abundance, but also in determining the distribution of the other three prey species: the white-lipped peccary, the giant anteater, and the spotted paca. Specifically, we evaluated whether the addition of HI to the set of environmental variables improved the predictions of the niche models. In addition, we analyzed the relationships between abundance and DNC, abundance and HI, and abundance and both factors together. We used the best abundance model obtained for each species to generate spatial predictive maps of the population abundance. We did not find a significant relation between the abundance of collared peccary and the distance to the geographic centroid. On the contrary, the population abundance of most of the species decreased as the DNC increased. The exception found to this pattern (i.e. the spotted paca) might be related to a greater influence of local factors not included on broader scales. Moreover, beyond the environmental variables, the HI was a very important factor to consider in abundance models, because in most of the species abundance decreased as HI increased. The exception found to this pattern (i.e. the giant anteater) might be related to the degree of tolerance to human pressures. Furthermore, the two peccary species showed both low and high abundances towards the most favorable conditions, whereas the less favorable were characterized only by low abundances. In these cases the best model depended on the quantile analyzed (maximum abundance vs. median abundance), and on the degree of tolerance to human pressures. Finally, high predicted prey-abundance areas were located mainly in the Amazonian subregion of the Neotropical region.
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Genero, Magalí Martí. "Microbial Communities in Boreal Peatlands : Responses to Climate Change and Atmospheric Nitrogen and Sulfur Depositions." Doctoral thesis, Linköpings universitet, Tema Miljöförändring, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-137487.
Full textAbstract:
Myrmarker har en stor roll i regleringen av den globala kolbalansen och koncentrationerna av koldioxid och metan i atmosfären, vilket gör dem till speciellt viktiga ekosystem ur ett klimatförandringsperspektiv. Förändringar av myrmarker genom naturlig utveckling eller antropogen påverkan kan därför få långtgående störningar av myrars klimatreglerande funktion. Mikroorganismer har en avgörande roll i biogeokemiska processer genom att t ex bryta ned organisk material i mark och därmed styra kolets kretslopp. För att förstå hur myrsystemen reagerar på störningar är det därför väsentligt att veta hur mikroorganismsamhällena reagerar genom förändringar i sammansättning och biogeokemisk aktivitet. Målet för studierna, som ligger till grund för denna avhandling, var att undersöka hur mikroorganismsamhällen i myrar reagerar på uppvärmning genom klimatförändring och ökade kväve- (N) och svavel- (S) halter i nederbörd. High through-put sekvensering användes för att studera taxonomiska och funktionella egenskaper hos mikroorganismerna i myrar och quantative PCR användes för att mer specifikt studera de metanbildande arkeorna. Två fältkampanjer vardera omfattande tre ombrotrofa myrar med olika klimatförhållanden och olika mängder N och S inederbörden användes för att undersöka lokala och storskaliga effekter på myrars mikrobiella samhällen. Resultaten visade att latudinell variation i geoklimatologiska förhållanden (temperatur ochnederbördsmängd) och deposition av näringsämnen hade en påverkan på sammansättningen av de mikrobiella samhällena och aktiva metanbildare förr än variationen i den kemiska miljön inom varje specifik myr. Myrväxtsamhällenas sammansättning för en specifik myr visades sig i stor utsträckning styra sammansättningen av motsvarande mikrobiella samhälle i torvprofilen. Detta framgick klart av i en analys av samexisterande nätverk av mikroorganismsamhällen och motsvarande växtsamhällen i en studie av tre geografiskt skilda myrar med olika kvävedeposition. Effekterna av klimatförändring och nederbörd med olika mängder av N och S studerades mer specifikt genom att analysera de mikrobiellasamhällena i ett långliggande (18 år) försök. Påverkan av var och en av dessa manipulationer antingen förstärktes eller minskades, när de förekom i kombinationer. Ökad kvävedeposition var den faktor som hade starkast effekt. De långvariga störningarna medförde stora förändringar i den mikrobiella taxonomin inom samhällena. Detta återspeglades dock inte i den fysiologiska kapaciteten, vilket visar att det finns en stark buffring i myrarnas mikrobiella funktion. Detta tyder på att framtida utveckling av myrar i relation till olika störningar sannolikt inte kommer att påverka myrarnas roll för kolbalans och växthusgasutbyte med atmosfären.Peatlands play a substantial role in regulating the global carbon balance and concentrations of the greenhouse gases CO2 and CH4 in the atmosphere, and are thus of utmost importance from a climate change perspective. Any changes of peatland functions due to natural or anthropogenic perturbations may result in changes in these ecosystem services. Soil microbial communities are essential drivers of biogeochemical processes, including the carbon cycle. In order to fully understand the effect of environmental perturbations on peatland functions, it is essential to understand how microbial communities are affected. The aim of the research presented in this thesis was to investigate the responses of the peat microbial communities to climate change and increased precipitation of nitrogen(N) and sulfur (S) compounds. High-throughput sequencing approaches were used to investigate the taxonomic and functional composition of microbial communities, and quantitative PCR was used to specifically target the methanogen community. Two field studies including three ombrotrophic peatlands each that differed in climatological conditions and atmospheric N and S depositions, were used to investigate and compare the effect of large- and local-scale environmental conditions on microbial communities. The results show that the variation in geo-climatological (temperature and precipitation) and atmospheric deposition conditions along the latitudinal gradient modulate the peat microbial community composition and the abundance of active methanogens to a greater extent thansite-related microhabitats. Furthermore, a tight coupling between the plant community composition of a site and the composition of its microbial community was observed, and was found to be mainly driven by plants rather than microorganisms. These co-occurrence networks are strongly affected by seasonal climate variability and the interactions between species in colder areas are more sensitive to climate change. The long-term effects of warming and increased N and S depositions on the peat microbial communities were further investigated using an 18-year in-situ peatland experiment simulating these perturbations. The impacts of each of these perturbations on the microbial community were found to either multiply or counteract one another, with enhanced N deposition being the most important factor. While the long-term perturbations resulted in a substantial shift in the taxonomic composition of microbial communities, only minor changes occurred in genome-encoded functional traits, indicating a functional redundancy. This could act as a buffer maintaining ecosystem functioning when challenged by multiple stressors, and could limit future changes in greenhouse gases and carbonexchange.
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Haile, Yohannes. "Sustainable Value And Eco-Communal Management: Systemic Measures For The Outcome Of Renewable Energy Businesses In Developing, Emerging, And Developed Economies." Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies / OhioLINK, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1459369970.
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Davies, Llewellyn Willis. "‘LOOK’ AND LOOK BACK: Using an auto/biographical lens to study the Australian documentary film industry, 1970 - 2010." Phd thesis, Canberra, ACT : The Australian National University, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/154339.
Full textAbstract:
While much has been written on the Australian film and television
industry, little has been presented by actual producers,
filmmakers and technicians of their time and experiences within
that same industry. Similarly, with historical documentaries, it
has been academics rather than filmmakers who have led the
debate. This thesis addresses this shortcoming and bridges the
gap between practitioner experience and intellectual discussion,
synthesising the debate and providing an important contribution
from a filmmaker-academic, in its own way unique and insightful.
The thesis is presented in two voices. First, my voice, the
voice of memoir and recollected experience of my screen
adventures over 38 years within the Australian industry, mainly
producing historical documentaries for the ABC and the SBS. This
is represented in italics. The second half and the alternate
chapters provide the industry framework in which I worked with
particular emphasis on documentaries and how this evolved and
developed over a 40-year period, from 1970 to 2010.
Within these two voices are three layers against which this
history is reviewed and presented. Forming the base of the
pyramid is the broad Australian film industry made up of feature
films, documentary, television drama, animation and other types
and styles of production. Above this is the genre documentary
within this broad industry, and making up the small top tip of
the pyramid, the sub-genre of historical documentary. These form
the vertical structure within which industry issues are
discussed. Threading through it are the duel determinants of
production: ‘the market’ and ‘funding’.
Underpinning the industry is the involvement of government, both
state and federal, forming the three dimensional matrix for the
thesis. For over 100 years the Australian film industry has
depended on government support through subsidy, funding
mechanisms, development assistance, broadcast policy and
legislative provisions.
This thesis aims to weave together these industry layers, binding
them with the determinants of the market and funding, and
immersing them beneath layers of government legislation and
policy to present a new view of the Australian film industry.
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Ahrens, Steve R. "Land Use-Transportation Interaction: Lessons Learned from an Experimental Model using Cellular Automata and Artificial Neural Networks." 2008. http://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/322.
Full textAbstract:
Land use and transportation interact to produce large urban concentrations in most major cities that create tremendous sprawl, noise, congestion, and environmental concerns. The desire to better understand this relationship has led to the development of land use–transport (LUT) models as an extension of more general urban models. The difficulties encountered in developing such models are many as local actions sum to form global patterns of land use change, producing complex interrelationships. Cellular automata (CA) simplify LUT model structure, promise resolution improvement, and effectively handle the dynamics of emergent growth. Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) can be used to quantify the complex relationships present in historical land use data as a means of calibrating a CA-LUT model. This study uses an ANN, slope, historical land use, and road data to calibrate a CA-LUT model for the I-140 corridor of Knoxville, TN. The resulting model was found to require a complex ANN, produce realistic emergent growth patterns, and shows promising simulation performance in several significant land classes such as single-family residential. Problems were encountered as the model was iterated due to the lack of a mechanism to extend the road network. The presence of local roads in the model’s configuration strengthened ability of the model to simulate historical development patterns. Shortcomings in certain aspects of the simulation performance point to the need for the addition of a socio-economic sub-model to assess demand for urban area and/or an equilibrium mechanism to arbitrate the supply of developable land. The model constructed in this study was found to hold considerable potential for local-scale simulation and scenario testing given suitable modification to its structure and input parameters.
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McLean, Kelly. "Experimental studies on the erodibility and transport behaviour of dreissenid mussel deposits in an annular flume." Thesis, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10012/6310.
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Dreissenid mussels alter particle transport dynamics in the near shore environment of the Great Lakes by intercepting, retaining and recycling suspended solids that might otherwise be exported to the offshore environment (Hecky et al., 2004). Particulate materials filtered from the water column by dreissenids are subsequently released as either feces or pseudofeces (Walz, 1978). This bio-transformation process alters the nature (grain size distribution, settling velocity and density) and transport properties (critical shear stress for erosion, erosion rates and bed stability) of particulate matter in surficial sediments. While knowledge of the transport characteristics of this material is required to refine particle transport dynamics and energy flow models in the Great Lakes, few studies have been specifically conducted to directly quantify these processes. An annular flume was used to determine the bed stability, rate of erosion and critical shear stress for erosion of dreissenid biodeposits. Materials studied in the flume consisted of 1) a combination of biodeposits and surface sediments collected from dreissenid beds and 2) biodeposits harvested in a weir box with dreissenids. The results show that erosion characteristics and sediment transport properties were strongly influenced by bed age; however particle sizes did not increase in the presence of mussels as originally speculated. Bed stability increased after 7 days, with a τcrit of 0.26 Pa compared to the 2 and 14 day consolidation periods (τcrit= 0.13 and 0.15 Pa respectively). In 2010, following a 2 day consolidation period, pure biodeposits harvested in the weir box had a critical shear stress for erosion of 0.052 Pa. The decrease in bed stability found in biodeposits from 2010 compared to the 2008 biodeposit mixture, may be a result of a more diffuse biofilm developing on the highly organic substrate. The mixture of biodeposits collected in 2008 were a combination organic and inorganic materials which may be creating a nutrient limited environment, where biofilm structure consists of more tightly organized biofilm cells and as a result enhance stability in the bed sediments. The decrease observed after 14 days is likely a result of the microbes depleting their resources and dying off. Due to the added roughness the mussels created in the flume, τcrit could not be measured and critical revolutions per minute (RPM) for erosion are reported for flume runs with mussels. During experiments conducted in 2009 with pure biodeposits and mussels the critical RPM was 5.83 while in 2010 in the presence of mussels a critical RPM was not observed. Settling experiments found biodeposits from both years (2008 and 2010) had decreased settling velocities when compared to different sediment types from lacustrine environments. I speculate that the added enrichment of the surficial sediments by mussel biodeposits is enhancing the process of biostabilization and increasing the bed stability and that the presence mussels themselves may additionally be enhancing bed stability by inhibiting flow from reaching the surface sediments/biodeposits.
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Gomes, Nuno Filipe Lopes. "Potencial didáctico dos sistemas de informação geográfica no ensino da Geografia." Master's thesis, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10362/3634.
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Dissertação apresentada como requisito parcial para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Ciência e Sistemas de Informação GeográficaA informação geográfica assume-se como o ponto de partida para compreendermos o mundo em que vivemos, estando presente nos curricula de várias disciplinas, entre as quais no da Geografia. A sua difusão através dos Sistemas de Informação Geográfica (SIG) tem a vantagem de fornecer aos alunos, uma visão integrada dos problemas, permitindo estimular a exploração individual da informação e em consequência, o desenvolvimento da autonomia e do pensamento crítico. Uma das prioridades actuais na utilização das novas tecnologias passa pela adaptação dos conteúdos à linguagem dos meios, isto é, pela elaboração de material e de estratégias educativas adequadas a um tipo de ensino que tende a recorrer cada vez mais à utilização de ferramentas informáticas. Este trabalho pretende dar a conhecer, através de uma metodologia educacional centrada no Aprender Fazendo, o potencial didáctico que a utilização dos SIG poderá ter no ensino da disciplina de Geografia no 3º Ciclo de Escolaridade. Neste sentido, foram seleccionados diversos conteúdos de dois temas do programa de Geografia para o referido nível de escolaridade e desenvolvidas várias actividades, tendo como recurso o programa informático de SIG para a Educação: ArcVoyager. A sua concretização encontra-se documentada através de um guião de utilização do software e de planificações de aula detalhadas, onde se incluem todos os procedimentos para exploração das actividades, os conceitos temáticos a reter e um conjunto diversificado de exercícios de aplicação. A apresentação destas actividades permite assim antever a possibilidade da utilização das ferramentas de SIG poderem ser exploradas noutros conteúdos curriculares, funcionando como elemento motivacional e facilitador das aprendizagens.
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"Policy and Place: A Spatial Data Science Framework for Research and Decision-Making." Doctoral diss., 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.45557.
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abstract: A major challenge in health-related policy and program evaluation research is attributing underlying causal relationships where complicated processes may exist in natural or quasi-experimental settings. Spatial interaction and heterogeneity between units at individual or group levels can violate both components of the Stable-Unit-Treatment-Value-Assumption (SUTVA) that are core to the counterfactual framework, making treatment effects difficult to assess. New approaches are needed in health studies to develop spatially dynamic causal modeling methods to both derive insights from data that are sensitive to spatial differences and dependencies, and also be able to rely on a more robust, dynamic technical infrastructure needed for decision-making. To address this gap with a focus on causal applications theoretically, methodologically and technologically, I (1) develop a theoretical spatial framework (within single-level panel econometric methodology) that extends existing theories and methods of causal inference, which tend to ignore spatial dynamics; (2) demonstrate how this spatial framework can be applied in empirical research; and (3) implement a new spatial infrastructure framework that integrates and manages the required data for health systems evaluation.
The new spatially explicit counterfactual framework considers how spatial effects impact treatment choice, treatment variation, and treatment effects. To illustrate this new methodological framework, I first replicate a classic quasi-experimental study that evaluates the effect of drinking age policy on mortality in the United States from 1970 to 1984, and further extend it with a spatial perspective. In another example, I evaluate food access dynamics in Chicago from 2007 to 2014 by implementing advanced spatial analytics that better account for the complex patterns of food access, and quasi-experimental research design to distill the impact of the Great Recession on the foodscape. Inference interpretation is sensitive to both research design framing and underlying processes that drive geographically distributed relationships. Finally, I advance a new Spatial Data Science Infrastructure to integrate and manage data in dynamic, open environments for public health systems research and decision- making. I demonstrate an infrastructure prototype in a final case study, developed in collaboration with health department officials and community organizations.Dissertation/Thesis
Doctoral Dissertation Geography 2017
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David, Anabela Cunha dos Reis. "Ensino da geografia e formação acrescida em sistemas de informação geográfica." Master's thesis, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10362/2433.
Full textAbstract:
Dissertação apresentada como requisito parcial para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Ciência e Sistemas de Informação GeográficaCada vez mais, os Sistemas de Informação Geográfica (SIG) se assumem como uma ferramenta indispensável à tarefa do geógrafo, tanto na investigação como no ensino. O presente trabalho de investigação pretende avaliar as práticas educativas de docentes de Geografia com formação acrescida em SIG, adquirida em cursos de formação contínua e mestrados. Esta formação tem o desejado impacto nas experiências educativas promovidas pelos docentes que a obtêm junto dos seus alunos ou é insuficiente para alterar as rotinas escolares? Quais os factores que potenciam ou inibem a mudança? (...)
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Medková, Eva. "Konstruktivismus ve výuce geografie." Master's thesis, 2012. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-304199.
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Medková, E. (2012): Constructivism in geography education. Department of Social Geography and Regional Development, Charles University in Prague. The thesis deals with a constructivist model used in Geography classes. The theoretical part focuses on the characteristic of this model and compares it with the traditional transmissive model. It describes the methods used in the constructivist teaching. Part of the practical section was the pedagogical experiment that compared the efficiency of constructivist and transmissive teaching. Experiment was realized in the Primary school in two parallel 7th grade classes. There were two geographical topics tought - monsoons and the development of the Asian states. The development of the Asian states topic was tought transmissively in one class and in a constructivist manner in the second class. As a second step the other topic of monsoons was tought and the teaching method in the classes was interchanged. The efficiency of the teaching was determined by the help of the didactic test and then statistically evaluated.
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TRTÍKOVÁ, Renata. "Praktické příklady použití projektové výuky fyzické geografie na 2. stupni ZŠ." Master's thesis, 2011. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-85622.
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The aim of the thesis is to develop an expanding educational curriculum manual applicable in the practical field of teaching geography at the 2nd primary school. The work contains a set of projects with practical exercises and field experiments, explaining the specific processes and physical geography concepts linked to the selected area (Domažlicko and Humpolecko). Individual chapters are devoted to physical-geographical sub-disciplines (meteorology and climatology, hydrology, soil science, biogeography, geology and geomorphology) and the first chapter is devoted to cartography.
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Wentzel, Karen Chantal. "Bepaling van gronderosiepotensiaal in die Nsikazi-distrik (Mpumalanga) met afstandwaarneming en GIS." Thesis, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10210/7581.
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M.Sc.The aim of the present study is to determine the influence of human activities on fluvial erosion in the Nsikazi District (Mpumalanga). Recommendations for the optimal use of available resources in the study area are made after considering the soil erosion potential of the area, and by comparing the Nsikazi District with the nearby conservation control area, the Kruger National Park (KNP). Soil erosion can be optimally prevented by employing the most suitable management practice; therefore reliable information is required concerning the location, causes and extent of soil erosion. During the present study, satellite remote sensing is evaluated as a cost effective and timely source of information to fulfill this requirement. Due to the fact that soil erosion is a natural process, which can be amplified by certain natural physical factors, it is necessary to determine the natural soil erosion potential of an area before any assumptions can be made regarding the cause of soil erosion. In this study the integration of the natural soil erosion potential map and bare soil map resulted in the establishment of the overall soil erosion potential map for the area. Landuse can be described as the most significant contributing factor in the occurrence of bare soil (devoid of vegetation), and therefore this is an indicator not only of soil degradation, but also of human impact. The data used during the present study consist of digital satellite images (Landsat TM and SPOT) and aerial photographs provided by the Institute for Soil, Climate and Water (ISCW). Additional information was also collected from pre-existing soil and topographical maps of the area. The ILWIS 2.1 computer programme was then employed for image processing and GIS analysis of the data. The study was carried out in two analytical phases. A data processing phase, which was carried out as follows: - The physical erosion factors, which determine soil erosion potential, namely soil erodibility, slope, slope length, slope form and slope aspect as well as plant cover, were converted to GIS data layers and mapped , followed by - the identification and mapping of the presence of bare soil and landuse patterns. A data intergration phase was included, whereby the above mentioned data layers were integrated to determine the natural and overall soil erosion potential, as well as the evaluation of landuse, thereby indicating the soil cultivation potential for the study area.
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"Gnamma Pit Growth and Paleowind Intensity in the Sonoran Desert: Insights from Wind Tunnel Experiments and Numerical Modeling." Master's thesis, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.29908.
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abstract: Gnamma pit is an Australian aboriginal term for weathering pit. A mix of weathering and aeolian processes controls the formation of gnamma pits. There is a potential to utilize gnamma as an indicator of paleowind intensity because gnamma growth is promoted by the removal of particles from gnamma pits by wind, a process referred to as deflation. Wind tunnel tests determining the wind velocity threshold of deflation over a range of pit dimensions and particles sizes are conducted. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling utilizing the Re-Normalisation Group (RNG) K-Epsilon turbulence closure is used to investigate the distribution of wall shear stress and turbulent kinetic energy. An empirical equation is proposed to estimate shear stress as a function of the wind velocity and pit depth dimensions. With this equation and Shields Diagram, the wind velocity threshold for evacuating particles in the pit can be estimated by measuring the pit depth ratio and particle size. It is expected that the pit would continue to grow until this threshold is reached. The wind speed deflation threshold is smaller in the wind tunnel than predicted by the CFD and Shields diagram model. This discrepancy may be explained by the large turbulent kinetic energy in the gnamma pit as predicted by the CFD model as compared to the flat bed experiments used to define the Shields diagram. An empirical regression equation of the wind tunnel data is developed to estimate paleowind maximums.Dissertation/Thesis
Masters Thesis Geography 2015
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Mota, Madalena Galvão de Melo e. "Concepção de curricula em análise espacial para o terceiro ciclo do ensino básico." Master's thesis, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10362/3644.
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Dissertação apresentada como requisito parcial para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Ciência e Sistemas de Informação GeográficaO estudo de cenários de relações territoriais, através da utilização de processos de análise espacial em Sistemas de Informação Geográfica (SIG), pode constituir um meio de romper com a lógica temática subjacente ao programa de Geografia do ensino básico. Não sendo necessário, de acordo com o Decreto-Lei 6/2001, que o programa seja leccionado segundo a ordem constante nas orientações curriculares, a verdade é que se tem tornado mais simples fazê-lo, até porque os manuais escolares assim se encontram organizados. Propõe-se uma abordagem do programa de Geografia do terceiro ciclo do ensino básico centrada em competências e conceitos de análise espacial em vez de temas específicos, utilizando a flexibilidade permitida pela legislação. O objectivo desta abordagem é o de desenvolver competências que permitam interpretar e manipular informação geográfica. Considera-se que a análise espacial em ambiente SIG poderá ter grande utilidade no terceiro ciclo do ensino básico por promover a interdisciplinaridade, bem como por serem métodos a usar em áreas curriculares não disciplinares. Desenvolvem competências ligadas à análise e tratamento de informação, ao relacionamento com os outros, ao uso das Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação e ainda competências ligadas ao raciocínio lógico e à resolução de problemas.(...)
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Doummar, Joanna Jean. "Identification of indicator parameters for the quantitative assessment of vulnerability in karst aquifers." Doctoral thesis, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-1735-0000-000D-F07C-8.
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Dupras, Jérôme. "Évaluation économique des services écosystémiques dans la région de Montréal : analyse spatiale et préférences exprimées." Thèse, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/1866/11333.
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Les services écosystémiques (SE) réfèrent aux bénéfices que produisent et soutiennent la biodiversité et les écosystèmes et qui profitent à l’être humain. Dans beaucoup de cas, ils ne sont pas pris en compte dans le système économique. Cette externalisation des SE engendre des décisions sur l’utilisation du territoire et des ressources naturelles qui ignorent leur contribution à la qualité de vie des communautés. Afin notamment de sensibiliser l’opinion publique à l’importance des SE et de mieux les intégrer dans les processus décisionnels, ont été développées des démarches d’évaluation économique des SE.
Dans cette thèse, nous avons cherché à comprendre à la fois comment l’utilisation passée et actuelle des sols dans la région de Montréal affecte la valeur des SE et comment ces aménités naturelles sont perçues et valorisées par la population, dans une perspective d’aménagement futur du territoire. Pour ce faire, nous avons utilisé deux approches : l’analyse spatiale recourant aux systèmes d’information géographique et l’analyse des préférences exprimées par des techniques d’enquête.
Pour l’analyse spatiale, nous avons combiné des analyses cartographiques à des valeurs monétaires associées aux SE publiées dans la littérature. Nous avons alors estimé la valeur des écosystèmes d’un territoire par le transfert de bénéfices, de prix de marchés directs et de coûts évités. Cette démarche nous a permis de comprendre la relation entre l’utilisation actuelle du territoire du Grand Montréal écologique et la valeur des services fournis par les écosystèmes, que nous avons estimée à 2,2 milliards de dollars par année. Elle nous a permis aussi de mesurer les effets sur la valeur des SE du changement d’utilisation des sols entre les années 1960 et 2010. Nous avons montré que malgré différentes politiques de contrôle et d’encadrement de l’étalement urbain au cours de cette période, les pertes économiques non marchandes liées aux SE s’élèvent à 236 millions de dollars par année.
Pour l’analyse des préférences exprimées, nous avons utlilisé deux méthodes, l’évaluation contingente et le choix multi-attributs, avec l’objectif de mesurer le consentement à payer de répondants pour des variations dans l’aménagement du territoire. Nous avons montré d’une part que les répondants valorisent significativement l’incidence des pratiques agro-environnementales sur la qualité de l’environnement et des paysages en consentant à payer entre 159 et 333 dollars par ménage par année pour une amélioration de la diversité du paysage agricole. D’autre part, leur volonté à payer pour l’amélioration de l’état des milieux humides du Québec est estimée entre 389 et 455 dollars par ménage par année. L’utilisation conjointe des deux méthodes nous a permis d’en comparer les résultats. Nous avons en outre démontré que le choix du format de question de valorisation de l’évaluation contingente affecte la convergence des résultats.
Enfin, nous avons proposé des pistes de recherches futures portant sur l’intégration des démarches d’analyse biophysique, économique et politique dans des outils de prise de décision mieux adaptés à la dynamique des écosystèmes, de la biodiversité et des communautés humaines.Ecosystem services (ES) refer to benefits produced and sustained by biodiversity and ecosystems that benefit humans. In many cases, they are not considered in the economic system. This externalization of SE generates decisions on land use and natural resources that ignore their contribution to the well-being of communities. In order to raise awareness of the importance of ES and better integrate them into decision-making processes, economic approaches to value ES have been developed. In this thesis, we sought to understand both how the past and current land use in the Montreal area affects the value of ES and how these natural amenities are perceived and valued by the population in a future planning and management perspective. To accomplish this, we used two approaches: spatial analysis using geographic information systems and analysis of stated preferences by survey techniques. In the spatial analysis approach, we combined cartographic analyzes to monetary values associated to ES published in the literature. We then estimated the value of ecosystems using benefit transfer, direct market prices and avoided costs methods. This approach has allowed us to understand the relationship between the current land use in the Greater Montreal and the economic value of the services provided by ecosystems, which we estimated at 2.2 billion dollars per year. It also allowed us to estimate the effects of land use changes between 1960 and 2010 on the value of ES. We showed that despite different land use planning policies implemented to manage urban sprawl during this period, non-market economic losses related to ES have reached 236 million dollars per year. In the stated preferences approach, we used two methods, contingent valuation and choice experiment, with the aim of measuring the willingness to pay of respondents for proposed changes in their environment. In a first study, we showed that respondents significantly value the impact of agri-environmental practices on the quality of the environment and landscapes and are willing to pay between 159 and 333 dollars per household per year on improving the diversity of agricultural landscape. In a second study, their willingness to pay on improving the status of wetlands in Quebec is estimated at between 389 and 455 dollars per household per year. The combined use of the two methods allowed us to compare the results. We also demonstrated that the choice of valuation question format in contingent valuation affects the convergence of the results. Finally, we propose directions for future research related to the integration of ecological, economic and political analyzes of ES that would lead to better assessments of the dynamics of ecosystems, biodiversity and human communities.