This research presents the development and application of generic methodologies for the production of a spatially resolved emissions inventory for the North West region of England. The overall purpose of the estimates is to provide emissions data for use within air quality management applications. The North West region is used as the basis of the work due to being composed of a number of administrative units and providing the regional context for local air quality management in the main urban areas of Greater Manchester and Merseyside. Estimates are made for the key urban pollutants (CO, NOx, VOCs, PM and S02) from anthropogenic sources in 1994 and are shown at a variety of spatial scales. Data are available in terms of a regional 5 x 5 km grid, a sub-regional 1 x 1 km grid or at the scale of the original data source. Source categories, which correspond to broad management groupings, comprise road transport; rail transport; airports; shipping; industry; (Part A and Part B); and other (domestic and commercial) sources. Estimation procedures are developed in relation to readily available data sources and are applied within a GIS environment. The use of GIS has been shown to be an appropriate tool for the development of spatially resolved inventories and has further potential in relation to additional applications of the resultant emissions data. The requirements of producing a generic methodology which uses readily available data sources has been found to limit the degree of detail with which it is possible to develop estimation procedures. One of the principal limitations is the availability of comparable activity data for a number of administrative units. However, the results of the inventory are shown to be useful for a number of air quality management activities, including the identification of patterns of emissions at different scales of investigation and the identification of the location and causality of emission 'hotspots'.

published_or_final_version / Civil and Structural Engineering / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Civil Engineering / Master / Master of Philosophy

Human activities have caused acidification of freshwater systems on a large scale resulting in reduced species diversity and ecological functioning in many lakes and streams. However, many naturally acidic freshwater systems have also been found, for instance in northern Sweden. In regions where such naturally acidic aquatic ecosystems have prevailed over evolutionary periods, species diversity and ecological functioning are not automatically impaired due to possible adaptation to the putatively adverse environmental conditions. I studied species diversity patterns and ecological functioning in anthropogenically acidified, naturally acidic, circumneutral, and limed streams to test the adaptation hypothesis and examine the ecological effects of variation in naturally acidic water chemistry. Species diversity was studied using benthic macroinvertebrates, while functioning was modelled using the decomposition rates of leaf litter. In accordance with the evolutionary species pool hypothesis, species richness was reduced more strongly in regions with anthropogenic than natural acidity when compared to circumneutral streams, supporting the adaptation hypothesis. In contrast, the patterns in ecological functioning along the pH-gradients did not differ between regions with anthropogenic and natural acidity, likely resulting from compensation: the biomass of tolerant taxa probably increased which thus rescued the loss in functioning otherwise mediated by the more sensitive taxa. Furthermore, the naturally variable acidic water chemistry clearly supported distinct macroinvertebrate assemblages, as was reflected in differing patterns of species diversity and ecological functioning. Such naturally acidic waters that were rich in dissolved organic carbon supported higher ecosystem process rates and lower species diversity than waters that contained little dissolved organic carbon. Upon liming naturally acidic streams microbial leaf decomposition increased, whereas shredding decreased along with changes in shredder abundances. The abundance of large caddisflies decreased, while the abundance of small stoneflies increased. The results suggest that various types of benthic macroinvertebrates with varying levels of adaptation and tolerance inhabited the hydrochemically variable naturally acidic streams. The distributions of macroinvertebrates in response to different pH levels and differences in acid quality and how these distributions translate into varying patterns of species diversity and ecological functioning are worthy of further investigation. This will likely improve our understanding of how such naturally acidic streams and their biota can be successfully managed.

No description available.

Certaines observations suggèrent une influence de la vallée du Saint-Laurent sur la distribution des averses à sa surface. D'autre part, depuis quelques années, les membres du "'Stormy Weather Group" ont enregistré sur films de 35-mm les échos apparaissant sur un écran de radar doté d'un indicateur panoramique à altitude constanto (IPAC). L'utilisation de ces films permet à l'auteur d'approfondir le sujet par l'identification des premiers échos et le tracé de leur trajectoire subséquente. Des dossiers, établis pour 76 premiers échos, relient ceux-ci à la surface et au profil du terrain. [...]

A two-level diagnostic baroclinic model is constructed for the purpose of examining the role of latent heat release in the production of vertical motion and rainfall. Incorporated in the model are terrain and frictional inflow effects and a variable level of non-divergence. The computations are carried out on a 300 point standard rectangular grid covering the North American continent. [...]

This study examines how deforestation in Malaysia is framed as an economic issue fought out in the political arena using cultural codes as an entry point to examining the political tensions of contemporary Malaysia. Three themes recur throughout this work. The first theme concerns the centrality of resources in Malaysia's colonial and post-colonial political economy. The second theme concerns the displacement of the anxieties of national and cultural survival onto the contests over economic rights. And the third theme is the way collective memories 'flesh out' contemporary contests between the state and civil society. In the sense that the three themes are inter-related, this study traces the twinned construction, and opposition, of the two central ideas: of 'nature' in the form of the rainforest and 'race' in the guise of nation. In keeping with the role of memory in present-day social and political engagements, this study weaves both archival and contemporary material to trace the construction of the history, imagery and vocabulary that have been mapped onto the physical space of the rainforest. I explore the production of the cultural codes through this mapping process that are then used to articulate the contests over the rainforest. These codes are the consequence of negotiations that reflect the unstable alliances and inconsistent identities of contemporary Malaysia, and they are the legacies, albeit translated, of colonialism. In retracing the contests over and about the forests, I hope to shed some light on why Malaysians made, and continue to make, decisions that appear to work against them. The decisions affecting the fate of the rainforest reflects choices made about the kind of society Malaysians live with. Hence, the three core chapters of this study examine military, political/cultural and economic contests and negotiations surrounding the birth of the Malayan/Malaysian nation-state through their impacts on the rainforest. By acknowledging how much of Malaysia's contemporary politics is its colonial legacy, I hope to highlight the trade-off we have made between limited political engagement and development. To accept that we cannot protect basic rights as the price of economic success is to continue to live within the racist framework of colonialism that human rights are only for some humans.

No description available.

No description available.