Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Also available online.

Thesis (M.U.D.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves iv-iv).

Thesis (M.U.D.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves iv-iv) Also available in print.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Alnarp : Sveriges lantbruksuniv. / Härtill 6 uppsatser.

Thesis (M. Sc.(Urb. Plan.))--University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

O uso intensivo de áreas do solo provoca alterações na sua qualidade, tornando-se necessária a criação de métodos de avaliação e monitoramento. A técnica de Avaliação do Ciclo de Vida (ACV) é uma importante ferramenta para o cálculo de impactos ambientais, relativos a um sistema de produto com fronteiras delimitadas, sendo o Uso do Solo uma das categorias de impacto avaliada. Na ACV este impacto é avaliado, a partir de fatores de caracterização, os quais utilizam indicadores que quantificam as consequências de modificações na estrutura do solo, levando em consideração a realidade e as características morfológicas de cada país ou região. Este estudo tem como objetivo apresentar adequações relacionadas às condições brasileiras do modelo para a caracterização de impactos provocados pelo uso do solo, a partir da adaptação de fatores de caracterização. De acordo com a pesquisa bibliográfica acerca dos métodos de avaliação do uso do solo na ACV, dois grupos são avaliados a Biodiversidade e as Funções de Suporte de Vida (FSV). Neste estudo foram identificados diferentes métodos que avaliam os impactos nas FSV e a partir de alguns critérios adotados foram posteriormente submetidos a uma análise, a fim de se determinar o método de maior relevância para as condições brasileiras. O método escolhido utiliza como indicador a Matéria Orgânica do Solo (MOS), porém devido à ausência de dados em algumas regiões, podem ser utilizados valores de Carbono Orgânico do Solo (COS), componente essencial da MOS. Os valores para o COS no estado natural foram atribuídos segundo dados de literatura para o bioma Amazônia, os quais foram posteriormente adaptados para se obter o COS para os tipos de uso de solo considerados neste estudo, segundo a realidade brasileira. / The intensive use of land areas cause changes in its quality, making it necessary to create methods for assessing and monitoring. The technique of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an important tool for the calculation of environmental impacts related to a product system with defined borders, and the Land Use category of impact assessed. In this LCA impacts are assessed from factors characterization using indicators that quantify the effects of changes in soil structure, taking into account the reality and the morphological characteristics of each country or region. This study aims to present adjustments related to the Brazilian model for characterizing impacts caused by land use, based on the calculation of characterization factors. In accordance with the literature of the LCA methods, two groups contribute to this category Biodiversity and Life Support Functions (FSV). In this study were discussed and evaluated different methods to calculate (FSV), from some criteria adopted, these were subjected to a comparative analysis, to the method of greatest relevance to Brazilian conditions. The method chosen to use as an indicator of Soil Organic Matter (SOM), but due to lack of data in some regions, can be used values of Soil Organic Carbon (COS) essential component of SOM. The values for COS in the natural state were assigned according to the literature data of the Amazon biome, which were adapted to obtain the COS for the types of land use considered in this study according to the Brazilian reality.

O uso intensivo de áreas do solo provoca alterações na sua qualidade, tornando-se necessária a criação de métodos de avaliação e monitoramento. A técnica de Avaliação do Ciclo de Vida (ACV) é uma importante ferramenta para o cálculo de impactos ambientais, relativos a um sistema de produto com fronteiras delimitadas, sendo o Uso do Solo uma das categorias de impacto avaliada. Na ACV este impacto é avaliado, a partir de fatores de caracterização, os quais utilizam indicadores que quantificam as consequências de modificações na estrutura do solo, levando em consideração a realidade e as características morfológicas de cada país ou região. Este estudo tem como objetivo apresentar adequações relacionadas às condições brasileiras do modelo para a caracterização de impactos provocados pelo uso do solo, a partir da adaptação de fatores de caracterização. De acordo com a pesquisa bibliográfica acerca dos métodos de avaliação do uso do solo na ACV, dois grupos são avaliados a Biodiversidade e as Funções de Suporte de Vida (FSV). Neste estudo foram identificados diferentes métodos que avaliam os impactos nas FSV e a partir de alguns critérios adotados foram posteriormente submetidos a uma análise, a fim de se determinar o método de maior relevância para as condições brasileiras. O método escolhido utiliza como indicador a Matéria Orgânica do Solo (MOS), porém devido à ausência de dados em algumas regiões, podem ser utilizados valores de Carbono Orgânico do Solo (COS), componente essencial da MOS. Os valores para o COS no estado natural foram atribuídos segundo dados de literatura para o bioma Amazônia, os quais foram posteriormente adaptados para se obter o COS para os tipos de uso de solo considerados neste estudo, segundo a realidade brasileira. / The intensive use of land areas cause changes in its quality, making it necessary to create methods for assessing and monitoring. The technique of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an important tool for the calculation of environmental impacts related to a product system with defined borders, and the Land Use category of impact assessed. In this LCA impacts are assessed from factors characterization using indicators that quantify the effects of changes in soil structure, taking into account the reality and the morphological characteristics of each country or region. This study aims to present adjustments related to the Brazilian model for characterizing impacts caused by land use, based on the calculation of characterization factors. In accordance with the literature of the LCA methods, two groups contribute to this category Biodiversity and Life Support Functions (FSV). In this study were discussed and evaluated different methods to calculate (FSV), from some criteria adopted, these were subjected to a comparative analysis, to the method of greatest relevance to Brazilian conditions. The method chosen to use as an indicator of Soil Organic Matter (SOM), but due to lack of data in some regions, can be used values of Soil Organic Carbon (COS) essential component of SOM. The values for COS in the natural state were assigned according to the literature data of the Amazon biome, which were adapted to obtain the COS for the types of land use considered in this study according to the Brazilian reality.

Numerous studies indicate that the hydrology of a river basin is influenced by Land Use Land Cover (LULC) and climate. LULC affects the quality and quantity of water resources through its influence on Evapotranspiration (ET) and initiation of surface runoff while climate affects the intensity and spatial distribution of rainfall and temperature which are major drivers of the hydrologic cycle. Literature reports several works on either the effect of changing LULC or climate on the hydrology. However, changes in LULC and climate occur simultaneously in reality. Thus, there is a need to perform an integrated impact assessment of such changes on the hydrological regime at a basin scale. In order to carry out the impact assessment, physically-based hydrologic models are often employed. The present study focuses on assessment of the effect of changing LULC and climate on the hydrology of the Upper Ganga basin (UGB), India, using the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) hydrologic model. In order to obtain the changes that have occurred in the LULC of the basin over a time period, initially LULC analysis is carried out. For this purpose, high resolution multispectral satellite imageries from Landsat are procured for the years 1973, 1980, 2000 and 2011. The images are pre-processed to project them to a common projection system and are then co-registered. The processed images are used for classification into different land cover classes. This step requires training sites which are collected during the field visit as part of this work. The classified images, thus obtained are used to analyse temporal changes in LULC of the region. The results indicate an increase in crop land and urban area of the region by 47% and 122% respectively from 1973 to 2011. After initial decline in dense forest for the first three decades, an increase in the dense forest is observed between 2000- 2011 (from 11.44% to 14.8%). Scrub forest area and barren land are observed to decline in the study region by 62% and 96% respectively since 1973. The land cover information along with meteorological data and soil data are used to drive the VIC model to investigate the impact of LULC changes on streamflow and evapotranspiration (ET) components of hydrology in the UGB. For the simulation purpose, the entire basin is divided into three regions (1) upstream (with Bhimgodha as the outlet), (2) midstream (with Ankinghat as the outlet) and (3) downstream (with Allahabad as the outlet). The VIC model is calibrated and validated for all the three regions independently at monthly scale. Model performance is assessed based on the criterion of normalized root mean square error (NRMSE), coefficient of determination (R2) and Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE). It is observed that the model performed well with reasonable accuracy for upstream and midstream regions. In case of the downstream region, due to lack of observed discharge data, model performance could not be assessed. Hence, the simulations for the downstream region are performed using the calibrated model of the midstream region. The model outputs from the three regions are aggregated appropriately to generate the total hydrologic response of the UGB. Using the calibrated models for different region of the UGB, sensitivity analysis is performed by generating hydrologic scenarios corresponding to different land use (LU) and climate conditions. In order to investigate the impact of changing LU on hydrological variables, a scenario is generated in which climate is kept constant and LU is varied. Under this scenario, only the land cover related variables are altered in the model keeping the meteorological variables constant. Thus, the effect of LU change is segregated from the effect of climate. The results obtained from these simulations indicated that the change in LU significantly affects peak streamflow depth which is observed to be 77.58% more in August 2011 in comparison with the peak streamflow of August, 1973. Furthermore, ET is found to increase by 46.44% since 1973 across the entire basin. In order to assess the impact of changing climate on hydrological variables, a scenario is generated in which LU is kept constant and climate is varied from 1971-2005. Under this scenario, land cover related variables are kept constant in the model and meteorological variables are varied for different time periods. The results indicate decline in the simulated discharge for the years 1971, 1980, 1990, 2000 and 2005, which is supported by decline in observed annual rainfall for the respective years. Amongst 1971 and 2005, year 2005 received 26% less rainfall resulting in 35% less discharge. Furthermore, ET is observed to be negligibly affected. To understand the integrated impact of changing LU and climate on hydrological variables, a scenario is generated in which both climate and LU are altered. Based on the data available, three years (1973, 1980 and 2000) are considered for the simulations. Under this scenario, both land cover and meteorological variables are varied in the model. The results obtained showed that the discharge hydrograph for the year 1980 has significantly higher peak compared to the hydrographs of years 1973 and 2000. This could be due to the fact that the year 1980 received maximum rainfall amongst the three years considered for simulations. Although the basin received higher rainfall in the year 1980 compared to that in 2000, ET from the basin in the year 1980 is found to be 21% less than that of the year 2000. This could be attributed to the change in LU that occurred between the years 1980 and 2000. Amongst the years 1973 and 2000, there is not much difference in the observed rainfall but ET for the year 2000 is observed to be significantly higher than that of year 1973. It is concluded from the present study that in the UGB, changing LULC contributes significantly to the changes in peak discharge and ET while rainfall pattern considerably influences the runoff pattern of the region. Future work proposed includes assessment of hydrologic response of basin under future LULC and climate scenarios. Also the model efficiency can be assessed by performing hydrologic simulations at different grid sizes.