Over the last twenty years, the concepts of sustainability and sustainable development have assumed political importance around the world, and have been largely embraced by governments and prominent international institutions. These concepts have been a means of tackling the challenges of population growth and environmental change. For the UK water sector, these concepts now represent a multitude of challenges. The confluence of climate change and population growth is reducing access to, and the availability of, water resources. The financial costs of inputs such as energy, chemicals, materials and cost of process by-products such as greenhouse gases, carbon, and waste services continue to rise. Government regulators are demanding an improvement in the quality of services, increasingly stringent conditions for emissions to water, air or land, catchment-specific management of the water environment, and the adoption of longterm planning horizons. The UK government has expectations that the water sector will play a role in the delivery of its targets for reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions. Society demands that WaSCs engage in high-level stakeholder consultations and employ long-term visions to guide their decision-making. Finally, WaSCs are increasingly expected to demonstrate and respond to local and global concerns (under the rubric of corporate responsibility) to further justify their value to society. Cont/d.

Le catalyseur quatre voies est destiné à diminuer simultanément les émissions d’hydrocarbures, de monoxyde de carbone, d’oxydes d’azote et de suies par l’intermédiaire d’un seul monolithe catalytique. Plusieurs études sur ce type de catalyseur ont montré que la présence d’oxydes d’azote entraîne une diminution de la température d’oxydation des suies. Cependant, l’effet de la présence d’eau sur l’adsorption des oxydes d’azote n’est pas encore clair, surtout en présence de suies. Les travaux présentés dans ce manuscrit ont pour but de mettre en évidence l’influence de la présence d’eau et/ou de suies sur le fonctionnement de catalyseur «piège à NOx». Les résultats obtenus montrent que la présence d’eau entraîne une inhibition de la fonction oxydante du catalyseur, une diminution de la quantité de stockage des oxydes d’azote, et une inhibition de la formation des espèces adsorbées de surface. Ces phénomènes ont été attribués à la voix réactionnelle spécifique en présence d’eau associée à l’adsorption des oxydes d’azote. Les résultats obtenus sur le mélange noir de carbone et catalyseur montrent que la présence de noir de carbone induit une diminution de stockage des oxydes d’azote. De plus, cet effet se trouve plus important en contact fort. Les expériences réalisées sur l’adsorption des oxydes d’azote en présence simultanée de noir de carbone et d’eau ont montré un effet non cumulé de l’eau et du noir de carbone. Ce phénomène a été attribué à une compétition entre l’action de l’eau qui favorise la formation de nitrate de cœur à partir des nitrates faiblement liés et l’action du noir de carbone qui tend à déstabiliser les nitrates faiblement liés pour former les carbonates. / The four ways catalyst is used to decrease the emissions of hydrocarbon, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and soot by a monolithic catalyst. Several researches on this type of catalyst have shown that the presence of nitrogen oxides involves a decrease of the soot oxidation temperature. However, the effect of the presence of water on the nitrogen oxides adsorption is not clear yet, especially with the presence of soot. The works presented in this manuscript are intended to study the influence of the presence of water or/and soot on the performance of the catalyst NOx trap. The results showed that the presence of water involves an inhibition of the oxidation function of catalyst, a decrease of the capacity of the NOx storage, and an inhibition of the formation of the surface adsorbed species. It is attributed to a special reactive way in the presence of water linked to the adsorption of nitrogen oxides. The results obtained on the mix of carbon black and catalyst showed that the presence of carbon black induce a decrease of the NOx storage capacity of catalyst. Besides, this effect was more important with a tight contact between carbon black and catalyst. The experiments realized on the adsorption of nitrogen oxides with the presence of carbon black and water simultaneously showed an effect not accumulated of the water and the carbon black. This phenomenon is attributed to a competition between the action of water which favors the formation of the bulk nitrate from the weak-linked nitrates and the action of carbon black which tend to destabilize the weak-linked nitrates to form the carbonates.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This work evaluated, throught techniques of Remote Sensing and geoprocessing, the influence of hydrological conditions in the dynamics of emergent aquatic macrophytes in Taim Wetland (TW), important wet area in Rio Grande do Sul. The TW covers about 53% of the entire area of Taim s Ecological Station, a Federal Protected Area, which has its uses shared, mainly between biodiversity protection and irrigation. The irrigation is an important economical activity for the region, however, it changes the hydrological regime of TW, a fundamental feature for the maintenance of local biodiversity. Thus, the understanding of how the hydrological regime impacts TW s biodiversity is an important tool for the management of water resources in the region. In this context, three species of emergent aquatic macrophytes (EAM), Z.bonariensis, S. californicus and S. giganteus, were selected, both considered as biological indicators of TW. In order to evaluate how the water levels impact the three EAM, some analyses on the relationship among the hydrological condition, maps of vegetation occurrence, index for normalized difference (IND) and index of habitat suitability (IHS) were carried out. For the identification of the occurrence areas and determination of IND of EAM, Landsat images from TM and ETM sensors were used, comprising the period between 1984 and 2003, while the IHS and the hydrological regime were obtained from previous studies (Tassi, 2008; Xavier, 2015). The employed methodology showed that the EAM Z.bonariensis and S. californicus are more sensitive to larger water levels (representatives of flood conditions); in this situation, reductions in the occurrence areas of these species were indentified. For smaller water levels (drought conditions), there was an increasing in the occurrence areas of the three species. The IND showed an effective index for the understanding of EAM s response to the hydrological conditions, although in many cases there was so much difficulty in the differentiation of vegetation and water. Generally, good coefficients of determination were found between the IND and the average IHS of three months (month of image + two months previous to the image date), and between the IND and the hydrological condition (water level) of two months previous to the image date. These results are the evidence that the effects of hydrological conditions on the studied EAM are not readily detected, and that anthropic actions can produce long-term effects. / O presente trabalho avaliou, por meio de técnicas de Sensoriamento Remoto e geoprocessamento, a influência das condições hidrológicas na dinâmica de macrófitas aquáticas emergentes no Banhado do Taim (BT), importante área úmida do Rio Grande do Sul. O BT ocupa cerca de 53% da área total da Estação Ecológica do Taim, uma Unidade de Conservação Federal, que tem seus usos compartilhados, principalmente entre conservação da biodiversidade e irrigação. A irrigação é uma importante atividade econômica para a região, no entanto, altera o regime hidrológico do BT, característica fundamental para a manutenção da biodiversidade local. Assim, o entendimento de como o regime hidrológico impacta a biodiversidade do BT constitui-se em uma importante ferramenta para o gerenciamento dos recursos hídricos da região. Neste contexto, foram selecionadas três espécies de macrófitas aquáticas emergentes (MAE), Z. bonariensis, S. californicus e S. giganteus, consideradas indicadores biológicos do BT. Para avaliar como os níveis de água impactam as três MAE, foram realizadas análises da relação entre condição hidrológica, mapas de ocorrência da vegetação, índice por diferença normalizada (NDVI) e índice de adequabilidade de habitat (IAH). Para a identificação das áreas de ocorrência e determinação do NDVI das MAE, foram utilizadas imagens Landsat dos sensores TM e ETM, compreendidas entre os anos de 1984 e 2003, enquanto o IAH e o regime hidrológico foram obtidos a partir de estudos prévios (Tassi, 2008; Xavier, 2015). A metodologia empregada mostrou que as MAE Z. bonariensis, S. californicus são mais sensíveis a níveis d água maiores (representativos de condições de cheia); nesta situação, foram identificadas reduções nas áreas de ocorrência destas espécies. Para níveis de água menores (condições de seca), houve um aumento nas áreas de ocorrência das três espécies. O NDVI se mostrou um índice eficaz no entendimento da resposta das MAE às condições hidrológicas, mesmo apresentando muita dificuldade na diferenciação de vegetação e água sob condições de cheia. De modo geral, foram encontrados bons coeficientes de determinação entre o NDVI e o IAH médio de três meses (mês da imagem + dois meses anteriores à data da imagem), e entre o NDVI e a condição hidrológica (nível d água) de dois meses anteriores à data da imagem. Esses resultados são indícios de que os efeitos das condições hidrológicas sobre as MAE estudadas não são prontamente detectados, e que ações antrópicas podem produzir efeitos a longo prazo.