Forecasts of daily maximum and minimum temperature have become of increasing importance to both agriculture and industry, and reasonable accuracy has been attained in predicting these values. The success in prediction has been largely due to the persistence of either a maritime or continental type of climate. The Canadian Atlantic coast is affected by an unceasing change of both continental and maritime types of air; consequently, a more thorough knowledge of temperature distribution and related weather conditions is required for successful temperature prediction.

This study has been undertaken on a region undergoing an accelerating degree of change. Since the situation is not static and there being little possibility of it being so for the next decade a work of this kind dealing with the regional aspect of Canada’s newest major seaport will go rapidly out of date. However, a glance in retrospect, an account of the present and a forecast for the future should prove valuable. If the facts are not examined until the changes cease, a great deal of the action will have been missed and interest irretrievably lost.

This thesis embodies the results of some experimental agricultural work carried out in the Knob Lake area, in the Province of Quebec, during the summer of 1956. The writer spent this summer as a research assistant at the weather station in the McGill Subarctic Research Laboratory, working as a weather observer in addition to carrying out the research described. With the co-operation of the Federal Department of Agriculture, Experimental Farm Services, who provided seeds and a soil test kit, the writer planted a small test plot and carried out a simple soil survey around the townsite. [...]

Amongst the chief causes bringing about the economic illnesses that have repeatedly plagued the Island of Newfoundland the widespread dispersal of population has always been recognized as being predominant. The history of the Island shows that for centuries, political, economic and cultural factors have combined to perpetuate this situation. In the earliest stages of development after the discovery of the Island, settlement was discouraged and in fact at times forbidden by laws which were initiated at the instigation of certain West Country merchants in England, who sought monopolistic rights to these prolific fishing grounds.

The author spent the period August 1957 to August 1958, at Lake Hazen, Ellesmere Island, N.W.T., as a member of "Operation Hazen." "Operation Hazen" was organized as part of the Canadian International Geophysical Year Programme, to carry out meteorological, glaciological, and geological work over two summers and one winter, and was sponsored by the Defence Research Board of Canada.

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the border formation of the Rocky Boy Reservation, which was established in 1916 and is the home of The Chippewa-Cree Tribe. This thesis examines how racialized discourse surrounding The Chippewa-Cree Tribe affected the creation and subsequently the geography of the Rocky Boy Reservation, which is located in north-central Montana near the Canadian border. U.S. Native American policies and their affects on the reservations geography are also examined. It is important to analyze discourse and U.S. Native American policy because both influenced the geography of the Rocky Boy Reservation, which significantly contributed to the poverty of The Chippewa-Cree Tribe. The analysis of this thesis was influenced and grounded in the works of geographers, historians, and social theorists who have studied race, discourse, and policy to examine the formation of borders. With this grounded framework archival methodologies were then used to examine the historiography of the Rocky Boy Reservations border creation. Historical documents including congressional records, policies, letters, newspaper articles, and a host of other sources were the primary data sources for this study. With the use of these documents, this thesis argues that racialized Anglo-American discourse regarding The Chippewa-Cree Tribe and U.S. Native American policies contributed to the Rocky Boy Reservations establishment in an isolated space with few natural resources. In this location agriculture was expected to be the tribes main source of livelihood, but it proved to be untenable because the reservations boundaries were drawn in an area with few resources. The area was not a suitable location for farming. Therefore, the reservation had an economy based on farming in a space that was not appropriate for it, which left The Chippewa-Cree Tribe in a state of dire poverty. Because of this poverty The Chippewa-Cree Tribe were reliant on the U.S. government for subsidies and other assistance. Subsequently, The Chippewa-Cree Tribe had to follow rules and regulations in order to receive this assistance, which left them marginalized and disempowered.

Prior to this research no stream temperature model existed for the Sleeping Child Creek Watershed, Montana, nor for any other watershed within the Bitterroot Subbasin, let alone ones which could be used operationally by non-specialists completely within a single GIS software package. Sleeping Child Creek Watershed is the site of the only seasonal PACFISH/INFISH Biological Opinion water-temperature monitoring location within the Subbasin and had an established population of native trout species known to be sensitive to stream temperatures. These factors combined to make SCCW an ideal location for this study to evaluate the potential for such an operational workflow. Fourteen water temperature sampling sites were monitored in the summer (July, August, and September) of 2010. Hydrologic and environmental variables were collected within a Geographic Information System (GIS) for the purpose of comparing two methods for predicting monthly stream-temperature distributions within a watershed using ArcGIS software. Each variable was assessed for its relationship to the observed stream temperatures. Both an ordinary least squares (OLS) and an exploratory regression module were analyzed within the GIS to evaluate the predictive strength of seven variables on stream temperature. Results of the OLS analysis indicated strong R² values of 0.87, 0.91, and 0.93 for July, August, and September, respectively. The variables elevation and slope passed all criteria for a properly specified regression model using ArcGIS©s exploratory method and yielded R² values of 0.82, 0.86, and 0.89 for the study months. Assessment of the predicted stream temperatures revealed reasonable accuracy between the observed mean-monthly values and those estimated by both approaches. Cross-validation using the full OLS method fell within a range ±1.10°C for RMSE, MAE, and MAB for all three months. Comparison to an independent monitoring site showed that both approaches mean-monthly water temperatures predictions were within ±1.0°C. Both models showed the tendency to under-predict stream temperatures within low-order high-elevation tributaries to Sleeping Child Creek, outside of acceptable stream temperature ranges. Estimated higher-order stream temperatures fell just barely within the warmest acceptable thermal ranges for the local salmonoid species. Both of the techniques analyzed in this research were suitable for operational use to routinely predict stream temperature variability within in a small mountainous watershed using limited water temperatures and GIS-derived datasets for the input variables. From a statistical standpoint, the OLS technique was more accurate (as would be expected) and the same methodology could be implemented in any watershed. However, the exploratory approach may be suitable when initially trying to determine which variables to use from a long list of potential explanatory variables or when working in a new location.

Abstract A MORPHOMETRIC INVESTIGATION INTO LANDSCAPE DEVELOPMENT IN THE CENTRAL FREE STATE. An Application with the aid of a Geographic Information System Key words: landscape development, morphometry, geomorphology, geographic information systems, fluvial processes, drainage systems, modelling. In the thesis, a geographic information system is used to investigate the morphometry and active geomorphic processes in a semi-arid catchment area. The construction of a digital terrain model from published sources is elucidated and an erosion model is used to explain the spatial distribution of drainage basins in the study area The study was conducted in the Modder river catchment in the central Free State. The study area was chosen as the result of tectonic stability which should lessen the impact of endogenic processes in the current form of the landscape In the first part of the study, a set of morphometric parameters were chosen to represent the current form of the landscape as accurately as possible. Several process parameters were also identified to quantify the active erosion processes in the area. To explain the relationships between form and process, a working erosion model is used. This model was calibrated by using current environmental conditions. In the second part of the thesis, a digital terrain model of the study area was constructed. Several techniques for the construction were evaluated and a method for stream and pan burning was developed. A geographic information system were used to collect data sets from different published sources and to combine it into a single database. The GIS was also used to extract the applicable parameters from the database. The last part of the study was devoted to the analysis of the data and the creation of a development model for the catchment. Several statistical techniques were used to classify the parameters and to group the drainage basins. The relationships between the parameters were investigated and quantified. From the study it was clear that a relationship exists between form and process in the Modder river catchment area and that geographic information technology can be used with success in the study of landforms. The methodology developed for the study as well as the data generated might be useful for the management of the catchment in various ways.

The study focuses on the development of Westdene, Bloemfontein. Westdene is one of Bloemfonteinâs oldest neighbourhoods and has undergone a range of changes since its establishment in 1903. Following a review of the development of Westdene over the past century, this investigation provides a critical reflection on the urban changes that have taken place in this neighbourhood, including the decentralisation of office and retail functions, the development of entertainment amenities, gentrification in parts of the neighbourhood, crime and fear of crime in the former CBD and the neighbourhood itself. Drawing on the findings of the investigation the study attempts to make a contribution towards our understanding of neighbourhood changes in post-apartheid cities. Moreover, the investigation challenges the commonly held notion that urban compaction and diversification of land-uses lead to integrated and efficient neighbourhoods, or city districts. On the contrary, the result of this study contradicts this perception, demonstrating that despite the multiple uses of Westdene as a location of employment, recreation and residence, it has developed into a highly fragmented urban space.

In the past decade, locating landfill site has been recognized as a significant planning problem and has subsequently received much attention from researchers in the planning sector. In particular, the siting of landfills is becoming more of an issue due to the prevalent ânot in my backyardâ (NIMBY) and ânot in anyoneâs backyardâ (NIABY) concerns from the public. The purpose of this study, after identifying important criteria for siting landfills, was to develop a user-friendly landfill site selection model using a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) framework. Due to unavailability of electronic spatial data for Lesotho, Bloemfontein area was used as a test case. The model is tested in Bloemfontein with the intension to be applied in the city of Maseru as soon as the spatial data become available. The three main objectives were to develop GIS criteria for locating the landfill, identify possible sites that were suitable for this type of development and evaluate the effectiveness of these GIS methods used in the study. Production of constraint and factor maps took place. Afterwards, final suitability map was created using ArcGIS analysis tools. The optimum suitability map indicated that there were more optimal sites found within Bloemfontein city. The results discovered in Bloemfontein city using the GIS-based study revealed that although highly suitable areas were limited, a site was still able to be chosen under the predefined parameters. The site is not located on, or near, any environmental interest areas and is located a significant distance away from streams and urban areas, which minimizes social conflict and environmental impacts. The site is also located close enough (1-2km) to major road (N8) to Kimberley from Bloemfontein city and railroad, which ensures that economic costs of implementation are minimal. The selected region has a slope less than 12%, which are both an infrastructural advantage and a means of minimizing environmental impacts. Furthermore, the landfill is located in an area within 22 kilometres of the Bloemfontein study area. Since the site is located in a highly suitable area, environmental, social, and economic concerns have been met. Ultimately, the study proposes an acceptable landfill site for solid waste, taking Bloemfontein as the test study area. This research will contribute in developing Lesothoâs spatial database of environmental and social information to assist in the formulation of environmental policy. It is also expected that such municipal GIS when planned and implemented efficiently with sufficient public awareness and support would be instrumental in bringing reforms at the local and national level, realizing a major improvement without much capital investment.