Several studies in high-latitude catchments have demonstrated the importance of near-stream riparian zones as hydrogeochemical hotspots with a substantial influence on stream chemistry. An adequate representation of the spatial variability of riparian-zone processes and characteristics is the key for modeling spatio-temporal variations of stream-water quality. This thesis contributes to current knowledge by refining landscape-analysis techniques to describe riparian zones and by introducing a conceptual framework to quantify solute exports from riparian zones. The utility of the suggested concepts is evaluated based on an extensive set of hydrometric and chemical data comprising measurements of streamflow, groundwater levels, soil-water chemistry and stream chemistry. Standard routines to analyze digital elevation models that are offered by current geographical information systems have been of very limited use for deriving hydrologically meaningful terrain indices for riparian zones. A model-based approach for hydrological landscape analysis is outlined, which, by explicitly simulating groundwater levels, allows better predictions of saturated areas compared to standard routines. Moreover, a novel algorithm is presented for distinguishing between left and right stream sides, which is a fundamental prerequisite for characterizing riparian zones through landscape analysis. The new algorithm was used to derive terrain indices from a high-resolution LiDAR digital elevation model. By combining these terrain indices with detailed hydrogeochemical measurements from a riparian observatory, it was possible to upscale the measured attributes and to subsequently characterize the variation of total organic-carbon exports from riparian zones in a boreal catchment in Northern Sweden. Riparian zones were recognized as highly heterogeneous landscape elements. Organic-rich riparian zones were found to be hotspots influencing temporal trends in stream-water organic carbon while spatial variations of organic carbon in streams were attributed to the arrangement of organic-poor and organic-rich riparian zones along the streams. These insights were integrated into a parsimonious modeling approach. An analytical solution of the model equations is presented, which provides a physical basis for commonly used power-law streamflow-load relations. / At the time of doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: In press; Paper 4: Manuscript. / Swedish Research Council (VR, grant no. 2005-4289)

South-central Kentucky has one of the world’s most intensively studied karstareas, with most work focusing on the Mammoth Cave System and related caves and aquifers. However, slightly higher in the stratigraphic section than Mammoth Cave, the Haney Limestone is a locally important but less well studied carbonate aquifer. This research provides the most comprehensive synthesis to date of the karst hydrogeology of the Haney Limestone of south-central Kentucky, focusing on the distribution and controls on cave and karst features developed within. In contrast to drainage systems within the major limestones below, joints are the most dominant control on passage development in the Haney Limestone within the study area and the orientation of these joints is consistent with that of regional joint sets. Bedding planes and the presence of insoluble rock at the base of the Haney also exert control on conduit development in the Haney Limestone. Most of the caves of the study area developed in the Haney Limestone are singleconduit caves that receive water through direct, allogenic sources. Cave entrances are frequently perennial spring resurgences and the presence of active streams suggests that the caves function within the contemporary landscape, acting as drains for localized recharge areas. The hydrology of the Haney Limestone plays an important, if localized, role in the regional hydrology of south-central Kentucky, integrated into the current system of surface and subsurface drainage of the regional karst landscape. Evidence supports the idea that caves of the Haney Limestone are, geologically, relatively recent phenomena. A majority of the cave passages in the study area are hydrologically active, the water resurging from the sampled springs is typically undersaturated with respect to limestone, and the caves in some case appear to be developed along potential stress release fractures associated with small, apparently young valleys. This suggests that caves in the Haney Limestone were not directly influenced by the incision of the Green River over vast periods, like Mammoth Cave, but that cave development is a largely contemporary process.

Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) departments in many organizations are faced with two interrelated problems which limit their ability to make accurate decisions based on quality data. First, many EHS departments follow a reactive business management model and need to work towards a proactive continuous improvement model to better manage EHS. The second is a lack of data integration and interoperability between the numerous different EHS data sources and systems. EHS departments are challenged with managing large quantities of data generated through tracking and monitoring programs to continuously improve EHS performance. EHS data can be in many forms paper, digital files, spreadsheets, images, relational databases and proprietary software applications. EHS data have strong spatial relationships, which makes the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) a very cost effective and feasible solution for integrating and managing EHS data. This thesis will outline how GIS brings to EHS the advantages of traditional IT methods with the added benefit of spatial analytical operations such as map overlay, relationships and querying, and informative visual presentation through maps, floor plans, and imagery through the implementation of a GIS database for EHS called GeoSpatial Environmental Health and Safety (GEO-EHS).

The reason for performing an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is to incorporate environmental concern in different kinds of plans and projects. The purpose of such an assessment is to identify and describe direct, indirect and cumulative environmental impacts. Geographical Information System (GIS) is a tool that can be used to combine spatial extension of both sensitive areas and different environmental impacts in a quick and easy way. Because of that, descriptions of environmental impacts and motivation of different standpoints on a specific issue can be more correct and easier to make if GIS is used as a tool. Hence, GIS can contribute to improve the quality of Environmental Impact Assessments. If the benefits of using GIS are to out weight the costs, geographical information of satisfactory detail, actuality and accuracy need to be available at reasonable prices. In this paper, case studies are carried out for three different geographical analyses to investigate the use of GIS as a tool in EIA. From these case studies, more general conclusions about the benefits and limitations of using GIS for Environmental Impact Assessments are also drawn. The criteria, after which benefits and limitations of GIS have been estimated, are data availability, time consumption for performing the analyses and how the results from the performed analyses can make impact assessments easier, motivate different standpoints and increase the comprehensiveness of the EIA-report. The three different GIS-analyses includes calculation of pollution load in a catchment area, estimation of the visual impact from planned buildings and generation of alternative locations for underwater pipes. These analyses have been applied on one ongoing EIA for a freight terminal and one ongoing EIA for an underwater wastewater transmission pipe. The analyses in these case studies have been undertaken with ArcGIS software using the extensions “Spatial Analyst” and “3D Analyst”. It is shown in this study that due to uncertainty in available model values and the time consuming data manipulation, it is unlikely that calculations of pollution loads with GIS will be used to any larger extent in EIA. To carry out visual assessments with help of GIS to estimate visual impacts is on the other hand assumed to be useful in EIA-work. Both to assess impacts and to estimate how changes in building design can alter those impacts. To use GIS to produce alternative locations for underwater pipes is also considered valuable in EIA-work, even though there is a considerable lack of data to predict the environmental class of marine areas and the connections between available data and real environmental values are weak. However, the risk of damaging vulnerable and high valued marine areas should decrease when applying this type of analyse. / Miljökonsekvensbeskrivningar (MKB) genomförs för att möjliggöra att hänsyn om miljön tas vid olika typer av exploateringsprojekt och exploateringsplaner. Syftet med en miljökonsekvensbeskrivning är att identifiera och beskriva direkta, indirekta och kumulativa miljöeffekter. Geografiska informationssystem (GIS) är ett verktyg som kan användas för att snabbt och enkelt kombinera rumslig utsträckning av både känsliga områden och olika miljökonsekvenser. GIS kan därför användas för att underlätta beskrivningar av miljökonsekvenser och motivera olika ställningstaganden. Därigenom kan GIS bidra till bättre grundade och mer rättvisande miljökonsekvensbeskrivningar. Men för att vinsterna av att genomföra GIS-analyser ska överstiga kostnaderna krävs att geografisk information av tillräcklig detaljeringsgrad, aktualitet och säkerhet finns att tillgå till rimliga kostnader. Syftet med denna studie har varit att genom fallstudier undersöka om tre olika GIS-analyser kan användas som verktyg i miljöbedömningar med idag tillgänglig data, samt att utifrån fallstudierna dra mer allmänna slutsatser om vinster och begränsningar av att använda GIS i miljökonsekvensbeskrivningar. De kriterier som har använts för att bedöma vinster och begränsningar är tidsåtgång för analyserna, tillgång på data samt hur analyserna kan vara ett stöd i MKB-arbetet genom att underlätta beskrivningar av konsekvenser, motivera ställningstaganden som görs och öka rapportens begriplighet. De tre genomförda GIS-analyserna innefattar beräkning av föroreningsbelastning inom ett avrinningsområde, bedömning av byggnaders landskapspåverkan genom synlighetsanalys samt generering av förslag till alternativ ledningsdragning för en undervattensledning. Dessa analyser har tillämpats på en pågående MKB för en detaljplan för en partihall och en pågående MKB för en avloppsvattenledning under vatten. Analyserna i fallstudierna har genomförts i programmet ArcGIS med tilläggen ”Spatial Analyst” och ”3D Analyst”. Studien visar att det på grund av osäkerheter i tillgängliga schablonvärden och tidsåtgång för databehandling är osannolikt att beräkning av föroreningsmängd inom ett avrinningsområde med GIS kommer att användas till någon större utsträckning i MKB. Att med GIS genomföra synlighetsanalyser för att utvärdera landskapspåverkan bedöms däremot kunna användas i MKB, både för att bedöma påverkan och för att utvärdera hur en förändring i en byggnads utformning kan förändra den påverkan. Även att med GIS generera förslag till alternativa ledningsdragningar under vatten bedöms kunna fylla en funktion i MKB trots att tillgången på data för att kunna beskriva olika marina områdens naturvärden är klart bristfällig och kopplingen mellan tillgängliga data och verkliga naturvärden är osäker. Denna typ av analys bör ändå minska risken att värdefulla och skyddsvärda marina områden skadas vid lednignsdragning.

Waste management is a global environmental issue which concerns about a very significant problem in today’s world. There is a considerable amount of disposal of waste without proper segregation which has lead to both economic and environment sufferings. It is still practiced in many cities. There is a tremendous amount of loss in terms of environmental degradation, health hazards and economic descend due to direct disposal of waste. It is better to segregate the waste at the initial stages where it is generated, rather than going for a later option which is inconvenient and expensive. There has to be appropriate planning for proper waste management by means of analysis of the waste situation of the area. This paper would deal with, how Geographical Information System can be used as a decision support tool for planning waste management. A model is designed for the case study area in an Indian city for the purpose of planning waste management. The suggestions for amendments in the system through GIS based model would reduce the waste management workload to some extent and exhibit remedies for some of the SWM problems in the case study area. The waste management issues are considered to solve some of the present situation problems like proper allocation and relocation of waste bins, check for unsuitability and proximity convenience due to waste bin to the users, proposal of recyclable waste bins for the required areas and future suggestions. The model will be implemented on the Aurangabad city’s case study area data for the analysis and the results will suggest some modification in the existing system which is expected to reduce the waste management workload to a certain extent.

This thesis presents Pixgis; a novel application for map-centric management of photographs. In short Pixgis is an interactive environment in which photographs may be discovered, viewed and managed through maps. With Pixgis finding photographs from a specific location or of a particular structure is as easy as finding the location or structure on a map. As Pixgis simultaneously displays maps, photographs and spatial metadata it also enables users to analyze photographs in new manners. This thesis work illustrates the benefits of applications for map-centric management of photographs, exposes the problems one faces when implementing such applications and presents novel solutions to many of these problems. The thesis also elaborates on spatial metadata and methods for acquisition of photographs with embedded spatial metadata.

Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) departments in many organizations are faced with two interrelated problems which limit their ability to make accurate decisions based on quality data. First, many EHS departments follow a reactive business management model and need to work towards a proactive continuous improvement model to better manage EHS. The second is a lack of data integration and interoperability between the numerous different EHS data sources and systems. EHS departments are challenged with managing large quantities of data generated through tracking and monitoring programs to continuously improve EHS performance. EHS data can be in many forms paper, digital files, spreadsheets, images, relational databases and proprietary software applications. EHS data have strong spatial relationships, which makes the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) a very cost effective and feasible solution for integrating and managing EHS data. This thesis will outline how GIS brings to EHS the advantages of traditional IT methods with the added benefit of spatial analytical operations such as map overlay, relationships and querying, and informative visual presentation through maps, floor plans, and imagery through the implementation of a GIS database for EHS called GeoSpatial Environmental Health and Safety (GEO-EHS).

Traffic safety is an important problem in today&rsquo / s world with increasing number of fatalities and injuries in traffic accidents. For the solution of this problem, determination of accident prone locations on a network and reasons behind is an essential step, which is studied to some extend via different traffic accident analyses in the literature. While major factors affecting accident risk, such as speed, congestion, infrastructural aspects are known, it is still very difficult to figure out the interaction among these factors, due to complexity in the spatial and temporal distribution of the aforementioned factors and traffic network characteristics. While the case of accident analysis on highways is simpler, in case of urban roads, it requires more effort due to more complex traffic networks with quite a number of conflict points and varying flow characteristics. To investigate possible relationships between speed and accident occurrence on urban arterials, a Geographic Information Systems based accident analysis methodology (GIS-TAAM) is developed in this study. This methodology uses time-dependent average link speeds (calculated from GPS-based data) and accident history of links, and three safety measures in thematic accident maps: i) total number of accident, ii) a severity index based on number of fatality and injury accidents, and iii) an alternative severity index based on total number of fatalities and injuries. The implementation of the proposed methodology and its deliverables are discussed over a pilot study on in&ouml / n&uuml / Boulevard &ndash / EskiSehir Road, Ankara.

The purpose of this study is to develop a geotechnical microzonation model regarding the suitability of the residential areas in Yenisehir (Bursa, Turkey), which is a currently developing settlement area in a seismically active region. For this purpose, soil properties and dynamic soil behaviors of the study area were assessed. Soil classification, soil amplification, natural soil predominant period, resonance phenomena and liquefaction potential of the study area were evaluated using borehole data and microtremor measurements. The raw data obtained from the previous studies carried out at Yenisehir were used for these assessments. The liquefaction potential for the study area was evaluated both in two-dimensional planimetric and three-dimensional volumetric assessments. Two geotechnical microzonation maps were produced for the study area according to the surface damage due to liquefaction (according to two different methods), soil amplification and distance to streams maps / by using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) based Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis. The weight values were assigned to the layers using Analytical Hierarchical Process method by pairwise comparisons. Evaluating geotechnical microzonation maps produced, the safest areas were found on the northern sites of the study area. The most critical areas were found to be in the middle and the southeast parts of the study area.

<p>Geographical information systems (GIS), data mining and wild land fire would theoretically be suitable to use together. However, would data mining in reality bring out any useful information from wild land fire data stored within a GIS? In this report an investigation is done if GIS and data mining are used within Räddningstjänsten today in some municipalities of the former Skaraborg. The investigation shows that neither data mining nor GIS are used within the investigated municipalities. However, there is an interest in using GIS within the organisations in the future but also some kind of analysis tool, for example data mining. To show how GIS and data mining could be used in the future within Räddningstjänsten some examples on this were constructed.</p>