This work shows how legacy and novel radio Interferometry software packages and algorithms can be combined to produce high-quality reductions from modern telescopes, as well as end-to-end simulations for upcoming instruments such as the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) and its pathfinders. We first use a MeqTrees based simulations framework to quantify how artefacts due to direction-dependent effects accumulate with time, and the consequences of this accumulation when observing the same field multiple times in order to reach the survey depth. Our simulations suggest that a survey like LADUMA (Looking at the Distant Universe with MeerKAT Array), which aims to achieve its survey depth of 16 µJy/beam in a 72 kHz at 1.42 GHz by observing the same field for 1000 hours, will be able to reach its target depth in the presence of these artefacts. We also present stimela, a system agnostic scripting framework for simulating, processing and imaging radio interferometric data. This framework is then used to write an end-to-end simulation pipeline in order to quantify the resolution and sensitivity of the SKA1-MID telescope (the first phase of the SKA mid-frequency telescope) as a function of frequency, as well as the scale-dependent sensitivity of the telescope. Finally, a stimela-based reduction pipeline is used to process data of the field around the source 3C147, taken by the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA). The reconstructed image from this reduction has a typical 1a noise level of 2.87 µJy/beam, and consequently a dynamic range of 8x106:1, given the 22.58 Jy/beam flux Density of the source 3C147.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / We are fast moving into an era where data will be the primary driving factor for discovering new unknown astronomical objects and also improving our understanding of the current rare astronomical objects. Wide field survey telescopes such as the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) and Vera C. Rubin observatory will be producing enormous amounts of data over short timescales. The Rubin observatory is expected to record ∼ 15 terabytes of data every night during its ten-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), while the SKA will collect ∼100 petabytes of data per day. Fast, automated, and datadriven techniques, such as machine learning, are required to search for anomalies in these enormous datasets, as traditional techniques such as manual inspection will take months to fully exploit such datasets.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The next generation of radio telescopes will revolutionize cosmology by providing large three-dimensional surveys of the universe. This work presents forecasts using the technique 21cm intensity mapping (IM) combined with results from the cosmic microwave background, or mock data of galaxy surveys. First, we discuss prospects of constraining curvature independently of the dark energy (DE) model, finding that the radio instrument HIRAX will reach percent-level accuracy even when an arbitrary DE equation of state is assumed. This is followed by a study of the potential of the multi-tracer technique to surpass the cosmic variance limit, a crucial method to probe primordial non-Gaussianity and large scale general relativistic e↵ects. Using full sky simulations for the Square Kilometre Array phase 1 (SKA 1 MID) and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), including foregrounds, we demonstrate that the cosmic variance contaminated scenario can be beaten even in the noise free case. Finally, we derive the signal to noise ratio for the cosmic magnification signal from foreground HI intensity maps combined with background galaxy count maps. Instruments like SKA1 MID and HIRAX are highly complementary and well suited for this measurement. Thanks to the powerful design of the planned radio instruments, all results confirm their potential and promise an exciting future for cosmology.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / Future radio surveys as the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) and its precursor, the "Meer" Karoo Array Telescope (MeerKAT), will map the Neutral Hydrogen (HI) in large areas of the sky using the intensity mapping (IM). HI IM is currently one of the most promising ways of accessing the Large-Scale Structure of the Universe. The distribution of matter in the Universe not only encodes its composition but also how it evolves and its initial conditions. An effect on the matter distribution that will be detected by the SKA on the post re-ionization Universe are the Baryonic Acoustic Oscillations (BAO). While it has been shown that in single dish mode the SKA can measure the BAO peak in the radial 21cm power spectrum at low redshifts, this possibility has not yet been studied in detail for the MeerKAT. In this thesis we construct a set of full sky simulations to test how well MeerKAT will be able to extract the BAO wiggles along the line of sight. These simulations are done for the frequencies corresponding to MeerKAT L-band. The maps combine the cosmological HI signal, systematic noise, cosmological foregrounds and the instrumental telescope beam. A model-independent estimator is used to extract the BAO wiggles by subtracting a smooth polynomial component from the 21cm radial power spectrum. We test with simulations if this estimator is biased and the signal to noise of the extraction. We conclude that we are able to remove contaminants and recover the cosmological HI signal while not risking the recovery of the BAO signal. We investigate the effects of varying the sky area and the observational hours on the signal to noise ratio for the BAO wiggles. We found that for a HI IM experiment using MeerKAT, the optimal sky area to detect the BAO along the line of sight is 50% of the sky. With a signal-to-noise ratio of 3.37. This can be achieved with 2000 hours of exposure time

In the Czech Republic the number of people interested in touring by water is continually increasing. That{\crq}s why the main object of this dissertation is to present both the benefits and the disadvantages of the river Ohře. We also want to match the Ohře with the Vltava, our most frequented river. There are three different possibilities how to navigate. They depend of physical ability and technical outfit and it can take three, five or seven days. Each option is specific for certain group of watermen to suit by its character and appeal everybody who is interested in it.

From abstract: Within the next few years a large number of new and vastly more sensitive radio astronomy facilities are scheduled to come online. These new facilities will map large areas of the sky to unprecedented depths and transform radio astronomy into the leading technique for investigating the complex processes which govern the formation and evolution of galaxies. This thesis combines multi-wavelength techniques, highly relevant to future deep radio surveys, to study the evolution and properties of faint radio sources. / TeX / Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in

Une étude de sensibilité aux échelles kilométriques et hectométriques de simulations idéalisées de convection profonde montre qu’une résolution horizontale minimale de 1 km est nécessaire pour commencer à bien représenter les structures convectives et qu'il faut améliorer la turbulence dans les nuages convectifs. Une simulation LES (50 m de résolution) d'un nuage convectif profond permet d’obtenir les flux turbulents de référence, dégradés ensuite à différentes résolutions (2, 1 et 0.5 km), et d'évaluer ainsi la paramétrisation actuelle de la turbulence au sein des nuages convectifs. Les défauts mis en évidence sont une énergie cinétique turbulente insuffisante, liée à une sous-estimation de la production thermique notamment dans des zones à contre-gradient, et des vitesses verticales trop fortes. Une paramétrisation alternative de certains flux turbulents, basée sur des gradients horizontaux, montre une meilleure partition entre mouvements résolus et sous-maille à 1 km de résolution. / The purpose of adaptive observation (AO) strategies is to design optimal observation networks in a prognostic way to provide guidance on how to deploy future observations. The overarching objective is to improve forecast skill. Most techniques focus on adding observations. Some AO techniques account for the dynamical aspects of the atmosphere using the adjoint model and for the data assimilation system (DAS), which is usually either a 3D or 4D-Var (ie. solved by the minimization of a cost function). But these techniques rely on a single (linearisation) trajectory. One issue is to estimate how the uncertainty related to the trajectory aects the eciency of one technique in particular : the KFS. An ensemble-based approach is used to assess the sensitivity to the trajectory within this deterministic approach (ie. with the adjoint model). Experiments in a toy model show that the trajectory uncertainties can lead to signicantly diering deployments of observations when using a deterministic AO method (with adjoint model and VDAS). This is especially true when we lack knowledge on the VDAS component. During this work a new tool for observation targeting called Variance Reduction Field (VRF) has been developed. This technique computes the expected variance reduction of a forecast Score function that quanties forecast quality. The increase of forecast quality that is a reduction of variance of that function is linked to the location of an assimilated test probe. Each model grid point is tested as a potential location. The VRF has been implemented in a Lorenz 96 model using two approaches. The rst one is based on a deterministic simulation. The second approach consists of using an ensemble data assimilation and prediction system. The ensemble approach can be easily implemented when we already have an assimilation ensemble and a forecast ensemble. It does not need the use of the adjoint model. The implementation in real NWP system of the VRF has not been conducted during this work. However a preliminary study has been done to implement the VRF within OOPS (2013 version). After a description of the different components of OOPS, the elements required for the implementation of the VRF are described.

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Project is an international effort to build the world’s largest radio telescope. It will be 100 times more sensitive than any other radio telescope currently in existence and will consist of thousands of dishes placed at baselines up to 3000 km. In addition to its increased sensitivity it will operate over a very wide frequency range (current specification is 100 MHz - 22 GHz) and will use frequency bands not primarily allocated to radio astronomy. Because of this the telescope needs to be located at a site with low levels of radio frequency interference (RFI). This implies a site that is remote and away from human activity. In bidding to host the SKA, South Africa was required to conduct an RFI survey at its proposed site for a period of 12 months. Apart from this core site, where more than half the SKA dishes may potentially be deployed, the measurement of remote sites in Southern Africa was also required. To conduct measurements at these sites, three mobile measurement systems were designed and built by the South African SKA Project. The design considerations, implementation and RFI measurements recorded during this campaign will be the focus for this dissertation.

With a nearly twice as strongly pronounced temperature increase compared to that of the Northern Hemisphere, the Arctic is especially susceptible to global climate change. The effect of clouds on the Arctic warming is especially uncertain, which is caused by misrepresented cloud microphysical processes in atmospheric models. This thesis aims at employing a scale- and definition-aware comparison of models and observations and will propose changes how to better parameterize Arctic clouds in atmospheric models. In the first part of this thesis, ECHAM6, which is the atmospheric component of the MPI-ESM global climate model, is compared to spaceborne lidar observations of clouds from the CALIPSO satellite. This comparison shows that ECHAM6 overestimates Arctic low-level, liquid containing clouds over snow- and ice-covered surfaces, which consequently leads to an overestimated amount of radiative energy received by the surface. Using sensitivity studies, it is shown that the probable cause of the model biases in cloud amount and phase is related to misrepresented cloud microphysical parameterization (i.e., parameterization of the Wegener-Bergeron-Findeisen process and of the cloud cover scheme) in ECHAM6. By revising those processes, a better representation of cloud amount and cloud phase is achieved, which helps to more accurately simulated the amount of radiative energy received by the Arctic in ECHAM6. The second part of this thesis will focus on a comparison of kilometer-scale simulation with the ICON model to aircraft observations from the ACLOUD campaign that took place in May/June 2017 over the sea ice-covered Arctic Ocean north of Svalbard, Norway. By comparing measurements of solar and terrestrial surface irradiances during ACLOUD flights to the respective quantities in ICON, it is shown that the model systematically overestimates the transmissivity of the mostly liquid clouds during the campaign. This model bias is traced back to the way cloud condensation nuclei get activated into cloud droplets in the two-moment, bulk microphysical scheme used. By parameterizing subgrid-scale vertical motion as a function of turbulent kinetic energy, a more realistic CCN activation into cloud droplets is achieved. This consequently results in an improved representation of cloud optical properties in the ICON simulations. Furthermore, the results of two studies to which contributions have been made during the Ph.D. will be summarized. In Petersik et al. 2018, the impact of subgrid-scale variability in clear-sky relative humidity on hygroscopic growth of aerosols in the aerosol-climate model ECHAM6-HAM2 has been explored. It was shown that the revised parameterization of hygroscopic growth of aerosols resulted in a stronger swelling of aerosol particles, which consequently causes an increased backscattering of solar radiation. In the study of Costa-Suros et al. 2019, it is explored whether it is possible to detect and attribute aerosol-cloud interactions in large-eddy simulation over Germany. It was shown that an increase in cloud droplet number concentration could be attributed to an increased aerosol load, while such an attribution was not possible for other cloud micro- and macrophysical variables.

Kilometer 4 and the Archaic Period Occupation of the Ilo Area of Southern PerúMore than a decade of research on a series of Archaic Period (roughly 10,000-3000 BP) sites in the Ilo area of southern Peru have yielded enough data on this previously unknown area to outline the long term patterns of development of the Preceramic cultures of this section of the south-central Andean coast. Research at several sites, most notably the Kilometer 4 site, provides evidence of a long and intensive occupation of the region characterized by increasing sedentism and increasingly intensive maritime subsistence through time. During the Early Archaic and Middle Archaic periods, coastal settlements were small, seasonally occupied sites characterized by a mixed subsistence base. By the Late Archaic period, settlement size increased, architecture became more substantial and segregation of different areas within the site increased as the exploitation of coastal resources increased. Archaic period mortuary patterns in the region are clearly associated with those of coastal northern Chile, and preliminary data indicate that Chinchorro mortuary practices prevailed during the Middle Archaic period while Quiani style patterns emerged during the Late Archaic period. / Más de una década de investigaciones en una serie de sitios del Periodo Arcaico (entre 10.000 y 3000 a.p.) en el area de Ilo, al sur del Perú, han proveído datos significativos para esta área antes desconocida a fin de delinear los patrones a largo plazo del desarrollo de las culturas precerámicas de esta sección de la costa de los Andes centro-sur. Los estudios realizados en varios sitios, principalmente en Kilómetro 4, han producido evidencias de una larga e intensiva ocupación en la región, caracterizada por un incremento del sedentarismo y de la subsistencia marítima a través del tiempo. Durante los periodos Arcaico Temprano y Arcaico Medio, los asentamientos de la costa fueron sitios pequeños, ocupados estacionalmente y se caracterizaban por una base de subsistencia mixta. Hacia el Periodo Arcaico Tardío se incrementó el tamaño de los asentamientos y la segregación de diferentes áreas dentro de los mismos; la arquitectura comenzó a ser más sustancial y se intensificó la explotación de los recursos costeros. Los patrones funerarios en la región están claramente asociados con los de la costa norte de Chile, y los datos preliminares indican que las prácticas funerarias Chinchorro prevalecieron durante el Periodo Arcaico Medio, mientras que los patrones estilísticos Quiani emergieron durante el Periodo Arcaico Tardío.