This thesis presents a new technique for performing image analysis, synthesis, and modification using a generalized Gaussian model. The joint time-frequency characteristics of a generalized Gaussian are combined with the flexibility of the analysis-by-synthesis (ABS) decomposition technique to form the basis of the model. The good localization properties of the Gaussian make it an appealing basis function for image analysis, while the ABS process provides a more flexible representation with enhanced functionality. ABS was first explored in conjunction with sinusoidal modeling of speech and audio signals [George87]. A 2D extension of the ABS technique is developed here to perform the image decomposition. This model forms the basis for new approaches in image analysis and enhancement. The major contribution is made in the resolution enhancement of images generated using coherent imaging modalities such as Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and ultrasound. The ABS generalized Gaussian model is used to decouple natural image features from the speckle and facilitate independent control over feature characteristics and speckle granularity. This has the beneficial effect of increasing the perceived resolution and reducing the obtrusiveness of the speckle while preserving the edges and the definition of the image features. A consequence of its inherent flexibility, the model does not preclude image processing applications for non-coherent image data. This is illustrated by its application as a feature extraction tool for a FLIR imagery complexity measure.

This thesis examines the utility of the Rényi entropy (RE), a measure of the complexity of probability density functions, as a tool for finding physically meaningful patterns in geophysical data. Initially, the RE is applied to observational data of long-lived atmospheric tracers in order to analyse the dynamics of stratospheric transitions regions associated with barriers to horizontal mixing. Its wider applicability is investigated by testing the RE as a method for highlighting internal boundaries in snow and ice from ground penetrating radar (GPR) recordings. High-resolution 500 MHz GPR soundings of dry snow were acquired at several sites near Scott Base, Antarctica, in 2008 and 2009, with the aim of using the RE to facilitate the identification and tracking of subsurface layers to extrapolate point measurements of accumulation from snow pits and firn cores to larger areas. The atmospheric analysis focuses on applying the RE to observational tracer data from the EOS-MLS satellite instrument. Nitrous oxide (N2O) is shown to exhibit subtropical RE maxima in both hemispheres. These peaks are a measure of the tracer gradients that mark the transition between the tropics and the mid-latitudes in the stratosphere, also referred to as the edges of the tropical pipe. The RE maxima are shown to be located closer to the equator in winter than in summer. This agrees well with the expected behaviour of the tropical pipe edges and is similar to results reported by other studies. Compared to other stratospheric mixing metrics, the RE has the advantage that it is easy to calculate as it does not, for example, require conversion to equivalent latitude and does not rely on dynamical information such as wind fields. The RE analysis also reveals occasional sudden poleward shifts of the southern hemisphere tropical pipe edge during austral winter which are accompanied by increased mid-latitude N2O levels. These events are investigated in more detail by creating daily high-resolution N2O maps using a two-dimensional trajectory model and MERRA reanalysis winds to advect N2O observations forwards and backwards in time on isentropic surfaces. With the aid of this ‘domain filling’ technique it is illustrated that the increase in southern hemisphere mid-latitude N2O during austral winter is probably the result of the cumulative effect of several large-scale, episodic leaks of N2O-rich air from the tropical pipe. A comparison with the global distribution of potential vorticity strongly suggests that irreversible mixing related to planetary wave breaking is the cause of the leak events. Between 2004 and 2011 the large-scale leaks are shown to occur approximately every second year and a connection to the equatorial quasi-biennial oscillation is found to be likely, though this cannot be established conclusively due to the relatively short data set. Identification and tracking of subsurface boundaries, such as ice layers in snow or the bedrock of a glacier, is the focus of the cryospheric part of this project. The utility of the RE for detecting amplitude gradients associated with reflections in GPR recordings is initially tested on a 25 MHz sounding of an Antarctic glacier. The results show distinct regions of increased RE values that allow identification of the glacial bedrock along large parts of the profile. Due to the low computational requirements, the RE is found to be an effective pseudo gain function for initial analysis of GPR data in the field. While other gain functions often have to be tuned to give a good contrast between reflections and background noise over the whole vertical range of a profile, the RE tends to assign all detectable amplitude gradients a similar (high) value, resulting in a clear contrast between reflections and background scattering. Additionally, theoretical considerations allow the definition of a ‘standard’ data window size with which the RE can be applied to recordings made by most pulsed GPR systems and centre frequencies. This is confirmed by tests with higher frequency recordings (50 and 500 MHz) acquired on the McMurdo Ice Shelf. However, these also reveal that the RE processing is less reliable for identifying more closely spaced reflections from internal layers in dry snow. In order to complete the intended high-resolution analysis of accumulation patterns by tracking internal snow layers in the 500 MHz data from two test sites, a different processing approach is developed. Using an estimate of the emitted waveform from direct measurement, deterministic deconvolution via the Fourier domain is applied to the high-resolution GPR data. This reveals unambiguous reflection horizons which can be observed in repeat measurements made one year apart. Point measurements of average accumulation from snow pits and firn cores are extrapolated to larger areas by identifying and tracking a dateable dust layer horizon in the radargrams. Furthermore, it is shown that annual compaction rates of snow can be estimated by tracking several internal reflection horizons along the deconvolved radar profiles and calculating the average change in separation of horizon pairs from one year to the next. The technique is complementary to point measurements from other studies and the derived compaction rates agree well with published values and theoretical estimates.

La protection des mécanismes cryptographiques constitue un enjeu important lors du développement d'un système d'information car ils permettent d'assurer la sécurisation des données traitées. Les supports utilisés étant à la fois logiciels et matériels, les techniques de protection doivent s'adapter aux différents contextes.Dans le cadre d'une cible logicielle, des moyens légaux peuvent être mis en oeuvre afin de limiter l'exploitation ou les usages. Cependant, il est généralement difficile de faire valoir ses droits et de prouver qu'un acte illicite a été commis. Une alternative consiste à utiliser des moyens techniques, comme l'obscurcissement de code, qui permettent de complexifier les stratégies de rétro-conception en modifiant directement les parties à protéger.Concernant les implantations matérielles, on peut faire face à des attaques passives (observation de propriétés physiques) ou actives, ces dernières étant destructives. Il est possible de mettre en place des contre-mesures mathématiques ou matérielles permettant de réduire la fuite d'information pendant l'exécution de l'algorithme, et ainsi protéger le module face à certaines attaques par canaux cachés.Les travaux présentés dans ce mémoire proposent nos contributions sur ces sujets tes travaux. Nous étudions et présentons les implantations logicielle et matérielle réalisées pour le support de courbes elliptiques sous forme quartique de Jacobi étendue. Ensuite, nous discutons des problématiques liées à la génération de courbes utilisables en cryptographie et nous proposons une adaptation à la forme quartique de Jacobi étendue ainsi que son implantation. Dans une seconde partie, nous abordons la notion d'obscurcissement de code source. Nous détaillons les techniques que nous avons implantées afin de compléter un outil existant ainsi que le module de calcul de complexité qui a été développé. / The protection of cryptographic mechanisms is an important challenge while developing a system of information because they allow to ensure the security of processed data. Since both hardware and software supports are used, the protection techniques have to be adapted depending on the context.For a software target, legal means can be used to limit the exploitation or the use. Nevertheless, it is in general difficult to assert the rights of the owner and prove that an unlawful act had occurred. Another alternative consists in using technical means, such as code obfuscation, which make the reverse engineering strategies more complex, modifying directly the parts that need to be protected.Concerning hardware implementations, the attacks can be passive (observation of physical properties) or active (which are destructive). It is possible to implement mathematical or hardware countermeasures in order to reduce the information leakage during the execution of the code, and thus protect the module against some side channel attacks.In this thesis, we present our contributions on theses subjects. We study and present the software and hardware implementations realised for supporting elliptic curves given in Jacobi Quartic form. Then, we discuss issues linked to the generation of curves which can be used in cryptography, and we propose an adaptation to the Jacobi Quartic form and its implementation. In a second part, we address the notion of code obfuscation. We detail the techniques that we have implemented in order to complete an existing tool, and the complexity module which has been developed.