O presente trabalho busca dar início a estudos referentes ao modelo de otimização de portfolios de investimento denominado paridade de risco no cenário brasileiro. Neste trabalho, os índices setoriais da bolsa brasileira (Bovespa) foram utilizados como ativos e com os seus dados foram estimadas carteiras com os modelos de mínima variância, de pesos iguais e de paridade de risco. Verificou-se que no modelo de paridade de risco a forma de obtenção da matriz de covariância exerce pouca influência no resultado final, que é de carteiras com distribuição de pesos e volatilidades intermediárias com relação aos modelos de mínima variância e de pesos iguais. Estes resultados são condizentes com aqueles verificados na literatura que utilizam como base de dados os mercados europeus e americanos. / This paper seeks to initiate studies for the investment portfolios optimization model called risk parity in the Brazilian scene. In this work, the sector indexes of the Brazilian Stock Exchange (Bovespa) were used as assets and their data were used to estimate portfolios with models of minimum variance, of equal weight and of risk parity. It was found that in the risk parity model the form to obtain the covariance matrix has little influence on the final result, that is of a portfolio with weights and distribution of intermediate volatility in relation to the minimum variance models and equal weights. These results are consistent with those found in the literature using as database the European and American markets.

abstract: Dimensionality assessment is an important component of evaluating item response data. Existing approaches to evaluating common assumptions of unidimensionality, such as DIMTEST (Nandakumar & Stout, 1993; Stout, 1987; Stout, Froelich, & Gao, 2001), have been shown to work well under large-scale assessment conditions (e.g., large sample sizes and item pools; see e.g., Froelich & Habing, 2007). It remains to be seen how such procedures perform in the context of small-scale assessments characterized by relatively small sample sizes and/or short tests. The fact that some procedures come with minimum allowable values for characteristics of the data, such as the number of items, may even render them unusable for some small-scale assessments. Other measures designed to assess dimensionality do not come with such limitations and, as such, may perform better under conditions that do not lend themselves to evaluation via statistics that rely on asymptotic theory. The current work aimed to evaluate the performance of one such metric, the standardized generalized dimensionality discrepancy measure (SGDDM; Levy & Svetina, 2011; Levy, Xu, Yel, & Svetina, 2012), under both large- and small-scale testing conditions. A Monte Carlo study was conducted to compare the performance of DIMTEST and the SGDDM statistic in terms of evaluating assumptions of unidimensionality in item response data under a variety of conditions, with an emphasis on the examination of these procedures in small-scale assessments. Similar to previous research, increases in either test length or sample size resulted in increased power. The DIMTEST procedure appeared to be a conservative test of the null hypothesis of unidimensionality. The SGDDM statistic exhibited rejection rates near the nominal rate of .05 under unidimensional conditions, though the reliability of these results may have been less than optimal due to high sampling variability resulting from a relatively limited number of replications. Power values were at or near 1.0 for many of the multidimensional conditions. It was only when the sample size was reduced to N = 100 that the two approaches diverged in performance. Results suggested that both procedures may be appropriate for sample sizes as low as N = 250 and tests as short as J = 12 (SGDDM) or J = 19 (DIMTEST). When used as a diagnostic tool, SGDDM may be appropriate with as few as N = 100 cases combined with J = 12 items. The study was somewhat limited in that it did not include any complex factorial designs, nor were the strength of item discrimination parameters or correlation between factors manipulated. It is recommended that further research be conducted with the inclusion of these factors, as well as an increase in the number of replications when using the SGDDM procedure. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Educational Psychology 2013

abstract: Land-atmosphere interactions of semiarid shrublands have garnered significant scientific interest. One of the main tools used for this research is the eddy covariance (EC) method, which measures fluxes of energy, water vapor, and carbon dioxide. EC fluxes can be difficult to interpret due to complexities within the EC footprint (i.e. the surface conditions that contribute to the flux measurements). Most EC studies use a small number of soil probes to estimate the land surface states underlying the measured fluxes, which likely undersamples the footprint-scale conditions, especially in semiarid shrublands which are characterized by high spatial and temporal variability. In this study, I installed a dense network of soil moisture and temperature probe profiles in the footprint region of an EC tower at two semiarid sites: a woody savanna in southern Arizona and a mixed shrubland in southern New Mexico. For data from May to September 2013, I link land surface states to EC fluxes through daily footprints estimated using an analytical model. Novel approaches are utilized to partition evapotranspiration, estimate EC footprint soil states, connect differences in fluxes to footprint composition, and assess key drivers behind soil state variability. I verify the hypothesis that a small number of soil probes poorly estimates the footprint conditions for soil moisture, due to its high spatial variability. Soil temperature, however, behaves more consistently in time and space. As such, distributed surface measurements within the EC footprint allow for stronger ties between evapotranspiration and moisture, but demonstrate no significant improvement in connecting sensible heat flux and temperature. I also find that in these systems vegetation cover appears to have stronger controls on soil moisture and temperature than does soil texture. Further, I explore the influence of footprint vegetation composition on the measured fluxes, which reveals that during the monsoon season evaporative fraction tends to increase with footprint bare soil coverage for the New Mexico site and that the ratio of daily transpiration to evapotranspiration increases with grass coverage at the Arizona site. The thesis results are useful for understanding the land-atmosphere interactions of these ecosystems and for guiding future EC studies in heterogeneous landscapes. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering 2013

O presente trabalho busca dar início a estudos referentes ao modelo de otimização de portfolios de investimento denominado paridade de risco no cenário brasileiro. Neste trabalho, os índices setoriais da bolsa brasileira (Bovespa) foram utilizados como ativos e com os seus dados foram estimadas carteiras com os modelos de mínima variância, de pesos iguais e de paridade de risco. Verificou-se que no modelo de paridade de risco a forma de obtenção da matriz de covariância exerce pouca influência no resultado final, que é de carteiras com distribuição de pesos e volatilidades intermediárias com relação aos modelos de mínima variância e de pesos iguais. Estes resultados são condizentes com aqueles verificados na literatura que utilizam como base de dados os mercados europeus e americanos. / This paper seeks to initiate studies for the investment portfolios optimization model called risk parity in the Brazilian scene. In this work, the sector indexes of the Brazilian Stock Exchange (Bovespa) were used as assets and their data were used to estimate portfolios with models of minimum variance, of equal weight and of risk parity. It was found that in the risk parity model the form to obtain the covariance matrix has little influence on the final result, that is of a portfolio with weights and distribution of intermediate volatility in relation to the minimum variance models and equal weights. These results are consistent with those found in the literature using as database the European and American markets.

Este trabalho apresenta metodologias para a construção e a sintonia de estimadores de estados não-lineares visando aplicações práticas. O funcionamento de um estimador de estados não-linear está calcado em quatro etapas básicas: (a) sintonia; (b) predição; (c) atualização da matriz de covariância de estados; (d) filtragem e suavização dos estados. As principais contribuições deste trabalho para cada uma destas etapas podem ser resumidas como segue: (a) Sintonia. A sintonia adequada da matriz de covariância do ruído de processos é fundamental na aplicação dos estimadores de estado com modelos sujeitos a incertezas paramétricas e estruturais. Sendo assim, foi proposto um novo algoritmo para a sintonia desta matriz que considera dois novos métodos para a determinação da matriz de covariância dos parâmetros. Este algoritmo melhorou significativamente a precisão da estimação dos estados na presença dessas incertezas, com potencialidade para ser usado na atualização de modelos em linha em práticas industriais. (b) Predição. Uma das etapas mais importantes para a aplicação do estimador de estados é a formulação dos modelos usados. Desta forma, foi mostrado como a formulação do modelo a ser usada em um estimador de estados pode impactar na observabilidade do sistema e na sintonia das matrizes de covariância. Também são apresentadas as principais recomendações para formular um bom modelo. (c) Atualização da matriz de covariância dos estados. A robustez numérica das matrizes de covariância dos estados usadas em estimadores de estados sem e com restrições é ilustrada através de dois exemplos da engenharia química que apresentam multiplicidade de soluções. Mostrou-se que a melhor forma de atualizar os estados consiste na resolução de um problema de otimização sujeito a restrições onde as estimativas fisicamente inviáveis dos estados são evitadas. Este também preserva a gaussianidade dos ruídos evitando que estes sejam mal distribuídos. (d) Filtragem e suavização dos estados. Entre as formulações estudadas, observou-se também que a melhor relação entre a acuracidade das estimativas e a viabilidade de aplicação prática é obtida com a formulação do filtro de Kalman estendido sujeita a restrições (denominada Constrained Extended Kalman Filter - CEKF), uma vez que esta demanda menor esforço computacional que a estimação de horizonte móvel, apresentando um desempenho comparável exceto no caso de estimativas ruins da condição inicial dos estados. Como uma solução alternativa eficiente para a estimação de horizonte móvel neste último caso, foi proposto um novo estimador baseado na inclusão de uma estratégia de suavização na formulação do CEKF, referenciado como CEKF & Smoother (CEKF&S). / This work presents approaches to building and tuning nonlinear state estimators aiming practical applications. The implementation of a nonlinear state estimator is supported by four basic steps: (a) tuning; (b) forecast; (c) state covariance matrix update; (d) states filtering and smoothing. The main contributions of this work for each one of these stages can be summarized as follows: (a) Tuning. An appropriate choice of the process-noise covariance matrix is crucial in applying state estimators with models subjected to parametric and structural uncertainties. Thus, a new process-noise covariance matrix tuning algorithm is presented in this work which incorporates two new methods for the parameter covariance matrix computation. The algorithm has improved significantly the state estimation accuracy when the presence of such uncertainties, with potential to be applied in on-line model update in industrial practice. (b) Forecast. One of the most important stages in applying state estimators is the used model formulation. In this way, it has been shown that the model formulation to be used in state estimator can impact on the system observability and noisecovariance matrices tuning. In this work it is also presented the main recommendations to formulate an appropriated model. (c) State covariance matrix update. The numerical robustness of the state covariance matrices used in unconstrained and constrained state estimators is illustrated by two chemical engineering examples tending to multiple solutions. It has been shown that the best technique to update the states consists in solving an optimization problem subjected to constraints, since it prevents from physically unfeasible states. It also preserves the noise gaussianity preventing from bad noise distribution. (d) States filtering and smoothing. Among the studied formulations, it was also noticed that the better relationship between performance and practical application is obtained with an extended Kalman filter formulation subjected to constraints (called Constrained Extended Kalman Filter - CEKF) because it requires small computational effort than MHE with comparable performance, except in case of poor guesses of the initial state. As an efficient solution for moving horizon estimation in the last case, it was proposed a new estimator based on the addition of a smoother strategy into the CEKF formulation, referred as CEKF & Smoother (CEKF&S).

Submitted by Isaac Francisco de Souza Dias (isaac.souzadias@ufpe.br) on 2016-03-30T18:44:44Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Edevaldo_FINAL_TESE_DEFINITIVA.pdf: 15106396 bytes, checksum: 814bee807141ed9abbb1a3325917a0b3 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-30T18:44:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Edevaldo_FINAL_TESE_DEFINITIVA.pdf: 15106396 bytes, checksum: 814bee807141ed9abbb1a3325917a0b3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-01-28 / FACEPE / A atual instabilidade climática verificada através dos estudos dos impactos advindos de eventos extremos como secas e inundações, cujo tempo de recorrência vem sendo cada vez mais reduzido, associado ao aumento da temperatura do planeta, prenuncia um cenário de aumento da temperatura média global. As mudanças climáticas podem provocar uma redução no escoamento superficial e na disponibilidade de recursos hídricos, na qual os processos hidrológicos serão afetados e podem significar diferentes tipos de prejuízos para as comunidades que vivem nas regiões áridas e semiáridas, que são as mais expostas às mudanças climáticas, como por exemplo, o provável aumento da salinização das águas subterrâneas em virtude da elevação da evapotranspiração. No Brasil, a região que é mais exposta aos riscos da variabilidade climática é o nordeste, e os ecossistemas pastagens e caatinga possuem grande importância na regulação das mudanças climáticas globais e no ciclo hidrológico. No entanto, ainda são poucos os estudos medindo os fluxos de água, de energia e de carbono nestes ecossistemas. Desta forma, os objetivos do trabalho foram: (a) Avaliar os fluxos de água no solo, por meio do balanço hídrico, a variação dos fluxos de energia, em áreas de caatinga e de pastagem, (b) Avaliar a variação sazonal e interanual dos fluxos de energia e evapotranspiração, em áreas de caatinga e de pastagem, (c) Comparar os fluxos de CO2 em área de pastagem e de caatinga e (d) Verificar os principais fatores ambientais que controlam os fluxos de energia, evapotranspiração e CO2 em ecossistemas de caatinga e pastagem. Para tal, foram instaladas duas torres experimentais compostas por sensores para mediar a velocidade e direção do vento, umidade relativa e temperatura do ar, radiação solar e saldo de radiação, precipitação pluvial e um sistema de medida da covariância dos vórtices turbulentos (Eddy covariance), que é um método que fornece alta resolução temporal de medições de fluxos de energia, água e CO2 entre a superfície e a atmosfera e nos últimos anos tem sido considerado a ferramenta padrão nesse tipo de estudo. Uma torre foi instalada numa área de pastagem e outra numa área de caatinga, ambas localizadas em São João – PE, na microrregião de Garanhuns. A dinâmica da água no solo também foi analisada, sendo que realizada a caracterização hidrodinâmica dos solos das áreas experimentais, bem como, a determinação das frações granulométricas e dos parâmetros da curva de retenção e de condutividade hidráulica, segundo a metodologia “Beerkan”. As medidas dos fluxos de água no solo e dos fluxos de energia e de CO2 foram realizadas nos anos de 2012, 2013 e 2014. Analisando-se os valores da precipitação pluvial, verificou-se que 2012 foi caracterizado como um ano muito seco, e que, 2013 e 2014 tiveram valores próximos da média histórica da região, sendo o ano de 2012, um dos mais secos dos últimos anos. A evapotranspiração na área da caatinga foi maior que na área de pastagem, com 679,7 mm (2,0 mm d-1) e 645,4 mm (1,9 mm d-1), respectivamente. Em relação ao fluxo de CO2 verificou-se que tanto a pastagem, quanto a caatinga atuaram como sumidouros de CO2. No período chuvoso, a pastagem retirou da atmosfera 4,96 Mg C ha-1, enquanto a caatinga 4,26 Mg C ha-1, já no período seco a pastagem sequestrou 2,97 Mg C ha-1 e a caatinga 0,65 Mg C ha-1. A área de pasto foi melhor que a área de caatinga, no sequestro de CO2 atmosférico, tanto no período seco, quanto no período úmido. A mudança no uso da terra, na área da pastagem, teve efeito direto nos fluxos de água e CO2 e no solo, assim como na evapotranspiração do ecossistema. A retirada da caatinga para plantar pasto no local não aumenta significativamente a taxa de sequestro de CO2, mas aumentará a temperatura atmosférica e as taxas de evapotranspiração. / The current climatic instability verified by studies of impacts from extreme events such as droughts and floods, whose recurrence time is being increasingly reduced, coupled with rising global temperature, portends a scenario of increased global average temperature. Climate change may cause a reduction in runoff and the availability of water resources, in which hydrological processes will be affected and can mean different types of damage to the communities living in arid and semiarid regions, which are the most exposed to climate change such as, for example, the probable increase in the salinity of the groundwater due to the increase in evaporation. In Brazil, the region more exposed to the risks of climate variability is the Northeast, and the grassland caatinga ecosystems and have great importance in the regulation of global climate change and the hydrological cycle. However, there are few studies measuring water flows, energy and carbon in these ecosystems. Thus, the objectives were: (a) assess the water flows into the soil through the water balance, the variation of energy flows in areas of caatinga and grassland, (b) assess the seasonal variation energy and evapotranspiration flows in areas of scrub and pasture, (c) Compare the CO2 streams in pasture and scrub and (d) Check the main environmental factors that control energy flows, evapotranspiration and CO2 caatinga ecosystems and pasture. To this end, were installed two experimental towers composed of sensors to mediate the wind speed and direction, relative humidity and air temperature, solar radiation and net radiation, rainfall and a covariance measurement system of the eddy (Eddy covariance) which is a method that provides high temporal resolution energy flow measurements, water and CO2 between the surface and the atmosphere and in recent years has been considered the standard tool in this type of study. A tower was installed in a pasture area and another in a caatinga area, both located in Saint John - PE, in the micro region of Garanhuns. The dynamics of the water in the soil was also analyzed, and accomplished the hydrodynamic characteristics of the soil of the fields and the determination of granulometric fractions of the parameters and the retention curve and hydraulic conductivity, according to the "Beerkan" methodology. Measurements of water flows in the soil and energy and CO2 fluxes were performed in the years 2012, 2013 and 2014. Analyzing the values of rainfall, it was found that 2012 was characterized as a very dry year, and that 2013 and 2014 had similar values of the historical average for the region, with the year 2012, one of the driest in recent years. Evapotranspiration in the area of the caatinga was higher than in pasture area, with 679,7 mm (2,0 mm d-1) and 645,4 mm (1.9 mm d-1), respectively. Regarding the flow of CO2 was found that both the pasture, as acted as CO2 scrub sinks. During the rainy season, the pasture removed from the atmosphere 4,96 Mg C ha-1, while the caatinga 4,26 Mg C ha-1, as the dry season grazing kidnapped 2,97 Mg C ha-1 and the caatinga 0,65 Mg C ha-1. The pasture area was better than the caatinga area in the sequestration of atmospheric CO2, both in the dry season, as the wet season. The change in land use in the area of pasture, had a direct effect on water flows and CO2 and soil, as well as the ecosystem evapotranspiration. The withdrawal of the caatinga to plant pasture on site does not significantly increase the CO2 sequestration rate but increase the atmospheric temperature and evapotranspiration rates.

Neste trabalho estudamos o problema relacionado à construção de uma teoria quântica para uma partícula, se movendo não relativisticamente num espaço curvo, tratado como uma subvariedade de outro Euclideano, talvez dando maior ênfase ao aspecto geométrico envolvido nesta abordagem, uma vez que os demais trabalhos relacionados ao mesmo tema não o fazem. Além de mostrarmos que o consequente uso de uma teoria de sistemas vinculados não contribui para remover as ambiguidades da formulação quântica, relacionados diretamente ao ordenamento de operadores, também apresentamos, através de uma quantização específica feita sob a prescrição de Dirac, elementos que permitem não apenas construir um formalismo quântico covariante, mas também liberto de qualquer correção quântica. Em adição, fazemos alguns comentários gerais no que se refere às outras abordagens clássicas possíveis para o mesmo problema, intentando construir teorias quânticas associadas ao sistema sob consideração. / In this work we study the problem related to the construction of a quantum theory for a particle, moving non-relativistically in a curved space, treated as submanifold of the other Euclidean, maybe putting more emphasis on the geometric aspect envolved in this approach, since the rest of the works related to the subject do not. Besides showing that the consequent use of a theory of constrained systems not contributes for remove the ambiguities in the quantum formulation, related directly to the ordering of operators, we also showing, through a specific quantization made in the prescription of Dirac, elements that offers resources not only to construct a covariant quantum formalism, but also free from any quantum correction. In addition, we make some general comments in relation to other classical approaches possible for the same problem, attempting to build quantum theories associated with the system under consideration.

Nos programas de melhoramento de cana-de-açúcar todos os anos são instalados experimentos com o objetivo de avaliar genótipos que podem eventualmente ser recomendados para o plantio, ou mesmo como genitores. Este objetivo é atingido com o emprego de experimentos em diferentes locais, durante diferentes colheitas. Além disso, frequentemente há grande desbalanceamento, pois nem todos os genótipos são avaliados em todos os experimentos. O emprego de abordagens tradicionais como análise de variância conjunta (ANAVA) é inviável devido à condição de desbalanceamento e ao fato de as pressuposições não modelarem adequadamente o relacionamento entre as observações. O emprego de modelos misto utilizando a metodologia REML/BLUP é uma alternativa para análise desses experimentos em cana-deaçúcar, permitindo também incorporar a informação de parentesco entre os indivíduos. Nesse contexto, foram analisados 44 experimentos (locais) de cana-de-açúcar do programa de melhoramento da cana-de-açúcar do Instituto Agronômico de Campinas (IAC), com 74 genótipos (clones e variedades) e com até 5 colheitas. O delineamento foi o de blocos ao acaso com 2 a 6 repetições. O caráter analisado foi TPH (Tonelada de pol por hectare). Foram testados 40 modelos, os 20 primeiros foram avaliadas diferentes estrutura de VCOV para locais e colheitas, e os 20 seguintes, além das matrizes de VCOV, foi incorporada a matriz de parentesco genético, A. De acordo com AIC, verificou-se que o Modelo 11, o qual assume as matrizes FA1, AR1 e ID, para locais, colheitas e genótipos, respectivamente, foi o melhor, e portanto, o mais eficiente para seleção de genótipos superiores. Quando comparado ao modelo tradicional (médias dos experimentos), houve mudanças no ranqueamento dos genótipos. Há correlação entre o modelo tradicional e o Modelo 11 (_ = 0, 63, p-valor < 0, 001). A opção de utilizar modelo misto sem ajustar as matrizes de VCOV (Modelo 1) é relativamente melhor do que usar o Modelo Tradicional. Isto foi evidenciado pela correlação mais alta entre os modelos 1 e 11 (_ = 0, 87 com p-valor < 0, 001). Acredita-se que o emprego do Modelo 11 junto com experiência do melhorista poderá aumentar a eficiência de seleção em programas de melhoramento de cana-de-açúcar. / In breeding programs of sugarcane every year experiments are installed to evaluate the performance of genotypes, in order to select superior varieties and genitors. The use of ordinary approaches such as joint analysis of variance (ANOVA) is unfeasible due to unbalancing and assumptions that do not reflect the standard of relationship of the observations. The use of mixed models using the method REML/BLUP is an alternative. It also allows the incorporation of information from kinship between individuals. In this context, we analyzed 44 trials (locations) of sugarcane breeding program of sugarcane (Agronomic Institute Campinas, IAC), with 74 genotypes (varieties and clones), up to 5 harvests. The experimental design was randomized blocks with 2-6 replicates. The character was examined TPH (Tons of pol per hectare). We tested 40 models, the first 20 were evaluated different VCOV structure to locations and harvests, and 20 following addition of matrix VCOV was incorporated genetic relationship matrix, A. Under AIC, it was found that the model 11, which assumes matrices FA1, AR1 and ID for locations, harvests and genotypes, respectively, was the best. There is a moderate correlation between traditional model and model 11 (_ = 0.63, p-value < 0.001), when ranking the genotypes. The option of using mixed model without adjusting matrices VCOV (model 1) is better than using the traditional model. This was suggested by the higher correlation between models 1 and 11 (_ = 0.87 with p-value < 0.001). We believe that the usage of model 11 together with breeders experience can increase the efficiency of selection in sugarcane breeding programs.

The possibility to use real-time computer vision in video sequences gives many opportunities for a system to interact with the environment. Possible ways for interaction are e.g. augmented reality like in the MATRIS project where the purpose is to add new objects into the video sequence, or surveillance where the purpose is to find abnormal events. The increase of the speed of computers the last years has simplified this process and it is now possible to use at least some of the more advanced computer vision algorithms that are available. The computational speed of computers is however still a problem, for an efficient real-time system efficient code and methods are necessary. This thesis deals with both problems, one part is about efficient implementations using single instruction multiple data (SIMD) instructions and one part is about robust tracking. An efficient real-time system requires efficient implementations of the used computer vision methods. Efficient implementations requires knowledge about the CPU and the possibilities given. In this thesis, one method called SIMD is explained. SIMD is useful when the same operation is applied to multiple data which usually is the case in computer vision, the same operation is executed on each pixel. Following the position of a feature or object in a video sequence is called tracking. Tracking can be used for a number of applications. The application in this thesis is to use tracking for pose estimation. One way to do tracking is to cut out a small region around the feature, creating a patch and find the position on this patch in the other frames. To find the position, a measure of the difference between the patch and the image in a given position is used. This thesis thoroughly investigates the sum of absolute difference (SAD) error measure. The investigation involves different ways to improve the robustness and to decrease the average error. One method to estimate the average error, the covariance of the position error is proposed. An estimate of the average error is needed when different measurements are combined. Finally, a system for camera pose estimation is presented. The computer vision part of this system is based on the result in this thesis. This presentation contains also a discussion about the result of this system. / Report code: LIU-TEK-LIC-2007:5. The report code in the thesis is incorrect.

In semiarid regions, where water resources are limited and precipitation dynamics are changing, understanding land surface-atmosphere interactions that regulate the coupled soil moisture-precipitation system is key for resource management and planning. We present a modeling approach to study soil moisture and albedo controls on planetary boundary layer height (PBLh). We used Santa Rita Creosote Ameriflux and Tucson Airport atmospheric sounding data to generate empirical relationships between soil moisture, albedo, and PBLh. Empirical relationships showed that similar to 50% of the variation in PBLh can be explained by soil moisture and albedo with additional knowledge gained by dividing the soil profile into two layers. Therefore, we coupled these empirical relationships with soil moisture estimated using a two-layer bucket approach to model PBLh under six precipitation scenarios. Overall we observed that decreases in precipitation tend to limit the recovery of the PBL at the end of the wet season. However, increases in winter precipitation despite decreases in summer precipitation may provide opportunities for positive feedbacks that may further generate more winter precipitation. Our results highlight that the response of soil moisture, albedo, and the PBLh will depend not only on changes in annual precipitation, but also on the frequency and intensity of this change. We argue that because albedo and soil moisture data are readily available at multiple temporal and spatial scales, developing empirical relationships that can be used in land surface-atmosphere applications have great potential for exploring the consequences of climate change.