The conventional pixel-oriented classification is the most commonly used approach in remote sensing for land use product extraction. The object-oriented classification based on image segmentation is an alternative, which uses pixel context, texture and shapes, in addition to their spectral characteristics. This paper reports on a comparative study between supervised pixel-oriented and object-oriented classifications in a precision agriculture context using three hyperspectral images on our first study site, and a set of hyperspectral and multispectral images for a second site. The images for the first site, owned by the horticulture research and development centre (Agriculture Canada) at L'Acadie in southern Quebec, were acquired with the Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager (CASI) sensor at three different altitudes, providing three different spatial resolutions: 1, 2 and 4 m. For the second site, located at the Indian Head Agriculture Research foundation in Saskatchewan, a Probe-1 hyperspectral image was acquired as well as a multispectral IKONOS image. After calibration and correcting the imagery, pixel-oriented classifications were carried out using the maximum likelihood algorithm and object-oriented classifications with a nearest neighbor classifier after region growing hierarchical segmentation. After segmentation, statistical comparison on the mean difference to neighbor objects confirmed that the segments had minimum mixing effects in respect to other segmentation levels and neighboring ground entities. After accuracy analysis on the classifications for the first site, the segmentation process allowed the use of a spatially coarser hyperspectral image (4 m with kappa of 0.8268) to achieve better results than pixel oriented classification of a spatially finer hyperspectral image (1 m with kappa of 0.7730), in the task of delineating agricultural classes. For the second site, results are still consistent. Object oriented results of the hyperspectral Probe-1 image (kappa of 0.9628) significantly exceed the pixel oriented results (kappa of 0.9217). Similarity is observed with IKONOS multispectral imagery (kappa of 0.9371 for object oriented and kappa of 0.8926 for pixel oriented). Image segmentation is therefore an important technique to achieve high accuracy in classification of land cover classes. Hyperspectral imagery also has a strong power of discrimination between many agricultural classes.

Active layer detachments on the Fosheim Peninsula have been assumed to develop over periods of minutes to a few hours. This assumption played an integral role in the understanding of relationships between active layer detachment deposit morphology, morphometry and sedimentology and active layer detachment dynamics. Field observations of two failures at 'Big Slide Creek' on the Fosheim Peninsula in August 2005 showed that while one failure conformed to the pre-existing assumption of near-instantaneous formation, movement and cessation of movement, the other failure did not and exhibited progressive expansion over several days. Several active layer detachments known to have initiated in 2005 were visited in 2006 to assess whether active layer detachments known to have failed via a prolonged mode display surficial and internal morphological characteristics that are unique from active layer detachments known to have failed via a near-instantaneous mode and to evaluate the ability of the infinite slope model to adequately predict slope stability. Results have indicated that active layer detachments known to have failed via a prolonged mode display a number of surficial and internal morphological characteristics that differ from those at active layer detachments known to have failed via a near-instantaneous mode. Based on Factor of Safety calculations, peak effective stress stability analysis indicates that Fosheim Peninsula slopes should be stable if pore-water pressures are not artesian, whereas residual effective stress stability analysis indicates that slopes greater than 6° on the Fosheim Peninsula are unstable even if pore water pressures are not artesian. Sensitivity analyses indicates that under peak conditions, Factors of Safety on Fosheim Peninsula slopes are most sensitive to changes in cohesion while under residual conditions, slope instability is related to increases in both slope angle and head of water above the slip plane.

This research statistically examined the topographic characteristics of rock glacier locations in the Yukon Territory and tested the suitability of the Canadian air photo collection for photogrammetrically measuring rock glacier velocities. A database of more than 1500 rock glacier locations in the Yukon was compiled. The topographic characteristics of rock glaciers in a 12% sample were compared by classifying the sample by morphology (lobate or tongue-shaped) and activity (active, inactive or relict) and testing the difference between the class properties of elevation, slope, aspect and area. Tongue-shaped rock glaciers occurred at significantly higher mean and minimum elevations than lobate forms. Active rock glaciers were significantly larger than inactive and relict forms, and active forms were significantly more north-facing than inactive forms. The photogrammetry study found that it is possible to measure rock glacier movement rates from multi-temporal air photos of the quality and frequency available for the Canadian North. It was also found that thermokarst development could be tracked on multi-temporal air photos, though its presence hinders the measurement of movement. With the continued acquisition of high quality photos, the technique should prove useful for monitoring both rock glacier movement and thermokarst development.

In May 2008, high frequency ground penetrating radar (GPR) surveys were conducted on the Belcher Glacier Basin, Devon Ice Cap, and validated with avalanche probe measurements to map the thickness and spatial variability of winter (2007-8) snow. The GPR record was combined with field measurements using a neutron density probe and correlated with NCEP-NCAR climate reanalysis, QSCAT satellite records, and airborne ASIRAS data to derive multi-year snow accumulation patterns across the basin from 2005-7. The distinct characteristics of the GPR record from the surface to 3 m depth were related to the 2007 and 2005 summer surfaces. GPR derived depths to these surfaces and the assessment of the average annual accumulation rate across this basin correlate very well with previous snow accumulation assessments in other parts of Devon Ice Cap (Mair et al. 2005, Colgan et al. 2008 and Koerner 1977). The complex radar returns in the LSS-05 depth range appear to be related to extensive melt processes during summer 2005, together with a large rain event in summer 2006, which produced large quantities of meltwater at all elevations of Devon Ice Cap. The major broad-scale control factor in determining annual and multiyear snow depth patterns for the basin is elevation, with surface topography and distance from the moisture source being locally important. GPR enabled the position of the basin-wide snow line to be determined by observing internal layers emerging at the surface, with the superimposed ice facies and equilibrium line altitude inferred below this altitude.

The overall aim is to examine how the European Union Water Framework Directive has affected the local water management in the catchment Märstaån situated in the eastern part of the lake Mälaren river basin, Sweden. The first part of the study gives an historical overview of the area with focus on how the old agricultural landscape was handling the nutrient load from farming activities by means of different kinds of wetlands. By using the concept of the procedural landscape, introduced by Torsten Hägerstrand , together with historical maps with dates starting from the 17th century, the pre-modern landscape is analyzed.  The second part is an investigation, based on qualitative data, on how the different actors in the catchment area work together to secure the water quality for the Märstaån river. The analysis shows that the Märstaån catchment river systems are mostly unchanged in the rural areas.  The exception is the mainstream section of the Märstaån river running partly underground today and the Halmsjöbäcken river that is heavily affected by the Arlanda airport situated within the catchment area. A number of new wetlands have also been constructed to compensate for old wetlands affected by the growth of the Märsta and Arlanda urban areas.  The newly formed water cooperation group with representatives from all the major actors in the catchment area is very much alive with stated mission and goals. The main activity today is extended water quality monitoring in order to fulfill the local interpretation of the European Union Water Framework Directive.

Strandlinjen i Sverige har sedan den senaste inlandsisen präglats av isostatisklandhöjning. Höjningen var som kraftigast straxt efter deglaciationen men verkar påtagligt än idag i landets norra delar, framförallt Ångermanland och Västerbotten, medan rörelsen minskat i landets södra delar där den är liten eller avtagit helt. Strandförskjutning är resultatet av isostatisk landhöjning och eustatisk havsytenivåförändring. För att rekonstruera strandförskjutningens utveckling upprättas strandförskjutningskurvor. Kurvan är således resultatet av landhöjning och havsnivåförändringar i meter som en funktion av tiden. Då den isostatiska landhöjning påverkar strandförskjutningsförloppet både i nord-sydlig samt öst-västlig riktning med varierande storlek i olika delar av landet, bör områden modelleras utifrån lokala förutsättningar för att uppnå en så korrekt detaljnivå som möjligt. Examensarbetes syfte är att belysa paleogeografiska förändringar i östra Svealand under de senaste 7000 åren. Information har hämtats från såväl arkeologiska som geologiska källor, såsom strandnära bosättningar och isolerade sjöar. Genom att använda geografiskt läge, nuvarande höjd över havet och ålder, kunde en trendyta anpassas för att beräkna en synkron forntida strandlinje för valfri tidpunkt inom hela undersökningsområdet. Trendytan skapades med hjälp av multivariat regressionsanalys vilket resulterade i en andragradsekvation baserad på åldern i kvadrat, vilket indikerar att hastigheten av strandförskjutningen har varierat med tiden, i detta fall avtagit med tiden. Ytan visade på ojämn isostasi i både nord-sydlig och öst-västlig riktning med högst höjning i nordväst och lägst i sydost. Tidigare studier har påvisat indikationer på transgressiva förlopp söder om Mälardalen under senaste 7000 åren. Inga sådana trender kunde dock identifieras genom denna matematiska funktion då detta kräver fördjupade sedimentstratigrafiska studier.

Legacy industrial contaminants, such as trichloroethene (TCE), that have been released to aquifers in the last century, now threaten the quality of groundwater baseflow to lowland rivers and streams. Before reaching these receptors, contaminant plumes must first transit the heterogeneous environment of the aquifer-river interface. This research investigates the fate and potential for in-situ natural attenuation at this interface where a poorly-defined TCE plume potentially threatens a ‘gaining’ lowland river in the UK. It was possible to reveal a well-defined discharge zone of the plume in the riverbed with limited dispersion occurring in the low-permeability floodplain deposits. Through electrical resistivity imaging and intrusive sampling, this alluvial aquitard was revealed to be laterally extensive along the river corridor. A dissolved TCE flux of 0.43–1.5 g d–1 to the river was estimated,with most of this discharge occurring over a 40 m long reach, centred on a meander bend in the floodplain. The location and magnitude of this flux is influenced by continuity of stratified silt and peat deposits extending riverward from the floodplain, which provide significant retardation capacity. Metre-scale heterogeneity in the spatial variability of the groundwater discharge through these deposits was revealed with riverbed temperature mapping. A dominance of aerobic and nitrate-rich water throughout the aquifer-river system maintains a large stoichiometric demand for organic carbon and prevents the onset of reducing conditions required for significant dechlorination of the plume. However, at discrete shallow locations in the riverbed and parts of the alluvium, partial dechlorination of the plume was observed. A grid of pore water samplers revealed more enhanced dechlorination to cis-1,2-dichloroethene and vinyl chloride in methanogenic zones of the shallow sediment that was influenced by river macrophyte growth. Although in-situ natural attenuation does exceed the up-gradient aquifer in places, overall these processes are unlikely to prevent migration of the majority of the contaminant mass to the river. However, surface water impacts from this particular plume are unlikely with the large dilution available in the river itself.

Groundwater-surface water exchange significantly impacts proglacial hydrology and ecology. This study applies a multidisciplinary approach to investigate groundwater-surface water exchange in the proglacial zones of two retreating glaciers in SE Iceland. Mapping of decadal changes in the extent of proglacial groundwater seeps in the large outwash plain of Skeiðarársandur has shown a 97% decline, as well as substantial falls in groundwater levels. Field and laboratory measurements suggested high spatial variability in hydraulic conductivity at the Skaftafellsjökull foreland. The highest hydraulic conductivity was measured in areas underlain by glaciofluvial deposits whilst the lowest hydraulic conductivities were associated with glacial tills and lacustrine deposits. Precipitation was identified as an important control on groundwater levels on various temporal scales. Automated monitoring of meltwater and groundwater levels also identified fluctuations in meltwater level as an important control on hydraulic heads, whose importance on groundwater levels has been observed during various flow regimes. The close connection between meltwater and groundwater levels suggest high meltwater-aquifer exchange. However, high meltwater-aquifer exchange is contested by significantly different geochemical and isotopic composition of groundwater and meltwater. Hydrogeological flux estimates suggest high spatial variability in groundwater seepage into the Instrumented Lake, which was attributed to the high variability in hydraulic conductivity around the lakeshores. These are also supported by high –resolution temperature mapping at the lake bed, which suggested that groundwater upwelling in the fine-grained lakeshore took place at discrete locations. This study suggests climate and glacier margin fluctuations as primary controls on proglacial groundwater-surface water exchange. It also highlights the importance of groundwater contributions to water quality and ecology, with groundwater-fed bodies possibly sustaining important ecological niches. However, proglacial groundwater-fed features are transient and are threatened by changes in precipitation and glacier retreat. Further declines in groundwater-fed hydrological systems are therefore projected to adversely impact proglacial groundwater-surface water interaction.

Near-surface geophysical techniques should be routinely utilised by law enforcement agencies to detect and locate shallowly buried forensic objects, saving manpower and resources. However, there has been little published research on optimum geophysical detection method(s) and configurations beyond metal detectors and high frequency GPR. This thesis firstly details systematic multi-frequency GPR surveys over simulated clandestine burials of murder victims in a semi-urban environment over a three year monitoring period. Wrapped burials could be detected throughout, though naked burials were more difficult to detect. It is suggested that detection of naked burials is possible within 18 months of presumed burial. 225 MHz frequency GPR antennae were deemed optimal for target detection and 2D profile analysis alone was deemed sufficient to target burials. Surveys conducted between winter and spring were deemed optimal for target detection. This thesis next presents three U.K. case studies of church graveyards in contrasting burial environments, soil types, burial styles and ages. Geophysical survey results reveal that unmarked burials can be identified using 0.5 m spaced 2D GPR profiles using 225 MHz frequency antennae. Bulk ground electrical surveys showed 1 m probe separations were optimal, with datasets needed ‘de-trending’ to reveal burial positions. Results were highly variable depending upon soil type; very coarse soils severely restricted successful detection of unmarked burials by resistivity. GPR therefore proved optimal, though resistivity data proved equally as useful as GPR in more clay-rich soils. Results, combined with subsequent archaeological investigations, showed targets were significantly different from clandestine burials which are commonly used as analogues in forensic geophysics research. This thesis finally presented multi-technique geophysical surveys to detect simulated unmarked illegal weapons, explosive devices and arms caches that were shallowly buried within a semi-urban environment test site. The site was then covered with a concrete patio before re-surveying in order to represent a common domestic household garden environment. Results showed that the easily-utilised magnetic susceptibility probe was, surprisingly, optimal for target detection in both semi-urban and patio environments in comparison to all other techniques trialled and, interestingly, compared to other magnetic equipment. Basic metal detector surveys had similar target detection rates though the handgun was not detected. High-frequency (900 MHz) GPR antennae was optimal for target detection in the semi-urban environment whilst 450 and 900 MHz frequencies had similar detection rates in the patio scenario. Resistivity surveys at 0.25 m probe- and sample-spacings were good for target detection in the semi-urban environment. 2D profiles were sufficient for target detection but resistivity datasets required site ‘de-trending’ to resolve targets in map view. Forensic geophysical techniques are shown here to be rapidly evolving to assist search investigators in the detection of hitherto difficult-to-locate buried forensic targets and, as such, further research in this field is suggested.

This thesis analyzes the contested struggles for fuelw ood extraction and protection around the Borjomi-Kharagauli Protected Areas (BKPA) of central Georgia in light of wider debates over the reconciliation of biodiversity conservation and livelihood security in the developing world. Particular focus is given to conflicts over local peoples’ struggles in access ing fuelwood and the ways and extent to which these struggles are influenced by broader forces. In endeavoring to answer these questions, interviews were conducted with local people living on the margin of BKPA as well as with conservation authorities involved in the development and ongoing management of the park. The results of the research suggest that considerable obstacles to fuelwood access remain despite BKPA policies permitting fuelwood extraction in several of the studied villages. Furthermore, the association of non-state actors in the development of BKPA coupled with the lack of participation of local people in ongoing management provoke questions of legitimacy and governance. The study underscores that in contexts of widespread poverty and highly subsistence based livelihoods, participatory management embo dies the most effective and socially just approach to conservation.