Digital literacy has been put forward as a tool that can potentially increase the speed towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A study conducted by Holmström (2020) has highlighted a fragmented digitalization of the Swedish Industrial Forest sector, but has not offered insights into digitalization of Individual Owners (IOs) – which is an important gap to fill as 50% of forest land areas in Sweden belong toIOs. This thesis represents a first attempt to document digitalization of these owners. The first objective aimedto document digital literacy among Individual Owners in Sweden – which was done by adapting an indicator proposed by Horrigan (2016), originally intended to measure Americans’ digital eagerness in adoptingtechnological means for online knowledge, to the Swedish IOs. The second purpose was to discuss the relationship between digital literacy and Sustainable Forest Management Practices (SFMP) among these owners – which was achieved through logistic models’ estimations on SFMP index, calculated based on IOs’ selfreported forest management practices. This study´s findings confirm a predominantly low digital literacy among IOs – with only 10% of them as digitally prepared. With respect to the relationship between digital literacy and the SFMP index, the results indicate a relationship between digital literacy and practices can be c ategorized as sustainable (the amalgamation of Intensive/Productivity, Conservation and Save management) only among IOsof age 66-76 years old. These owners have a higher education level, generally live-in rural areas and overall do not use their property for commercial purposes compared to other IOs. These findings underline the potential usefulness of digitalization to reach SDGs, and at the same time highlight that sustainability and digitalizationdo not necessarily come hand in hand.

Multipath effect is generated when a signal arrives at the antenna by multiple paths instead of one direct path. It is, to a large extent, dependent on the surrounding environment of the antenna and the satellite geometry. Despite all the efforts put into the mitigation of multipath errors, it remains the dominant error source that cannot be ignored for GNSS precise positioning and other GNSS applications. In this thesis report, two methods have been developed with Trimble Business Center and MATLAB to study the presence and performance of multipath effect. The first method – Trimble baseline analysis focuses on the height change pattern of the study station with regard to its reference station over time. The second method – RINEX analysis focuses on the change of the geometry-free combination of pseudorange codes and carrier phase measurements over time. These two methods have been firstly tested on station KTH and then applied on station Vidsel and station Botsmark. Various forms of results all indicate the existence of multipath effect on the three suspicious stations. The height value of the study station has a variation pattern on a daily basis because of multipath. Multipath errors also cause noise in the satellite signals, with pseudorange more affected than carrier phase. It is also worth-noted that satellite at low elevation angle is more susceptible to multipath errors than that at high elevation angle. / Flervägsfel genereras när en signal anländer till antennen genom flera olika vägar i stället för den direkta vägen från satelliten. Det är i stor utsträckning beroende på den omgivande miljön av antennen och satellitgeometrin. Trots olika metoder för att reducera flervägsfel, är det fortfarande en dominerande felkälla som inte kan ignoreras för precis positionering med GNSS och andra GNSS-tillämpningar. I denna rapport har två metoder utvecklats med Trimble Business Center och MATLAB för att studera närvaron och effekten av flervägsfelet. Den första metoden - Trimble baslinje analys fokuserar på förändring i höjden för studie stationen relativt till referensstationen över tid. Den andra metoden - RINEX analys fokuserar på förändring av den geometrifria kombination av pseudoavståndsmätningar () och fasmätningar () över tid. Dessa två metoder har först testats på KTH-stationen och sedan appliceras på stationen Vidsel och stationen Botsmark. Olika resultat indikerar förekomsten av flervägsfel på de tre stationer. Höjden för studiestationerna har ett dagligt variationsmönster på grund av flervägsfelet. Flervägsfel orsakar även buller i satellitsignalerna, var pseudoavstånd är mer drabbade än fasmätningarna. Det är också värt att noterade att satelliter med låg elevationsvinkel är mer mottagliga för flervägsfel än vid hög elevationsvinkel.

Knivsta kommun är en växande kommun och deras beräkning är att befolkningen ska öka från 20 000 till27 000 till år 2035. För det har kommunen tagit fram ett utvecklingsprogram Knivsta 2035. I den härrapporten undersöks resursflöden av dricksvatten och avlopp samt tekniska lösningar i den projekteradestadsdelen Tarv västra i Knivsta kommun. I stadsdelen förväntas 929 personer bo i blandade typer avbostäder, cirka 70 % i flerbostadshus och 30 % i småhus, såsom radhus.Målet med arbetet var att undersöka hur stora vatten- och avloppsflödena, VA-flödena, förväntas bli i Tarv västra, samt att undersöka om det finns lämpliga tekniska åtgärder som kan minska dricksvattenförbruk-ningen. För de valda tekniska lösningarna skulle även mängden potentiellt sparat dricksvatten beräknas. Resultatet är menat att kunna användas som en del av ett större beslutsunderlag på resursflöden i modernastadsdelar för Knivsta kommun.En litteraturstudie samt genomgång av tillhandahållna rapporter har lagt grunden för arbetet. För attutföra beräkningar kring vatteninsamling och dimensionering har formler från tidigare undersökningaranvänts. Dricksvattenförbrukningen för olika bostadstyper har även undersökts för att få fram ett specifiktvärde för dricksvattenförbrukningen i Tarv västra.Resultatet visade att dricksvattenbehovet i Tarv västra förväntas bli 144 liter per person och dag. Undernormala förhållanden krävs ett flöde på 9 liter per sekund. Under kritiska förhållanden förväntas flödet vara 25 liter per sekund. Spillvattenproduktionen förväntas bli 191 liter per person och dag. Att spillvattenpro-duktionen är så pass mycket högre än dricksvattenförbrukningen antas bero på spillvattentilläget som utgår från schablonvärden. Det uppskattades att det tillkommer 134 kg fast material per dag till spillvattnet.Olika tekniska lösningar kan implementeras för att minska dricksvattenbehovet. Installation av snålspolandetoaletter beräknades kunna minska vattenanvändningen med 17 %. Insamling av regnvatten beräknadeskunna spara 13 % i årssnitt. Återanvänding av BDT-vatten uppskattades kunna minska vattenanvändningenmed 21-60 %, beroende på om det används till dusch, toalett eller både och.Slutsatsen som kan dras av detta arbete är att invånarna i Tarv västra kommer förbruka i snitt 144liter vatten per person och dag, och att det finns möjligheter att minska dricksvattenbehovet i nybyggdastadsdelar genom att installera moderna tekniska lösningar. Nyckelord: Dricksvatten, BDT-vatten, Regnvatteninsamling, Snålspolande toaletter, Dimensionering,Spillvatten, Avloppsvatten

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The wolverine (Gulo gulo) is the largest living terrestrial member of the Mustelidae; a versatile predator formerly distributed throughout boreal regions of North America and Eurasia. Though commonly recovered from Pleistocene sites across their range, pre- Pleistocene records of the genus are exceedingly rare. Here, we describe a new species of Gulo from the Gray Fossil Site in Tennessee. Based on biostratigraphy, a revised estimate of the age of the Gray Fossil Site is Early Pliocene, near the Hemphillian-Blancan transition, between 4.9 and 4.5 Ma. This represents the earliest known occurrence of a wolverine, more than one million years earlier than any other record. The new species of wolverine described here shares similarities with previously described species of Gulo, and with early fishers (Pekania). As the earliest records of both Gulo and Pekania are known from North America, this suggests the genus may have evolved in North America and dispersed to Eurasia later in the Pliocene. Both fauna and flora at the Gray Fossil Site are characteristic of warm/humid climates, which suggests wolverines may have become `cold-adapted' relatively recently. Finally, detailed comparison indicates Plesiogulo, which has often been suggested to be ancestral to Gulo, is not likely closely related to gulonines, and instead may represent convergence on a similar niche.

American Samoa is still recovering from the debilitating consequences of the September 29, 2009 tsunami. Little is known about current household preparedness in American Samoa for future earthquakes and tsunamis. Thus, this study sought to enumerate the number of households with an earthquake and tsunami evacuation plan and to identify predictors of having a household evacuation plan through a post-tsunami survey conducted in July 2011. Members of 300 households were interviewed in twelve villages spread across regions of the principle island of Tutuila. Multiple logistic regression showed that being male, having lived in one's home for < 30 years, and having a friend who suffered damage to his or her home during the 2009 tsunami event increased the likelihood of having a household evacuation plan. The prevalence of tsunami evacuation planning was 35% indicating that survivors might feel that preparation is not necessary given effective adaptive responses during the 2009 event. Results suggest that emergency planners and public health officials should continue with educational outreach to families to spread awareness around the importance of developing plans for future earthquakes and tsunamis to help mitigate human and structural loss from such natural disasters. Additional research is needed to better understand the linkages between pre-event planning and effective evacuation responses as were observed in the 2009 events.

American Samoa is still recovering from the debilitating consequences of the September 29, 2009 tsunami. Little is known about current household preparedness in American Samoa for future earthquakes and tsunamis. Thus, this study sought to enumerate the number of households with an earthquake and tsunami evacuation plan and to identify predictors of having a household evacuation plan through a post-tsunami survey conducted in July 2011. Members of 300 households were interviewed in twelve villages spread across regions of the principle island of Tutuila. Multiple logistic regression showed that being male, having lived in one's home for < 30 years, and having a friend who suffered damage to his or her home during the 2009 tsunami event increased the likelihood of having a household evacuation plan. The prevalence of tsunami evacuation planning was 35% indicating that survivors might feel that preparation is not necessary given effective adaptive responses during the 2009 event. Results suggest that emergency planners and public health officials should continue with educational outreach to families to spread awareness around the importance of developing plans for future earthquakes and tsunamis to help mitigate human and structural loss from such natural disasters. Additional research is needed to better understand the linkages between pre-event planning and effective evacuation responses as were observed in the 2009 events.

Geologic structure often controls the location of recharge points, flow paths, velocities, and discharge locations in karst regions such as Morell Cave and its springshed, Bluff City, Tennessee. This study explores groundwater recharge points, velocities, and discharge locations within the Morrell springshed and its associated cave. Two dye tracing experiments were conducted in the spring and fall of 2012 to identify recharge sources, delineate the springshed, and to interpret structural controls for groundwater flow. The experiments confirmed that allogenic recharge from the northern slopes of Holston Mountain enters the karst system through swallets and flows to the northwest following dominant joint trends that transect local folds. When the groundwater reaches Morell Cave, the flow is redirected northeast and parallels a shallow thrust fault, along which Morell Cave has developed, before resurging at Morell Spring. Using a joint-path flow model, groundwater velocities ranged from 0.04-0.007 m/s, which is consistent with typical groundwater velocities in karst systems.

Studies of large herbivorous mammal (ungulate) communities have revealed an association between increased tooth crown height (hypsodonty) and a shift to more arid environments over the Cenozoic. Ecometric analyses have also been used to examine the relationship between current climate conditions and crown height of these communities, and very successfully used to estimate past precipitation. Small herbivorous mammals (rodents and lagomorphs) have been shown to similarly adapt to changing habitats over the Cenozoic, but did so millions of years earlier than larger mammals. Here, we have utilized ecometric methods to examine the relationships between rodent and lagomorph crown height and diversity with current climate conditions, finding strong correlations of community structure parameters with climate, particularly mean annual temperature, maximum temperature of the warmest month, and minimum temperature of the coldest month. We applied the resultant regression equations to well-sampled fossil localities from North America, spanning over 37 million years, allowing estimation of climate conditions in deep time. As expected, estimates show a general pattern of decrease in both precipitation and temperature across North America from 37 Ma to the present. Overall, these findings provide a new broadly-applicable proxy for estimation of Cenozoic climate conditions at a local scale.

The current geological epoch, the Holocene, began 11,700 years ago. During this time, a thermal maximum in temperature was reached somewhere during the early-middle stage at 8-5 kyrs ago which was followed by a period of neoglacial cooling, culminating in the little ice age (LIA). During this period of neoglacial cooling, the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) experienced periods of advancement and retreat, which affected the local climate near the ice shelf. By looking at loess, a type of silt based wind-blown sediment, changes in stratigraphy can be used to correlate to changes in aeolian environment. The aim of this study is to determine what effects the neoglacial cooling had on the climate and if arctic loess can be used as a proxy to correlate climate change. This was done by using two methods of laboratory testing: grain size analysis and loss on ignition (LOI). Samples were gathered from Kangerlussuaq, Greenland in July 2021 from a 82cm deep loess-palaeosol section. The section consists of alternating loess and peat layers, indicating different depositional environments. The results show a general coarsening of the grainsize from the bottom upwards in the section, with reducing clay/silt content and increasing sand content, resulting in an overall increase in grain size mode. The LOI show a decrease in organic content from the bottom upwards. The increase of grain size mode and decrease of organic content in the loess is interpreted as being a result of changing climate at the sampling site. Previous studies have shown that the GrIS has had multiple distinct advancement events, which maybe can be correlated to the changes seen in the grain size and LOI data. A conclusion is drawn that the climate has changed due to the general cooling of temperature during deposition and glacial advancement, which leads to colder and harsher aeolian activity. This led to an increase in grainsize and reduction of organic content.