Diplomová práce se nejprve zabývá definováním základních pojmů z oblasti fiskální problematiky ? státní rozpočet, rozpočtový deficit a veřejný dluh. K provedení praktické části byly vybrány Irsko a Belgie, protože právě těmto státům se podařilo nejrazantněji snížit výši relativní váhy svého veřejného zadlužení v rámci zemí Evropské unie. Práce tak obsahuje popis vývoje hospodářství a nerovnováhy veřejných financí těchto států. K závěrečné analýze klíčových faktorů byly přibrány ještě Dánsko, jako třetí nejúspěšnější země, a Česká republika, která naopak představuje zástupce států s rostoucím poměrem veřejného zadlužení k HDP.

This thesis examines the events and discourses targeted to reemphasize the law tithing and to encourage increased tithe-paying from members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints between 1899 and 1907. This examination begins at Church president Lorenzo Snow's journey to St. George and extends through Joseph F. Smith's announcement of the Church's freedom from its long-standing debts. Each chapter analyzes this period from a different perspective provided by contemporary sources. These perspectives include primarily newspaper reports and transcripts from Lorenzo Snow's journey to St. George, reports from general Church conferences, and articles in Church-sponsored publications.This examination yields a more contoured view of the discussion of tithing in the Church at the turn of the 20th century and shows, importantly, that one of Lorenzo Snow's main motivations for his reemphasis of tithing was to prepare the Church to return to and reclaim Zion in Jackson County, Missouri.

Les acquisitions de télédétection ont des caractéristiques complémentaires en termes de résolution spatiale et temporelle et peuvent mesurer différents aspects de la couverture neigeuse (propriétés physiques de surface, type de neige, etc.). En combinant plusieurs acquisitions, il devrait être possible d'obtenir un suivi précis et continu de la neige. Cependant, cet objectif se heurte à la complexité du traitement des images satellites et à la confusion possible entre les différents matériaux observés. Plus particulièrement, l’accès à l’information fractionnelle, c’est-à-dire à la proportion de neige dans chaque pixel, nécessite de retrouver la proportion de l’ensemble des matériaux qui se trouvent dans celui-ci. Ces proportions sont accessibles via des méthodes d’inversions ou démélange spectral se basant sur la résolution spectrale des images obtenues. Le défi général est alors d’arriver à exploiter correctement les différentes informations de natures différentes qui nous sont apportées par les différentes acquisitions afin de produire des cartes d’enneigement précises. Les objectifs de la thèse sont alors au nombre de trois et peuvent se résumer par trois grandes interrogations qui permettent de traiter les différents points évoqués:- Quelles sont les limitations actuelles de l’état de l'art pour l’observation spatiale optique de la neige ?- Comment exploiter les séries temporelles pour s’adapter à la variabilité spectrale des matériaux ?- Est-il possible de généraliser la fusion de données pour une acquisition multimodale à partir de capteurs optiques ?Une étude complète des différents produits de neige issus du satellite MODIS est ainsi proposée, permettant l’identification des nombreuses limitations dont la principale est le haut taux d’erreurs lors de la reconstitution de la fraction (environ 30%). Parmi ces résultats sont notamment identifiés des problèmes liés aux méthodes de démélange face à la variabilité spectrale des matériaux. Face à ces limitations nous avons exploité les séries temporelles MODIS pour proposer une nouvelle approche d’estimation des endmembers, étape critique du démélange spectral. La faible évolution temporelle du milieu (hors neige) est alors utilisée pour contraindre l’estimation des endmembers non seulement sur l’image d’intérêt, mais également sur les images des jours précédents. L’efficacité de cette approche bien que démontrée ici reste sujette aux limitations de résolution spatiale intrinsèques au capteur. Des expérimentations sur la fusion de donnée, à même de pouvoir améliorer la qualité des images, ont par conséquent été réalisées. Devant les limitations de ces méthodes dans le cas des capteurs multispectraux utilisés, une nouvelle approche de fusion a été proposée. Via la formulation d’un nouveau modèle et sa résolution, la fusion entre des capteurs optiques de tous types peut être réalisée sans considération de recouvrement spectral. Les différentes expérimentations sur l’estimation de cartes de neige montrent un intérêt certain d’une meilleure résolution spatiale pour isoler les zones enneigées. Ce travail montre ainsi les nouvelles possibilités de développement pour l’observation de la neige, mais également les évolutions de l’utilisation combinée des images satellites pour l’observation de la Terre en général. / Remote sensing acquisitions have complementary characteristics in terms of spatial and temporal resolution and can measure different aspects of snow cover (e.g., surface physical properties and snow type). By combining several acquisitions, it should be possible to obtain a precise and continuous monitoring of the snow. However, this task has to face the complexity of processing satellite images and the possible confusion between different materials observed. In particular, the estimation of fractional information, i.e., the amount of snow in each pixel, requires to know the proportion of the materials present in a scene. These proportions can be obtained performing spectral unmixing. The challenge is then to effectively exploit the information of different natures that are provided by the multiple acquisitions in order to produce accurate snow maps.Three main objectives are addressed by this thesis and can be summarized by the three following questions:- What are the current limitations of state-of-the-art techniques for the estimation of snow cover extent from optical observations?- How to exploit a time series for coping with the spectral variability of materials?- How can we take advantage of multimodal acquisitions from optical sensors for estimating snow cover maps?A complete study of the various snow products from the MODIS satellite is proposed. It allows the identification of numerous limitations, the main one being the high rate of errors during the estimation of the snow fraction (approximately 30%).The experimental analysis allowed to highlight the sensitivity of the spectral unmixing methods against the spectral variability of materials.Given these limitations, we have exploited the MODIS time series to propose a new endmembers estimation approach, addressing a critical step in spectral unmixing. The low temporal evolution of the medium (except snow) is then used to constrain the estimation of the endmembers not only on the image of interest, but also on images of the previous days. The effectiveness of this approach, although demonstrated here, remains limited by the spatial resolution of the sensor.Data fusion has been considered aiming at taking advantage of multiple acquisitions with different characteristics in term of resolution available on the same scene. Given the limitations of the actual methods in the case of multispectral sensors, a new fusion approach has been proposed. Through the formulation of a new model and its resolution, the fusion between optical sensors of all types can be achieved without consideration of their characteristics. The various experiments on the estimation of snow maps show a clear interest of a better spatial resolution to isolate the snow covered areas. The improvement in spectral resolution will improve future approaches based on spectral unmixing.This work explores the new possibilities of development for the observation of snow, but also for the combined use of the satellite images for the observation of the Earth in general.

This thesis deals with the possibility of using webcams as a source of spatial data for snow occurrence. The aim of this study is to propose a suitable method of snow cover detection from web camera images. From a sample of 6 webcams of the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMI) the snow cover is detected by pixel classification methods. The effect of training file size on the accuracy of classification is examined and the overall accuracy achieved by the SVM method was shown to be 97.46%. This study also aims to propose a system for determining the proportion of snow-covered areas. The algorithm consists of several sub-steps: filtering and registration of images, detection of snow, introduction of a coordinate system, calculation of the size of the surveyed area and the proportion of snow-covered area. The designed model can be used for automatic processing of images for various webcams. The melting curves of the snow cover are generated from the obtained daily values of the snow covered area. The results are validated using data from selected CHMI stations. The proposed and parameterized model confirms the possibility of successful use of webcams as a complement to ground measurement of meteorological stations and for the validation of remote sensing products.

The Hindu-Kush Himalayan region possesses a large resource of snow and ice, which acts as a freshwater reservoir for irrigation, domestic water consumption or hydroelectric power for billions of people in South Asia. Monitoring hydrologic resources in this region is challenging because of the difficulty of installing and maintaining a climate and hydrologic monitoring network, limited transportation and communication infrastructure and difficult access to glaciers. As a result of the high, rugged topographic relief, ground observations in the region are extremely sparse. Reanalysis data offer the potential to compensate for the data scarcity, which is a barrier in hydrological modeling and analysis for improving water resources management. Reanalysis weather data products integrate observations with atmospheric model physics to produce a spatially and temporally complete weather record in the post-satellite era. This dissertation creates an integrated hydrologic modeling system that tests whether streamflow prediction can be improved by taking advantage of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) remote sensing and reanalysis weather data products in physically based energy balance snow melt and hydrologic models. This study also enhances the energy balance snowmelt model by adding capability to quantify glacier melt. The novelty of this integrated modeling tool resides in allowing the user to isolate various components of surface water inputs (rainfall, snow and glacier ice melt) in a cost-free, open source graphical-user interface-based system that can be used for government and institutional decision-making. Direct, physically based validation of this system is challenging due to the data scarcity in this region, but, to the extent possible, the model was validated through comparison to observed streamflow and to point measurements at locations in the United States having available data

<p>In this study I assessed the effect of objects and odors as environmental enrichment for two captive snow leopards (Uncia uncia) at Kolmården Wildlife Park. Five odors (lavender, lemon balm, cumin, cinnamon and catnip) were used to impregnate four different types of enrichment objects (boomer balls®, tennis balls, ropes, logs). During test sessions, one odorized and one non-odorized enrichment object of the same type were introduced in the snow leopards’ outdoor enclosure. The behavior, activity and location of the snow leopards were recorded and compared to their behavior during baseline sessions. During the test sessions I recorded the number and types of interactions with the enrichment objects. Both snow leopards interacted more often with odorized than with non-odorized enrichment objects. The number of interactions differed markedly between the types of enrichment objects and between the different odors. Both snow leopards interacted most often with boomer balls® and least often with logs. They interacted most often with cinnamon and least often with lemon balm (Brahma) and catnip (Binu). The results suggest that both the type of object and the odor play a role in capturing the interest of the snow leopards. The snow leopards behavioral diversity increased during the study and they could increase their performance of species-specific behavior. I did not see any indications of habituation during the testing period. The results indicate that enrichment objects impregnated with odors can be an effective environmental enrichment for captive snow leopards.</p>

<p>We present a method for stable buildup of snow on surfaces of</p><p>arbitrary topology and geometric complexity. This is achieved by</p><p>tracing quantities of snow, so-called snow packages,</p><p>through a dynamic wind field. Dual compact level sets are used to</p><p>represent geometry as well as accumulated snow. The level sets</p><p>have also proven to be well suited for the internal boundaries for</p><p>our Navier-Stokes solver, which produces a wind field that changes</p><p>according to snow buildup. Our method is different from previous</p><p>work in that all the addition of snow is done by local operations,</p><p>avoiding computationally expensive global refinement procedures.</p><p>The main contribution of this work is a dual level set method for</p><p>particle interaction with level sets.</p>

<p>In many parts of the world snow melt runoff influence discharge from combined sewer overflows (CSO) and flooding in urban drainage systems. Despite this, urban snow hydrology is a field that has received little attention from the urban drainage community. The objectives of this research were to better understand urban snow hydrology and through field work and hydrological modelling quantify effects of anthropogenic activities (AA) on snow distribution, and melt in an urban environment. This means in principle how the presence (design geometry) and operation of roads and buildings influence the snow distribution and melt in urban areas. The Risvollan urban catchment (20 ha) located in Trondheim, Norway, was used as a study area. A literature review of urban snow hydrology was also carried out.</p><p>A gridded urban hydrology model (GUHM) was developed as part of the study. The principal idea of the GUHM is to subdivide an urban catchment into orthogonal equal area grid cells. The snow routine in the GUHM is based on an energy balance approach, which together with a soil-runoff routine is used to calculate a time series of rain, snow water equivalent (SWE), snow melt, and runoff, for each grid cell. In GUHM, processes such as snow clearing of roads, locally low albedos, heat/shadowing from buildings, and effects of slope and aspect are included in the model structure.</p><p>A technique for observing time series of snow covered area (SCA) for an urban catchment is presented. The method is based on image processing and neural network technology to calculate SCA from a time series of images taken from a tall building in the Risvollan catchment. It was shown that SCA on roads and roofs in general becomes more rapidly snow free during melt periods compared to the park areas of the Risvollan catchment. This can be explained by snow clearing of roads, snowdrift from roofs and high snow melt rates on roofs and roads. The high melt rates was attributed to locally low albedos in vicinity to roads, rooftop snow packs exposure to wind and solar radiation, in addition to anthropogenic heat release from the roofs themselves.</p><p>Field observations of SWE were carried out in the Risvollan catchment and it was shown that areal mean SWE located on/or nearby roads and buildings were significantly lower during mid and end of the winter, than in park areas. This can be attributed to higher melt rates caused by AA. A time series of SCA and SWE was obtained through field work for the period from 2000 to 2003 in the Risvollan catchment.</p><p>The GUHM was applied and calibrated for the Risvollan catchment for a three year period. Two seasons were used as validation period. Comparison between the simulated and observed SWE, SCA and runoff data showed that the GUHM was able to simulate snow accumulation and melt for whole seasons with short time resolution (1 hour) satisfactory.</p><p>The GUHM was used to quantify effects of AA on snow distribution and melt for six different land use scenarios in the Risvollan catchment for the period June 1998 to June 2003. The modelling results showed that when the area coverage of buildings and roads increased, the SCA and SWE more rapidly decreased during melt periods. Because of this more runoff will be produced in the early winter season (Jan-March) compared to if the catchment had been covered with only sparsely vegetated areas.</p><p>The simulation results showed that when the impervious surface covers of a catchment increase, the peak and volume runoff will also increase, as expected.</p><p>Both the field observations and the hydrological model study carried out in this work showed that AA lowers SCA and SWE more rapidly in an urban environment compared to more untouched terrain. The reasons for this are redistribution of snow, and strong snow melt rates on roads, roofs, and in snow deposit areas. Low albedos and anthropogenic heat release are the main reasons for the enhanced snow melt rates.</p>

<p>Referat</p><p><strong>Klimatologisk studie av cyklonbanor över Europa med koppling till snöförhållanden i norra Sverige</strong></p><p><em>Jakob Inghammar</em></p><p>Under de senaste decennierna har temperaturen i atmosfären ökat. En sannolik effekt av detta är en förändring av förekomst och styrka för de utomtropiska cyklonerna. Deras uppträdande spelar en betydande roll för väder och klimat över de områden där de förekommer, därför är det relevant att undersöka om samvariationer för dem existerar med till exempel snöförhållanden och temperaturer. För att utforska detta har lågtryck över norra Atlanten och Europa identifierats ur återanalysdata (ERA-40) under månaderna oktober-mars för åren 1960-1999.</p><p>Denna studie visar på en signifikant ökning av lågtrycksförekomst norr om 60°N och ett signifikant avtagande söder om 60°N. För lågtryckens styrka påvisas en signifikant positiv trend för båda dessa områden. Vid en analys för var och en av månaderna oktober-mars visas att det är under framförallt månaderna januari och februari som lågtrycken med tiden förflyttats norrut och att ingen sådan trend finns för oktober och november. Mellan årens högsta uppmätta snödjup i norra Sverige och lågtrycksfrekvensen kring norra Skandinavien finns en positiv korrelation. För medeltemperaturen på norra halvklotet och över vilka breddgrader cykloner mestadels rör sig under december-mars finns en samvariation, vid varmare förhållanden förflyttas cyklonbanorna norrut. En positiv korrelation finns mellan antal lågtryck norr om 60°N och temperaturen i Abisko.</p><p>För vintrar, som i Abisko hade vitt skilda snöförhållanden, märks en avvikelse för vilka månader som lågtrycksfrekvensen kring norra Skandinavien var hög. Då snötäcket innehöll många isiga lager var lågtrycksfrekvensen hög i början och i slutet av vintern medan den var låg för månaderna i mitten. Det omvända skedde då snötäcket istället var ovanligt poröst.</p><p>En stark samvariation finns mellan den nordatlantiska oscillationen (NAO) och lågtrycksfrekvens i de olika delarna norr och söder om 60°N av det undersökta området. Vid höga NAO-index ökar frekvensen i det norra området medan det minskar i det södra. Vid låga NAO-index sker det omvända.</p><p> </p><p><strong><em>Nyckelord:</em></strong><em> cykloner, lågtryck, återanalysdata, ERA-40, snö, Abisko</em></p><p> </p> / <p>Abstract</p><p><strong>Climatologic study of cyclone tracks over Europe and linkage to snow conditions in northern Sweden</strong></p><p><em>Jakob Inghammar</em></p><p>In the last decades the temperature in the atmosphere has been increasing. One plausible effect of this is a change in frequency and intensity of the extratropical cyclones.<strong> </strong>The appearance of the extratropical cyclones is crucial for the weather conditions and climate at the latitudes where they exist. Hence it is relevant to examine if the frequency of them are related to snow conditions and temperatures. This has been investigated over the north part of the Atlantic Ocean and Europe through detection of local minima in reanalysis data (ERA 40) regarding the sea level pressure for the months October-Mars for the years 1960-1999.</p><p>The result for cyclone frequency display a significant increase in the region north of 60°N and at the same time a significant decrease in the region south of 60°N. In both regions there is a significant increase for the cyclone intensity. This trend with shifting cyclone tracks to the north is most pronounced for the months January and February while no trend can be seen for the months October and November. The maximum snow depth in the northern part of Sweden every year and the frequency of cyclones around northern Scandinavia are positively correlated. The mean temperature of the northern hemisphere and at which latitudes the cyclone tracks mostly exist during December-Mars co-varies. For the same months a positive correlation exists for the number of cyclones in the region north of 60°N and the mean temperature in Abisko.</p><p>Different winters in Abisko with very diverse snow conditions also experienced diverseness concerning cyclone frequency around northern Scandinavia. During the winters when the snow cover was holding many icy layers; the frequency was high in the beginning and in the end of the winter seasons while the cyclone frequency was low in the middle. When the snow cover instead was very porous, the cyclone frequency occurs in the opposite way.</p><p>A strong covariance exists between the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the number of cyclones in each region north and south of 60°N of the examined area. When the NAO-index is positive the frequency of cyclones is elevated in the north region and at the same time reduced in the south region, when the NAO-index is negative the opposite occur.</p><p><em> </em></p><p><strong><em>Keywords:</em></strong><em> cyclones, reanalysis data, ERA-40, snow, Abisko</em></p><p> </p>

The accurate simulation of snowpack deposition and ablation beneath forested areas is confounded by the fact that the vegetation canopy strongly affects the snow surface energy balance. The canopy alters the radiation balance of the snowcover, and reduces the wind speed at the snow surface. Data collected as part of the BOREAS experiment are used to analyze the effects of a variety of forest canopies on the climate at the snow surface. Simple algorithms are developed and used to adjust climate data collected above forest canopies to the snow surface. A 2-layer coupled energy- and mass-balance snowmelt model is used to simulate the deposition and ablation of the snowpack at five forested sites within the Canadian boreal forest for the 1994-1995 snow season. Results of the snowcover simulations indicate that the net snowcover energy balance remains close to zero for the winter months, but exhibits a sharp increase in the spring months. The rapid energy gain in the spring is strongly controlled by canopy cover, and is dominated by net radiation fluxes, with minor contributions from sensible, latent, soil, and advected energy fluxes. Net snowcover irradiance dominates during the spring months due to increased solar intensity and longer day lengths, coupled with increased radiation transmission through canopies at high sun angles, and reduced snowcover albedo resulting from the deposition of fine organic debris. Turbulent (sensible and latent) energy fluxes comprise a relatively minor portion of the net snowcover energy exchange, indicating that the sub-canopy snowcover is relatively insensitive to the meteorological parameters controlling these fluxes. The low thermal conductivity of organic-rich boreal soils must be considered for studies focusing on snowcover development when soil heat flux comprises a large portion of the snowcover energy balance. Model outputs at all sites generally show good agreement with measured snow depths, indicating that the techniques used in these investigations accurately simulate both the deposition and ablation of seasonal snowcovers. Results indicate that snowcovers in the boreal environment may be more sensitive to land-use transitions, rather than climate shifts, due to the strong control exerted by vegetation canopies on radiation transfer processes. The results also suggest that simple canopy adjustment algorithms may be effectively applied to spatially distributed snowcover simulations. More data is required to evaluate the accuracy of these methods for computing energy transfer within canopies having significantly different structures than the sites used in this study. / Graduation date: 1999