Ce mémoire de thèse s'intéresse à la production de prévisions hydrologiques probabilistes à court/moyen terme, dans un contexte impliquant plusieurs bassins aux débits plus ou moins corrélés. Notre cas d'étude réel concerne différents affluents du Haut-Rhône français. Le travail a été mené autour de la mise en place d'une chaîne de prévision combinant des approches ensemblistes, à savoir la prévision d'ensemble météorologique et le multi-modèle hydrologique, avec des méthodes de correction statistique. Les approches ensemblistes permettent de générer de manière dynamique une incertitude propre à chaque situation, tandis que les corrections statistiques, appliquées sur les prévisions météorologiques (pré-traitement) et/ou hydrologiques (post-traitement), sont nécessaires pour garantir la fiabilité.Chaque correction statistique, réalisée dans un cadre univarié, entraine la perte de la structure de dépendance spatiale et temporelle des prévisions. Nous nous sommes donc intéressés à son étape de reconstruction, en réalisant un diagnostic des méthodes existantes, notamment le Schaake shuffle et l'ECC. Des adaptations ont été proposées afin d'apporter une réponse aux limites constatées. Dans le cadre du pré-traitement, nous avons cherché à améliorer le conditionnement de la structure de dépendance à la situation météorologique. Pour le post-traitement, notre effort s'est porté sur le respect de l'autocorrélation des débits et le maintien de la fiabilité, notamment lors des phases problématiques de récession. La vérification des prévisions obtenues (météorologiques et hydrologiques) a été menée à l'aide d'outils univariés et multivariés, en portant une attention particulière à la fiabilité, grâce notamment au concept de stratification.Nous avons enfin étudié les interactions entre les différents maillons de notre chaîne de prévision, en comparant plusieurs scénarios où certains maillons seulement étaient activés. Cette expérience a permis de fournir des indications concrètes sur les priorités à mettre en œuvre lors du déploiement ou de l'amélioration d'une chaîne opérationnelle de prévision hydrologique probabiliste. / This dissertation adresses the production of short-to-medium range hydrological forecasts, in a context involving a number of basins with correlated streamflows. Our case study, based on real data, includes several tributaries of the upper Rhone river in France. Work has been conducted on implementing a forecasting chain that combines ensemble approaches, namely meteorological ensemble forecasting and hydrological multi-model, with statistical correction methods. Ensemble methods are able to dynamically generate an uncertainty that is case-specific, while statistical corrections, which are applied to meteorological (pre-processing) and/or hydrological (post-processing) forecasts, are needed to ensure forecast calibration.Each statistical correction, performed in a univariate framework, induces the loss of the spatial and temporal dependence structure of the forecasts. We were therefore interested in reconstructing such structure, first by making a diagnosic study of existing methods, notably the Schaake shuffle and ECC. Adaptations were proposed in order to address the identified caveats. For pre-processing, we aimed at improving the conditioning of the dependence structure on the meteorological situation. For post-processing, our effort focused on ensuring that streamflow forecasts respect the autocorrélation charateristics and preserve a good calibration, especially during the recession phases, which are problematic. Verification of the so-obtained (meteorological and/or hydrological) forecasts was conducted using univariate and multivariate tools, paying particular attention to the forecast calibration, thanks to the concept of stratification.Finally, we studied the interactions between the different modules of our forecasting chain, by comparing scenarios where only some of the modules were activated. This experiment allowed us to provide guidelines relative to the implementation or the upgrade of an operational probabilistic streamflow forecasting chain.

The formation of cloud droplets on aerosol particles, technically known as the activation of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), is the fundamental process driving the interactions of aerosols with clouds and precipitation. Knowledge of these interactions is foundational to our understanding of weather and climate. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Decadal Survey (NRC 2007) indicate that the uncertainty in how clouds adjust to aerosol perturbations dominates the uncertainty in the overall quantification of the radiative forcing attributable to human activities. The Clouds, Hazards, and Aerosols Survey for Earth Researchers (CHASER) satellite mission concept responds to the IPCC and Decadal Survey concerns by studying the activation of CCN and their interactions with clouds and storms. The CHASER satellite mission was developed to remotely sense quantities necessary for determining the interactions of aerosols with clouds and storms. The links between the Decadal Survey recommendations and the CHASER goals, science objectives, measurements, and instruments are described in Table 1. Measurements by current satellites allow a rough determination of profiles of cloud particle size but not of the activated CCN that seed them. CHASER will use an innovative technique (Freud et al. 2011; Freud and Rosenfeld 2012; Rosenfeld et al. 2012) and high-heritage (flown in a previous spaceflight mission) instruments to produce satellite-based remotely sensed observations of activated CCN and the properties of the clouds associated with them. CHASER will estimate updraft velocities at cloud base to calculate the number density of activated CCN as a function of the water vapor supersaturation. CHASER will determine the CCN concentration and cloud thermodynamic forcing (i.e., forcing caused by changes in the temperature and humidity of the boundary layer air) simultaneously, allowing their effects to be distinguished. Changes in the behavior of a group of weather systems in which only one of the quantities varies (a partial derivative of the intensity of the weather system with respect to the desirable quantity) will allow the determination of each effect statistically.

This study explores the viability of parameter estimation in the comprehensive general circulation model ECHAM6 using ensemble Kalman filter data assimilation techniques. Four closure parameters of the cumulus-convection scheme are estimated using increasingly less idealized scenarios ranging from perfect-model experiments to the assimilation of conventional observations. Updated parameter values from experiments with real observations are used to assess the error of the model state on short 6 h forecasts and on climatological timescales. All parameters converge to their default values in single parameter perfect-model experiments. Estimating parameters simultaneously has a neutral effect on the success of the parameter estimation, but applying an imperfect model deteriorates the assimilation performance. With real observations, single parameter estimation generates the default parameter value in one case, converges to different parameter values in two cases, and diverges in the fourth case. The implementation of the two converging parameters influences the model state: Although the estimated parameter values lead to an overall error reduction on short timescales, the error of the model state increases on climatological timescales.

The diploma thesis "The Class Climate" has a theoretical-empirical character. The main aim of this thesis focuses on measuring and comparing the classroom climete of standard and alternative schools.The introductory part comprises definitions of basic terms such as social group, school environment, atmosphere, climate. Furthermore, it investigates the theoretical clarification of the classroom climate and details the elements, types and actors of the climate. The thesis also closely notes the research methods of the classroom climete measuring. The author concludes the theoretical part with description of the issue of alternative schools. The practical part implementes through questionnaire survey with a participation of pupils from standard and alternative primary schools. There has been defined the aim, assumptions and selected the method of the classroom climate measuring. The conclusion summarizes the results of the questionnaire survey as well as verifies the assumptions.