<p>The purpose with the work is to study Fortums activities with hydro power plants, dams and reservoirs mainly in a premise jurisdictional perspective and to show how GIS would be a helpful tool for the future.</p><p>A great deal of the information that the Generation Hydro-division at Fortum are managing have a spatial element. That means that it is possible to spatially join this information to a geographical polygon, line or point. This information is today gathered from several different sources, such as files, paper maps and digital data of several kinds. A Geographic Information System (GIS), as and aid besides the ordinary tools should be an effective support in the everyday work with questions of a premise jurisdictional nature.</p><p>The goal of this work is to account for how to organize, present and analyse geographic information. We will show how to link from the map to traditional tools such as calculation- and register programs. Linking to documents of different formats and to pictures will also be demonstrated.</p><p>Gathered and processed data in different formats and from different sources will result in a GIS-application overlooking two separate control areas. For the lower parts of the river Ljusnan in the municipalities of Bollnäs and Söderhamn it will be accounted for the handling of hydro power plants. The other area includes the municipalities of Arvika and Eda in the county of Värmland, in which the handling of dams and reservoirs also will be incuded. In the attempt to give suggestions of different solutions the two areas diverge somewhat in the matter of drawing manners and scales.</p> / <p>Syftet med examensarbetet är att studera Fortums verksamhet med kraftstationer, dammar och regleringsmagasin ur i första hand ett fastighetsrättsligt perspektiv att visa hur GIS kan vara ett lämpligt hjälpmedel i den framtida verksamheten.</p><p>En betydande del av den information, som hanteras av avdelningen Generation Hydro på Fortum, har en geografisk anknytning. Det innebär att den går att koppla till en yta, en linje eller en punkt i geografin. Idag hämtas sådan information från flera olika källor, däribland pärmar, papperskartor och i olika former av dataformat. Ett geografiskt informationssystem, GIS, som hjälpmedel vid sidan av befintliga hjälpmedel bör vara ett effektivt stöd i det vardagliga arbetet med fastighetsrättsliga frågor.</p><p>Målsättningen med examensarbetet är dels att redovisa hur man kan organisera, presentera och analysera geografisk information. Dels ska redovisning göras av hur man länkar från kartan till traditionella verktyg och information i form av kalkyl- och registerprogram samt dokument i olika format och länkningar till bilder. Användningen av kartor i olika format ska visas.</p><p>Utifrån diverse data i olika format från olika källor tas förslag på GIS-lösningar fram över två testområden. För Ljusnans nedre del i Bollnäs och Söderhamns kommuner redovisas hantering av kraftstationer. Det andra området innefattar Arvika och Eda kommuner i Värmland, i vilka även hantering av dammar och regleringsmagasin innefattas. För att ge exempel på olika lösningar skiljer sig utformningen av förslagen av de två områdena något vad gäller ritmanér och skalområden.</p>

<p>On commission of the County administrative board in Värmland County a method was developed for analysis of the occurrence of artificial land use at lakes and watercourses. With artificial land use is meant land significantly affected by man. Two bases have been used to carry out the analysis. In one of the analysis the vegetation database and in the other GSD¹-Marktäckedata (land cover data) was used (this method has been used by County administrative board in Jönköping County).</p><p>The analysis comprises all watercourses within Alsterälven river basin. The digital water bodies are created by the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute on the basis of GSD-Översiktskartan (general map). The water layer is derived from GSD-Fastighetskartan (property map) and has been used as water theme in both analyses. In order to make them match each other two models have been used, one manual and one automatic.</p><p>Vegetation data and GSD-Marktäckedata have been complemented with information about cut forest from the Swedish Forest Agency and roads from the Swedish Road Administration. Vegetation data has also been completed with power line area from the forest phase layer and GSD-Marktäckedata with buildings from GSD-Fastighetskartan. The definition artificial land uses has been classified in the vegetation data according to environmental quality criteria; cut forest, field and building sites. In the GSD-Marktäckedata has artificial land use has been classified to environmental quality criteria; cut forest, field, buildings and building sites. The artificial land use types have been summarized individually, totally and indicated as percentage of the total area. The results of the assessment are expressed in a scale of 1-5 for each water body.</p><p>The resolution of the vegetation database is lower than in the GSD-Marktäckedata. The comparison between the vegetation database and GSD-Marktäckedata shows that artificial land use differ in area. In the vegetation database buildings are included in the data base, in GSD-Marktäckedata buildings with a buffer at 20 meters were added to the base map. The buildings in GSD-Marktäckedata cover “more space” and the percentage artificial land became larger.</p>

<p>Huvudsyftet med projektet var från början att digitalisera och mata in data för särskilda arkeologiska utredningsområden, att skanna rapporter som hör till utredningarna och lagra rapporterna på ett sådant sätt att de blir tillgängliga direkt från ArcMap via hyperlänk. Syftet förändrades dock något med tiden så att det istället blev att skapa ett inmatningshjälpmedel i form av en applikation.</p><p>Arbetet med att skapa polygoner av utredningsområden grundar sig på så kallad skärmdigitalisering, och någon högre noggrannhet krävs alltså inte. Att koordinater och annan spatial information kan erhållas ur varje polygon får anses vara av mindre vikt i detta projekt. Geodatabasen som skapades i projektet består av en Feature Class, samt nio stycken så kallade Object Classes. För att begränsa möjligheten att mata in data på fler än ett sätt, har vi använt domännamn i geodatabasen. Det får plats mycket information på ett litet utrymme, samt att inmatning av felaktiga ord i databasen effektivt begränsas, eftersom det enbart går att välja bland dessa ord när information matas in som hör till en nyskapad polygon.</p><p>En applikation skapades i VBA där ett antal formulär används för inmatning av data till geodatabasen. Applikationen möjliggör inte bara ett förenklat inmatningssätt, den gör också att ajourhållning blir enklare och säkrare.</p><p> </p> / <p>The main purpose for this project was originally to digitize and enter data for Specific Archeological Research Areas, and to scan the reports that refers to the field investigations and to store those reports in such a way that they are accessible directly from within ArcMap through its hyperlink system. The purpose changed over time, however, so that its main goal was to create an entry aid in the form of an application.</p><p>The creation of polygons of the research areas is based on so-called "on-screen digitizing," therefore higher accuracy is not necessary. Even though coordinates and other spatial information can be extracted from each polygon, this information has to be considered of lesser value in this project. The geodatabase which was created within the project consists of a Feature Class, and nine so-called Object Classes. In order to minimize the possibility to enter data in more than one way, we have utilized domain names in the geodatabase. Using domain names, lots of information can be entered in a limited storage space and entering data wrongfully is thereby effectively prohibited, because it is only possible to choose from a certain amount of words when the information is entered for a newly created polygon.</p><p>An application was created using VBA in which a set of forms are used for entering data into the geodatabase. The application not only makes it easier to enter data, it also makes database maintenance easier and more secure.</p><p> </p><p> </p>

<p>Målet för detta examensarbete är att skapa en geografisk databas över de olika objekt, såsom träd, rabatter, lekplatser mm som finns i parkerna i Arvika stad.</p><p> </p><p>För tillfället finns informationen angående parkobjekten enbart på pappersark. Med tiden har dessa pappersark dock blivit svårtydliga, då tillägg och borttag av parkobjekt med blyertspennor och radergummi nästintill förstört dem.</p><p> </p><p>Arvika kommun vill följaktligen ha hjälp med att upprätta en geodatabas för lagring av informationen om parkobjekten, samt hjälp med att skapa ett fungerande användargränssnitt för enkla modifieringar av objekten i databasen.</p><p> </p><p>Efter att klara riktlinjer har tagits fram tillsammans med Arvika kommun, i första hand parkförvaltningen och gis-avdelningen, har arbetet fortskridit enligt följande:</p><p> </p><ul type="disc"><li>Inmätning av objekt i Arvika stadspark</li><li>Bearbetning av information </li><li>Byggnation av databas</li><li>Programmering av användargränssnitt</li><li>Testkörning</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p><p>Efter testkörningen av användargränssnittet och dess kopplingar till databasen har hela lösningen utvärderats. Utvärderingen har till största del innefattat jämförelse av våran lösning mot andra lösningar. Utvärderingen har visat att våran lösning, trots små resurser och knapp tidsplan, utgör ett gott alternativ.</p> / <p>The primary aim with this degree project is to create a geodatabase containing the different objects, such as trees, flower beds, playgrounds etc. of which the parks of Arvika holds.</p><p> </p><p>As of now, the information regarding the objects in the parks is only on paper. Over time these sheets have become hard to read, having been altered with pencil and eraser over and over again.</p><p> </p><p>The municipality of Arvika accordingly asks for help with building a geodatabase for storing of the objects in park, and also with the help of creating a user interface, with which easy operations can be performed.</p><p> </p><p>Following the clear guidelines, which have been set together with the municipality of Arvika, primary the park-division and the gis-division, work has progressed as follow.</p><p> </p><ul type="disc"><li>Site survey </li><li>Work with the gathered information</li><li>Building of the database</li><li>Programming the user interface</li><li>Testing</li></ul><p> </p><p>After the tests of the interface and its connections to the database the whole solution will be evaluated. The evaluation has mainly consisted of comparison between our solution and other ones. The evaluation has shown that our solution, despite little time and resources, works ok.</p>

This study examines the relationship between the developing landscape and the water flowing through it. The study area was an 86 sq. mi. watershed located in the coastal plains in Harris County, Texas. Daily streamflow data for 52 years was obtained from USGS and coincident precipitation data was obtained from NOAA. Georeferenced parcel-level data was obtained from the Harris County Appraisal District with sufficient detail to determine year of development, parcel area, and impervious cover. Watershed boundaries were obtained from the Harris County Flood Control District. After controlling for daily precipitation, streamflow exhibited significant increases at all levels over time. Increasing streamflow was not associated with climate change. FRAGSTATS was used to quantify spatial patterns in the developed landscape on an annual basis. Regression analysis was used to determine the relationship between spatial and non-spatial measures of development and streamflow. It was found that models based on the spatial configuration of the developed landscape predict streamflow better than non-spatial measures such as total impervious cover. Several metrics were identified for their potential use as guidelines for urban planning.

SUMMARY Mangrove ecosystems thrive in (sub)tropical, intertidal areas where adaptations like vivipary and the hydrochorous dispersal of propagules become an absolute necessity. As propagule dispersal and early growth allow for the replenishment of existing stands and colonization of new habitats, many authors recognize the importance of these stages in structuring mangrove populations and communities. However, when it comes to the actual propagule dispersal and recruitment mechanisms, there is an apparent lacuna in the current understanding of mangrove ecology. The period between the mature propagule falling from the parental mangrove tree and the early growth of the established seedling, under various possible circumstances, remains in the dark. In this study we focus on this particular period by investigating both the places where these propagules end up as the pathways their dispersal units follow. And we go one step further. Mangrove forests are being destroyed worldwide at a threatening pace despite their tremendous asset to coastal human communities and associated biological species. The effect of human-induced (cutting and mangrove conversion to aquaculture ponds) as well as indirectly and/or ‘naturally’ evolving disturbances (sea level rise) on propagule hydrochory occupies an important place in this study. Dispersal of water-buoyant propagules of the family Rhizophoraceae and Acanthaceae (now including the Avicenniaceae) was studied in Gazi Bay (Kenya), Galle and the Pambala-Chilaw Lagoon Complex (Sri Lanka). The study sites differ both in tidal regime and vegetation structure, covering an interesting variety of ecological settings to examine propagule dispersal. Field data and experiments ranging from micro/ mesotopographical measurements and successive propagule counts to hydrodynamic and propagule dispersal experiments were collected or executed in situ. Two main methodological approaches were employed. Firstly, the question on mechanisms of propagule recruitment was addressed by statistically investigating the effect of microtopography, top soil texture and above-ground-root complexes on the stranding and self-planting of propagules (Chapter 2&3). Afterwards, suitability maps were created using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to assess whether a particular mangrove stand has the ability to succesfully rejuvenate. Furthermore, the effect of degradation (tree cutting) (Chapter 2&3), sea level rise (Chapter 2&4) and microtopography-altering burrowing activities of the mangrove mud lobster Thalassina anomala (Chapter 3), was incoporated in the GIS-analyses. Secondly, the combined set-up of hydrodynamic modelling and ecological dispersal modelling was developed to simulate propagule dispersal pathways influenced by dispersal vectors (tidal flow, fresh water discharge, wind), trapping agents (retention by vegetation or aerial root complexes) and seed characteristics (buoyancy, obligated dispersal period) (Chapter 5&6). This type of approach provided the possibility to explore propagule dispersal within its ecological context, but was also applied to an implication of shrimp pond area restoration (Pambala-Chilaw Lagoon Complex, Sri Lanka) (Chapter 5) and to evaluate changes in propagule dispersal when sea level rises (Gazi Bay, Kenya) (Chapter 6). The main findings regarding propagule recruitment indicate that propagules are not distributed equally or randomly within a mangrove stand, yet species-specific distribution for anchorage occurs. Characteristics of the environment (microtopography, top soil texture and above-ground root complex) influence propagule recruitment in a way that complex root systems (e.g. pencil roots and prop roots) facilitate the entanglement of dispersal units and a more compact soil texture (like clay and silt) and a predominant flat topography creates suitable areas for stranding and self-planting of propagules. This combines effects of existing vegetation and abiotic factors on mangrove propagule establishment. Since propagule dispersal is not solely determined by species-specific propagule characteristics (e.g. buoyancy, longevity, etc.), I emphasize that propagule sorting by hydrochory has to be viewed within its ecological context. Propagule retention by vegetation and wind as a dispersal vector, deserve a prominent role in studies on propagule dispersal. The significance of dense vegetation obstructing long distance dispersal (LDD in its definition of this work), mainly in inner mangrove zones, supports our main finding that propagule dispersal is largely a short distance phenomenon. ‘Largely’ is here understood as quantitatively, not excluding epic colonization events of rare but important nature. In accordance with the Tidal Sorting Hypothesis (TSH) of Rabinowitz (1978a), smaller, oval-shaped propagules were found to disperse over larger distances than bigger, torpedo-shaped propagules. We can however not fully support the TSH because (1) these differences are no longer valid when comparing between torpedoshaped propagules of different sizes and (2) propagule dispersal is not always directed towards areas more inland, but can be strongly concentrated towards the edges of lagoons and channels Anthropogenic pressure on mangrove ecosystems, more specifically clear-felling or mangrove conversion to aquaculture ponds, imposes limitations on propagule recruitment due to reduced propagule availability and a decrease in suitable stranding areas where the architecture of certain root complexes, like prop roots and pencil roots, function as propagule traps. These types of pressure appear to have more severe consequences on propagule dispersal than the effect of sea level rise on mangroves. Mangrove forests, which are not situated in an obviously vulnerable setting, can be resilient to a relative rise in sea level if a landward shift of vegetation assemblages and successful early colonization is not obstructed by human-induced pressures. Also, and this renders mangrove forests vulnerable in spite of their intrinsic resilience, when the ‘capital’ of forest is severely reduced or impoverished as happens extensively worldwide, the ‘interest’ on this capital, understood as propagule availability, delivery and trapping, will not allow them to efficiently cope with sea level rise, putting sustainability of mangrove ecosystem services and goods at risk. In a larger framework of mangrove vegetation dynamics, knowledge on propagule dispersal will benefit management strategies for the conservation of mangroves worldwide, besides its fundamental interest to fully fathom the ecology of this particular marine-terrestrial ecotone formation.

Målet för detta examensarbete är att skapa en geografisk databas över de olika objekt, såsom träd, rabatter, lekplatser mm som finns i parkerna i Arvika stad.   För tillfället finns informationen angående parkobjekten enbart på pappersark. Med tiden har dessa pappersark dock blivit svårtydliga, då tillägg och borttag av parkobjekt med blyertspennor och radergummi nästintill förstört dem.   Arvika kommun vill följaktligen ha hjälp med att upprätta en geodatabas för lagring av informationen om parkobjekten, samt hjälp med att skapa ett fungerande användargränssnitt för enkla modifieringar av objekten i databasen.   Efter att klara riktlinjer har tagits fram tillsammans med Arvika kommun, i första hand parkförvaltningen och gis-avdelningen, har arbetet fortskridit enligt följande:   <ul type="disc">Inmätning av objekt i Arvika stadspark Bearbetning av information Byggnation av databas Programmering av användargränssnitt Testkörning     Efter testkörningen av användargränssnittet och dess kopplingar till databasen har hela lösningen utvärderats. Utvärderingen har till största del innefattat jämförelse av våran lösning mot andra lösningar. Utvärderingen har visat att våran lösning, trots små resurser och knapp tidsplan, utgör ett gott alternativ. / The primary aim with this degree project is to create a geodatabase containing the different objects, such as trees, flower beds, playgrounds etc. of which the parks of Arvika holds.   As of now, the information regarding the objects in the parks is only on paper. Over time these sheets have become hard to read, having been altered with pencil and eraser over and over again.   The municipality of Arvika accordingly asks for help with building a geodatabase for storing of the objects in park, and also with the help of creating a user interface, with which easy operations can be performed.   Following the clear guidelines, which have been set together with the municipality of Arvika, primary the park-division and the gis-division, work has progressed as follow.   <ul type="disc">Site survey Work with the gathered information Building of the database Programming the user interface Testing   After the tests of the interface and its connections to the database the whole solution will be evaluated. The evaluation has mainly consisted of comparison between our solution and other ones. The evaluation has shown that our solution, despite little time and resources, works ok.

This study examined whether the current generation of consumer-grade digital mobile computing technology, so called smartphone technology, is usable to perform and improve field data collection in the context of sustainable forest management. An electronic data acquisition system, based on a handheld smartphone device and desktop geographic information system (GIS), was developed. A proprietary timber cruise application and commercial mapping software were used with the smartphone/desktop GIS to record and process forest stand and geospatial data. Usability testing was carried out to measure workflow efficiency and system performance of the smartphone GIS compared to traditional paper-based methods. The smartphone GIS successfully met performance objectives and significantly increased workflow efficiencies by improving data transfer and processing times over conventional paper methods; however, use of the mobile device resulted in greater data entry errors, increased data collection times, and led to more equipment malfunctions than use of paper recording methods together with a GPS and digital camera. Overall, the prototype electronic data acquisition system was not reliable as a stand-alone solution solely responsible for collecting cruise data, but was found to be well suited for ad-hoc mapping of forest features.

Land surface evaporation has considerable spatial variability that is not reflected in meteorological station data alone. Knowing the spatial variability of evaporation is important for describing drought, managing agricultural land, and is valuable for improving the parameterization of hydrological models and land surface schemes over large areas. General difficulties arise for obtaining reliable, spatially distributed evaporation estimates as a result of uncertainty in estimation techniques, scale issues and complexities regarding land surface and atmospheric interactions, and the spatial and temporal variability of key factors governing the evaporation process. Estimating evaporation is further complicated when soil moisture becomes a critical limitation, particularly during drought. An examination of the spatial variability of evaporation and its association with governing factors was conducted in Prairie landscapes using three modelling techniques. First, eddy covariance measurements and reference meteorological data were obtained at two Prairie locations to assess the accuracy of physically-based models for calculating point estimates of actual evaporation under non-limited soil moisture conditions and during drought. Second, estimates of actual evaporation were distributed at the field scale in order to examine the impacts of driving factors and their spatial associations on upscaled evaporation estimates. This required the assimilation of high resolution visible and thermal images which were used to derive estimates of surface albedo and surface emitted longwave radiation. These were combined along with surface reference observations to develop an index of the mid-day radiation in order to distribute a known value of mean daily net radiation over the field. Third, archived historical climate data were used as input for a continuous hydrological simulation to examine spatial and temporal variations in evaporation across the Prairie region of Western Canada during a drought and non-drought period. Results of this research showed that the spatial variability of evaporation could be derived at the field scale by integrating remote sensing and surface reference climate data with a physically-based evaporation model. Surface temperature and soil moisture, and net radiation were found to be highly variable spatially at field scales whilst meteorological conditions tended to be less variable spatially but showed strong temporal variability. At the field scale it was found that the variability in albedo and surface temperature were both important for characterizing differences in surface state conditions. Their combined influence was reflected in the resulting pattern of net radiation that governed the distribution of actual evaporation estimates obtained with the Granger and Gray evaporation model. It was found that an areal estimate of evaporation obtained from the means of driving factors was similar to the areal average obtained from the distributed estimates. This was attributed to the offsetting interactions among the driving factors which effectively reduced the variability of the model estimates. In general, the physically-based models examined were found to provide reasonable estimates of actual evaporation when driven by observations at point-scales over multi-day and seasonal periods. This included periods when soil moisture was not a strong limitation and also under drought conditions. Variations in the spatial pattern of actual evaporation provided a useful indicator of drought across the Prairie region of Western Canada. The results contribute to a better understanding of the effects of spatial associations of key factors on evaporation estimates in a Prairie landscape. The methodology developed for distributing net radiation from assimilated visible and thermal images could potentially be used in regional scale modelling applications for improving evaporation estimates using point scale estimation techniques. The modelling algorithms applied to derive point estimates of evaporation from surface reference data may be useful for operational purposes that require estimates of actual evaporation and for characterizing drought.

On commission of the County administrative board in Värmland County a method was developed for analysis of the occurrence of artificial land use at lakes and watercourses. With artificial land use is meant land significantly affected by man. Two bases have been used to carry out the analysis. In one of the analysis the vegetation database and in the other GSD¹-Marktäckedata (land cover data) was used (this method has been used by County administrative board in Jönköping County). The analysis comprises all watercourses within Alsterälven river basin. The digital water bodies are created by the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute on the basis of GSD-Översiktskartan (general map). The water layer is derived from GSD-Fastighetskartan (property map) and has been used as water theme in both analyses. In order to make them match each other two models have been used, one manual and one automatic. Vegetation data and GSD-Marktäckedata have been complemented with information about cut forest from the Swedish Forest Agency and roads from the Swedish Road Administration. Vegetation data has also been completed with power line area from the forest phase layer and GSD-Marktäckedata with buildings from GSD-Fastighetskartan. The definition artificial land uses has been classified in the vegetation data according to environmental quality criteria; cut forest, field and building sites. In the GSD-Marktäckedata has artificial land use has been classified to environmental quality criteria; cut forest, field, buildings and building sites. The artificial land use types have been summarized individually, totally and indicated as percentage of the total area. The results of the assessment are expressed in a scale of 1-5 for each water body. The resolution of the vegetation database is lower than in the GSD-Marktäckedata. The comparison between the vegetation database and GSD-Marktäckedata shows that artificial land use differ in area. In the vegetation database buildings are included in the data base, in GSD-Marktäckedata buildings with a buffer at 20 meters were added to the base map. The buildings in GSD-Marktäckedata cover “more space” and the percentage artificial land became larger.