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The acoustic sense is vital to all life processes for whales. It defines their ‘active space’, and the extent and nature of interactions with their surroundings. Yet, we are still learning the basics of most species’ acoustic behaviours and vocal repertoires. The ecology of gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) is well known, however vocal behaviours are not well described outside of breeding lagoons. Bottom-stationed acoustic monitoring devices were deployed in Clayoquot Sound, west coast Vancouver Island to explore acoustics use outside of these areas. During migration the use of low frequency moan calls are prevalent, perhaps for group cohesion, with lead whales guiding followers. During the summer more inter-group calls (knocks, upsweeps) are employed. Here I explored the use of ‘motherese’ calls between cow-calf pairs, and how this may mirror the weaning process. Photoperiod, increased ambient noise, threat perception, and vessel and aircraft presence elicited acoustic responses. Calling was also altered by social, behavioural, and physiological state. These results begin to show gray whales to be acoustically sensitive, with highly nuanced vocalising behaviours. Acoustic methods afford monitoring at times and in places that would otherwise be impossible, and lends themselves to the study of rare or cryptic species. Ocean gliders with passive acoustic capacity were used to explore deep-coastal and shelf-break waters for large whale species. Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) were common on the shelf, whereas calls from fin (Balaenoptera physalus), blue (Balaenoptera musculus), sperm (Physeter macrocephalus), and possibly sei whales (Balaenoptera borealis) were heard in more offshore locations. Concurrent habitat data steams help establish area use and importance to these species. The surveys focus on submarine canyons that are thought to aggregate prey. Calls denote whale presence, whereas call type may suggest behaviour and habitat use. Calls described for feeding and breeding were heard for fin and blue whales, with distinct temporal distribution. Acoustic techniques complement other ecological methods and can fill existing knowledge gaps in whale life histories. It can also help quantify the effect of human activities on whale populations and ocean soundscapes. These findings will inform management actions. I provide examples of management links to acoustic-ecological research. / Graduate

Plasma turbulence associated with the creation of an artificial dust layer in the earth's ionosphere is investigated. The Charged Aerosol Release Experiment (CARE) aims to understand the mechanisms for enhanced radar scatter from plasma irregularities embedded in dusty plasmas in space. Plasma irregularities embedded in a artificial dusty plasma in space may shed light on understanding the mechanism for enhanced radar scatter in Noctilucent Clouds (NLCs) and Polar Mesospheric Summer Echoes (PMSEs) in the earth's mesosphere. Artificially created, charged-particulate layers also have strong impact on radar scatter as well as radio signal propagation in communication and surveillance systems. The sounding rocket experiment was designed to develop theories of radar scatter from artificially created plasma turbulence in charged dust particle environment. Understanding plasma irregularities embedded in a artificial dusty plasma in space will also contribute to addressing possible effects of combustion products in rocket/space shuttle exhaust in the ionosphere. In dusty space plasmas, plasma irregularities and instabilities can be generated during active dust aerosol release experiments. Small scale irregularities (several tens of centimeter to meters) and low frequency waves (in the ion/dust scale time in the order of second) are studied in this work, which can be measured by High Frequency (HF), Very High Frequency (VHF) and Ultra High Frequency (UHF) radars. The existence of dust aerosol particles makes computational modeling of plasma irregularities extremely challenging not only because of multiple spatial and temporal scale issue but also due to complexity of dust aerosol particles. This work will provide theoretical and computational models to study plasma irregularities driven by dust aerosol release for the purpose of designing future experiments with combined ground radar, optical and in-situ measurement. In accordance with linear analysis, feasible hybrid computational models are developed to study nonlinear evolution of plasma instabilities in artificially created dusty space plasmas. First of all, the ion acoustic (IA) instability and dust acoustic (DA) instability in homogenous unmagnetized plasmas are investigated by a computational model using a Boltzmann electron assumption. Such acoustic-type instabilities are attributed to the charged dust and ion streaming along the geomagnetic field. Secondly, in a homogenous magnetized dusty plasma, lower-hybrid (LH) streaming instability will be generated by dust streaming perpendicular to the background geomagnetic field. The magnetic field effect on lower-hybrid streaming instabilities is investigated by including the ratio of electron plasma frequency and electron gyro frequency in this model. The instability in weakly magnetized circumstances agree well with that for the ion acoustic (IA) instability by a Boltzmann model. Finally, in an inhomogeneous unmagnetized/magnetized dust boundary layer, possible instabilities will be addressed, including dust acoustic (DA) wave due to flow along the boundary and lower-hybrid (LH) sheared instability due to flow cross the boundary. With applications to active rocket experiments, plasma irregularity features in a linear/nonlinear saturated stage are characterized and predicted. Important parameters of the dust aerosol clouds that impact the evolution of waves will be also discussed for upcoming dust payload generator design. These computational models, with the advantage of following nonlinear wave-particle interaction, could be used for space dusty plasmas as well as laboratory dusty plasmas. / Ph. D.

Cette thèse est consacrée à l'étude ab initio des structures électroniques des molécules diatomiques polaires YN, YS, ZrN, et ZrS. Cette étude est motivé par le manque d’informations dans la littérature sur la structure électronique de ces molécules, alors qu’elles ont clairement été identifiées dans le spectre de certaines étoiles. Des calculs théoriques sont ainsi nécessaire puisqu’ils peuvent fournir d'importantes informations quant aux propriétés des états électroniques fondamentaux et excités qui ne sont pas accessibles expérimentalement. Dans ce travail les calculs ab initio ont été effectués par la méthode du champ auto-cohérent de l'espace actif complet (CASSCF), suivie par l'interaction de configuration multiréférence (MRSDCI). La correction de Davidson, notée (MRSDCI+ Q), a ensuite été appliquée pour rendre compte de clusters ou agrégats quadruples non liés. Les calculs ont été effectués selon deux schémas. Dans le premier les effets spin-orbite ont été négligés alors que dans le second les effets spin orbite ont été inclus par la méthode des potentiels de noyau efficaces. Tous les calculs ont été effectués en utilisant le programme de calcul de chimie physique MOLPRO et en tirant parti de l’interface graphique Gabedit. Les courbes d'énergie potentielle ont été construites et des constantes spectroscopiques calculées, ainsi que les moments dipolaires électriques permanent, les champs électriques moléculaires intenses et les structures énergétiques de vibration-rotation. Nous avons détecté dans la molécule ZrS plusieurs niveaux vibrationnels dégénérés ceux-ci peuvent être utilisés pour rechercher les variantes possibles de la constante de structure fine α etdu rapport de masse μ de l’electron par rapport au proton dans trois étoiles de type S, du nomde Rand, les RCas, et χCyg. La comparaison des données expérimentales et théoriques pour la plupart des constantes calculées a montré une bonne précision pour nos prédictions avec une différence relative (en pourcentage) qui varie entre 0,1% et 10%. Ces résultats devraient ainsi mener à des études expérimentales plus poussées pour ces molécules. / This dissertation is dedicated to the ab initio study of the electronic structures of the polardiatomic molecules YN, YS, ZrN, and ZrS. The identification of these molecules in the spectraof stars as well as the lack in literature on the electronic structures of these molecules motivatedthe present study. Theoretical calculations are useful in this respect since they can provideimportant data for the properties of the ground and excited electronic states that are not availablefrom experimental means. In the present work the ab initio calculations were performed at thecomplete active space self-consistent field method (CASSCF) followed by multireference singleand double configuration interaction method (MRSDCI). The Davidson correction noted as(MRSDCI+Q) was then invoked in order to account for unlinked quadruple clusters. Thecalculations were performed on two stages in the first spin orbit effects were neglected while inthe second type of calculations spin orbit effects were included by the method of effective corepotentials. All of the calculations were done by using the computational physical chemistryprogram MOLPRO and by taking advantage of the graphical user interface Gabedit. In thepresent work potential energy curves were constructed and spectroscopic constants computed,along with permanent electric dipole moments, internal molecular electric fields, and vibrationalrotationalenergy structures. We detected in the ZrS molecule several degenerate vibrationalenergy levels which can be used to search for possible variations of the fine structure constant αand the electron to proton mass ratio μ in three S-type stars, named Rand, RCas, and χCyg. Acomparison with experimental and theoretical data for most of the calculated constantsdemonstrated a good accuracy for our predictions giving a percentage relative difference thatranged between 0.1% and 10%. Finally, we expect that the results of the present work shouldinvoke further experimental investigations for these molecules.