Thesis (MScAgric)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

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Cloud-to-Ground (CG) lightning activity was analyzed across the lower Mississippi River valley. The goal was to determine whether certain land use/ land cover (LULC) types supported convective thunderstorms’ generation of CG lightning more than other LULC types. Results indicate that forested regions receive more CG lightning than any other LULC type represented in the study area. However, results also indicate that CG lightning activity can be enhanced locally by very large and/or sprawling areas of urban LULC. When cities from previous research, including Atlanta, GA, and Birmingham, AL, are combined in the rankings with cities in this study, the urban size difference between Little Rock, Arkansas, and Birmingham, Alabama, appears to highlight the area of urban LULC needed to enhance convection. Future research should focus on more cities within this gap of urban LULC area in order to identify the minimum areal expanse needed to alter convective ability over cities.

To estimate the contribution of outdoor recreation on rural property sales in Mississippi, information was collected from lenders and appraisers associated with the Federal Land Bank, Mossy Oak Properties, and Rutledge Investment Company on properties sold from 2003-2008 in three regions of Mississippi: Mississippi Delta/Hills Region, North Mississippi Region and South Mississippi Region. Property sales information was collected on 102,747 hectares (ha) of rural properties valued at $475.1 million. Hedonic regression analysis was used to quantify the contribution of outdoor recreation on Total Sale Value (TSV). Outdoor recreation contributed $160.6 million of the TSV. Forests comprised 71% of land coverage statewide. Attributes that were related to TSV statewide were row crop lands, bottomland hardwood forests, mixed pine-hardwood forests, planted pine forests, pasture/fallow fields, natural pine forests, upland hardwood forests, cutover woodland forests, and overnight sleeping quarters. Attributes related to TSV varied across the three regions. Statewide, hunting was expected to be conducted on at least 96% of the properties sold. In the Mississippi Delta/Hills Region, outdoor recreation contributed the greatest percent increase in land value (55.4%) and properties leased for a greater value ($58.70 per ha). Information provided by this study will encourage rural property owners to justify enhancements of wildlife habitats, provide recreational opportunities, and enhance their income. Rural land appraisers will use the information to appraise lands more accurately, and resource and regulatory agencies will use it to protect wetlands and other sensitive lands or mitigate for adverse impacts.

In this thesis, we propose a novel hyper-rectangle cover theory which provides a new approach to analyzing mathematical problems with nonnegativity constraints on variables. In this theory, two fundamental concepts, cover order and cover length, are introduced and studied in details. In the same manner as determining the rank of a matrix, we construct a specific e ́chelon form of the matrix to obtain the cover order of a given matrix efficiently and effectively. We discuss various structures of the e ́chelon form for some special cases in detail. Based on the structure and properties of the constructed e ́chelon form, the concepts of non-negatively linear independence and non-negatively linear dependence are developed. Using the properties of the cover order, we obtain the necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence and uniqueness of the solutions for linear equations system with nonnegativity constraints on variables for both homogeneous and non-homogeneous cases. In addition, we apply the cover theory to analyze some typical problems in linear algebra and optimization with nonnegativity constraints on variables, including linear programming problems and non-negative least squares (NNLS) problems. For linear programming problem, we study the three possible behaviors of the solutions for it through hyper-rectangle cover theory, and show that a series of feasible solutions for the problem with the zero-cover e ́chelon form structure. On the other hand, we develop a method to obtain the cover length of the covered variable. In the process, we discover the relationship between the cover length determination problem and the NNLS problem. This enables us to obtain an analytical optimal value for the NNLS problem. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

6 pp. / Ground covers can be any low-growing, creeping, sprawling plant whose primary purpose is to cover the ground in managed landscapes. General planting instructions, their care, selection and cultural requirements used in ground cover and explained in this article in detail.

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This thesis primarily deals with two concepts in painting that I explored during my Graduate studies at the University of New Orleans. Both concepts are similar in execution but have two distinctly different results.