The Coles Hill uranium deposit in Pittsylvania County, Virginia represents the largest unmined uranium resource in the United States, with an estimated resource of 110 million pounds of U3O8 in place with a cutoff grade of 0.025 wt% U3O8. The deposit is localized along a geologic unit that parallels the Chatham Fault, which separates the Triassic Danville Basin to the east from the older crystalline rocks to the west. The location of the Chatham Fault is important to understanding distribution of ore and for developing an effective mine plan. In this study the Chatham Fault location has been inferred from ground conductivity and ground penetrating radar (GPR) surveys. Anomalies in the data are consistent with previously mapped fault locations based on drillhole and geophysical data, such as gravity and magnetic surveys, collected in the 1980s. These results confirm that the strike of the Chatham Fault is approximately N40ºE and dips to the southeast with dip values ranging from 70º, in the northeast, to 50º, in the southwest. / Master of Science

Detailed soil and water data are essential to ensure the optimum long-term management of fields. The objective of this study was to estimate water table depths, spatially variable and layered soil properties using electromagnetic induction methods. Soil samples were collected and analyzed within two wild blueberry, a soybean-barley and a pasture fields. Observation wells were installed. The DualEM-2 was calibrated to predict the soil properties and groundwater depths. The apparent ground conductivity (ECa) and water table depths were measured simultaneously from each well, before and after every significant rainfall for three consecutive days. Comprehensive surveys were conducted in selected fields to measure ECa with DualEM-2. Survey data were imported in C++ program to estimate layered soil properties using mathematical models. Regression models were developed to predict soil properties and groundwater depths. The predicted soil properties and groundwater table maps were generated. This information can help to develop variable rate technologies.

As descargas atmosféricas são reconhecidamente responsáveis por uma parcela expressiva das interrupções não programadas de fornecimento de energia em sistemas elétricos, contribuindo de forma significativa para a composição dos índices de qualidade de energia mesmo no caso de regiões com níveis ceráunicos moderados. No caso de sistemas de distribuição, grande parte dos problemas está relacionada às sobretensões induzidas por descargas próximas às linhas, as quais decorrem dos campos elétrico e magnético, associados à corrente que se propaga ao longo do canal da descarga. O conhecimento das características de tais campos é, portanto, fundamental para a determinação das sobretensões induzidas nas linhas aéreas de energia. Embora a importância do tema tenha propiciado nos últimos anos o desenvolvimento de um grande número de pesquisas a respeito dos campos eletromagnéticos e das tensões induzidas por descargas atmosféricas, na grande maioria dos trabalhos o solo é representado através de um plano condutor perfeito, portanto com condutividade infinita. Embora tal simplificação possa, em geral, ser considerada válida para a indução magnética e para o campo elétrico vertical, ela não é aplicável ao campo elétrico horizontal, em especial no caso de solos com alta resistividade. Este estudo visa avaliar o comportamento dos campos elétrico (vertical e horizontal) e indução magnética gerados por descargas atmosféricas nuvem-terra, levando em consideração os parâmetros da descarga (amplitude, forma de onda e velocidade de propagação da corrente) e os diferentes modelos para representação do canal da descarga. Além do caso de solo perfeitamente condutor, são consideradas situações mais realistas, isto é, verificando-se a influência, nos campos, de parâmetros como a resistividade e permissividade do solo. / The occurrence of lightning discharges causes a significant amount of unscheduled supply interruptions in overhead lines of electricity systems, contributing to decrease quality indicators of these systems, even in the case of regions with moderated ground flash density. Focusing on the distribution systems, great part of the problems are related to the induced voltages due to lightning discharges in the vicinity of overhead lines, which results from the electric and magnetic fields associated with the current propagation along the return stroke channel. The knowledge of the characteristics of lightning electromagnetic fields is, therefore, crutial for determining induced voltages on overhead lines. Although the importance of the assumption has propitiated in the last years the development of a great number of research concerning the lightning electromagnetic fields and induced voltages on overhead lines, in most of the studies the hypothesis of a perfect conducting ground is assumed. While such assumption can be considered valid for magnetic induction field and for the vertical component of the electric field, it doesn’t apply to the horizontal electric field, especially in the case of ground with high resistivity. The aim of this work is to present and to discuss the characteristics of the electric field (vertical and horizontal components) and magnetic induction generated by the cloud-to-ground lightning discharge, taking into account the lightning parameters (amplitude, waveform and propagation speed of the return stroke current) and the different return stroke models. Besides the case of perfect conducting ground, the influences of the ground permittivity and finite conductivity in the calculation of the electromagnetic fields are so considered.

As descargas atmosféricas são reconhecidamente responsáveis por uma parcela expressiva das interrupções não programadas de fornecimento de energia em sistemas elétricos, contribuindo de forma significativa para a composição dos índices de qualidade de energia mesmo no caso de regiões com níveis ceráunicos moderados. No caso de sistemas de distribuição, grande parte dos problemas está relacionada às sobretensões induzidas por descargas próximas às linhas, as quais decorrem dos campos elétrico e magnético, associados à corrente que se propaga ao longo do canal da descarga. O conhecimento das características de tais campos é, portanto, fundamental para a determinação das sobretensões induzidas nas linhas aéreas de energia. Embora a importância do tema tenha propiciado nos últimos anos o desenvolvimento de um grande número de pesquisas a respeito dos campos eletromagnéticos e das tensões induzidas por descargas atmosféricas, na grande maioria dos trabalhos o solo é representado através de um plano condutor perfeito, portanto com condutividade infinita. Embora tal simplificação possa, em geral, ser considerada válida para a indução magnética e para o campo elétrico vertical, ela não é aplicável ao campo elétrico horizontal, em especial no caso de solos com alta resistividade. Este estudo visa avaliar o comportamento dos campos elétrico (vertical e horizontal) e indução magnética gerados por descargas atmosféricas nuvem-terra, levando em consideração os parâmetros da descarga (amplitude, forma de onda e velocidade de propagação da corrente) e os diferentes modelos para representação do canal da descarga. Além do caso de solo perfeitamente condutor, são consideradas situações mais realistas, isto é, verificando-se a influência, nos campos, de parâmetros como a resistividade e permissividade do solo. / The occurrence of lightning discharges causes a significant amount of unscheduled supply interruptions in overhead lines of electricity systems, contributing to decrease quality indicators of these systems, even in the case of regions with moderated ground flash density. Focusing on the distribution systems, great part of the problems are related to the induced voltages due to lightning discharges in the vicinity of overhead lines, which results from the electric and magnetic fields associated with the current propagation along the return stroke channel. The knowledge of the characteristics of lightning electromagnetic fields is, therefore, crutial for determining induced voltages on overhead lines. Although the importance of the assumption has propitiated in the last years the development of a great number of research concerning the lightning electromagnetic fields and induced voltages on overhead lines, in most of the studies the hypothesis of a perfect conducting ground is assumed. While such assumption can be considered valid for magnetic induction field and for the vertical component of the electric field, it doesn’t apply to the horizontal electric field, especially in the case of ground with high resistivity. The aim of this work is to present and to discuss the characteristics of the electric field (vertical and horizontal components) and magnetic induction generated by the cloud-to-ground lightning discharge, taking into account the lightning parameters (amplitude, waveform and propagation speed of the return stroke current) and the different return stroke models. Besides the case of perfect conducting ground, the influences of the ground permittivity and finite conductivity in the calculation of the electromagnetic fields are so considered.

PLC - power line communication is not new. It has been known for many years. But It never be used in massive scale. There were only sporadic applications, for example ripple control system HDO used in the Czechoslovakia. PLC currently experiencing a renaissance thanks to the advent of Smart Grid. PLC offering relatively low bit rates and relatively unreliable transmission, but these disadvantages compensates very low costs to build a communication infrastructure and it offers specific functionalities for Smart Grid. The question is whether the declared parameters will be met in the real world. This thesis tries to find an answer.