Thesis (M.S.C.E.)--University of Toledo, 2006. / Typescript. "Submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for Masters of Science degree in Civil Engineering." Bibliography: leaves 53-55.

Thesis (M.S.V.)--University of Toledo, 2004. / Typescript. "A thesis [submitted] as partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-91).

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006.

No description available.

The overall goals of this project were: (1) to develop a microbiological ecological indicator that would describe military land disturbance, (2) integrate previously collected ecological indicator data from five separate research teams, and (3) produce knowledge maps with the resulting information that illustrates how the selected indicators are involved in ecosystem processes. To address goal one, soil samples were obtained from four levels of military traffic (reference, light, moderate, and heavy) with an additional set of samples taken from previously damaged areas. Using the soil microbial biomass and community composition as ecological indicators, reproducible changes showed increasing traffic disturbance decreases soil viable biomass, biomarkers for microeukaryotes and Gram-negative bacteria, while increasing the proportions of aerobic Gram-positive bacterial and actinomycete biomarkers. To address the second goal, ecological indicator data was collected by five separate research teams. Landmanagement categories (LMCs) were developed that described the uses or causes of the ecological effect from military use(s) of land. A mechanism of multiple solutions was developed that combined the results and tested the efficacy of the proposed indicators. Results from the integration effort showed that Soil A horizon depth and soil compaction were important soil physical indicators of military land disturbance. Soil Nitrogen and Carbon content were important soil chemical indicators of land use. Soil mineralization rate, soil respiration, microbial composition and Beta Glucosidase activity were important microbiological indicators. Important plant indicators included tree stand age, canopy iv cover, understory cover, plant life form and legumes. To address the third goal several knowledge maps were developed, and the results from the integration of indicator data were pooled and studied for the relationships between them. By displaying the indicators in this fashion, it was hoped that the knowledge of what the indicators represent to the functioning of the ecological system could be understood. For the practitioner, this knowledge should lead to actionable products or at least a better understanding of what is being measured and how it relates to broader ecosystem dynamics.

The coupling of real-time measurements and numerical models will be important in overcoming the challenges in environmental and oceanographic assessments in surface waters. Continuous monitoring will take advantage of current state-of-the-art in sensor development, remote sensing technology. The numerical modeling tools available exist in many different forms and varying levels of complexity from depth integrated one-dimensional (1-D) models to full three-dimensional (3-D) models. Common to all are the constraints and forcing required in driving the models. These include hydrodynamic and barometric information, which are relatively difficult to obtain given the time scale of the bio-chemical and physical processes governing the fate and transport of the constituents of interest. This study is focused on the development of a framework that couples real-time measurements and numerical simulation for tracking constituents in surface waters. The parameterization of the mixing and turbulent diffusion impacts the formulation of the constituent-transport governing equations to the extent that the numerical model is being driven by near real-time observations of hydrodynamic data and the consequent evaluation of model coefficients. The effects of shear-augmented diffusion processes in shallow embayment and near-shore waters are investigated in order to develop algorithms for obtaining a shear diffusion coefficient, Ke from shear-current measurements and turbulent diffusion-coefficient, Kz measured by the auto-correlation function, Rτ of the velocity time-series. Typically, the diffusion coefficients are measured through tracer experiments as determined by the time rate of change of the variance of a growing patch (K = ½ dσ2 /dt), which introduces the concept of diffusion length-scale (or time-scale). In this study, the dye-tracer experiment was used, not so much in the context of evaluation of a diffusion coefficient, but within a modeling framework to validate a numerical scheme driven by real-time hydrodynamic observations. Overall, the effect of shear-currents in shallow wind-driven estuaries is studied using a prototype bay typical of the Texas Gulf-coast. A numerical model was developed and used in testing these hypotheses through a series of dye-tracer experiments under varying meteorological conditions.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Glasgow, 2008. / Ph.D. thesis submitted to the Division of Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, 2008. Includes bibliographical references. Print version also available.

No description available.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Arizona, 1990. / Includes bibliographical references (pp. 197-199).

Thesis (M.S.)--Northwest Missouri State University, 2007. / The full text of the thesis is included in the pdf file. Title from title screen of full text.pdf file (viewed on January 25, 2008) Includes bibliographical references.