Groundwater monitoring in regional scales using conventional methods is challenging since it requires a dense network monitoring well system and regular measurements. Satellite measurement of time-variable gravity from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission since 2002 provided an exceptional opportunity to observe the variations in Terrestrial Water Storage (TWS) from space. This study has been divided into 3 parts: First different satellite and hydrological model data have been used to validate the TSW measurements derived from GRACE in High Plains Aquifer (HPA). Terrestrial Water Storage derived from GRACE was compared to TWS derived from a water budget whose inputs determined from independent datasets. The results were similar to each other both in magnitude and timing with a correlation coefficient of 0.55. The seasonal groundwater storage changes are also estimated using GRACE and auxiliary data for the period of 2004 to 2009, and results are compared to the local in situ measurements to test the capability of GRACE in detecting groundwater changes in this region. The results from comparing seasonal groundwater changes from GRACE and in situ measurements indicated a good agreement both in magnitude and seasonality with a correlation coefficient of 0.71. This finding reveals the worthiness of GRACE satellite data in detecting the groundwater level anomalies and the benefits of using its data in regional hydrological modelling. In the second part of the study the feasibility of the GRACE TWS for predicting groundwater level changes is investigated in different locations of the High Plains Aquifer. The Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) are used to predict the monthly groundwater level changes. The input data employed in the ANN include monthly gridded GRACE TWS based on Release-05 of GRACE Level-3, precipitation, minimum and maximum temperature which are estimated from Parameter elevation Regression on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM), and the soil moisture estimations derived from Noah Land Surface Model for the period of January 2004 to December 2009. All the values for mentioned datasets are extracted at the location of 21 selected wells for the study period. The input data is divided into 3 parts which 60% is dedicated to training, 20% to validation, and 20% to testing. The output to the developed ANNs is the groundwater level change which is compared to the US Geological Survey's National Water Information well data. Results from statistical downscaling of GRACE data leaded to a significant improvement in predicting groundwater level changes, and the trained ensemble multi-layer perceptron shows a "good" to a "very good" performance based on the obtained Nash-Sutcliff Efficiency which demonstrates the capability of these data for downscaling. In the third part of this study the soil moisture from 4 different Land Surface models (NOAH, VIC, MOSAIC, and CLM land surface models) which are accessible through NASA Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) is included in developing the ANNs and the results are compared to each other to quantify the effect of soil moisture in the downscaling process of GRACE. The relative importance of each predictor was estimated using connection weight technique and it was found that the GRACE TWS is a significant parameter in the performance of Artificial Neural Network ensembles, and based on the Root Mean Squared (RMSE) and the correlation coefficients associated to the models in which the soil moisture from Noah and CLM Land Surface Models are used, it is found that using these datasets in process of downscaling GRACE delivers a higher correlated simulation values to the observed values.

Ce travail porte sur la relation entre la philosophie de Descartes et la thématique humaniste de la civilité et de l’honnêteté. Une première étape de la thèse consiste en une réévaluation philosophique du concept de civilité à partir de son histoire antique et humaniste. Cette réévaluation repose sur deux axes principaux : mettre au jour les fondations métaphysiques de cette notion et le mouvement d’une intériorisation des normes civiles dans la conception de l’âme vertueuse. Il s’agit ensuite de comprendre la présence dans la pensée cartésienne de valeurs qui ne coïcident pas avec la conception habituelle de la justification rationnelle, comme la douceur, le naturel, la grâce et la convenance, et qui renvoient à la thématique de la civilité. La civilité est une perfection qui évite deux extrêmes, la barbarie et la sauvagerie, c’est-à-dire la violence excessive de la norme, et la violence d’une nature brute laissée à elle-même. Ce travail montre que la conception cartésienne de la rationalité et de la vertu morale tend également à éviter ces deux excès. D’autre part, en rattachant la philosophie de Descartes à la question de la civilité, il s’agit aussi de contester la conception solipsiste du sujet cartésien et de réhabiliter la dimension de l’extériorité dans l’appréhension de la subjectivité. La figure cartésienne du sujet moderne prend dès lors une dimension humaine et sociale au lieu de renvoyer à une dangereuse hybris de l’ego, tandis que la raison cartésienne est pensée comme civile et ouverte, non pas autoritaire ou répressive. Pour étayer cette thèse, ce travail aborde certaines tonalités éthiques du discours cartésien qui ne correspondent pas nécessairement à l’expression d’une thèse explicite mais qui éclairent la richesse et la complexité du texte. / This work focuses on the relation between Descartes’ philosophy and the humanist themes of civility and honesty. A first step in this thesis is to philosophically reevaluate the concept of civility by focusing on its history within antiquity and humanism. Such a reevaluation bears on two main approaches: one is to demonstrate the metaphysical foundations of this notion, the other is to show the movement towards the internalization of civil norms in the conception of the virtuous soul. Our aim is then to show the presence, in Cartesian thought, of such values as gentleness, “naturel”, grace or “convenance”, which do not coincide with the common conception of rational justification, and which all trace back to the thematic field of civility. Civility is a perfection that avoids two extremes, barbarism and savagery, i. e. both the excessive violence of the norm and the violence stemming from a brute nature left to itself. On the other land, by linking Descartes’ philosophy to the question of civility, our aim is also to oppose the solipsistic conception of the Cartesian subject and to rehabilitate the dimension of exteriority within the comprehension of subjectivity. Thus, the Cartesian figure of the modern subject takes on a human and social dimension instead of referring to the ego’s hybris, while Cartesian reason gets redefined as civil and opened, not at all as authoritarian or repressive. In order to support this thesis, this work broaches certain ethical tonalities within Descartes’ discourse that do not necessarily correspond with the expression of an explicit standpoint, but which shed light upon the text’s richness and complexity.

Thesis advisor: David Hollenbach / Transnational Catholic nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are among the most active agents in the promotion of the global common good as they seek to overcome the structures of sin that divide the human family. This dissertation investigates the theological and ethical significance of Catholic NGOs by developing a critical framework that uncovers the relationship between these organizations and the church's mission. Part One considers the global context and theoretical foundations of Catholic NGO action by examining social scientific literature (Chapter One) and modern Catholic teaching on the relationship between mission and justice (Chapter Two). Part Two places the theoretical foundations into dialogue with two case studies--the International Movement of Catholic Students-Pax Romana (Chapter Three) and the Jesuit Refugee Service (Chapter Four). This critical investigation of both theory and praxis illuminates several missiological, pneumatological, and ethical conclusions that are addressed in the final part (Chapter Five). This dissertation asserts three conclusions regarding the theological signifigance of Catholic NGOs. First, in contrast to some interpretations of the role of the church in the world, the actions of Catholic NGOs for the global common good are an integral part of the church's mission. Second, these organizations can be described as structures of grace as they embody charity and charism in their efforts to overcome the divisive effects of structural sin. Finally, a more robust awareness of the theological dimensions of their work can aid these and other organizations respond more effectively and ethically to the demands of the global common good today. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

"A study is presented detailing the simulation of a drag-free follow-on mission to NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE). This work evaluates controller performance, as well as thrust, power, and propellant mass requirements for drag-free spacecraft operation at orbital altitudes of 160 - 225 kilometers. In addition, sensitivities to thermospheric wind, GPS signal accuracy and availability of ephemeris data are studied. Orbital dynamics were modeled in Matlab and take into account 2 body gravity effects, J2-J6 non-spherical Earth effects, atmospheric drag and control thrust. A drag model is used in which the drag acceleration is a function of the spacecraft’s relative velocity to the atmosphere, and a “drag parameter,” which includes the spacecraft’s drag coefficient and local mass density of the atmosphere. A MSISE-90 atmospheric model is used to provide local mass densities as well as free stream flow conditions for a Direct Simulation Monte Carlo drag analysis used to validate the spacecraft drag coefficient. The controller is designed around an onboard inertial sensor which uses a freely floating reference mass to measure deviations in the spacecraft position, resulting from non-gravitational forces, from a desired target orbit. Thruster (control actuator) models are based on two different Hall thrusters for providing the orbital along-track acceleration, colloid thrusters for the normal acceleration, and a miniature xenon ion thruster (MiXI) for the cross-track acceleration. The most demanding propulsion requirements correspond to the lowest altitude considered, 160 kilometers. At this altitude the maximum along-track thrust component is calculated to be 98 millinewtons with a required dynamic (throttling) response of 41 mN/s. The maximum position error at this altitude was shown to be in the along-track direction with a magnitude of 3314.9 nanometers and a peak spectral content of 1800 nm/sqrt(Hz) at about 0.1 Hz. At 225 kilometers, the maximum along-track thrust component reduces to 10.3 millinewtons. The maximum dynamic response at this altitude is 4.23 mN/s. The maximum along-track position error is reduced to 367.9 nanometers with a spectral content peak of 40 nm/sqrt(Hz) at 0.1 Hz. For all altitudes, the maximum state errors increase as the mission length increases, however, higher altitude missions show less of a maximum displacement error increase over time than those of lower orbits. The ability of a colloid thruster to control the normal drift is found to be dependent on how frequently the spacecraft state data is updated. Reducing the period between updates from 10 seconds to 1 second reduces the maximum normal state error component from 199 nanometers to less than 32 nanometers, suggesting that spacecraft state update frequency could be a major driver in keeping the spacecraft on the target trajectory. Sensitivity of maximum required thrust and accumulated sensor error to measurement uncertainty is found to be less of a driver than state update frequency. A ‘worst case” thermospheric wind gust was modeled to show the increase on propulsion requirements if such an event were to occur. At 200 kilometers, maximum winds have been measured to be in increase of 650 m/s in the westward direction in the southern pole region. Assuming the majority of the 650 m/s gust occurs over a 4 second time span, the maximum required cross-track thrust at 200 kilometers increases from 1.12 to 2.01 millinewtons. This large increase may drive the thruster choice for a drag-free mission at a similar altitude. For the spacecraft point design considered with a propellant mass fraction of 0.18, the mission lifetime for the 160 km case was calculated to be 0.76 years. This increases 2.27 years at an altitude of 225 km."

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T19:20:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Alexandre Andrade Martins.pdf: 1254174 bytes, checksum: f38b6c9e9239ee5ff690c54afd9a42ae (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-06-01 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Simone Weil, French philosopher of the first half of the 20th century, died young, 34 years old, but she had a deeply experience marked of the commitment with the philosophical study in the search for truth and by solidarity with the oppressed. She was faithful to her existential and philosophical purpose. She felt in her flesh the degraded suffering of existence and she felt touched by God s grace in which she found the truth and reason of love to sufferers. This suffering touches all dimensions of human existence, she called malheur. Our study is about how malheur and the grace are present in the life and thought of Simone Weil from letters and essays that she wrote and which are in the book Attente de Dieu. We tried to understand these two categories and we notice that they are concepts articulated philosophically that allow us to make a link between what Simone Weil lived and thought. Malheur and grace are worked in a conceptual and experiential form. They have in their bases the real life and the philosophical argument. We started understanding Simone s work and the elucidation of important moment of her life. After we showed the understanding of her letters and essays. We concluded that the concepts of malheur and grace are fundamental categories in the religious-philosophical thought of Simone Weil and they do a link between religious experience, philosophical knowledge and existential practice / Simone Weil, filósofa francesa de primeira metade do século XX, morreu ainda muito jovem, aos 34 anos, mas teve uma experiência profundamente marcada pelo comprometimento com o estudo filosófico na busca pela verdade e pela solidariedade com os mais oprimidos do seu tempo. Sendo fiel aos seus propósitos filosóficos e existenciais, sentiu na própria carne o sofrimento degradante da existência e, nele, sentiu ser tocada pela graça de Deus, encontrado a verdade e a razão do amor aos sofredores. Esse sofrimento que afeta todas as dimensões da existência humana, ela chamou de malheur. Nosso estudo é sobre como o malheur e a graça estão presentes na vida e no pensamento de Simone Weil a partir de cartas e opúsculos que escreveu e estão reunidos no livro Attente de Dieu. Buscamos compreender essas duas categorias e percebemos que elas são conceitos articulados filosoficamente e que permitem fazermos uma conexão entre o que viveu e pensou. Malheur e graça são trabalhados de forma experiencial e conceitual, de tal forma que eles têm por base a concretude da vida e a argumentação filosófica. O caminho seguido parte da compreensão da obra de Simone e da elucidação de importantes momentos da sua vida, depois apresentamos a compreensão das cartas e dos opúsculos. Isso permitiu chegarmos à conclusão de que os conceitos de malheur e de graça são categorias fundamentais no pensamento religioso-filosófico de Simone Weil e que elas fazem uma conexão entre experiência religiosa, conhecimento filosófico e prática existencial

Bien que le concept philosophique original du libre arbitre d’Augustin occupe une place à part dans l’histoire de la philosophie, son argumentation philosophique relative au libre arbitre s’appuie sur les théories des philosophes antiques. Cette thèse se concentre sur quatre approches philosophiques antiques élaborées par les Stoïciens, Cicéron, Alexandre d’Aphrodise et Plotin. Augustin accepte fragmentairement le principe du mouvement de la volonté, les formes de liberté et la relation entre la providence divine et la liberté humaine, etc., proposés par les philosophes antiques. Mais aussi, le libre arbitre chez Augustin prend de plus en plus forme au cours de ses controverses avec les Manichéens et les Pélagiens. Lors des controverses contre les Manichéens, Augustin se focalise tout d’abord sur le libre arbitre humain en relation avec le problème de la cause du mal. Augustin élabore une logique philosophique pour étayer son concept et parer aux attaques manichéennes. La cause du mal n’est pas la nature mauvaise de l’âme ni ne résulte de la volonté de Dieu, mais de notre volonté libre. D’autre part, lors de ses controverses contre les Pélagiens, son concept philosophique du libre arbitre entre dans une nouvelle phase. La volonté humaine n’échappe pas à la bride du péché sans la grâce divine, il s’agit donc d’une volonté faible. Le pouvoir de la volonté humaine est affaibli par le péché originel, même si l’homme possède son propre vouloir. Toutefois, dans la pensée augustinienne, la volonté humaine n’est pas contrainte par des puissances extérieures. Ainsi, le pouvoir du choix est toujours volontaire et libre. / Although Augustine’s philosophical concept of free will occupies a special place in the history of philosophy, the philosophical arguments about free will are based on the theories of ancient philosophers. This thesis focuses on four ancient philosophical approaches, elaborated respectively by the Stoics, Cicero, Alexander of Aphrodisias, and Plotinus. Augustine accepts the principle of the fragmentary movement of the will, the forms of freedom and the relationship between divine providence and human freedom, etc., offered by the ancient philosophers, but free will in Augustine takes on more shape in his arguments with the Manichaeans and the Pelagians. In his argument with the Manichaeans, Augustine first focuses on human free will in relation to the problem of the cause of evil. He develops a philosophical logic to support his concept and defend it against the Manicheans’ attacks. The cause of evil is not the evil nature of the soul or the result of the will of God, but of our free will. In his argument with the Pelagians, his philosophical concept of free will enters a new phase. Without divine grace, human will is too weak to restrain themselves from making sin. Thus, even if a man has his own volition, the ability of human will is weakened by original sin. Nonetheless, in Augustinian thought, the human will is not constrained by outside powers. Thus, the power of choice is voluntary and free.

The most systematic work Martin Luther ever created was his De servo arbitrio / The Bondage of the Will (1525), his powerful polemic against the leading Humanist of his day, Erasmus, who had criticized Luther in his De libero arbitrio diatribe sive collatio / The Freedom of the Will (1524). Luther's The Bondage of the Will is regarded as a work representing the organic unity of his entire theological thought; it can be seen as his theology in a condensed form. In spite of the immense significance of Luther's magnum opus, its theological structure and content have so far not yet been satisfactorily revealed. Much research has been conducted on certain detailed aspects of this work of Luther's, such as the problems of the free will, determinism, and predestination. The basic weakness of those analyses is that the details of The Bondage of the Will can be correctly understood only on the basis of a comprehension of the basic systematic theological idea of his work. The very kernel of Luther's own thought and the deepest intentions of his theology in this work are best comprehended by analyzing the inner structure and cohesion of his own thinking and by seeing how his argumentation developed in his dispute with Erasmus. The task of this study is to expose the fundamental systematic theological idea and structure in Luther's The Bondage of the Will. The method employed in the present study is a comprehensive systematic analysis of Luther's thought in his work. Attention will be paid to the conceptualization of issues by Luther, to his main propositions and the arguments he uses to support his claims, and to the structural principles and the core body of his thinking system. The debate between Luther and Erasmus contained genuine paradigmatic differences in their understanding of the Christian faith, but also some misunderstandings, even intentional misinterpretations. The present study aims at clarifying these conceptual confusions and at exploring the possibility of some degree of reconciliation between the conflicting views. My hypothesis is that Luther's own specific and comprehensive understanding of the Trinitarian theology of grace, with special emphasis on Pneumatology, alongside the more obvious Christology, strongly linked with the theology of creation, is the fundamental thought structure of his magnum opus. This enables him to get rid of the common Late Medieval teaching of the free choice of the human being, represented by Erasmus. Above all, Luther is a theologian of grace, sola gratia. The Bondage of the Will, the most Pneumatological treatise he ever wrote, offers a radical and comprehensive Trinitarian theology of grace. Luther understands the human being as an "ecstatic" creature who receives his/her existence and the quality of his/her existence from extra se. Luther argues for this paradigm in terms of the theology of creation, Christology, Pneumatology, and soteriology. As such, the human being was created a creature which is destined for union with his/her Creator in the Holy Spirit who is the actual presence of the Creator in his creature, God sharing his life with the human being. After losing this original state of union, the human being became a battlefield of the opposing transcendental powers, Satan and sin on the one side, and God and his grace, on the other side. The human is free in "things below oneself," in matters that belong to daily human life, but he/she is not free in "things above oneself," in matters that transcend the human being. Luther sees sin as human infirmity, inability to get rid of unbelief and pride which destroyed the human's union with God. The human being cannot change his/her evil orientation but must continue such as he/she is: this is Luther's concept of "the necessity of immutability"; he applies this philosophical concept to soteriological usage. The human being is in a desperate situation in regard to his/her capacities of contributing to his/her own salvation; here Luther follows his logic of theologia crucis. Both in terms of creation and salvation, the human being is meant to be in a communion of life with the Triune God. Luther develops a strong soteriology, understood in terms of an intimate union between the Triune God and the human being. This union is not primarily a cognitive-rational and morally responsible relation, as Erasmus was inclined to think, but a union of being with Christ in the Holy Spirit, koinonia/unio cum Christo in Spiritu sancto. The quality of a human being's life in this world and his/her eternal beatitude depends on whether his/her person is or is not in union with the Holy Trinity. In his Trinitarian theology of grace, Pneumatology, arguably neglected in Medieval times, is powerfully revived. Luther's conception of divine grace, with some peculiarities of his own, recalls Augustine's doctrine of grace, differing from the soteriological views of Scholasticism and Nominalism. The present study culminates in a systematic presentation of the three dimensions of Luther's Trinitarian doctrine of grace: First, contrition, conversion, and faith are effected by God's Spirit, sola fide is a thoroughly Pneumatological concept - a fact not sufficiently emphasized in research. Second, Luther sees the union with Christ simultaneously as a Christological and as a Pneumatological reality - a view not underscored in research. Third, sanctification means growth in love by way of being increasingly controlled by the Holy Spirit, who is the essence of divine love. This three-dimensional conception of grace can be supported by other works of Luther's mature theology. There are strong points of contact with Johannine, Pauline, Augustinian, and Greek Patristic theology here; a more detailed analysis of these connections, however, is not in the scope of the study at hand. The results of the study intensify the ecumenical potential of Luther's doctrine of grace. Moreover, these results contribute an amendment to the Finnish school of Luther interpretation where the Pneumatological dimension is underemphasized in the first and the second dimensions of Luther's doctrine of grace. Finally, the possibility of some degree of reconciliation between the views of Erasmus and Luther will be considered.

No description available.

An interdisciplinary approach at the interface between geodesy and geophysics has recently resolved several Earth science problems at regional and global scales. I use the term “geophysical geodesy” to distinguish the technical and theoretical aspect of geodesy from geophysical applications of geodetic techniques. Using a wide range of Earth observation data, I study the spatio-temporal characteristics of Earth surface deformation in the United States associated with several geophysical processes, including natural and anthropogenic subsidence and uplift, regional relative sea-level rise, and continental hydrological loading. The theoretical portion of this dissertation applies loading theory and develops a new hybrid method to improve the estimate of hydrologically-induced vertical deformation at time scales from sub-annual to multi-annual. The application part of this dissertation benefits from GPS and other geodetic and geologic data sets to study and model Earth’s surface uplift due to CO2 injection at an oil reservoir in coastal Texas, and coastal subsidence and nuisance flooding along the Mississippi River Delta and eastern seaboard of the United States.

Le travail effectué au cours de cette thèse a consisté à examiner une large gamme de processus liés à la branche continentale du cycle de l'eau à l'aide du modèle de surface ORCHIDEE (ORganising Carbon and Hydrology In Dynamic EcosystEms), des observations in situ et satellites. En utilisant les données de l'altimétrie spatiale Topex/Poséidon et de la mission gravimétrique GRACE (Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment), j'ai montré que le modèle ORCHIDEE était capable de reproduire les variations saisonnières et interannuelles des réservoirs d'eau sur les continents. J'ai fourni, pour la première fois, une validation à l'échelle globale du bilan d'eau estimé dans ce modèle. Le rôle important des régions tropicales dans la variabilité du climat a aussi été souligné. Au cours de la thèse, dans le but d'étudier les variations lentes (décennales/multi-décennales), j'ai construit une base de données de forçage atmosphérique de longue période, appelé NCC (National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research Corrected by Climate Research Unit), pour les modèles de surface. NCC s'étend de 1948 à 2000 avec une résolution spatiale de 1°x1° et une résolution temporelle de 6 heures. Cette base de données a été validée par les débits des plus grands fleuves du monde et s'est montrée un élément important pour la compréhension de l'évolution des processus continentaux au cours des 50 dernières années. Une des applications de NCC était l'étude de la contribution de l'eau continentale au changement du niveau de la mer. J'ai montré qu'une augmentation de température de l'océan menait à plus d'eau stockée sur les continents, menant à une rétroaction négative sur le niveau de la mer.