The Arctic plays a key role in Earth’s climate system as global warming is predicted to be most pronounced at high latitudes and because one third of the global carbon pool is stored in ecosystems of the northern latitudes. In order to improve our understanding of the present and future carbon dynamics in climate sensitive permafrost ecosystems, the present study concentrates on investigations of microbial controls of methane fluxes, on the activity and structure of the involved microbial communities, and on their response to changing environmental conditions. For this purpose an integrated research strategy was applied, which connects trace gas flux measurements to soil ecological characterisation of permafrost habitats and molecular ecological analyses of microbial populations. Furthermore, methanogenic archaea isolated from Siberian permafrost have been used as potential keystone organisms for studying and assessing life under extreme living conditions. Long-term studies on methane fluxes were carried out since 1998. These studies revealed considerable seasonal and spatial variations of methane emissions for the different landscape units ranging from 0 to 362 mg m-2 d-1. For the overall balance of methane emissions from the entire delta, the first land cover classification based on Landsat images was performed and applied for an upscaling of the methane flux data sets. The regionally weighted mean daily methane emissions of the Lena Delta (10 mg m-2 d-1) are only one fifth of the values calculated for other Arctic tundra environments. The calculated annual methane emission of the Lena Delta amounts to about 0.03 Tg. The low methane emission rates obtained in this study are the result of the used remotely sensed high-resolution data basis, which provides a more realistic estimation of the real methane emissions on a regional scale. Soil temperature and near soil surface atmospheric turbulence were identified as the driving parameters of methane emissions. A flux model based on these variables explained variations of the methane budget corresponding to continuous processes of microbial methane production and oxidation, and gas diffusion through soil and plants reasonably well. The results show that the Lena Delta contributes significantly to the global methane balance because of its extensive wetland areas. The microbiological investigations showed that permafrost soils are colonized by high numbers of microorganisms. The total biomass is comparable to temperate soil ecosystems. Activities of methanogens and methanotrophs differed significantly in their rates and distribution patterns along both the vertical profiles and the different investigated soils. The methane production rates varied between 0.3 and 38.9 nmol h-1 g-1, while the methane oxidation ranged from 0.2 to 7.0 nmol h-1 g-1. Phylogenetic analyses of methanogenic communities revealed a distinct diversity of methanogens affiliated to Methanomicrobiaceae, Methanosarcinaceae and Methanosaetaceae, which partly form four specific permafrost clusters. The results demonstrate the close relationship between methane fluxes and the fundamental microbiological processes in permafrost soils. The microorganisms do not only survive in their extreme habitat but also can be metabolic active under in situ conditions. It was shown that a slight increase of the temperature can lead to a substantial increase in methanogenic activity within perennially frozen deposits. In case of degradation, this would lead to an extensive expansion of the methane deposits with their subsequent impacts on total methane budget. Further studies on the stress response of methanogenic archaea, especially Methanosarcina SMA-21, isolated from Siberian permafrost, revealed an unexpected resistance of the microorganisms against unfavourable living conditions. A better adaptation to environmental stress was observed at 4 °C compared to 28 °C. For the first time it could be demonstrated that methanogenic archaea from terrestrial permafrost even survived simulated Martian conditions. The results show that permafrost methanogens are more resistant than methanogens from non-permafrost environments under Mars-like climate conditions. Microorganisms comparable to methanogens from terrestrial permafrost can be seen as one of the most likely candidates for life on Mars due to their physiological potential and metabolic specificity. / Die Arktis spielt eine Schlüsselrolle im Klimasystem unserer Erde aus zweierlei Gründen. Zum einen wird vorausgesagt, dass die globale Erwärmung in den hohen Breiten am ausgeprägtesten sein wird. Zum anderen ist ein Drittel des globalen Kohlenstoffs in Ökosystemen der nördlichen Breiten gespeichert. Um ein besseres Verständnis der gegenwärtigen und zukünftigen Entwicklung der Kohlenstoffdynamik in klimaempfindlichen Permafrostökosystemen zu erlangen, konzentriert sich die vorliegende Arbeit auf Untersuchungen zur Kontrolle der Methanflüsse durch Mikroorganismen, auf die Aktivität und Struktur der beteiligten Mikroorganismen-gemeinschaften und auf ihre Reaktion auf sich ändernde Umweltbedingungen. Zu diesem Zweck wurde eine integrierte Forschungsstrategie entwickelt, die Spurengasmessungen mit boden- und molekularökologischen Untersuchungen der Mikroorganismengemeinschaften verknüpft. Langzeitmessungen zu den Methanflüssen werden seit 1998 durchgeführt. Diese Untersuchungen zeigten beträchtliche saisonale und räumliche Schwankungen der Methanemissionen auf, die zwischen 0 und 362 mg m-2 d-1 für die untersuchten Landschaftseinheiten schwankten. Für die Bilanzierung der Methanemissionen für das gesamte Delta wurde erstmals eine Klassifikation der unterschiedlichen Landschaftseinheiten anhand von Landsat-Aufnahmen durchgeführt und für eine Hochrechnung der Methandaten genutzt. Die Mittelwerte der regional gewichteten täglichen Methanemissionen des Lenadeltas (10 mg m-2 d-1) sind nur ein Fünftel so hoch wie die berechneten Werte für andere arktische Tundren. Die errechnete jährliche Methanemission des Lenadeltas beträgt demnach ungefähr 0,03 Tg. Die geringen Methanemissionsraten dieser Studie können durch den bisher noch nicht realisierten integrativen Ansatz, der Langzeitmessungen und Landschafts-klassifizierungen beinhaltet, erklärt werden. Bodentemperatur und oberflächennahe atmosphärische Turbulenzen wurden als die antreibenden Größen der Methanfreisetzung identifiziert. Ein Modell, das auf diesen Variablen basiert, erklärt die Veränderungen der Methanflüsse gemäß der dynamischen mikrobiellen Prozesse und der Diffusion von Methan durch den Boden und die Pflanzen zutreffend. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass das Lenadelta erheblich zur globalen Methanemission aufgrund seiner weitreichenden Feuchtgebiete beiträgt. Die mikrobiologischen Untersuchungen zeigten, dass Permafrostböden durch eine hohe Anzahl von Mikroorganismen besiedelt wird. Die Gesamtbiomasse ist dabei mit Bodenökosystemen gemäßigter Klimate vergleichbar. Die Stoffwechselaktivitäten von methanogenen Archaeen und methanotrophen Bakterien unterschieden sich erheblich in ihrer Rate und Verteilung im Tiefenprofil sowie zwischen den verschiedenen untersuchten Böden. Die Methanbildungsrate schwankte dabei zwischen 0,3 und 38,9 nmol h-1 g-1, während die Methanoxidation eine Rate von 0,2 bis 7,0 nmol h-1 g-1 aufwies. Phylogenetische Analysen der methanogenen Mikro-organismengemeinschaften zeigten eine ausgeprägte Diversität der methanogenen Archaeen auf. Die Umweltsequenzen bildeten vier spezifische Permafrostcluster aus, die den Gruppen Methanomicrobiaceae, Methanosarcinaceae und Methano-saetaceae zugeordnet werden konnten. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Methanfreisetzung durch die zugrunde liegenden mikrobiologischen Prozesse im Permafrostboden gesteuert wird. Die beteiligten Mikroorganismen überleben nicht nur in ihrem extremen Habitat, sondern zeigten auch Stoffwechselaktivität unter in-situ-Bedingungen. Ferner konnte gezeigt werden, dass eine geringfügige Zunahme der Temperatur zu einer erheblichen Zunahme der Methanbildungsaktivität in den ständig gefrorenen Permafrostablagerungen führen kann. Im Falle der Permafrostdegradation würde dieses zu einer gesteigerten Freisetzung von Methan führen mit bisher unbekannten Auswirkungen auf das Gesamtbudget der Methanfreistzung aus arktischen Gebieten. Weitere Untersuchungen zur Stresstoleranz von methanogenen Archaeen – insbesondere des neuen Permafrostisolates Methanosarcina SMA-21 - weisen eine unerwartete Widerstandsfähigkeit der Mikroorganismen gegenüber ungünstigen Lebensbedingungen auf. Eine bessere Anpassung an Umweltstress wurde bei 4°C im Vergleich zu 28°C beobachtet. Zum ersten Mal konnte gezeigt werden, dass methanogene Archaeen aus terrestrischem Permafrost unter simulierten Marsbedingungen unbeschadet überleben. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass methanogene Archaeen aus Permafrostböden resistenter gegenüber Umweltstress und Marsbedingungen sind als entsprechende Mikroorganismen aus Habitaten, die nicht durch Permafrost gekennzeichnet sind. Mikroorganismen, die den Archaeen aus terrestrischen Permafrosthabitaten ähneln, können als die wahrscheinlichsten Kandidaten für mögliches Leben auf dem Mars angesehen werden.

Methane is an important green house gas as it is responsible for 15-20 % of the green house effect. Marine environments in general and shallow near-coastal waters specifically may be important contributors of methane emissions but are as of today poorly studied.  In this study we measured total fluxes of methane from shallow near-coastal waters at two sites along the east coast of Sweden. The sea-to-air emissions of methane where captured using floating chambers. This gave measured fluxes as compared to earlier studies of the Baltic Sea where calculated fluxes are often used. Measured fluxes have the merit of not having to rely on several highly varying and complex variables e.g. mean wind speed and piston velocity that vary and give an uncertainty to the results.  The fluxes ranged from -2.14 to 0.37 mg CH4 m-2 d-1 with a mean of 0.05 mg CH4 m-2 d-1. The results show a correlation, however not strong, between depth and methane. No difference in flux between the study sites could be seen. We look forward to further studies using floating chambers on shallow near-coastal waters with longer sampling periods to catch seasonal variations.

In this thesis empirical relationships and modeling tools are used to describe the relationship between human activities and meso- and large scale riverine N fluxes from land to sea. On a large scale Paper I showed that by only having knowledge about human population size and runoff one can estimate the riverine export of DIN (r2= 0.76). In Paper II we included two other important anthropogenic N inputs, i.e. atmospheric deposition and primary emission (PE) from animals. In most of the catchments the PE from animals were larger than the PE from humans. Hence, development of livestock is important and increased animal protein consumption by humans might increase the riverine N export. Scenario analysis (Paper II) show that climate change is expected to both decrease and increase the riverine N export depending on which part of the catchment is modeled. In the southern and eastern parts of the Baltic Sea catchment there is large potential for N reductions from point sources (Papers III & V). The diffuse sources are more difficult to decrease and a reduction of mineral fertilizer does not always lead to reduced N loadings because the agricultural systems can buffer even a slight surplus (Paper III). There is inertia in the catchments which can be seen in for example in the northern part of the catchment. Here atmospheric N deposition is almost as high as in the southern part but the nitrogen flux from these rivers is not elevated. These northern river catchments have N exports of the same magnitude as the natural background (Paper IV), indicating that the atmospheric N deposition is retained in the system and probably taken up by N limited boreal forests. However, important reductions can be achieved in the agricultural sector by detailed management of the planted land and animal manure. The highest sensitivity is in catchments with high animal density and high specific discharge, primarily draining to Kattegat and Danish Straits (Paper II & IV). / At the time of doctoral dissertation the following publications were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript

Los servicios y aplicaciones ofrecidos en Internet demandan, con mayor frecuencia, un determinado nivel de servicio para su correcto funcionamiento. Esto supone el desarrollo de mecanismos que permitan ofrecer calidad de servicio diferenciada entre extremos distantes de la red. En una red con estas características el coste debido al uso de este servicio diferenciado es mayor que el de utilizar el modo tradicional de transferencia best-effort. Ello obliga a los usuarios a realizar un uso responsable de los recursos reservados. Por tanto, será crucial reservar sólo aquellos recursos estrictamente necesarios para lograr un mínimo coste.En este trabajo de Tesis Doctoral, se aborda el problema de minimizar los recursos reservados para una transmisión de un flujo semi-elástico. Este tipo de flujo se caracteriza por necesitar la reserva de más o menos recursos en función del estado de la red, por lo que se plantea el diseño de un sistema cliente-servidor capaz de realizar de forma automática las reservas estrictamente necesarias. Para ello, se propone un mecanismo de control de la ocupación de la memoria del cliente que permite determinar los periodos en que es necesario utilizar un modo de transferencia best-effort (aquellos en los que la ocupación garantiza la disponibilidad de datos en recepción), y los periodos en que se necesita un modo de transferencia con reserva de recursos para garantizar el llenado de dicha memoria. Del análisis de este mecanismo, se deducen expresiones para el coste de transmisión en función de los diversos parámetros que afectan a la ocupación de la memoria del cliente. De estos parámetros destaca especialmente la tasa de llegada de datos, que depende del estado de la red, y el umbral máximo de ocupación que indica cuándo se puede transmitir en modo best-effort. Gracias al correcto dimensionado de este umbral máximo, el cliente es capaz de minimizar los recursos reservados de la red. Para calcular este umbral, uno de los problemas que se plantea es la necesidad de una estimación inicial de la tasa de llegada de datos en modo best-effort. Para ello, se propone el uso de un umbral inicial que permita pasar a modo best-effort y realizar así, la estimación de esta tasa. Por otra parte, se propone también el uso de un mecanismo que mejora la minimización del coste de transmisión cuando la variabilidad de la tasa de llegada de paquetes en modo best-effort es grande, sin incrementar desmesuradamente la cantidad de señalización asociada necesaria.Finalmente, se propone un mecanismo para dar servicio de forma simultánea a varios clientes. Concretamente, se estudia mediante simulación un caso homogéneo, donde todos los clientes presentan los mismos requisitos. El esquema propuesto permite dar servicio simultáneo a un número determinado de clientes reservando recursos, mientras que el resto se sirve en modo best-effort. Del estudio se determina la existencia de un valor óptimo para el número de clientes a los que se da servicio en modo de reserva de recursos, que minimiza la señalización extra necesaria para gestionar el servicio.Asimismo, como complemento adicional para realizar este trabajo, se ha desarrollado una implementación del sistema cliente servidor de flujos semi-elásticos en el simulador ns-2, y además otra implementación real en lenguaje C sobre sistema Linux. / Internet services and applications are increasingly demanding appropriate levels of service for their adequate operation. That supposes the development of new mechanisms to allow end-to-end differentiated quality of service. In these networks, the cost of using this differentiated service is consequently higher than the employment of the well-known best-effort delivery mode, which requires users to make a responsible use of the reserved resources. Therefore, it is essential to reserve only those resources strictly necessary to achieve the minimum cost.This Thesis work deals with the problem of minimizing reserved resources in a semi-elastic flow transmission. This type of flow is characterized for requiring the reservation of more or less resources depending on network conditions, and for this reason, it is considered the design of a client-server system to reserve automatically the required demanded resources. Hence, it is proposed a method to control the client memory occupancy that determines when it is necessary to use a best-effort delivery mode (those periods when occupancy guarantees data availability in the client side), and when to use a resource reservation delivery mode to guarantee enough data entering into the client memory. From the analysis of this method, it is deduced the transmission cost, which depends on several parameters directly involved with client memory occupancy. Among these parameters, the delivery data rate and the maximum occupancy threshold, that indicates when it is possible to send data using best-effort mode, are the most significant ones. Thanks to the correct dimensioning of this maximum threshold, the client is able to minimize reserved network resources. To calculate this threshold, it is necessary to acquire an initial estimate for the best-effort delivery rate. To achieve this, it is proposed the use of an initial threshold to force a change to best-effort mode to obtain this estimate. In addition, it is proposed the use of a mechanism to improve the minimization cost for high delivery rate variability, without excessively increasing the signalling associated to the switching of transmission modes.Finally, it is proposed a method to serve simultaneously various clients. A homogeneous case is studied by simulation, in which all clients have the same requirements. This method allows a particular number of clients to be served by reserving resources, while the rest use best-effort mode. From this study, it is determined the existence of an optimum value for the number of simultaneous clients to be served by using resource reservation, that minimizes extra signalling to manage this service.Furthermore, as an aid to complement this research work, it has been developed an implementation of a client-server system for semi-elastic flows using ns-2, and additionally, a real implementation using C programming language in a Linux system.

This work is motivated by the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) experiment. This device uses a helicon antenna to generate a plasma inside a dielectric tube, which is radially confined and directed towards the rocket nozzle by an axial magnetic field. An ion cyclotron heating antenna further heats the ions, and a magnetic nozzle accelerates the plasma along the confining magnetic field as it leaves the rocket, ultimately allowing it to detach from the magnetic field and produce thrust. The experimental research presented here provides insight into the physical mechanisms of power flow in a helicon system by providing an overall system power balance in the form of heat flux measurements, and exploring changes in the heat fluxes in different parts of the system in response to varying operational parameters. An infrared (IR) camera measures the total heat flux into the dielectric tube surface, and axially scanned bolometer and UV photodiode probes measure the radial power loss from particles and radiation. Results from IR camera measurements on three different helicon systems are presented: the VASIMR VX-50 experiment, the VASIMR VX-CR experiment, and the University of Texas at Austin (UT) helicon experiment. These results demonstrate the development of the IR camera diagnostic for use on helicon systems of varying scale and geometry, and show reasonable agreement as to the fraction of input power lost to the dielectric tube walls. On the UT experiment, the results presented account for essentially all of the input power, providing a full system power balance. The data from all three experiments indicate that radial transport of ions to the interior wall is the dominant mechanism of power loss, with UV radiation contributing a small percentage. Additional experiments on the UT helicon explore energy and particle transport to the wall due to capacitive coupling of ions near the antenna. These experiments show clear damage to the dielectric tube surface directly under the antenna, due to physical plasma etching of the surface by bombarding ions that are accelerated into the wall by local electric fields from the antenna. / text

One of the largest environmental threats believed to be facing us today is global warming due to the accumulation of green house gases (GHG). The concentrations of GHG in the atmosphere are a result of the net strength of different sinks and sources. Forests, in this context, are of particular interest because of their dual role as both sinks and sources. Most forests are net sinks for CO2 but others, such as drained forests, may be significant sources of both CO2 and N20. Consequently, it is essential to understand the fluxes of GHG between drained forests and the atmosphere in order to obtain accurate estimates of national GHG budgets. The findings reported in this thesis and the accompanying papers are based on dark chamber flux measurements of soil GHG fluxes and modelled annual net primary productions in five drained forest sites and two undrained sites situated on organic soil. Temporal variations in forest floor CO2, release could be explained, to a large extent, by differencies in temperature and groundwater level. The within-site spatial variation in soil GHG fluxes could only be explained to a very small extent by distance to tree stems. Much of the among-site variations in soil CO2 and CH4 release could be caused by differences in the mean annual groundwater table, while N20 emissions were strongly correlated to the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio of soil organic matter. Most poorly drained forested areas are probably net sinks for GHG as the CO2 uptake by trees more than compensates for the soil GHG emissions. However, the total drained forested area in Sweden was estimated to be a net source of GHG. The CO2 release from decomposition of soil organic matter stored before drainage was estimated to be substantial. Corresponding to 15% of the CO2 release from the consumption of fossil fuels. / <p>On the day of the public defence of the doctoral thesis the status of the articles I and II was: Conditionally accepted; article III was: Submitted and articles IV and V was: Manuscript. The title of article III was on the day of the public defence "Can the distribution of trees explain the spatial variation in N2O emissions from boreal forest soils?".</p>

In urban areas, emissions of nitrogen oxide radicals (NOx ≡ NO + NO2) to the atmosphere from anthropogenic activities such as fossil fuel combustion contribute to poor air quality through the production of ozone and particulate matter. Soils are also a significant global source of NOx, but at downind forest environments the deposition of transported reactive nitrogen can be much more important than local emissions. Data from a government monitoring network in the Toronto area from 2000-2007 was used to explore the impact of long-term trends in NO2 and other ozone precursors on local ozone levels. Non-linear chemistry and the influence of meteorology explained why reductions in precursor levels during this period did not lead to significant improvements in ozone. Data from this network was also used to investigate the ability of a satellite-borne spectrometer to represent spatial patterns of ground-level NO2 in the same region. Selection biases, resulting from the need to discard satellite data on cloudy days, were shown to affect locations differently and were most severe at a receptor site. The sum of all reactive nitrogen oxides including NOx is known as NOy. A custom-built instrument for high precision and time resolution measurements of reactive nitrogen oxides was tested under various lab and field conditions, and used in field work where direct biosphere-atmosphere exchange of NOy was measured by eddy covariance above two comparable North American mixed forests (Haliburton Forest Wildlife Reserve and the University of Michigan Biological Station). While these forests were found to be small net sources of NOx, they were subject to elevated rates of NOy deposition overall, driven by the transport of polluted air from upwind source regions. Wet deposition measurements were used to show that dry deposition contributed a significant fraction of total deposition during the observation periods.

In urban areas, emissions of nitrogen oxide radicals (NOx ≡ NO + NO2) to the atmosphere from anthropogenic activities such as fossil fuel combustion contribute to poor air quality through the production of ozone and particulate matter. Soils are also a significant global source of NOx, but at downind forest environments the deposition of transported reactive nitrogen can be much more important than local emissions. Data from a government monitoring network in the Toronto area from 2000-2007 was used to explore the impact of long-term trends in NO2 and other ozone precursors on local ozone levels. Non-linear chemistry and the influence of meteorology explained why reductions in precursor levels during this period did not lead to significant improvements in ozone. Data from this network was also used to investigate the ability of a satellite-borne spectrometer to represent spatial patterns of ground-level NO2 in the same region. Selection biases, resulting from the need to discard satellite data on cloudy days, were shown to affect locations differently and were most severe at a receptor site. The sum of all reactive nitrogen oxides including NOx is known as NOy. A custom-built instrument for high precision and time resolution measurements of reactive nitrogen oxides was tested under various lab and field conditions, and used in field work where direct biosphere-atmosphere exchange of NOy was measured by eddy covariance above two comparable North American mixed forests (Haliburton Forest Wildlife Reserve and the University of Michigan Biological Station). While these forests were found to be small net sources of NOx, they were subject to elevated rates of NOy deposition overall, driven by the transport of polluted air from upwind source regions. Wet deposition measurements were used to show that dry deposition contributed a significant fraction of total deposition during the observation periods.

L'évolution d'une chaîne de montagne résulte des rétroactions entre le climat et la tectonique via l'érosion. La chaîne Himalayenne, soumise à des processus climatiques et tectoniques très actifs est un chantier d'étude idéal pour comprendre ces interactions. Dans cette étude nous nous sommes intéressés à l'évolution topographique de la région du Sikkim (Inde) ainsi qu'aux processus de formation et de développement du mégafan Quaternaire de la Tista, dépôt fluviatile situés au pieds de ces reliefs. Nos résultats indiquent qu'à l'échelle géologique, les taux d'exhumation (obtenus par les traces de fission sur apatite) les plus forts sont concentrés dans le Sud-Ouest du Sikkim (1.2 ± 0.6 mm/an) suggérant un contrôle tectonique lié à la formation du duplex du Moyen-Pays (« Rangit Duplex »). Les taux d'érosion à l'échelle millénaire (obtenus par 10Be) les plus forts (≈ 5 mm/an) sont enregistrés au niveau de la « Main Central Thrust Zone », mais les zones sources de ces échantillons semblent affectées par des glissements de terrain menant à une surestimation de ces taux. Des taux d'érosion importants sont également enregistrés au Nord du Sikkim (1 à 2 mm/an) et coïncident avec les fortes valeurs de l'indice ksn, localisées au niveau de l'altitude d'avancée maximale des glaciers durant le Dernier Maximum Glaciaire. Nous en concluons que l'érosion millénaire au Sikkim soit en partie liée à l'héritage géomorphologique glaciaire. Le mégafan de la Tista stocke les produits d'érosion du Sikkim et s'étend sur plus de 16 000 km2 depuis le front de la chaîne, où il est fortement incisé, jusqu'à la confluence de la Tista avec le Brahmapoutre. Nous présentons un scénario de développement du mégafan avec le développement successifs de deux lobes distaux en aval d'un lobe proximal commun, développé au front de la chaine depuis au moins 50 000 ans et incisé par la Tista depuis 4000+600/-400 ans. Le lobe distal occidental a été formé tôt dans l'histoire du mégafan, par des rivières drainant le Sikkim et se jettant dans le Gange, et a été abandonné au début de l'Holocène (10 000 – 11000 ans). Le lobe distal oriental, très peu incisé et plus récent (< 1000 ans), s'est construit quand le réseau de drainage principal du Sikkim a migré vers l'Est grâce à d'importantes avulsions. Les périodes d'aggradation et d'incision des rivières sont compatibles avec un guidage climatique, où les périodes de forte intensité de mousson et de forts flux sédimentaires associés coïncident avec des phases d'aggradation dans l'avant-pays. Les phases initiales et terminales de ces périodes de fortes moussons sont caractérisées par de l'incision dans l'avant pays. En revanche, le rôle de l'activité tectonique sur l'alluvionnement et l'incision du mégafan semble mineur. Les résultats pétrographiques et isotopiques (Sr et Nd) utilisés pour contraindre les sources des sédiments du mégafan indiquent une forte différence avec les sédiments actuellement transportés par la Tista qui pourrait s'expliquer par l'influence de roches sédimentaires téthysiennes crétacés exposées au nord du Sikkim, et actuellement drainées par la Kosi. Cela suggère que cette zone ait été récemment (4000 ans) capturée par la Kosi, provoquant l'incision récente et importante du mégafan, due au rééquilibrage du profil de la Tista. Cette hypothèse préliminaire permettrait d'expliquer également la taille disproportionnée du mégafan comparée à celle de son bassin versant actuel. Par ailleurs, nos résultats montrent que les variations de l'érosion et de l'altération chimique répondent à des variations climatiques globales et régionales. Les périodes de fortes intensités de précipitations de mousson se traduisent au Sikkim par une plus forte pénétration des précipitations dans la haute chaîne et une plus forte altération chimique des silicates. Depuis le dernier maximum glaciaire, la région du Sikkim est caractérisée par une augmentation de l'érosion et de l'altération chimique. / Understanding the relative strengths of tectonic and climatic forcing, as well as the interactions between these controls, at different spatial and temporal scales is important to understand the evolution of orogenic topography. The Himalayas, subjected to both tectonic and climatic phenomena very active, is one of the most popular sites for the study of these interactions. The focus of this project is to understand (1) the evolution of orogenic topography of Sikkim (India), (2)the processus of formation and development of th quaternary Tista megafan. Our results show that long-term exhumation rates obtained by thermochronology (apatite fission tracks) do not correlate with any geomorphic or climatic parameters. We suggest a tectonic control where high rates in southwest Sikkim (1.2±0.6 mm/yr) may be linked to the building of the lesser Himalaya Rangit Duplex. The highest erosion rates recorded at millennial timescales (10Be ∼5 mm/yr) occur in catchments spanning the Main Central Thrust Zone but appear to be strongly influenced by recent landsliding. High erosion rates (1-2 mm/yr) also occur in north Sikkim and may be linked to a strong glacial inheritance on the landscape, as attested by high channel-steepness values close to the maximum extent of glaciers during the Last Glacial Maximum. In contrast, variations in precipitation rate do not seem to strongly influence either short-term erosion or long-term exhumation rates in Sikkim. The Tista megafan spreads over more than 16 000 km2 form the mountain front, where it is strongly incised, to the confluence of the Tista River with the Brahmaputra River, and stores sediments produced in the Sikkim Himalaya. We propose a scenario for the formation and abandonment of the Tista megafan based on new Infra-Red Stimulated Luminescence (IRSL) and 10Be cosmogenic age constraints. We suggest that two distal lobes developed successively downstream from a common proximal lobe. Deposition took place since ~50 ka assuming a constant sedimentation rate of 0.88±0.10 mm.yr-1 and incision began at 〖4.0〗_(-0.4)^(+0.6) ka at an average rate of 〖10.5〗_(-1.8)^(+0.6) mm yr-1. The western distal lobe of the megafan was deposited early in the history of the megafan, possibly when the Sikkim Himalaya catchments were drained by rivers that where tributaries of the Ganga River, and was abandoned in the early Holocene (10-11 ka). The eastern poorly incised and recent (<1ka) may have been built when the main Tista drainage system had shifted eastward through possible nodal avulsions. Tectonic processes seem to play a minor role in guiding the Tista River course and driving incision of the megafan deposits. Abandonment and incision of megafan surfaces and hinterland terraces appears associated to both the onset and the ending of phases of strong monsoon precipitation, during which the balance between water and sediment discharge changes rapidly. Petrographic ans isotopic (Nd and Sr) used to constrain sources of the megafan deposits display a significant difference with sediments actually transported by the Tista River, which could be explained by the influenced of tethyan sedimentary rocks exposed North to Sikkim, and actually drained by the Kosi River. This suggests that this area has been recently (4000 years) captured by the Kosi River, inducing a recent and important incision of the megafan in its proximal part due to the balancing of the river profile. This preliminary hypothesis could also explain the higher size of the megafan comparing to the one of its catchment. Otherwise, our results show that the variations of erosion and chemical alteration respond to global and regional climatic variations. Periods of strong summer monsoon and heavy rainfall are traduced in Sikkim by the more penetration of precipitation into the relief and a strong chemical weathering. Since the Last Glacial maximum, the Sikkim Himalaya is characterised by an augmentation of erosion and chemical weathering.

A vegetação tropical é uma das maiores fontes de evapotranspiração e desempenha um papel importante na dinâmica climática global e nos processos de produtividade primária de ecossistemas terrestres, uma vez que se encontra diretamente ligada aos processos de transferência de massa e energia. Objetivou-se nesta tese de doutorado avaliar a acurácia das estimativas de ET baseadas em modelos de sensoriamento remoto quando comparadas a medições pontuais obtidas a partir de torres de fluxo e a partir do fechamento do balanço hídrico a médio e longo prazo. Foram selecionados dois modelos: para escalas locais e regionais usou-se o algoritmo SEBAL, enquanto que para escalas continentais e globais utilizou-se o algoritmo MOD16. Em relação ao algoritmo SEBAL, a metodologia empregada apresentou bons resultados tanto nas estimativas pontuais dos fluxos de calor latente quanto em relação ao fechamento do balanço hídrico em grandes áreas. Em relação ao algoritmo MOD16, verificou-se que as estimativas de evapotranspiração apresentam melhores resultados a longo prazo e em grandes áreas. As análises aqui realizadas sugerem que os algoritmos SEBAL e MOD16 podem capturar razoavelmente bem as respostas da vegetação em relação à variabilidade espacial e temporal em larga escala. Considerando que esses algoritmos podem ser aplicados desde escalas regionais até escalas globais, os resultados estão em um intervalo aceitável de acurácia, indicando um potencial significativo no monitoramento espacial e temporal do processo de ET de forma contínua e sistemática a partir de informações obtidas por sensoriamento remoto. / Tropical vegetation is a major source of global land surface evapotranspiration (ET) and plays an important role in the global climate dynamics and in the processes of primary production of terrestrial ecosystems, since it is directly linked to the mass transfer and energy balance. The aim of this doctoral thesis was to evaluate the accuracy of ET estimates based on remote sensing models when compared to measurements obtained from flux towers and hydrological models. Two algorithms were selected: for local and regional scales SEBAL was used, while for continental and global scales, MOD16 was adopted. Regarding SEBAL algorithm, the applied methodology showed that significant results were achieved in both latent heat flux and water balance over large areas. Concerning MOD16 algorithm, the research suggested that evapotranspiration estimates showed better results in the long-term and in large areas. The analysis suggests that MOD16 and SEBAL algorithms can capture reasonably well the responses of vegetation in relation to spatial and temporal variability on a large scale. Taking into consideration that these algorithms can be applied from regional to global scales, the results are in an acceptable range of accuracy, indicating a significant potential for monitoring evapotranspiration using remote sensing data.