Known problems with the air pollution model, TAPM’s meteorological predictions over the Canterbury Plains, New Zealand, has been its lack of ability to simulate low nocturnal stagnant wind speeds, certain wind field directions as well as greatly overestimating the sensible heat flux. The aim of this thesis has been to reduce these known disagreements along with other meteorological parameters in attempt to optimize TAPM’s predictions for New Zealand conditions. The methodology used to obtain better agreement with observational data during a four-day period (1-4 of August 2000) was to modify certain initial parameters. These parameters were the deep soil volumetric moisture content, the deep soil temperature, the sea surface temperature, the synoptic pressure gradient scaling factor, and to include rain processes or not in the simulations. It is found that including rain processes and increasing the deep soil volumetric moisture content (at least during wintertime) do improve the simulations performance. / Från tidigare studier med luftföroreningsmodellen TAPMs meteorologiska prognoser över Canterburys slätter, i Nya Zeeland, har man funnit problem. Dess brister har bestått i svårigheter att simulera de nattetid svaga och stagnerande vindhastigheter, vissa riktningar i vindfältet samt grov överskattning av det sensibla värmaflödet. Målet med denna rapport har varit att reducera dessa kända avvikelser tillsammans med andra meteorologiska parametrar i ett försök att optimera TAPMs prognoser för förhållandena över Nya Zeeland. Metodiken som används för att uppnå bättre överensstämmelse med observationsdatan från en fyradagarsperiod, 1-4 augusti år 2000, var att modifiera vissa specifika initieringparametrar. Dessa parametrar var den djupgående markfuktigheten, den djupgående marktemperaturen, havsytans temperatur, det synoptiska tryckets skalningsfaktor. Det undersöktes också om man skulle inkludera nederbördsprocesser eller inte i simuleringarna. Resultaten visade att en inkludering av nederbördsprocesser samt en ökning av den djupa markfuktigheten (åtminstone vintertid) verkar förbättra kvalitéten på simuleringarnas resultat.

This thesis introduces BodyScape, a body-centric framework that accounts for how users coordinate their movements within and across their own limbs in order to interact with a wide range of devices, across multiple surfaces. It introduces a graphical notation that describes interaction techniques in terms of (1) motor assemblies responsible for performing a control task (input motor assembly) or bringing the body into a position to visually perceive output (output motor assembly), and (2) the movement coordination of motor assemblies, relative to the body or fixed in the world, with respect to the interactive environment. This thesis applies BodyScape to 1) investigate the role of support in a set of novel bimanual interaction techniques for hand-held devices, 2) analyze the competing effect across multiple input movements, and 3) compare twelve pan-and-zoom techniques on a wall-sized display to determine the roles of guidance and interference on performance. Using BodyScape to characterize interaction clarifies the role of device support on the user's balance and subsequent comfort and performance. It allows designers to identify situations in which multiple body movements interfere with each other, with a corresponding decrease in performance. Finally, it highlights the trade-offs among different combinations of techniques, enabling the analysis and generation of a variety of multi-surface interaction techniques. I argue that including a body-centric perspective when defining interaction techniques is essential for addressing the combinatorial explosion of interactive devices in multi-surface environments.

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Cette thèse présente BodyScape, un espace de conception prenant en compte l’engagement corporel de l’utilisateur dans l’interaction. BodyScape décrit la façon dont les utilisateurs coordonnent les mouvements de, et entre leurs membres, lorsqu’ils interagissent avec divers dispositifs d’entrée et entre plusieurs surfaces d’affichage. Il introduit une notation graphique pour l’analyse des techniques d’interaction en termes (1) d’assemblages de moteurs, qui accomplissent une tâche d’interaction atomique (assemblages de moteurs d’entrée), ou qui positionnent le corps pour percevoir les sorties du système (assemblages de moteurs de sortie); (2) de coordination des mouvements de ces assemblages de moteurs, relativement au corps de l’utilisateur ou à son environnement interactif.Nous avons appliqué BodyScape à : 1) la caractérisation du rôle du support dans l’étude de nouvelles interactions bimanuelles pour dispositifs mobiles; 2) l’analyse des effets de mouvements concurrents lorsque l’interaction et son support impliquent le même membre; et 3) la comparaison de douze techniques d’interaction multi-échelle afin d’évaluer le rôle du guidage et des interférences sur la performance.La caractérisation des interaction avec BodyScape clarifie le rôle du support des dispositifs d’interaction sur l’équilibre de l’utilisateur, et donc sur le confort d’utilisation et la performance qui en découlent. L’espace de conception permet aussi aux concepteurs d’interactions d’identifier des situations dans lesquelles des mouvements peuvent interférer entre eux et donc diminuer performance et confort. Enfin, BodyScape révèle les compromis à considérer a priori lors de la combinaison de plusieurs techniques d’interaction, permettant l’analyse et la génération de techniques d’interaction variées pour les environnements multi-surfaces.Plus généralement, cette thèse défend l’idée qu’en adoptant une approche centrée sur les fonctions corporelles engagées au cours de l’interaction, il est possible de maîtriser la complexité de la conception de techniques d’interaction dans les environnements multi-surfaces, mais aussi dans un cadre plus général. / This thesis introduces BodyScape, a body-centric framework that accounts for how users coordinate their movements within and across their own limbs in order to interact with a wide range of devices, across multiple surfaces. It introduces a graphical notation that describes interaction techniques in terms of (1) motor assemblies responsible for performing a control task (input motor assembly) or bringing the body into a position to visually perceive output (output motor assembly), and (2) the movement coordination of motor assemblies, relative to the body or fixed in the world, with respect to the interactive environment. This thesis applies BodyScape to 1) investigate the role of support in a set of novel bimanual interaction techniques for hand-held devices, 2) analyze the competing effect across multiple input movements, and 3) compare twelve pan-and-zoom techniques on a wall-sized display to determine the roles of guidance and interference on performance. Using BodyScape to characterize interaction clarifies the role of device support on the user's balance and subsequent comfort and performance. It allows designers to identify situations in which multiple body movements interfere with each other, with a corresponding decrease in performance. Finally, it highlights the trade-offs among different combinations of techniques, enabling the analysis and generation of a variety of multi-surface interaction techniques. I argue that including a body-centric perspective when defining interaction techniques is essential for addressing the combinatorial explosion of interactive devices in multi-surface environments.