Droughts are occurring globally and should be recognized as a global issue and drought planning should use a proactive approach on the part of the world community. However, much drought planning, even in developed and highly developed countries, is reactive and programs are often poorly coordinated sometimes with unforeseen negative consequences for marginalized and disenfranchised populations. Literature pertaining to planning strategy for existing, drought crises is nominal and often contributes to patterns of reactiveness and resulting inequity. To gain a better understanding of crisis-driven planning and the participatory process, this gap was viewed through the lenses of institutional analysis and development and procedural justice and fairness. Specifically, this study was designed to determine how procedural justice and fairness, and the institutional analysis and development framework delineates participatory roles during reactive, crisis-driven planning versus proactive, preparedness planning. A multi-case/within-case analysis was conducted. Six publicly-available documents were selected using provisional and sequence coding lists; emerging themes were also identified at this time. The within-case analysis showed discernable differences between reactive and proactive participatory processes. These findings were used to conduct a cross-case analysis; this analysis indicated that commitment to the participatory process and to change were the keys elements in producing fair and just policies. Drought events can be widely divergent and dynamic, no two being alike; however, the spirit of procedural justice must be part of governance that brings public participation within the reactive planning process into better alignment with proactive planning.

The rising temperature of the earth due to climate change has shown to alter the variations of hydro-climate variables, including their intensities, frequencies and durations. Extreme events such as floods are, in particular, susceptible to any disturbances in climate cycles. As such it is important to provide policymakers with sufficient knowledge about the probable impacts of climate change on hydrologic extremes and most importantly on floods, which have the highest impacts on the societies. For this reason analysis of hydro-climate extremes is commonly performed using data at each site (or grid cell), however due to the limited number of extreme events, these analyses are not robust. Current methods, such as the regional frequency analysis, which combine data from different locations are incapable of incorporating the spatial structure of the data as well as other explanatory variables, and do not explicitly, assess the uncertainties. In this thesis the spatial hierarchical Bayesian model is proposed for hydro-climate extreme analyses using data recorded at each site or grid. This method combines limited number of data from different locations, estimates the uncertainties in different stages of the hierarchy, incorporates additional explanatory variables (covariates), and can be used to estimate extreme events at un-gaged sites. The first project develops a spatial hierarchical Bayesian method to model the extreme runoffs over two spatial domains in the Columbia River Basin, U.S. The model is also employed to estimate floods with different return levels within time slices of fifteen years in order to detect possible trends in runoff extremes. Continuing on the extreme analysis, the impact of climate change on runoff extremes is investigated over the whole Pacific Northwest (PNW). This study aims to address the question of how the runoff extremes will change in the future compared to the historical time period, investigate the different behaviors of the regional climate models (RCMs) regarding the runoff extremes, and assess the seasonal variations of runoff extremes. Given the increasing number of climate model simulations the goal of the third project is to provide a multi-model ensemble average of hydro-climate extremes and characterize the inherent uncertainties. Outputs from several regional climate models provided by NARCCAP are considered for the analysis in all seasons. Three combination scenarios are defined and compared for multi-modeling of extreme runoffs. The biases of each scenario are calculated and the scenario with the least bias is selected for projecting seasonal runoff extremes. The aim of the fourth project is to quantify and compare the uncertainties regarding global climate models to the ones from the hydrologic model structures in climate change impact studies. Various methods have been proposed to downscale the coarse resolution General Circulation Model (GCM) climatological variables to the fine scale regional variables; however fewer studies have been focused on the selection of GCM predictors. Additionally, the results obtained from one downscaling technique may not be robust and the uncertainties related to the downscaling scheme are not realized. To address these issues, in the fifth study we employed Independent Component Analysis (ICA) for predictor selection which determines spatially independent GCM variables (as discussed in Appendix A). Cross validation of the independent components is employed to find the predictor combination that describes the regional precipitation over the upper Willamette basin with minimum error. These climate variables along with the observed precipitation are used to calibrate three downscaling models: Multi Linear Regression (MLR), Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Adaptive-Network-Based Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS).

An erosion control revetment was constructed at the Falkner Island Unit of the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge, Connecticut during the winter of 2000–2001. At the time, Falkner Island was the fifth largest breeding colony site for the federally endangered Roseate Tern. This study measures and describes some baseline information regarding Roseate Tern nesting, behavior, and habitat use at Falkner Island during the three breeding seasons prior to revetment construction (1998–2000). This baseline information is then compared to similar information from the first breeding season following revetment construction (2001). For Roseate Tern adults, this study examined changes in pre-nesting habitat use, nest site distributions, and pre-nesting behavioral time allocation. Changes in habitat availability and habitat use by Roseate Terns are compared as a result of the revetment construction. Roseate Terns used rocky beach in a greater proportion than other habitats before revetment construction, and used revetment boulders in a greater proportion than all other habitats after revetment construction. Roseate Terns nested more often in artificial sites (nest boxes and tires) than in natural sites in all years of the study. The mean date for the first eggs in each nest did not differ between years. We observed more Roseate Terns prospecting artificial nest sites (n = 66 times) than natural sites (n = 21 times) for three years of this study. Prospecting behavior occurred later in the season in some subcolonies, but this difference did not appear to be related to the construction. For Roseate Tern chicks, this study investigated the use of crevices as hiding places from before (1999–2000) and after (2001) the construction of an erosion control revetment. In all years, Roseate Tern chicks used crevices found under artificial nest sites more frequently than expected by chance when compared to crevices found in other microhabitats. Chicks also used crevices formed in various microhabitat types at different stages of development. The erosion control revetment created crevices that had larger openings, steeper floors, and deeper lengths than those previously used by chicks before construction. In the year after revetment construction, the openings of crevices used by chicks that died were wider than crevices used by chicks that survived. We discuss our findings in the context of the potential consequences that the revetment construction had on Roseate Tern chick survival.

As has been the case for onshore wind systems, the environmental effects of offshore wind farms are expected to play an important part of the development of future large-scale wind energy systems. This paper presents a detailed review of the status of, and recent developments in, research on the environmental impacts of fixed and floating offshore wind turbine systems. The primary information that has been reviewed has come from European sources where there are a significant number of offshore installations, but some work on this subject has been carried out recently in the United States. Information, from an extensive review, is presented on the environmental impacts of fixed and floating offshore wind turbines on benthic organisms, fish, marine mammals, avian species and bats. The environmental impacts of fixed and floating systems are anticipated to vary due to multiple parameters that need to be taken into account when identifying environmental impacts. Additionally, there are variations in the impact throughout the lifecycle of the offshore wind turbines. The primary focus for this paper is on the environmental impacts through the scope of barrier and habitat impacts in addition to the anticipated avian and bat fatalities. A noise propagation model is used to determine the extent of effects due to the installation of fixed and floating support structures using piling installation methods. Finally, a summary of progress in all the major environmental impact areas is given along with recommendations for future research.

No description available.

[ES] La Evaluación Ambiental Estratégica (EAE) proporciona el marco para la articulación de los proyectos de forma coherente y respetuosa con el medio ambiente, condiciones sociales, políticas y económicas (Arce y Gullón, 2000) y aunque comúnmente se le conoce a la EAE como una herramienta, esta representa un proceso que puede mejorar la toma de decisiones y propiciar el desarrollo sostenible (Bidstrup y Hansen, 2014). El análisis de alternativas es una de las áreas más débiles de la EAE, debido a que no se ha investigado suficientemente qué funciona y qué no en el desarrollo, evaluación y selección de alternativas. Estas investigaciones deben incluir enfoques sistemáticos para la identificación y el desarrollo de alternativas, para involucrar plenamente a las partes interesadas en su definición y evaluación, y proporcionar detalles suficientes al documentar el proceso de la selección (González et al., 2018). A estas debilidades se añade la dificultad de desarrollar una metodología que sea adaptable a diferentes con-textos. Estos condicionantes han encauzado la construcción de la metodología desarrollada en esta tesis y así, lograr minimizar estas brechas, planteando un método analítico, simple y flexible. La metodología denominada "Índice de Selección de Alternativas Estratégicas Ambientales (ISAEA) y sus incertidumbres", parte de la utilización de indicadores simples construidos en base a las metas que se plantean en el instrumento evaluado en la EAE. Al construir los indicadores partiendo de los criterios de los propios objetivos o metas del Plan, Proyecto o Programa (PPP), se disminuye la complejidad y ambigüedad que típicamente existe en la construcción y/o selección de indicadores ambientales, pues queda claro la dirección que debe seguirse en la construcción del indicador. Los criterios de construcción permiten optimizar la calidad del indicador, ya que el mismo describe el objetivo y, por ende, se manejan indicadores que son los adecuados para ese PPP en particular, es decir, adaptado al contexto preciso del PPP. El ISAEA se complementa con un análisis de incertidumbre, que ofrece al tomador de decisiones herramientas completas para proceder a seleccionar con información cuantitativa, la alternativa que más conveniente para el PPP estudiado. De este modo, la metodología propuesta proporciona un índice que representa en qué medida se acerca la alternativa a la meta planteada, aportando además una adaptación de los análisis de incertidumbre al uso de indicadores compuestos. La experiencia de la aplicación de esta metodología en ambos de sus componentes principales, el ISAEA y el análisis de incertidumbre, deja de manifiesto la importancia de la cooperación abierta de la entidad promotora del PPP para garantizar el flujo de información y más importante aún, de información confiable. Tras el desarrollo de la presente investigación se concluye que la metodología desarrollada aporta una herramienta valiosa, que puede ser utilizada de forma simple y a la vez permite reflejar las circunstancias propias del PPP. A la vez, la metodología ofrece resultados en un lenguaje matemático llano, fácilmente entendible para los tomadores de decisiones. La metodología que se aporta en esta investigación doctoral llega a minimizar una brecha en la temática de selección de alternativas en la EAE, ya que se basa en información cuantitativa y a la vez ha asumido un desafío pendiente en evaluaciones ambientales al incorporar el análisis de incertidumbre como un criterio de acompañamiento al ISAEA, que permite realizar una selección de alternativas estratégicas en base a criterios científicos. / [CA] L'Avaluació Ambiental Estratègica (AAE) proporciona el marc per a l'articulació dels projectes de forma coherent i respectuosa amb el medi ambient, condicions socials, polítiques i econòmiques (Arce i Gullón, 2000) i encara que comunament se li coneix a la AAE com una eina, aquesta representa un procés que pot millorar la presa de decisions i propiciar el desenvolupament sostenible (Bidstrup i Hansen, 2014). L'anàlisi d'alternatives és una de les àrees més febles de la AAE, pel fet que no s'ha investigat prou què funciona i què no en el desenvolupament, avaluació i selecció d'alternatives. Aquestes investigacions han d'incloure enfocaments sistemàtics per a la identificació i el desenvolupament d'alternatives, per involucrar plenament a les parts interessades en la seva definició i avaluació, i proporcionar detalls suficients al documentar el procés de la selecció (González et al., 2018). A aquestes debilitats s'afegeix la dificultat de desenvolupar una metodologia que sigui adaptable a diferents contextos. Aquests condicionants han canalitzat la construcció de la metodologia desenvolupada en aquesta tesi i així, aconseguir minimitzar aquestes bretxes, plantejant un mètode analític, simple i flexible. La metodologia anomenada "Índex de Selecció d'Alternatives Estratègiques Ambientals (ISAEA) i les seves incerteses", part de la utilització de indicadors simples construïts en base a les metes que es plantegen en el instrument avaluat en l'AAE. Al construir els indicadors partint dels criteris dels propis objectius o metes de el Pla, Projecte o Programa (PPP), es disminueix la complexitat i ambigüitat que típicament existeix en la construcció i/o selecció d'indicadors ambientals, ja que queda clar la direcció que ha de seguirse en la construcció de l'indicador. Els criteris de construcció permeten optimitzar la qualitat de l'indicador, ja que el mateix descriu el objectiu i, per tant, es manegen indicadors que són els adequats per a aquest PPP en particular, és a dir, adaptat al context precís de l'PPP. L'ISAEA es complementa amb una anàlisi d'incertesa, que ofereix al prenedor de decisions eines completes per a procedir a seleccionar amb informació quantitativa, l'alternativa que més convenient per al PPP estudiat. D'aquesta manera, la metodologia proposada proporciona un índex que representa en quina mesura s'acosta l'alternativa a la meta plantejada, aportant a més una adaptació de les anàlisis d'incertesa a l'ús d'indicadors com-llocs. L'experiència de l'aplicació d'aquesta metodologia en tots dos dels seus components principals, l'ISAEA i l'anàlisi d'incertesa, deixa de manifest la importància de la cooperació oberta de l'entitat promotora de l'PPP per garantir el flux d'informació i, més important encara, d'informació ambfiable. Després de concloure la present investigació queda demostrat que la metodologia desenvolupada aporta una eina valuosa, que pot ser utilitzada de forma simple i alhora permet reflectir les circumstàncies pròpies de l'PPP. Alhora, la metodologia ofereix resultats en un llenguatge matemàtic pla, fàcilment comprensible per als prenedors de decisions. La metodologia que s'aporta en aquesta tesi doctoral arriba a minimitzar una bretxa en la temàtica de selecció d'alternatives a l'EAE, ja que es basa en informació quantitativa i alhora ha assumit un repte pendent en avaluacions ambientals a l'incorporar el anàlisi d'incertesa com un criteri d'acompanyament a l'ISAEA, que permet realitzar una selecció d'alternatives estratègiques en base a criteris científics / [EN] Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) provides the framework for the articulation of projects in a coherent and respectful way with the environment, social, political and economic conditions (Arce and Gullón, 2000). Although SEA is commonly known as a tool, it represents a process that can improve decision-making and promote sustainable development (Bidstrup and Hansen, 2014). The analysis of alternatives is one of the weakest areas of SEA, because what works and what does not in the development, evaluation and selection of alternatives has not been sufficiently investigated. These investigations should include systematic ap-proaches for the identification and development of alternatives, to fully involve stake-holders in their definition and evaluation, and provide sufficient detail when documenting the selection process (González et al., 2018). Besides these weaknesses, the difficulty of developing a methodology that is adaptable to different contexts appears. These conditioning factors have guided the construction of the methodology developed in this thesis and thus, manage to minimize these gaps, proposing an analytical, simple and flexible method. The methodology called "Selection Index for Strategic Environmental Alternatives (ISAEA) and its uncertainties", starts from the use of simple indicators built on the basis of the goals set out in the instrument evaluated by the SEA. By constructing the indicators based on the criteria of the objectives or goals of the Plan, Project or Program (PPP), the complexity and ambiguity that typically exists in the construction and/or selection of environmental indicators is reduced, since the direction to be followed in the construction of the indicator. The construction criteria allow optimizing the quality of the indicator, since it describes the objective and, therefore, indicators are used that are appropriate for that particular PPP, that is, adapted to the precise context of each PPP. The ISAEA is complemented with an uncertainty analysis, which offers the decision maker complete tools to proceed to select with quantitative information, the most convenient alternative for the PPP studied. Therefore, the proposed methodology provides an index that represents to what extent the alternative approaches the proposed goal, also providing an adaptation of the uncertainty analyzes to the use of composite indicators. The experience of applying this methodology in both of its main components, the ISAEA and the uncertainty analysis, shows the importance of the open cooperation of the PPP promoter to guarantee the flow of information and, more importantly, reliable information. After the development of this research, it is concluded that the developed methodology provides a valuable tool, which can be used in a simple way while allowing reflecting the circumstances of the PPP. At the same time, the methodology offers results in plain mathematical language, easily understood by decision makers. The methodology provided in this doctoral research minimizes a gap in the subject of selecting alternatives in SEA, since it is based on quantitative information and at the same time has assumed a pending challenge in environmental evaluations by incorporating the uncertainty analysis as an accompanying criterion to the ISAEA, which allows a selection of strategic alternatives based on scientific criteria. / González González, RL. (2022). Metodología analítica para el análisis de alternativas en la evaluación ambiental estratégica y sus incertidumbres en la toma de decisiones [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/183152

La tesi si basa sui principi della sostenibilità ambientale applicati al settore della viticultura. I principali obiettivi sono: i) analisi della letteratura riguardante gli indicatori agro-ambientali, ii) sviluppo di una metodologia innovativa per valutare l’impatto ambientale della viticultura e, iii) applicazione della metodologia in casi pratici. La parte introduttiva è dedicata all’analisi degli indicatori agro-ambientali e delle relative politiche europee, alle tematiche inerenti il vino sostenibile e i sistemi di supporto alle decisioni per una viticultura sostenibile. Nella seconda parte è presentata una rigorosa e completa metodologia per valutare il livello di sostenibilità in tutte le fasi della produzione di uva, usando sia indicatori agronomici sia l’approccio della valutazione del ciclo di vita (Life Cycle Assessment). Sono state identificate sei categorie di impatto: salute umana, aria, suolo, biodiversità, consumi energetici e uso dell’acqua. Ogni categoria è composta da sotto-indicatori, per un totale di 21 sotto-indicatori, ognuno dei quali avente un punteggio (da 0 a 5) e un peso relativo nel punteggio complessivo di sostenibilità (da 0 a 5). La terza parte riguarda l’applicazione della metodologia in casi studio all’interno del progetto europeo “InnoVine”. Il lavoro di ricerca è stato realizzato seguendo le linee guida di standard internazionali e documentate fonti di letteratura per la valutazione della prestazione ambientale ed elaborando metodologie originali per la raccolta dei dati, la quantificazione degli impatti e l’interpretazione dei risultati. Infine, i risultati ottenuti confermano: i) la validità della metodologia nel calcolare gli impatti delle differenti pratiche viticole sull’ambiente e, ii) la possibilità di implementare la metodologia in un sistema di supporto alle decisioni per una viticultura sostenibile. / The thesis focuses on environmental sustainability principles applied to the viticultural sector. The main goals are: (i) analysis of the literature background on agri-environmental indicators, (ii) development of an innovative methodology to assess environmental impacts of viticulture, and (iii) testing of the methodology in practical cases. The introduction is dedicated to the analysis of the agri-environmental indicators and the related EU policies, sustainable wine issues, and decision support systems for a sustainable viticulture. In the second part, a rigorous and complete methodology is developed to assess the sustainability level of viticulture in all the phases of the grape growing using both agronomic indicators and the Life Cycle Assessment approach. Six impact categories were identified: human health, air, soil, biodiversity conservation, energetic consumptions, and water use. Each category is composed by sub-indicators, for a total of 21 sub-indicators, each of them having a score (between 0 and 5) and a defined weight on the overall sustainability score (between 0 and 5). In the third part, the methodology was tested in practical cases within the European project “InnoVine”. The study is carried out following the guidelines from international standards and from documented literature sources for the assessment of the environmental performance and elaborating original methodologies for the input data collection, the quantification of the impacts, and the interpretation of the results. Finally, the results obtained confirm: i) the methodology validity in quantifying the impacts of different grape production practices on the environment, and ii) the possibility to implement the methodology in a decision support system for a sustainable viticulture.

Light Detection and Ranging (Lidar) data are used to report the temporal and spatial patterns of subsidence as well as the potential contributors to subsidence within the Barataria and Terrebonne Bays. In recent decades, subsidence in southeast Louisiana has become a topic of substantial and growing concern to the scientific community, the local residents, and all those invested in the region. Lidar data were acquired from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the LSU Center for Geoinformatics. The data has been manipulated to map the differenced Lidar, complete an instantaneous slope analysis, and determine the thickness of the Holocene sediments. The goal was to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the subsidence patterns and the dynamic processes driving subsidence within the study area. These efforts provide a better ability to plan for the future of the Louisiana working coast and mitigate against relative sea level rise and coastal land loss.

In general, server rooms have restricted access requiring that staff possess access codes, keys, etc. Normally, only administrators are provided access to protect the physical hardware and the data stored in the servers. Servers also have firewalls to restrict outsiders from accessing them via the Internet. Servers also cost a lot of money. For this reason, server rooms also need to be protected against overheating. This will prolong the lifecycle of the units and can prevent data loss from hardware failure. The California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB), Specifically the College of Arts and Letters server room has faced power failures that affected the Air Conditioning Unit (AC) and as a result the room became overheated for a long time, causing hardware failure to server units. This is why this project is important for the College and needs to be implemented as soon as possible. The administrator’s old method of controlling server room temperature was by manually adjusting the temperature box inside of the server room. Now it can be controlled and monitored using remote access. The purpose of A Web-Based Temperature Monitoring System for the College of Arts and Letters proposed in this project is to allow users to monitor the server room temperature through a website by using any computer or mobile device that has Internet access. Also, this system notifies users when the room attains a critical temperature by sending an email/text to the server room administrator. A Web-Based Temperature Monitoring System for the College of Arts and Letters project is for the exclusive use of the College of Arts & Letters (CAL) server room. The administrator is the only person that can grant access to others by creating a proper account. For this project three prototypes will be implemented, first to measure the current server room temperature, the second to show the temperature history of the room, and third to use the built-in search system to locate times that given temperatures were attained.

Although arsenic is naturally present in the environment, 99% of human exposure to arsenic is through ingestion. Throughout history, arsenic is known as “the king of poisons”; it is mutagenic, carcinogenic, and teratogenic. Even in smaller concentrations, it accumulates in the body and takes decades before any physical symptoms of arsenic poisoning shows. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the safe concentration of arsenic in drinking water is 10 µg/L. However, this limit is often times ignored until it is decades too late and people begin showing symptoms of having been poisoned. This is the current situation for Vietnam, whose legal arsenic concentration limit is 50 µg/L, five times higher than the WHO guidelines. Groundwater in Vietnam was already naturally high in arsenic due to arsenic-rich soils releasing arsenic into groundwater. Then, in the past half century, with the use of arsenic-laden herbicides dispersed during the Vietnam War and subsequent industrial developments, the levels of bio-available arsenicals has dangerously spiked. With the proliferation of government-subsidized shallow tube-wells in the past two decades, shallow groundwater has become the primary source for drinking and irrigation water in Vietnam. This is a frightening trend, because this groundwater has arsenic concentrations up to 3050 µg/L, primarily in the +3 and +5 oxidation states, the most readily available oxidation states for bioaccumulation. This thesis argues that measures must be taken immediately to remedy the high concentration of arsenic in groundwater, which in Vietnam is the primary and, in some cases, the sole source of water for domestic consumption and agricultural production. Although there are numerous technologies available for treating arsenic in groundwater, not all of them are suited for Vietnam. By analyzing the historical, cultural, economic, and political parameters of Vietnam, several optimal treatments of groundwater for drinking water emerged as most recommended, a classification that is based on their local suitability, social acceptability, financial feasibility, and governmental support. Further research on irrigation water treatment is proposed due to the need for sustainable crop production, the safe ingestion of rice and vegetables, and the continued growth of Vietnam’s economy, which is heavily dependent on agriculture.