Os processos anaeróbios têm sido recentemente adotados como unidades principais em sistemas de tratamento de efluentes, em virtude das inúmeras vantagens que apresentam. Este trabalho de pesquisa, no entanto, visa possibilitar a obtenção de fonte de carbono prontamente degradável a partir de uma das primeiras aplicações da biotecnologia anaeróbia: a digestão de lodo. A partir de um digestor hidrolítico e acidogênico de lodo primário foi possível a obtenção de efluentes com altas concentrações de DQO solúvel (da ordem de 4.000 mg/L) e ácidos graxos voláteis – AGV – (da ordem de 600 mg/L). Porém, foi necessária a aplicação de um processo de troca iônica para a remoção das altas concentrações de 'NH IND.4'POT.+' (da ordem de 480 mg/L) no efluente do DHL. A utilização de zeólitas – minerais de silício e alumínio – permitiu a remoção de íons amônio, através de experimentos em bateladas e colunas. As capacidades de adsorção de 'NH IND.4'POT.+' por massa de zeólitas atingidas foram de 8,0 mg 'NH IND.4'POT.+'/g. Adicionalmente, foi realizado o estudo da regeneração do mineral, através de processo biológico de nitrificação e posterior aplicação do mineral regenerado para remoção de 'NH IND.4'POT.+'. O processo resultou na obtenção de minerais com capacidades próximas às atingidas por amostras de zeólitas virgens. Além de restaurar grande parte da capacidade inicial de troca iônica do mineral (87% da capacidade inicial), o processo de regeneração biológica permite a obtenção de efluente com altas concentrações de nitrato (da ordem de 400 mg/L), podendo ser aproveitado para correção de solos com deficiência deste nutriente. O processo como um todo envolve conceitos de sustentabilidade aplicada aos sistemas de tratamento de efluentes, pois promove a utilização de subproduto de estações de tratamento, bem como a reutilização do mineral aplicado no processo de troca iônica. / Anaerobic processes have recently been widely adopted as core units in sewage treatment systems, due to several advantages inherent in these processes. However, this research aims at the acquisition of readily degradable carbon source by means of a primary application of anaerobic biotechnology: the sludge digestion. The use of a hidrolitic and acidogenic digester of primary sludge made it possible to achieve high concentrations for soluble COD (around 4.000 mg/L) and volatile fatty acids – VFA - (around 600 mg/L). Along with high concentrations of soluble COD and VFA, the effluent of the hidrolitic and acidogenic digester also presented undesirable significant amount of ammonium (480 mg 'NH IND.4'POT.+'/L), which was removed by the application of ion-exchange process. Natural zeolites were employed as the cation exchanger, achieving values of 8.0 mg 'NH IND.4'POT.+'/g for ammonium removal per unit mass of zeolite. The zeolite saturated with 'NH IND.4'POT.+' ions was biologically regenerated by nitrifying sludge. Regenerated zeolite samples were then reused for ammonium removal and presented removal capacities close to the ones achieved by fresh samples. The whole process (primary sludge digestion followed by ion-exchange process for ammonium removal and biological regeneration of saturated zeolite samples) comprises several sustainability concepts, as it promotes, concomitantly, primary sludge pre-digestion and the reutilization of the zeolite employed as cation exchanger for 'NH IND.4'POT.+' ions removal. In addition to partially recovering original exchange capacity (87% of original capacity), biological regeneration of saturated zeolite also produced, as effluent, highly nitrate concentrated solution (around 400 mg/L), which could be used as nitrogen source for soil enrichment.

In this thesis, synthesis, characterization and electrical transport of Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been discussed. The first chapter contains a brief introduction of various forms of carbon including CNT. The CNTs are currently the materials of intense research interest due to their remarkable mechanical and electrical properties. CNTs can be visualized as a graphene sheet that has been rolled into a seamless tube. CNTs are either single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) or multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT). SWCNT is a tube with only one wall and MWCNT has many coaxial tubes and weak Van der Waal forces hold them together. The properties depend on chirality, diameter and length of the tubes. Chirality is defined by the symmetry and the chiral angle formed between the carbon bonds. The atomic structure of CNTs is described in terms of the tube chirality, which is defined by the chiral vector Ch and the chiral angle . The chiral vector is Ch = na1 + ma2, where the integers (n, m) are the number of steps along the zig-zag carbon. Depending on the tube chirality the electrical properties of the CNTs differ; they can be metallic or semiconducting. When n-m = 3p, where p is an integer, the CNTs are metallic and when n-m  3p, the CNTs are semiconducting. Due to the high anisotropy and high aspect ratio, CNTs have many potential applications with great technological importance such as functionalized molecules, conductive wires, bearings of rotational motors, field emitters, hydrogen storage, sensors, polymer composites, nanotube yarn and nanotube filters, X-ray generator, electron sources for microscopy and lithography, gas discharge tubes and vacuum microwave amplifiers, etc. The first chapter gives a brief introduction about various forms of carbon and their properties, particularly of CNTs. The nature of the CNTs depends on the method of production, which controls the degree of graphitization, the tube diameter and the chirality. Most synthesis methods originate from the idea of obtaining adequately active carbon atomic species or clusters from carbon sources and assembling them into CNTs without or with catalysts. The commonly used methods for the synthesis of carbon nanotubes are arc-discharge, Laser ablation, high-pressure catalytic decomposition of carbon monoxide (HiPCO), electrophoretic deposition (EPD), flame synthesis, pyrolysis, chemical vapour deposition (CVD), hot-filament CVD, plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) using DC, RF, and micro wave power sources, hot-filament dc (HF-dc PECVD), inductively coupled plasma (ICPECVD) and electron cyclotron resonance (ECR PECVD). Although many efforts have been made to develop various synthesis methods, most of them require many steps. Moreover, the complicated and rigorous control of parameters and expensive materials are unavoidable that has put limitation in reproducing the same in large scale. In this chapter, a simple method for the synthesis of CNTs on a large scale that eliminates nearly the entire complex and expensive machinery associated with widely used growth techniques has been discussed. In Chapter 2, the synthesis and characterization of entangled CNTs are discussed. It is shown that entangled CNTs can be synthesized in one step by using double stage furnace. Tetrahydrofuran as carbon source material and nickelocene as catalyst source material have been used to synthesize CNTs. With this method CNTs can be synthesized at a temperature as low as at 600 0C. In this technique the self-developed pressure carries the vapours to the hot zone of the furnace. This has led to think in modifying the double stage furnace. A single stage furnace having temperature gradient is made to synthesize CNTs. The vapours are carried from low temperature zone to hot zone where the carbon species and catalysts react to form CNTs. The advantage of this furnace is that it is one-step process. Using another carbon source material such as Diethyl Ether and nickelocene as catalyst source material CNTs are synthesized. The as synthesized and purified CNTs are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), high resolution TEM (HRTEM) and Raman spectroscopy. The CNTs are multi-walled in nature as observed by HRTEM. In Chapter 3, the synthesis of aligned CNTs is discussed by using benzene as carbon source and ferrocene as catalyst source materials. Aligned MWCNTs were synthesized in the temperature range between 650 - 1100 0C in a single stage furnace without the need for carrier gas nor predeposited metal catalyst substrate. The essential need of CNTs are (1) to obtain aligned nanotubes with millimeter lengths to enable the formation of novel nanotube-polymer composites that incorporate continuous nanotubes throughout their thickness for highly anisotropic thermal and electrical conductivities; and (2) to provide samples for detailed physical characterization - tensile strength, thermal, electrical conductivity, field emission etc. SEM observation reveals the increase in length of nanotubes from 85 m to 1.4 mm with the increase of preparation temperature. The diameter as investigated by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) remains almost constant 70-80 nm (75-85 layers). Once nanotube formation is established, the growth continues in the same direction and may well be reinforced by the presence of surrounding CNTs i.e. almost every particle produces a nanotube and bundling of neighboring tubes lead to collective vertical growth. The increase in length is due to the enhanced diffusion of active carbon with increasing preparation temperatures. The alignment of CNTs is also observed to the lateral side of the substrate. In Chapter 4, the synthesis and characterization of carbon nanoribbon and singled crystal iron filled CNTs is discussed. Particularly interesting are those CNTs filled with magnetic nanowires, which can provide an effective barrier against oxidation and consequently ensure a long-term stability in the core. The filling of metals within carbon nanotubes has extended the potential application base of these materials to quantum memory elements, high density magnetic storage media, semiconducting devices, field electron emitters, high resolution magnetic atomic force microscopy tips, magnetic field sensors and scanning probe microscopes etc. Tetrahydrofuran as carbon source material and ferrocene as catalyst materials has been used to synthesize mixture of carbon nanoribbons and iron filled CNTs. The techniques used to characterize the materials are XRD, SEM, HRTEM and superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). The powder XRD pattern shows that the bcc -Fe phase of iron is present. HRTEM studies reveal the presence of multi-walled carbon nanotubes and well-crystallized -Fe phase filled inside the core region. Closer inspection of the HRTEM images indicated that the bcc structure -Fe nanowires are monocrystalline and Fe (110) plane is indeed perpendicular to the G (002) plane. Large coercivity (i.e. 1037 Oe at 300 K and 2023 Oe at 10 K) in the iron filled CNTs and carbon nanoribbons have been observed. The high coercivity is mainly attributed to the following two factors. Firstly, it is known that due to the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy of the nano size iron in the core region of the carbon nanotubes. Secondly, ferromagnetic behavior exhibited by the localized states at the edges of the carbon nanoribbons. The anisotropic electrical transport property of MWCNTs has been discussed in the chapter 5. The activated diffusive nature of transport along axial direction of CNT is explained. The transport perpendicular to the tube direction is explained in terms of a hopping mechanism. The anisotropic resistivity (N/P) value obtained is 3. The temperature dependent magnetoresistance (MR) is studied in magnetic fields up to 11 Tesla at low temperatures both in the parallel and perpendicular direction of an aligned MWCNT mat. In both cases a negative MR is observed. Chapter 6 discusses the preparation of CNT-polymer composites. The temperature dependence of the conductivity and magnetoresistance (MR) has been studied making four-point contact method on the carbon nanotubes polymer composites as result of increasing CNT content. The conductivity increases with increasing carbon nanotube weight percentage. The increase in conductivity as a function of the CNT weight percent is attributed to the introduction of conducting CNT paths in the polymer matrix. With the increasing CNT content the number of interconnections present in a random system is found to vary. Electrical conduction in nanotube mat or nanotube composites is explained by a variable range hopping (VRH) conduction mechanism. The negative magnetoresistance has been observed for the polymer composites. It is consistent with the report on CNTs bundles and polymer composites. Finally a brief summary of the work presented in this dissertation is discussed along with future directions in this research.

Submitted by Jorge Silva (jorgelmsilva@ufrrj.br) on 2018-11-14T17:13:45Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2013 - Celeste Queiroz Rossi.pdf: 1977299 bytes, checksum: ce171e08be0a2a7e0cf26ac08f9fbd2f (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-11-14T17:13:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2013 - Celeste Queiroz Rossi.pdf: 1977299 bytes, checksum: ce171e08be0a2a7e0cf26ac08f9fbd2f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-02-26 / CAPES / The accelerated growth of agriculture produces a demand for opening and exploration of new areas. Through government incentives, the migration of sugar cane production reached the Cerrado biome, and this occupation provides a gradual vegetation coverage change. In this context, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of sugar cane burning prior to harvesting in the soil organic matter and organic phosphorus in the Goias State Cerrado region. This study was conducted in a chronosequence of 1, 5, 10 and 20 years with straw burning, and application of vinasse in the 20 years area, compared to native vegetation (Cerrado) and pasture areas. The study areas were located in Decal industrial plant in Rio Verde municipality, Goi?s State (Brazil). The soil was classified as an Oxisol with sandy loam texture. Soil samples were taken in pits up to 0.6 m depth. Total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), soil organic matter (SOM) physical and chemical fractionation, and isotopes 13C and 15N were analyzed. Phosphorus chemical fractionation, extracted with NaHCO3, H2SO4 and NaOH, spectroscopic carbon (13C NMR, UV-vis and FTIR) and phosporus (31P NMR) characterization were evaluated. The area with lowest usage time of straw burning had highest Ca and Mg and lowest P and K values. The smallest TOC stocks were observed at the 0-10 cm layer in the sugar cane systems with 1 and 5 years. In general, the highest values of 13C and 15N were observed in the pasture and the lowest values in the Cerrado, with intermediate values in the sugar cane systems. Land use change from Cerrado original vegetation to sugar cane systems resulted in 13C changes, promoting an accumulation of C4 derived carbon plants. Spectroscopic analysis of carbon (13C RMN, UV-vis and infrared) from humic acids carbon showed the same functional groups independent of cane burning harvesting time. At the 0-5 cm depth layer, the aliphatic and carboxylic compounds had the largest contribution compared to the aromatic compounds. The 31P NMR spectroscopy results showed that in the studied areas, the humic acids constitute a readily available source of organic P important for plant uptake, especially in the area that received vinasse. In the areas with 1 and 5 years of harvesting burning sugar cane, the decrease in the accumulation of recalcitrant organic P in the humic acids indicates the usage of the labile-P in the humic substances. / O crescimento acelerado da agricultura gera a necessidade da abertura e explora??o de novas fronteiras agr?colas. Com incentivos governamentais, essa migra??o do setor sucroalcooleiro atingiu o Cerrado, e esta ocupa??o proporciona uma gradativa mudan?a na cobertura vegetal. Neste contexto, o objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar o efeito da queima pr?via para a colheita da cana-de-a??car na mat?ria org?nica e f?sforo org?nico do solo no Cerrado goiano. Foi utilizada uma cronossequ?ncia de 1, 5,10 anos com queima e 20 com queima da palhada e aplica??o de vinha?a, ?rea sob vegeta??o nativa (Cerrado) e pastagem. As ?reas de estudo localizam-se na Usina Decal, em Rio Verde, estado de Goi?s. O solo foi classificado como Latossolo Vermelho Distr?fico de textura franco arenosa. As amostras foram retiradas mediante a abertura de trincheiras at? 60 cm de profundidade. Foram analisados o carbono org?nico total (COT), nitrog?nio total (NT), fracionamento qu?mico e granulom?trico da MOS, 13C e 15N is?topos. A quantifica??o das fra??es de f?sforo foi obtida empregando-se extra??es com NaHCO3, H2SO4 e NaOH, al?m da caracteriza??o espectrosc?pica de carbono (RMN 13C, UV-vis?vel e infravermelho) e f?sforo (RMN 31P). O menor tempo de uso da queima da palhada acarretou em maiores teores de Ca e Mg e menores teores de P e K. Os menores estoques de COT foram verificados na camada de 0-10 cm nos sistemas de cana de 1 e 5 anos. De maneira geral, os maiores valores de 13C e 15N foram verificados na ?rea de pastagem e os menores na ?rea de Cerrado, com valores intermedi?rios para as ?reas de cana. A substitui??o da vegeta??o original de Cerrado para implanta??o de ?reas cultivadas com cana-de-a??car acarretou em mudan?as do 13C, promovendo um ac?mulo de carbono de plantas com ciclo fotossint?tico C4. As an?lises espectrosc?picas de carbono (RMN 13C, UV-v?sivel e infravermelho) dos ?cidos h?micos mostraram os mesmos grupos funcionais independente do tempo de colheita queimada da cana. Na camada de 0-5 cm, a maior contribui??o foi dos compostos alif?ticos e carbox?licos em rela??o aos compostos arom?ticos. Os resultados da espectroscopia de RMN 31P mostram que nas ?reas estudadas os ?cidos h?micos constituem uma reserva importante de P org?nico prontamente dispon?vel e fonte importante para nutri??o das plantas, principalmente na ?rea que recebeu vinha?a. J?, nas ?reas de 1 e 5 anos de cana queimada, a diminui??o do ac?mulo de P org?nico recalcitrante nos ?cidos h?micos indica utiliza??o do P-l?bil das subst?ncias h?micas.

In the last decades, the awareness of environmental issues has increased in society considerably. There is an increasing need to improve the effluent quality of domestic wastewater treatment processes. This thesis describes the application of the Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) technology for Biological Nutrient Removal (BNR) from the wastewater. In particular, the work presented evolves from the nitrogen removal to the biological nutrient removal (i.e. nitrogen plus phosphorous removal) with special attention to the operational strategy design, the identification of possible reactor cycle controls or the influent composition related to the process efficiency. In such sense, also the use of ethanol as an external carbon (when low influent Carbon:Phosphorus (C:P) or Carbon:Nitrogen (C:N) ratios are presented) are studied as an alternative to maintain the BNR efficiency.

In conventional wastewater treatment plants, methanol, ethanol, and acetate are used as carbon source for the denitrification process in the biological nutrient removal. However, growing concern regarding economical costs and carbon footprints from the fossil-based production of these chemicals have forced the companies to look for other alternatives. VFAs have shown a great potential in replacing the conventionally used carbon sources. If implemented this will result in lower chemical cost and a drastic decrease in carbon footprint as well as striving WWTPs towards sustainable development. In this work denitrification has been analysed using different variations of VFAs such as fermented potato protein liquor, food waste and chicken manure VFA. This was done using a basic laboratory setup of a denitrification reactor which used basic stirring agitation and nitrogen purging to ensure anoxic conditions. Nutrients and excess sCOD were added to ensure the highest denitrification rates. The denitrifying biomass was collected at Gryaab AB in the form of k1-carriers making this process a MBBR. The most influential characteristic of the VFAs is the distribution of the acids in the VFA effluent. Butyric acid along with caproic acid showed the best potential for efficient denitrification. The possibility of concentration of VFA effluent showed a high potential when using a nanofiltration system. A C/N ratio of 4.5 conventionally used when methanol is added showed to be the most optimal condition for VFA addition. The combination of VFAs together with conventional used carbon sources showed the best potential in denitrification efficiency proving to be as good or even better than pure synthetic ones. VFAs effluents showed the best potential in removing the intermediate nitrite from the wastewater at high rates. Overall, VFAs shown a great potential for replacing conventionally used carbon sources, demonstrating the potential of substitution, which if implemented will result in lower carbon footprint and a strive towards sustainable development.

Biofilm formation is one of the most common bacterial survival strategies. Majority of bacterial species are able to form these three-dimensional structures, including pathogens like Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Representatives of Mycobacterium genus widely occur in the nature, although they can cause serious problems when they appear in medical equipment and artificial replacements of the human body. Non-pathogenic Mycobacterium smegmatis mc2 155 was used as a model organism in our experiments. We investigated morphology of the three- and six-day-old colonies (in fact biofilms) on agar and agar covered with cellophane using Stereo microscope and Scanning Electron Microscope. We found that a type of surface as well as a carbon source has a great influence on the morphology of the M. smegmatis colonies. We isolated proteomes from the agar and cellophane cultures and from planktonic culture. Two-dimensional electrophoresis was used as the main proteomic method. Proteomic data were analyzed using PDQuest software. Then the sets of proteins detected by qualitative and quantitative analyses were compared using Venn diagrams. As a result, we recognized 7 unique proteins that might be specific for recognition and adhesion of bacteria to the cellophane, no unique protein in agar proteome and 46 unique...

I takt med att Uppsala växer behöver kapaciteten för avloppsvattenrening på Kungsängsverket byggas ut. För att möta en framtida ökad belastning bedömer Uppsala Vatten & Avfall AB att en kolkälla kommer behöva tillsättas i den biologiska kvävereningen för att effektivisera den heterotrofa denitrifikationen på Kungsängsverket, som idag sker utan tillsats av kolkälla. Potentialen till förbättrad denitrifikation med olika kolkällor utvärderades genom satsvisa laboratorieförsök och litteraturstudier. Syftet var att bättre förstå de studerade kolkällornas funktion och prestanda i denitrifikation för att ge underlag inför en framtida fullskalig implementering av kolkälla. Det övergripande målet var att identifiera vilken eller vilka kolkällor som är mest fördelaktiga med avseende på reningseffektivitet, processpåverkan, doseringsbehov, ekonomi och miljöpåverkan. Triplikata försök genomfördes som denitrifikationstester med aktivt slam vid en genomsnittlig slamtemperatur på 14 ℃ och pH 7-8, där fem externa kolkällor (etanol, Brenntaplus VP1 och tre industriella restprodukter) samt försedimenterat avloppsvatten testades. I litteraturstudien inkluderades även metanol. Från försöksdata bestämdes specifika denitrifikationshastigheter, COD/N-kvoter och utbyteskoefficienter. Även bieffekter såsom nitritackumulering och fosforsläpp studerades. Därefter uppskattades doseringsbehov och kostnader baserat på erhållna resultat och antaganden om framtida produktionsmål för nitratkväve. En likartad prestanda erhölls med en av restprodukterna (RTP-vätska) och etanol som uppnådde högst denitrifikationshastigheter och reduktionsgrader (98 % respektive 97 %). Doseringsbehovet uppskattades vara 4 gånger högre med RTP-vätska jämfört med etanol. Med de två andra restprodukterna (dextrandrank och sackaroslösning) uppnåddes lägst denitrifikationseffektivitet och reduktionsgraderna uppgick till 79 % respektive 47 %. Vid test av sackaroslösning observerades dessutom ofullständig denitrifikation samt höga fosforsläpp. Dextrandranken uppträdde på liknande sätt. I egenskap av restprodukt är RTP-vätskan intressant för fortsatt utvärdering. Fullskalig implementering av RTP-vätska förutsätter att doseringsbehoven kan tillgodoses samt att lämplig distribuering och lagerhållning kan ordnas på Kungsängsverket. / The city of Uppsala is expanding and consequently enhanced capacity at the wastewater treatment plant of Kungsängen will be required in the future. As for the biological nitrogen removal process, Uppsala Vatten & Avfall AB expects an additional carbon source to be necessary in the future denitrification process. Currently, the nitrogen removal is employed without the addition of a carbon source. The potential of enhancing denitrification with different carbon sources was evaluated by conducting lab-scale batch tests and compiling literature data. The objective of this work was to better understand the performance of the chosen carbon sources as electron donors in heterotrophic denitrification and thereby provide groundwork for a future full-scale implementation of a carbon source. Based on information drawn from batch tests and literature, the carbon sources were evaluated with respect to removal efficiency, process compliance, quantitative dosing requirements, costs, and environmental sustainability. Lab-scale trials were conducted as denitrification tests (triplicate) at a mean sludge temperature of 14 ℃ and pH 7-8 with five external carbon sources (ethanol, Brenntaplus VP1, and three industrial waste products) and pretreated wastewater. In the literature review, methanol was included as well. Results obtained from the batch tests were used to determine kinetic parameters, mainly specific denitrification rates, COD/N ratios, and anoxic yield coefficients. Moreover, unwanted side effects due to addition of carbon sources were examined. Dosing requirements and costs were assessed based on previously determined kinetic parameters and supposed future production guidelines for effluent quality with respect to nitrate concentration. Similar performance was observed with one of the waste products (RTP liquid) and ethanol which achieved the highest denitrification rates and degree of removal (98 and 97 %, respectively). The estimated dosing requirement was 4 times higher with the RTP liquid compared to ethanol. The other two waste products, solutions of fructose (dextran) and sucrose, reached the lowest denitrification efficiency and removal degrees were 79 and 47 %, respectively. During tests with sucrose solution, incomplete denitrification and release of phosphorous were observed. The fructose solution showed somewhat similar behavior but to a lesser degree. Being a waste product, the RTP liquid is interesting for future evaluation. Full-scale implementation needs further considerations regarding dosing requirements, distribution, and storage conditions at the site of Kungsängsverket.

Active screen plasma nitrocarburizing (ASPNC) increases the surface hardness and lifetime of austenitic stainless steel without deteriorating its corrosion resistance. Using an active screen made of carbon opens up new technological possibilities that have not been exploited to date. In this study, the effect of screen power variation without bias application on resulting concentrations of process gas species and surface modification of AISI 316L steel was studied. The concentrations of gas species (e.g., HCN, NH3, CH4, C2H2) were measured as functions of the active screen power and the feed gas composition at constant temperature using in situ infrared laser absorption spectroscopy. At constant precursor gas composition, the decrease in active screen power led to a decrease in both the concentrations of the detected molecules and the diffusion depths of nitrogen and carbon. Depending on the gas mixture, a threshold of the active screen power was found above which no changes in the expanded austenite layer thickness were measured. The use of a heating independent of the screen power offers an additional parameter for optimizing the ASPNC process in addition to changes in the feed gas composition and the bias power. In this way, an advanced process control can be established.

Northern Canadian peatlands contain vast deposits of carbon. It is with growing urgency that we seek a better understanding of their assimilative capacity. Assimilative capacity and peat accumulation in raised bogs are linked to primary productivity of resident Sphagnum species. Understanding moisture-mediated photosynthesis of Sphagnum spp. is central to understanding peat production rates. The relationship between depth to water table fluctuation and spectral reflectance of Sphagnum moss was investigated using multispectral imaging at a recovering raised bog on the southwest coast of British Columbia, Canada. Burns Bog is a temperate oceanic ombrotrophic bog. Three ecohydrological indicator species of moss were chosen for monitoring: S. capillifolium, S. papillosum, and S. cuspidatum. Three spectral vegetation indices (SVIs) were used to characterize Sphagnum productivity: the normalized difference vegetation index 660, the chlorophyll index, and the photochemical reflectance index. In terms of spectral sensitivity and the appropriateness of SVIs to species and field setting, we found better performance for the normalized difference vegetation index 660 in the discrimination of moisture mediated species-specific reflectance signals. The role that spatiotemporal scale and spectral mixing can have on reflectance signal fidelity was tested. We were specifically interested in the relationship between changes in the local water table and Sphagnum reflectance response, and whether shifting between close spatial scales can affect the statistical strength of this relationship. We found a loss of statistical significance when shifting from the species-specific cm2 scale to the spectrally mixed dm2 scale. This spatiospectral uncoupling of the moisture mediated reflectance signal has implications for the accuracy and reliability of upscaling from plot based measurements. In terms of species-specific moisture mediated reflectance signals, we were able to effectively discriminate between the three indicator species of Sphagnum along the hummock-to-hollow gradient. We were also able to confirm Sphagnum productivity and growth outside of the vascular growing season, establishing clear patterns of reflectance correlated with changes in the local moisture regime. The strongest relationships for moisture mediated Sphagnum productivity were found in the hummock forming species S. capillifolium. Each indicator Sphagnum spp. of peat has distinct functional traits adapted to its preferred position along the ecohydrological gradient. We also discovered moisture mediated and species-specific reflectance phenologies. These phenospectral characteristics of Sphagnum can inform future monitoring work, including the creation of a regionally specific phenospectral library. It’s recommended that further close scale multispectral monitoring be carried out incorporating more species of moss, as well as invasive and upland species of concern. Pervasive vascular reflectance bias in remote sensing products has implications for the reliability of peatland modelling. Avoiding vascular bias, targeted spectral monitoring of Sphagnum indicator species provides a more reliable measure for the modelling of peatland productivity and carbon assimilation estimates. / Graduate

No description available.