With a surface area of about 10,000 km², the Salar de Uyuni is the largest salt flat in the world. It is located at an altitude of 3,653 m on the Altiplano, a high plateau in the south of the Bolivian Andes. The Salar de Uyuni consists of an alternating sequence of highly porous salt layers (mainly composed of halite) and lacustrine clay sediments. The pore volume of the uppermost salt layer which has a thickness of up to 11 m is filled by brine. The brine contains high amounts of Mg, K, Li and B. The element lithium is an especially important raw material for the production of batteries. Thus, it plays an important role for the development of the electric mobility. With this background, extensive hydrogeological exploration activities were carried out at the Salar de Uyuni in the context of this dissertation. The hydraulic properties of the uppermost salt crust and the physical properties (density and viscosity) of the brine must be characterized. In order to do this, several core drillings were made, observation wells were installed, brine samples were taken and pumping tests were conducted between 2009 and 2012. The stratigraphic documentation of the obtained sediment cores provided insights about the deposit structure and the upper salt layer thickness. The determination of the salt core porosity was carried out by three different methods: (a) by using X-ray computed tomography, (b) gravimetrically by saturation with 2-octanol and (c) by completion of the core volume with plasticine and calculation of the porosity under consideration of the particle density of the salt. The laboratory investigations showed a depth-dependent porosity distribution in the upper salt layer. The uppermost 2 m were characterized by very high porosity values between 30 and 39%. However at greater depth, the total porosity decreases on average to 13.5%. Geochemical analyses of brine samples confirmed the general spatial distribution of the lithium concentrations as already published by previous studies. On the basis of the lithium distribution in the brine, the thickness of the upper salt layer and the depth-dependent porosity distribution, the total lithium deposit in the Salar de Uyuni was calculated to be about 7 million tons. The evaluation of the pumping tests under consideration of the density and viscosity of the pumped brine showed that the salt has a very high permeability in the horizontal direction. In contrast, flow-through experiments on drill cores indicated a clear vertical anisotropy of the permeability. This is caused by the inhomogeneous sediment stratification for instance by interbedded fine gypsum or clay lamina. Thus, horizontal brine movements are possible, but a deep vertical flow component can hardly be expected. This assumption is confirmed by radiocarbon dating the brine samples from different salt depths. The influence of annual floods during the rainy season could be observed by long-term brine level measurements. Throughout the time-series analysis, distinct periodic brine fluctuations of a few centimeters per day could be identified during the dry season. These daily fluctuations indicated an impermeable crust probably formed by the evaporation of near-surface brine and subsequent crystallization of salts in the pore volume. Thus, daily temperature and atmospheric pressure changes could directly affect the brine level. Due to the extensive hydrogeological investigations, this dissertation contributes to the essential understanding of the hydraulic conditions in the Salar de Uyuni. / Mit einer Fläche von rund 10.000 km² ist der Salar de Uyuni die größte Salz-Ton-Ebene der Welt. Er befindet sich in einer Höhe von 3653 m NN im Altiplano, einer Hochebene im Süden der bolivianischen Anden. Der Salar de Uyuni besteht aus einer Wechsellagerung von hochporösen Salzschichten (überwiegend aus Halit bestehend) und lakustrinen Tonsedimenten. Die Porenräume der obersten bis zu 11 m mächtigen Salzschicht sind mit einer Sole gefüllt, die hohe Gehalte an Mg, K, Li und B aufweist. Insbesondere das Element Lithium ist ein wichtiger Rohstoff u.a. für die Herstellung von Batterien und spielt damit eine bedeutende Rolle bei der Entwicklung der Elektromobilität. Vor diesem Hintergrund wurden im Rahmen der vorliegenden Dissertation umfassende hydrogeologische Erkundungsarbeiten am Salar de Uyuni durchgeführt, um die hydraulischen Eigenschaften der obersten Salzkruste sowie die physikalischen Eigenschaften (Dichte und Viskosität) der Sole zu charakterisieren. Dazu wurden zwischen 2009 und 2012 zahlreiche Kernbohrungen abgeteuft, Beobachtungsbrunnen installiert, Soleproben entnommen und Pumpversuche durchgeführt. Die stratigraphische Dokumentation der gewonnenen Bohrkerne lieferte Erkenntnisse zur Ablagerungsstruktur und zur Mächtigkeitsverteilung der obersten Salzschicht. Die Bestimmung der Porosität der Salzkerne erfolgte mit drei verschiedenen Methoden: (a) mittels Computertomographie, (b) gravimetrisch durch Aufsättigung mit 2-Oktanol und (c) durch Volumenergänzung der Kernproben mit Plastilin und Berechnung der Porosität unter Einbeziehung der Reindichte des Salzes. Die Laboruntersuchungen zeigten eine tiefenabhängige Porositätsverteilung in der obersten Salzschicht. Während die obersten 2 m durch sehr hohe Porositäten zwischen 30 und 39% gekennzeichnet sind, nimmt die Gesamtporosität in größerer Tiefe auf durchschnittlich 13.5% ab. Geochemische Analysen von Soleproben bestätigten die grundsätzliche räumliche Verteilung der Lithium-Konzentrationen, wie sie bereits durch frühere Studien veröffentlicht wurde. Auf Basis der Lithium-Verteilung in der Sole, der Mächtigkeit der oberen Salzschicht sowie der tiefenabhängigen Porositätsverteilung wurde ein Lithium-Vorkommen im Salar de Uyuni von rund 7 Millionen Tonnen berechnet. Die Auswertung der Pumpversuche unter Berücksichtigung der Dichte und Viskosität der geförderten Sole zeigte, dass das Salz eine sehr hohe Permeabilität in horizontaler Richtung aufweist. Allerdings zeigten Durchströmungsversuche an Bohrkernen eine deutliche vertikale Anisotropie der Permeabilität, was auf die inhomogene Sedimentschichtung durch z.B. eingeschaltete feine Gips- oder Tonschichten zurückzuführen ist. Somit sind zwar horizontale Solebewegungen möglich, jedoch ist kaum mit einer tiefgreifenden vertikalen Strömungskomponente in der Salzschicht zu rechnen. Diese Vermutung wird durch 14C-Altersdatierungen von Soleproben aus unterschiedlichen Tiefen des Salzes bestätigt. Der Einfluss der jährlichen Überschwemmungen während der Regenzeit konnte anhand von Langzeitmessungen des Solespiegels beobachtet werden. Im Zuge der Zeitreihen-Analyse zeigten sich zudem ausgeprägte periodische Tageschwankungen von einigen Zentimetern während der Trockenzeit. Diese deuten darauf hin, dass durch Verdunstung oberflächennaher Sole und damit einhergehender Kristallisation von Salzen im Porenraum eine undurchlässige Kruste entsteht. Dadurch haben tägliche Temperatur- und Luftdruckschwankungen direkten Einfluss auf den Solespiegel. Die vorliegende Dissertation trägt aufgrund der umfangreichen hydrogeologischen Untersuchungen wesentlich zum Verständnis der hydraulischen Verhältnisse im Salar de Uyuni bei. / Con una superficie de aproximadamente 10.000 kilómetros cuadrados el Salar de Uyuni es el mayor lago de sal en el mundo. Se encuentra a una altura de 3.653 m sobre el nivel del mar en el altiplano en el sur de los Andes bolivianos. El Salar de Uyuni consiste en una alternancia de capas de sal altamente porosa (que consiste predominantemente de halita) y lacustre sedimentos de arcilla. La capa superior de sal tiene un espesor de hasta 11 metros. Los espacios de poros del sal se llenan con una salmuera que contiene altos contenidos de Mg, K, Li y B. En particular, el elemento litio constituye una importante materia prima para la producción de baterías que son utilizadas en la construcción de vehículos eléctricos. Bajo estos antecedentes y en el contexto de la presente tesis, se han desarrollado extensas actividades de exploración hidrogeológica en el Salar de Uyuni. Las propiedades hidráulicas de la corteza de sal superior y las propiedades físicas (densidad y viscosidad) de la salmuera debían caracterizadas. Para ello, entre 2009 y 2012 se realizaron varios perforaciones con la finalidad de obtener muestras de núcleos, se instalaron pozos de supervisión, se realizaron pruebas de bombeo y se tomaron muestras de salmuera. La documentación estratigráfica de los núcleos de perforacíon proporciona conocimientos para la estructura de los depósitos y para el espesor del superior capa de sal. La porosidad de los núcleos de sal fue determinada por medio de tres métodos diferentes: (a) por tomografía computarizada (TC), (b) gravimétricamente mediante la saturación con 2-octanol y (c) mediante de compleción del volumen del núcleo con plastilina y computacíon de la porosidad en atención a la densidad real del sal. Las investigaciones de laboratorio demostraron una distribución de la porosidad dependiente de la profundidad en la capa superior de sal. Mientras que la parte superior 2 m se caracterizan por altas porosidades entre el 30 y 39%, la porosidad total decrese en una profundidad mayor a un promedio de 13,5%. Los análisis geoquímicos de muestras de salmuera confirmaron la distribución espacial fundamental de las concentraciones de litio, como ya se ha publicado por estudios anteriores. A base de la distribución de litio en la salmuera, el espesor de la capa superior de sal, y la porosidad dependiente de la profundidad determinaron que todos los recursos minerales de litio en el salar de Uyuni son alrededor de 7 millones de toneladas. La evaluación de las pruebas de bombeo en consideración de la densidad y la viscosidad de la salmuera transmitido mostró que la sal generalmente tiene una permeabilidad muy alta. Pero, las pruebas de flujo en muestras de núcleo mostró una anisotropía significativa de la permeabilidad con la profundidad, que se debe a una estratificación de sedimentos no homogénea debido las láminas finas de yeso o arcilla intercaladas. Por lo tanto, es correcto que los movimientos de salmuera horizontales son posibles, pero es poco probable que movimientos verticales de salmuera ocurran. Esta hipótesis se ve confirmada por la datación por radiocarbono de muestras de salmuera de diferentes profundidades de la sal. El impacto de las inundaciones anuales durante la estación lluviosa se puede observar a partir de las mediciones a largo plazo del nivel de salmuera. En el curso del análisis de series de tiempo también mostraron pronunciadas variaciones diarias periódicas de unos pocos centímetros en la estación seca. Esto sugiere que hay una corteza impermeable que se forma por evaporación de salmuera cerca de la superficie y la cristalización de sales en el espacio de los poros. En esta manera, las fluctuaciones diarias de temperatura y de preción de aire influyen directamente el nivel de salmuera. Gracias a las extensas investigaciones hidrogeológicas realizadas, la presente tesis contribuye significativamente a la comprensión de las condiciones hidráulicas en el Salar de Uyuni.

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Le transport turbulent de particules est un phénomène important qui intervient dans de nombreux processus naturels et industriels. Comprendre ses propriétés et, en particulier, la création de grandes fluctuations de densité, est fondamental pour améliorer les modèles et affiner les prévisions. Cela représente de nombreux enjeux économiques, environnementaux et de santé. Une étude Lagrangienne de la séparation de paires de traceurs a été menée en s'appuyant sur l'analyse des données de simulations numériques à très haute résolution. Elle a permis de souligner les défaillances des approches de type champ moyen qui sont à la base des modèles les plus couramment utilisés. Pour la séparation, on constate que la transition entre le régime balistique de Batchelor et le régime explosif de Richardson a lieu à des temps données par le temps moyen de dissipation de l'énergie cinétique turbulente. Aussi, il est montré que la loi de Richardson peut s'interpréter comme un comportement diffusif des différences de vitesse. Des arguments phénoménologiques permettent d'interpréter cet effet par la décorrélation de différences d'accélération et la stationnarité aux temps longs du taux local de transfert d'énergie cinétique. Les moments d'ordres élevés de la séparation et de la vitesse sont aussi étudiés pour aborder la question des "événements violents" dans la distribution des distances. Enfin, un modèle d'éjection de masse est proposé et utilisé pour examiner les fluctuations de la densité de particules lourdes transportées dans un environnement aléatoire.

The current approach to assessing the educational quality applicable to assessing objects and processes formed and realized in producing spheres is widely spread. However, as education is a much more complicated anthropological, social and cultural object in comparison to that of production, the above mentioned approach is least effective. In education both \"strong\" and \"weak\" models are used. There do not exist measurement instruments for accurate assessing mild results. Self control, expert assessing method and portfolio are being put forward.

The three chapters of this thesis investigate different aspects of the economics of health and wellbeing. The first chapter tests the rationality of life satisfaction forecasts. Contrary to the rational expectations hypothesis it shows that young people and those who are satisfied strongly overpredict future life satisfaction while the elderly and the unsatisfied strongly underpredict it. The second chapter is about how wealth shocks affect the health of retirees in the US. Results indicate strongly positive effects on physical health, mental health and mortality. The third chapter analyzes the effects of graduating in an unfavorable economic environment on graduates' subsequent income, health insurance and mortality. It finds that recession graduates have significantly lower incomes and worse health insurance coverage. And during the outbreak of the HIV/AIDS epidemic AIDS mortality has been significantly higher among these unlucky cohorts. / Los tres capítulos de esta tesis doctoral investigan aspectos de la economía del bienestar y de la salud. El primer capítulo pone a prueba la racionalidad de las predicciones de las personas respecto a la satisfacción global que experimentarán con su vida en el futuro. Se muestra que, en contra de la hipótesis de expectativas racionales, las predicciones de los jóvenes y de quien está satisfecho con su vida son más altas que los niveles de satisfacción realizados posteriormente, mientras las predicciones de las personas mayores y de quien no está satisfecho con su vida son más bajas que los niveles posteriormente experimentados. El segundo capítulo investiga cómo los cambios exógenos de riqueza afectan la salud de una muestra de jubilados en los EEUU. Los resultados indican efectos positivos de la riqueza sobre la salud, tanto física como mental, y un efecto negativo sobre la mortalidad. El tercer capítulo analiza los efectos de graduarse de la universidad en un entorno económico recesivo sobre la salud, la riqueza, y la mortalidad. Graduarse en tiempos de recesión tiene efectos negativos persistentes sobre el salario, la cobertura médica, y - durante la epidemia del SIDA - tambien sobre la mortalidad.

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Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-14T12:14:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1022891 bytes, checksum: c086e09a9f99e06278f85a5575162e2b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-11-27 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Geometry, topology and elasticity are found in various branchs of physics and they play important roles in the understanding of many physical phenomena. In this work, we present three diferent systems where we can see such importance. First, a quantum neutral particle, constrained to move on a conical surface, is used as a toy model to explore bound states due to both a inverse squared distance potential and a delta-function potential, which appear naturally in the model due the geometry and topology of the cone. In the second one, we propose a method for probing the effects of curved 3-space by using materials with large coefficients of thermal expansion. Studying their fluctuations can be naturally cast in terms of a nonflat background geometry. In the last one, we determine the elastic-mediated interaction between colloidal nanoparticles adsorbed on the surface of free-standing smectic films. In contrast with the short-range character of the elastic- mediated force between particles adsorbed on smectic films supported by a solid substrate, the effective force acquires a long-range character in free-standing films, thus playing an important role in the formation of self-assembly structures in these systems. / A geometria, topologia e elasticidade estão presentes em vários ramos da física, e desempemham papel fundamental no entendimento de vários fenômenos físicos. Nesse trabalho, apresentamos três sistemas distintos onde podemos ver esse papéis. No primeiro, uma partícula quântica neutra confinada a mover-se em uma superfície cônica é usada como modelo para explorar estados ligados devido a um potencial proporcional ao inverso do quadrado da distância e devido a um potencial tipo delta. Ambos potenciais aparecem naturalmente devido a geometria e topologia do cone. No segundo, propomos um método de sondar os efeitos de um espaço curvo tridimensional usando materiais de grande coeficiente de expansão térmica. Neste caso, os três ingredientes citados acima são importantes para o entendimento do problema. Por fim, determinamos a interação entre nanocolóides adsorvidos na superfície de um filme esmético livremente suspenso. Essa interação é mediada por deformações elásticas no filme esmético; ela é de longo alcance, o que é importante para a formação de estruturas coloidais auto organizadas na superfície de tal filme.

Orientador: Jun Takahashi / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Fisica Gleb Wataghin / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-23T16:49:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Souza_RafaelDerradide_D.pdf: 5902855 bytes, checksum: ef026256d77f665d1d9d346c08ad7ec8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Resumo: Nas colisões nucleares relativísticas, devido ao comportamento coletivo do sistema, é esperado que a anisotropia espacial inicial da região de uperposição entre os núcleos incidentes seja convertida em uma anisotropia final na distribuição de momento das partículas produzidas. Em particular, o coeficiente de fluxo elíptico, dado pelo segundo harmônico (v2) da decomposição de Fourier da distribuição azimutal das partículas finais produzidas, é um observável sensível à anisotropia geométrica inicial. Neste trabalho, estudamos o comportamento do coeficiente v2 obtido a partir de eventos gerados com o código de evolução hidrodinâmica NeXSPheRIO simulando colisões Au+Au a (SNN)1/2 = 200 GeV. O NeXSPheRIO permite o controle da condição inicial, da evolução hidrodinâmica e gera as partículas finais como em um evento real. Portanto, foi possível aplicar as mesmas técnicas de análise de dados utilizadas experimentalmente. Estudamos os efeitos de flutuações na condição inicial no observável v2 e testamos alguns observáveis experimentais propostos que seriam sensíveis a estas flutuações. Como os observáveis também são sensíveis a outros tipos de correlações, geralmente chamadas de non-flow, e considerando que a maior contribuição pode vir de jatos de partículas gerados nessas colisões, estudamos os efeitos de jatos nesses observáveis. Construímos um modelo simplificado de duas componentes a partir da superposição de eventos NeXSPheRIO, com eventos de colisões p+p produzidos pelo gerador de eventos Pythia. Resultados deste modelo descrevem melhor a dependência de v2 com o momento transversal quando comparados com dados experimentais. Determinamos também que, ao contrário do que se esperava, os observáveis sensíveis à flutuação na condição inicial são pouco afetados pela inclusão dos jatos. Este resultado sugere que os efeitos de non-flow, como considerados aqui, são desprezíveis nas medidas de flutuações de v2, indicando que os resultados obtidos pelos experimentos sejam dominados pelas flutuações da condição inicial / Abstract: Due to the collective behavior of the system created in relativistic nuclear collisions, it is expected that the initial spatial anisotropy of the overlap region between the two incoming nuclei converts into an anisotropy of the momentum distribution of the outgoing particles. In particular, the elliptic flow coefficient, which is given by the second harmonic (v2) of the Fourier decomposition of the final particle azimuthal distribution, is an observable sensitive to the initial geometric anisotropy. In this work, we studied the behavior of the elliptic flow coefficient obtained from events generated using the hydrodynamic-based code NeXSPheRIO for Au+Au collisions at (SNN)1/2= 200 GeV. The NeXSPheRIO code allows the control of the initial condition, the hydrodynamic evolution and produces the outgoing particles just like in a real event. Therefore, it was possible to apply the same data analysis techniques used experimentally. We studied the effects of initial condition fluctuations on flow observables and tested some experimental observables thought to be sensitive to the fluctuations. Since these observables are also sensitive to other types of correlations, usually referred to as non-flow, and considering that the major contribution to them may come from jets of particles generated in the collision, we also studied the effects of jets on these observables. A simplified two-component model was built by superimposing events produced with the NeXSPheRIO code and p+p collision events produced with the Pythia event generator. Results from our model present a better description of the ?2 dependence with transverse momentum when compared to experimental data. Also, opposite to what was expected, the observables sensitive to the fluctuations are not much sensitive to the inclusion of jets. This result may suggest that the contribution of non-flow, as considered here, is negligible in the observed flow fluctuations measurement, which indicates that the values observed in the experiments are mainly dominated by fluctuations from the initial condition / Doutorado / Física / Doutor em Ciências

Tropical forests are storehouses of more thanhalf of the world‘s biodiversity and play a key role in global carbon, water and energy cycles. However, as a consequence of rapid anthropogenic climate change, biodiversity and climate functions of these forests are under a threat. Climate is changing not only in mean state but its variability is increasing, with extreme events such as droughts, heat waves and storms also rising. Water is fundamental to plants‘ existence, and in the tropics, is a key determinant of plant species‘richness, composition, growth and survival. There is thus an increasing interest in understanding how changing rainfall may cause functional changes in forests or change their species composition. Therefore, the overarching goal of thisdissertation was to understand the impact of water variability on tropical forest tree growth and vulnerability to drought.Forest tree growth along spatial and temporal rainfall gradientsObservational studies that measure whole forest tree growth along spatial or temporal gradients of rainfall are the most common way of formulating forest growth response curves to water availability, when manipulative experiments are cost-prohibitive or impractical (fire or large mammal disturbance). In the tropics, since very few species show anatomically distinct tree rings, estimating tree growth from trunk diameter is the standard practice to obtain growth patterns across species. However, this method—of equating woody growth to diameter change--is susceptible to bias from water-induced stem flexing. In the absence of bias correction, temporal variability in growth is likely to be overestimated and incorrectly attributed to fluctuations in resource availability, especially in forests with high seasonal and inter-annual variability in water. This problem has been largely ignored in the absence of any corrective measure and due to under-appreciation of the magnitude of error. While diameter re-censuses in permanent sampling plots (PSPs) have been most commonly done at 3-5 year scale (using a graduate tape), increasingly they are done at seasonal and annual scales (using band dendrometers) to closely match variation in rainfall, the scales at which hydrostatic bias may be greater in magnitude relative to woody growth. Besides, along a spatial rainfall gradient, inter-annual variability in water may vary, causing systematic differences in the hydrostatic bias for forests along the gradient. Therefore, one broad objective of this thesis was to evaluate the problem of hydrostatic bias in whole forest growth-rainfall relationship at annual and supra-annual scales, for temporal as well as spatial rainfall gradients and propose and test a novel corrective solution.Further, it also examines if growth-diameter relationship vary along the spatial gradient, which it may arise due to differences in light environments and/or disturbance history and species composition. The missing link of Eco-hydrology Differential responses of tree species in terms of growth and survival to variation in water that they can access, the proximate cause is likely shaped through their life-history strategies, the ultimate cause. However, we neither know the depths at which the diverse tree species in a forest draw water from and its dynamics, nor variation in water at those depths vis-à-vis rainfall patterns—for lack of appropriate methods. This has been a key missing link in understanding how water shapes trees‘ life-history strategies, their demographic trade-offs and co-existence, and also our predictive ability to determine species-specific responses to changing rainfall patterns, especially droughts. Since droughts are highly stochastic events and trees‘ responses to their drought ―experiences‖ may be revealed at decadal scales, long-term evaluations are key. Therefore, the second broad objective of this thesis was to develop a framework to determine trees’ water uptake depths, variation in water availability at those depths and trees’ demographic responses over multiple decades. From this, to understand how belowground hydrology shapes drought-vulnerability, demographic trade-offs and coexistence of forest tree species. This thesis titled—Eco-Hydrology of a Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest: Tree Growth, Belowground Water Dynamics and Drought-Vulnerability—is organized as follows: Chapter 1 lays down an introduction to the thesis, followed by a description of the study site and datasets used in the thesis in Chapter 2. This thesis uses a variety of methods and multiple datasets, all of which are from the protected Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests of the Western Ghats in southern India in the Mudumalai and Bandipur National Parks. It is then followed by three data chapters: Chapter 3 describes the seasonal fluctuations in a five year long (1980-1985) tree diameter time series (using dendrometers) of a Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest in Bandipur National Park to illustrate the issue of hydrostatic stem-flexing. It investigates the possibility that band dendrometers may themselves underestimate stem shrinkage at diurnal or seasonal scale. It also evaluates if there could be a best season and time of the day for undertaking forest diameter censuses that can minimize hydrostatic bias. Chapter 4(published in Forest Ecology and Management)measures the hydrostatic bias in a sample of trees in a 50 ha PSP of a Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest in Mudumalai National Park, and proposes a novel way to correct this bias at the whole community level in the 20 year long 4-year interval growth time series. Chapter 5 (in review with Environmental Research Letters) investigates and presents two new confounding factors in growth-rainfall relationships along a spatial rainfall gradient: hydrostatic bias and size-dependency in growth rates. For this it evaluates forest tree growth estimates in seven 1-ha PSPs (~800 trees, 3-year annual time series 9using dendrometers) along a 1000 mm rainfall gradient spanning a mesic savanna-moist forest transition in Mudumalai National Park. Using the period for which seasonal diameter time series was available (2 yrs), it evaluates if the extent of seasonal fluctuations systematically vary along the gradient—most likely due to hydrostatic stem flexing. It also describes the presence of an anomalous size-diameter relationship in the mesic savanna from a large plots (50 ha PSP, diameter records using graduated tape). These observations are then used to draw insights for ―space for time‖ substitution modeling. Chapter 6 (in prep for Nature Plants) analyses belowground water environments of trees over two decades (1992-2012), a period that includes a prolonged and intense drought, in the 50 ha PSP of a Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest in Mudumalai. It uses a locally parametarised dynamic hydrological model in which site rainfall is also a forcing variable. It then develops a novel dynamic growth model and inversely estimates water uptake depths for adult trees of all common species (include ~9000 trees) in the PSP from their above-ground growth patterns over two decades vis-à-vis belowground water availability at multiple depths. It then examines if species‘ water uptake depth obtained thus is a predictor of their drought-driven mortality. Finally, this is used to evaluate the hydrological niche partitioning tree species operate under and how that drives their water uptake strategies, demographic trade-offs, and drought-vulnerability. Summarizes the thesis and suggests future directions

Abstract: The thesis work is part of a project that aims to develop a reliable CFD model to investigate the fluid-dynamics of a fluidized bubbling bed during gasification of refuse derived fuel (RDF) from sorted municipal solid waste (MSW). Gasification is a thermochemical process that converts carbon-containing materials into syngas. In this specific context scaling up is challenging because it implies dealing with a complex chemistry combined to heat and mass transfer phenomena in a multi-phase fluid environment. CFD modeling could represent a potential tool to predict the impact of the reactor configuration and operating conditions on gas yield, composition and potential contaminants. Validation of CFD simulations for such systems has been so far possible using different sophisticated experimental tools, allowing to link the model with experimental data. However, such high tech equipment may not always be available, especially at industrial scale. Hence, this work focuses on investigating the accuracy and numerical sensitivity of two different CFD models employed in the characterization of dense solid-particle flows in bubbling fluidized beds. The key parameter adopted to describe and quantify the dynamic behavior of this multiphase system is the power spectral density (PSD) distribution of pressure fluctuations. This PSD function was used to assess the accuracy of CFD models using one set of operating condition. The same type of analysis, extended to a wider range of operating conditions, may lead to a robust validation of the numerical models presented in this work. In spite of his measurement simplicity, pressure drop data present a strong connection with the bed fluid-dynamics and its interpretation could help to improve the fluidized bed technologies very fast, pushing CFD models closer to applications. / Résumé : Le but de ce projet est de développer un modèle CFD fiable pour étudier la dynamique des fluides d'un lit fluidisé en régime bullant pendant la gazéification de combustibles solides de récupération (CSR) triés à partir de déchets solides municipaux (DSM). La gazéification est un processus thermochimique qui convertit les matériaux contenant du carbone en gaz de synthèse. La mise à l'échelle est difficile dans ce cas car elle implique une chimie complexe combinée aux phénomènes de transfert de chaleur et de masse dans un environnement fluide multiphasique. La modélisation CFD représente un outil potentiel pour prédire l'impact de la configuration du réacteur et des conditions de fonctionnement sur le rendement, la composition et les contaminants potentiels du gaz. La validation des simulations CFD pour de tels systèmes a été jusqu'à présent possible grâce à l’utilisation de différents outils expérimentaux sophistiqués, permettant de lier le modèle aux données expérimentales. Toutefois, un tel équipement de pointe n’est pas toujours disponible, en particulier à l'échelle industrielle. Par conséquent, ce travail se concentre sur l'étude de la précision et de la sensibilité numérique de deux modèles CFD différents, utilisés dans la caractérisation des flux de particules solides denses dans les lits fluidisés bouillonnants. Le paramètre clé adopté pour décrire et quantifier le comportement dynamique de ce système multiphase est la distribution de la densité spectrale de puissance (DSP) des fluctuations de pression. La fonction DSP a été utilisée pour évaluer la précision des modèles CFD en utilisant un ensemble de conditions de fonctionnement. Le même type d'analyse, étendu à une plus large gamme de conditions de fonctionnement, peut conduire à une validation robuste des modèles numériques présentés dans ce travail. En dépit de sa simplicité de mesure, les données de chute de pression présentent une importante corrélation avec les lits fluidisés, de plus, leur interprétation pourrait aider à améliorer ces technologies très rapidement, poussant les modèles CFD plus près des applications.