The purpose of this essay is to investigate the origin of the large amount of precipitation that is present in the northern Ethiopian Highlands. With Moisture transport into the Ethiopian Highlands by Ellen Viste and Asgeir Sorteberg as a base, this essays intents to compare the same data but by focusing on a much smaller time scale. This frame was chosen to see if the data would deviate (i.e. a small and specific time scale versus a large and general time scale). Whilst the investigation by Viste and Sorteberg focuses on the two most rain rich months, July and August during 1998-2008, this essay focuses on only July during 2008.                       To investigate where the precipitation originates from, this essay has analyzed different meteorological parameters such as horizontal and vertical winds at different altitudes and the moisture content of these winds.                       This essay has like Viste’s and Sorteberg’s paper used ERA-Interim data as a basis. However the course of action has differed. This essay has made conclusions by visually drawing conclusions by studying the data images while Viste and Asgeir have drawn their conclusions by backtracking the wind to its origin.                       This investigations results showed that great amounts of moisture were transported into the highlands from the south-west, and to some extent also from the north. While the moisture transport from the south-west was large due to the level of moist in the air, these winds where fairly small and at low altitudes. The winds from the north were visible at higher altitudes and were stronger, however they carried much less water vapor. However, exactly how much each of these winds actually contributed to producing rain is more difficult to say.                       The results from Viste and Asgeir (2011) showed that the amount of moist that was transported into the highlands were about 46 percent more from the north compared to from the south. The contribution to moisture release within the area was however almost equally great from north and south.                       Both investigations thus showed that the largest amount of moist was transported from the south and north. What this study did however not address was how large amount of the entire moist that had contributed to rain.                       One anomaly of large amounts of precipitation was registered on the 20th of July 2008. This study looked closer into this which showed that large winds were registered this date as well as an upwind cell. One can presume that these winds carried large amounts of moisture, which previous results has shown, and that this might be an explanation to the large amount of precipitation that was measured on the 20th of July.

Titanium dioxide nanoparticles are widely used in a variety of products, such as pigments, paints, paper, plastics, cosmetics, nano-fibers, food coloring and photovoltaic cells, and the industry is growing at anexponential rate. It is believed that by 2025, 2.5 million tons of nano-TiO2 will be manufactured annually. Thus far, there has been very little research in the environmental impact of nano-TiO2. There is a need to understand the fate and transport of nanoTiO2 to mitigate their effect on human health, the ecosystems and the environment in general. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of pH, flow rate and ionic strength on the deposition of nano-TiO2 in a saturated porous media (sand). Nano-TiO2 formed aggregates in solutions that had a pH near the point of zero charge for TiO2, which is at approximately pH 6.2 for TiO2. The formed aggregates showed very little mobility due to site blocking in the pores of the sandy medium, whereas at pH 7.5, the solutions’ concentration was more stable than at pH 6.3 and more mobile up to 10 mM. Above 10 mM, a decrease in mobility, due to reduction in repulsive energy interaction between the medium and the nanoparticles could be observed. Flow rate had also a marked effect on the deposition, i.e., the slower the flow rate, the higher on deposition, because of an increase in attachment efficiency. To verify the experimental results, a finite element solution of the reactive transport equation in one dimension was used to compare the fit between observed and simulated results. The model was run in inverse mode, to determine unknown parameter values such as dispersivity and detachment rate. In general, it was possible to obtain a good fit to theexperimental BTCs. / Nanopartiklar av titaniumdioxid används allmänt i en mängd olika produkter, såsom pigment, färger,papper, plast, kosmetika, nanofibrer, matfärgläggning, och solceller. Branschen växer explosionsartat.Man tror att år 2025 kommer 2,5 miljoner ton nano-TiO2 tillverkas årligen. Hittills har väldigt lite forskning gjorts på området nano-TiO2. Det finns ett behov av att förstå transportprocesser och vad som händer med nanoTiO2 i miljön för att bla kunna mildra effekter av dessa partiklar på människors hälsa, ekologi och miljö. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka effekten av pH, flöde och jonstyrka (IS) på transporten av nano - TiO2 i vattenmättade porösa medier (sand). Nano - TiO2 bildade aggregat i lösningar som hade ett pH nära pH(PZC), pH(PZC) är pH-värdet vid vilket laddningen är noll, ungefär pH 6,2 för TiO2. Vid pH 6,3 visade nano partiklarna mycket liten rörlighet på grund av fysisk igentäppning i porerna av sandmediet, medan vid pH 7,5 var lösningens koncentration mer stabil och partiklarna mer mobila upp till en jonstyrka på 10 mM. Över 10 mM, observerades en minskning i rörlighet, på grund av minskad repellerande energi mellan mediet och nano partiklarna.Flödeshastighet hade också en markant inverkan på retentionen av partiklar i kolonnen, ju långsammare flöde, desto större retention, på grund av mer gynnsamma förhållande för fastläggning av partiklar till mediet. För att verifiera de experimentella resultaten och jämföra observerade och simulerade resultat användes en lösning med finita-elementmetoden av den reaktiva transportekvationen i en dimension. Inversmodellering gjordes för att ta reda på okända parametervärden såsom dispersivitet och fastläggning. Det var i allmänhet möjligt att uppnå god överensstämmelse mellan observerade ochexperimentella genombrottskurvor.

Oil and gas were recovered from alum shale (black shale) at Kvarntorp, Närke,during a period of 24 years. One of the remnants of this industry is a 100 m highdeposit with high contents of uranium, arsenic, molybdenum, vanadium and otherelements. Presently the leakage of metals from the deposit into nearby streams israther modest but will most likely accelerate in the near future. One way to preventan uncontrolled leakage of these elements from the deposit into the environmentwould be to install a filter with an effective adsorbent that after saturation could easilybe regenerated and reused. The filter could not only be used to reduce the impact ofmetal leakage to the environment but also to reclaim valuable elements like nickel,vanadium, uranium and molybdenum. Unfortunately such a filter does not existtoday, but there are a wide range of minerals that have high adsorbing capacities andcould serve as filter components in a mineral barrier system. The adsorbingproperties of some natural minerals with respect to selected metals that are abundantin the Kvarntorp deposit are studied in this project. These minerals are bentoniteclay, (burnt clay), unburnt shale (stybb), burnt shale (rödfyr), apatite, peat andbark. In the experiments each sorbent was blended with artificial groundwater and acertain amount of metal stock solution. Samples were taken at five different pH.The results show that the two shale-products stand out from the othersand have the best adsorbing qualities for nickel, copper and zinc. At a pH over 7between 96 and 99% of the metal ions were removed from the solution.Unburned shale especially shows remarkably good results for vanadiumthroughout the tested pH range of 3,4-7,7 between 98 and 99% of the vanadium ionswere removed from the solution. Unburned shale performs best of the testedadsorbents and could probably be used as an adsorbent in a geological barrier butmore research is needed.

China’s consumption of electricity is increasing with its economic development. Although the main supply of electricity power is still coal, the government has recognized the importance of renewable energy and energy transition. China officially made a pledge of carbon emission reduction after the Copenhagen conference and enhanced its efforts to promote the environmentally sustainable alternatives to coal-fired power plants. Hydropower is the central of this strategy to achieve sustainable energy production. Due to the ecological and social influences, the 13 dams concentrated on the Nu River have caused a fierce debate over the past decade. Premier Wen even halted twice the project in 2004 and 2009. However, faced with increasing energy demand and Copenhagen commitment for carbon emission reduction, hydropower development remains a top priority and the 12th Five-Year plan will continue the construction of the Songta Dam on the Nu River. The other four dams including Maji, Yabiluo, Liuku and Saige should undergo orderly preparation as well. Thus this thesis aims to evaluate to what extent has China’s decision to build large dams on Nu River taken sustainable development into serious consideration under the seven priority strategies policy framework of World Commission on Dams. The study finds out that China’s decision to build dams considered the environmental and social issues, but when it comes to population and displacement issues, more efforts of implementation are needed and the process of benefits sharing and getting acceptance as well.

During recent decades the brownification through leaching of organic carbon into Northern hemisphere water bodies has become apparent. This is considered a problem because of the implications it has on ecosystems and freshwater sources used for drinking water. It could be beneficial if wetlands can be used for reducing brownification but also detrimental if wetlands instead increase it as construction of wetlands is common practice for treating agricultural runoff in Sweden.  This study compares inlet and outlet absorbance in five wetlands in Kalmar County in Sweden and finds that one removes colour, two increases colour and two does not change the colour of the water at all. The study also compares absorbance values with variables concerning flow and temperature and concludes that a higher absorbance at inlet increases removal similar to how nutrient removal in wetlands work. Inlet absorbance is also dependent on flow with higher flow resulting in higher absorbance. Periods of no flow did not contribute to any changes in absorbance, but this could be because of a limited sample pool. Future recommendations for research include a more extensive look into periods of no flow and affecting variables to ensure wetlands do not contribute to brownification.

En stor del av Sportfiskarnas arbete handlar om att återställa den ursprungliga morfologin i vattendrag efter påverkan av främst jordbruk. Sådana återställningar kan exempelvis göras genom att återföra rensat material i form av block och sten till vattendragen samt att rätade sträckor återmeandras. Syftet med sådana åtgärder är ofta att hålla kvar vattnet i landskapet och uppnå jämnare flöden i vattendragen, för att vårda eller bevara den naturliga biotopen. Inom det biotopvårdande arbetet utgörs en del av arbetet av att uppskatta de hydrauliska effekterna av aktuella åtgärder i vattendraget. I många scenarion tillämpas Mannings formel för att beräkna och uppskatta dessa effekter.   Det här projektet som utförs inom ramen för sportfiskarnas projekt Hydrologisk restaurering av Södertörns avrinningsområden, utreder vanliga biotopvårdande åtgärder och dess hydrauliska effekter genom upprättandet av hydrauliska flödesmodeller i HEC-RAS. De simulerade effekterna jämförs med beräknat resultat utifrån Mannings formel för att utreda värdet av upprättande av modell relativt de konventionella beräkningarna. Metodiken utgjordes av en mindre initial litteraturstudie följt av inmätningar av bottennivå och vattennivå i de aktuella flödessträckorna varpå flödesmodeller för respektive objekt upprättades. Flödessträckan i Hågaån utgjorde objektet för jämförelse mellan modell och konventionella beräkningar. Återmeandring visade sig vara den mest lämpade åtgärden för att erhålla en sänkt hastighet och ett ökat djup över en längre sträcka. Utplacering av sten i vattendraget kunde konstateras ha lokalt avgränsade effekter i form av ett mer turbulent flödestillstånd. Även ett ökat djup samt minskad hastighet kunde i varierande omfattning erhållas i sektioner med utplacerade stenar. De hydrauliska effekterna av den upprättade våtmarken speglas av en lokalt sänkt hastighet och minskat djup. Mannings formel visade sig generera mycket liknande resultat som modellen för åtgärden utplacering av sten. För återmeandring erhölls lite större skillnad i resultatet som troligtvis beror på felaktigheter i den geometriska beskrivningen av fårans tvärsnitt. Intressanta uppslag för fortsatta studier inom området är att jämföra resultat med inmätningar i fält efter utförd åtgärd samt att jämföra metoderna för fler olika objekt och scenarion. / A significant part of the work process at Sportfiskarna consists of restoring the original morphology of waterways after, mainly the influence of agriculture. Such restorations can be made, for example, by restructuring straightened waterways and it may also include replacing material, like blocks of stone, that has been removed from the waterways in the past. The purpose of such measures is often to retain the water in the landscape and achieve more moderate flow variations in the waterways to preserve and promote the natural biotope. This work includes estimating the hydraulic effects of intended measures in the waterways. In many scenarios, Manning’s formula is applied to calculate and estimate these effects.  This study is performed within the context of the ongoing project, Hydrological restoration of the catchment areas at Södertörn, run by Sportfiskarna. Common measures and their hydraulic effects are investigated through the establishment of hydraulic flow models in HEC-RAS. The simulated effects are compared with calculated results from using Manning’s formula to investigate the value of establishing a model compared to the conventional calculations. A minor initial literature study was performed followed by measurements of bottom- and water level in the investigated flow sections whereupon flow models for each object were established. Hågaån was chosen as the object for comparison between model and conventional calculations. Restructuring straightened waterways proved to be the most suitable measure to obtain a reduced speed and an increased depth over a longer distance. Replacing blocks of stone in the waterways could be observed to have locally delimited effects in the form of a more turbulent flow condition. Increased depth and reduced speed could also be obtained in the sections with replaced stones. The hydraulic effects of the established wetland are displayed in a locally reduced speed and reduced depth. Manning’s formula proved to generate very similar results as the model for the replacement of stones measure. For restructuring straightened waterways, a slightly larger difference was obtained in the result which is probably due to inaccuracies in the geometric description of the cross section in the waterway. Suggestions for further studies are to compare results with measurements in the field after the measure has been performed and also to compare the methods for several different objects and scenarios.

Explosives used in the mining industry release nitrate into the environment, causing concerns for the water quality in local river-systems. One way of reducing the nitrate loading into the environment is through a woodchip bioreactor. Water is passed through the bioreactor, where denitrifying microbial communities use the organic carbon from the substrate for energy, together with the nitrate. The efficiency of the denitrification process depends on various factors, including the type of carbon source selected and the temperature. To determine a suitable organic substrate to use in colder environments, column experiments were conducted, comparing different woodchip types. Three columns contained woodchips from pine, spruce and birch. In the fourth column, barley wheat was mixed with pine woodchips. An influent solution was pumped into the columns contained 50 mg/L nitrate-nitrogen. The effluent water was sampled and analysed twice per week for nitrate, nitrite and ammonium concentrations. The pH and alkalinity were analysed weekly to determine that denitrification was taking place. Three column conditions were tested. During the initial period, the columns were kept in 21 °C with a hydraulic residence time (HRT) of 6.3 days. In the following period, the columns were refrigerated at a temperature of 5°C. During the final period, the HRT was lowered to 3.2 days. After a 106-day runtime, it could be concluded that pine woodchips were the most effective substrate for denitrification in 5 °C temperature. The column with pine woodchips removed nitrate efficiently and produced the least amount of by-products and released DOC with a short HRT. The pine woodchips and barley straw column had high nitrite accumulation, and the nitrate removal rate in the birch and spruce woodchip columns was low in 5 °C conditions. / Sprängmedel som används inom gruvindustrin släpper ut nitrat i miljön, vilket kan leda till problem med vattenkvaliteten i lokala vattensystem. Ett sätt att reducera mängden nitrat som släpps ut är genom en bioreaktor med träflis. Vatten passeras genom bioreaktorn, där denitrifierande microbakteriella grupper använder det organiska kolet från substratet för energi, tillsammans med nitratet. Effektiviteten av den denitrifierande processen beror på flertalet faktorer, däribland vilken sorts kolkälla som valts ut och vilken temperatur bioreaktorn håller. För att identifiera ett bra organiskt substrat att använda i kallt klimat genomfördes ett kolumnexperiment som jämförde olika sorters träflis. Tre kolonner innehöll träflis från tall, gran och björk. I en fjärde kolonn blandades kornhalm med träflis från tall. En lösning med koncentrationen 50 mg/L kväve i form av nitrat pumpades in i kolonnerna. Utloppsvattnet från de fyra kolonnerna analyserades två gånger per vecka för koncentration av nitrat, nitrit och ammonium. pH och alkalinitet analyserades varje vecka för att se att denitrifikation skedde. Tre olika förutsättningar testades i kolonnerna. I den första perioden hölls kolonnerna i 21 °C med en hydraulisk uppehållstid på 6,3 dagar. I den följande perioden kyldes kolonnerna till 5 °C. I den sista perioden sänktes uppehållstiden till 3,2 dagar. Efter 106 dagar gick det att fastställa att tall-träflisen var det mest effektiva substratet för denitrifikation i 5 °C. Kolonnen med träflis från tall sänkte nitrathalten i vattnet och producerade minst biprodukter, samt frigjorde organiskt kol även vid kort uppehållstid. Kolonnen med tallflis och kornhalm ackumulerade mycket nitrit, och kolonnerna med träflis från björk och gran hade låga nivåer av nitrat-rening när temperaturen sänktes till 5 °C.

It is widely accepted that climate variability is a key driver of vegetation productivity. Yet, there are discrepancies on the ideal timescales of climatic events and vegetation response. The work herein attempts to clarify how those variables interact in the region of California. The Standard Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI), a drought index, was used as an indicator of interannual climate variability in the region. Vegetation productivity was accounted with Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) or net growth point data. In this study, four parameters were tested: the length of climate events influencing vegetation, the ideal time to be accounted as vegetation response, the start of the growing season, and the lag between climate and vegetation response.  In total, 594 different scenarios were simulated, with 432 considering the correlation between SPEI and NDVI anomalies and the remaining between SPEI and net growth. The findings shows that the Hot Deserts of California have an early start of the drought season, in March or April, with climate events from 6 months prior influencing vegetation greenness for the next 3 months. In those deserts, the direct correlations between SPEI and NDVI have been the highest, of 0.70 (Mojave) and 0.64 (Sonoran), meaning that, in these locations drier periods will decrease vegetation health. Cold Deserts present a later start of the drought season, in May. Vegetation in these regions will have a delayed response to droughts, with scenarios of 1 to 2 months lags between climate events and vegetation response presenting the highest correlations between SPEI and NDVI. Response that is also longer with climatic events influencing the next 9 months of vegetation greenness. When the correlations were significant, Mediterranean California behaved similarly to cold deserts, with a lag between climate and vegetation, and even longer periods of climatic influence on vegetation, of up to 12 months. In colder regions of California, entailing the entire Western Cordillera, Cold Deserts, and some regions of Mediterranean California an inverse relationship between SPEI and NDVI was found. Drier periods early in the season, in March or April will cause vegetation to be greener during the following months. In cold deserts and Mediterranean California, this climate vegetation relationship happened for short climatic events, as only the previous months will have an impact on vegetation for the following three months. The Cordillera was influenced by longer climatic events, of up to three months, and was the location that showed the best inverse correlations between NDVI and SPEI. In these locations, an early snowmelt and higher temperatures, leading to higher evapotranspiration, could explain the increase in greenness of vegetation by drier periods. However, this observation does not hold when considering a larger scale of climatic events. The correlation between SPEI and Net Growth has showed that when longer periods are considered, with climatic events of 12 or 24 months, a decrease in the net growth of plants will happen for the following season. As Californian climate is predicted to become more extreme it is of great importance understanding the possible consequences for vegetation.

Detta projekt genomfördes på uppdrag av Forskningsrådet för miljö, areella näringar och samhällsbyggande, Formas, som en mindre del av en större forskningssammanställning om de hydrologiska effekterna av anlagda och restaurerade våtmarker. Syftet med studien var i första hand att se om det gick att karaktärisera svenska våtmarker anlagda eller restaurerade för hydrologiska syften utifrån fem utvalda faktorer; jordart, marktäcke, topografiskt läge i avrinningsområdet, placering i förhållande till tätort och typ av åtgärd. Studien tittade också på om det fanns data för att undersöka våtmarkers effekt på hydrologin, och i sådana fall om några effekter kunde ses. I ett tidigt skede av projektet skapades en databas i vilken det samlades information om våtmarker anlagda, restaurerade eller planerade för hydrologiska syften. Informationen erhölls från länsstyrelser, kommuner och Naturvårdsverket. Den slutgiltiga databasen innehöll totalt 51 våtmarker med fakta såsom koordinater, areor, anläggningsår och beskrivning av åtgärder. Denna databas tillsammans med kartlager från SGU, Lantmäteriet och SMHI var grunden för de faktoranalyser som gjordes i ArcMap. Resultaten från karaktäriseringen visade att våtmarkerna till stor del var lokaliserade vid underliggande jordarter såsom lera-silt, morän och torv. Vidare förekom våtmarkerna vanligen på områden av åkermark, men även i ganska stor utsträckning på andra marktäcken, såsom skog eller öppen mark. Från analysen av läge i avrinningsområdet konstaterades det att våtmarkerna generellt sett topografiskt låg i lägre terräng i delavrinningsområdet. Våtmarkernas placering i förhållande till tätorter visade på att över hälften av våtmarkerna som analyserades låg inom 2 km från närmaste tätort. I de fall det gick att undersöka förhållandet noggrannare visade det sig att de flesta våtmarkerna låg uppströms tätorten i fråga. För den hydrologiska analysen hittades data för att kunna analysera våtmarkers effekter på vattenflöden och grundvattennivåer i ett fåtal delavrinningsområden. Två anlagda våtmarker med respektive delavrinningsområde ansågs lämpliga för att studera effekten på vattenflöden och tre områden med våtmarker ansågs lämpliga för att undersöka grundvattennivåer. Vad gäller vattenföringen sågs ingen tydlig effekt på flödena som skulle kunna ha orsakats av de anlagda våtmarkerna. Resultatet för grundvattennivåer visade en sänkning av nivåerna sedan våtmarkerna anlades, men en något mindre sänkning i områdena med våtmarker jämfört med referensområdena utan våtmark. Mycket osäkerhet råder dock kring om den mindre sänkningen faktiskt hade med våtmarkerna att göra.

Agriculture in California’s Central Valley is important to the US economy and food supply. High reliance on groundwater (GW) for irrigation has led to GW overdraft. Among the consequences is that the GW level is lowered, increasing the energy requirements and cost of GW extraction. This is assessed in a case study of the Turlock subbasin, as well as a simplified Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA), in which the profitability of strategies for avoiding groundwater overdraft is compared to Business As Usual (BAU) for the years 2001 and 2050, using a high and low energy cost estimate. Climate projections are applied to the year 2050. An overdraft of 95 million m3 in 2001 is found to lower the GW level by 19.3cm, leading to an increase in energy requirements and cost of GW extraction of 0.320 Wh/m3 and 0.416 cents/m3, respectively. A reduction in production was found to be less profitable than BAU in all cases except for the year 2050, using high cost estimates. Crop replacement was found to be profitable in all cases. The use of desalinated water was found to be unprofitable in all cases. It is concluded that climate change and irrigation costs will have one or more of the following outcomes: decreased production, a shift towards higher $/m3 crops, and/or increased food prices. / Lantbruk I Kaliforniens Central Valley region är viktig för den Amerikanska ekonomin och livsmedelsförsörjningen. Stort beroende av grundvatten till konstbevattning har lett till grundvatten-övertrassering. Bland dess konsekvenser är att grundvatten nivån sjunker, vilket gör det mer energi-krävande och kostsamt att pumpa grundvattnet. Detta analyseras i fallstudiet, Turlock subbasin, där det även utförs en förenklad kostnads-nytto analys, i vilken lönsamheten av strategier för att undvika grundvatten-övertrassering jämförs med Business As Usual (BAU) för åren 2001 och 2050, baserad på en hög och en låg uppskattning av energi kostnader. Året 2050 beräknas inklusive förväntade förändringar i klimatet. En övertrassering på 95 miljoner m3 i 2001 visar sig resultera i att grundvatten nivån sjunker 19,3 cm, vilket ökar energibehovet och kostnaden av att pumpa grundvatten med 0,32 Wh/m3 respektivt 0,416 cents/m3. Att minska produktionen visar sig att endast vara lönsamt i ett fall: år 2050 med höga energi uppskattningar. Att byta grödor visar sig vara lönsamt i alla fall. Att förbruka desalinerat vatten visar sig vara olönsamt i alla fall. Det dras slutsatsen att förändringar i klimatet och kostnader av konstbevattning kommer att leda till en eller fler av följande utfall: förminskad produktion, ett skift mot högre $/m3 grödor, och/eller förhöjda matpriser.