La plaine de Pise, située au nord-ouest de la Toscane, près du delta de l’Arno qui, après 241 km, se jette dans la mer Ligure à une faible distance du centre urbain de Pise. Différents processus géomorphologiques (érosion, transport, accumulation), principalement conditionnés par le système fluvial et marin (apport sédimentaire d’origine fluviale, formation du système deltaïque, progradation de la ligne de côte), ainsi que par les interventions humaines qui ensemble ont mené à sa configuration actuelle. L’abondance des ressources naturelles, en particulier des ressources en eau, la localisation géographique et l’accessibilité de la plaine sont quelques-uns des facteurs qui ont favorisé un occupation stable et durable depuis le Paléolithique inférieur. Les populations qui se sont succédées au cours des époques historiques ont néanmoins dû faire face au caractère changeant et dynamique de la plaine, et en particulier à la force de l’eau, qui a représenté une ressource inestimable ainsi qu’un imprévisible danger. Les recherches menées en particulier dans le cadre du doctorat se concentrent sur l’étude de deux phases historiques cruciales dans le processus de formation de la plaine de Pise : l’époque romaine et l’époque médiévale. Les interventions réalisées lors de la colonisation augustéenne (Ier siècle av. J.-C.) ont transformé la plaine, modifiant en profondeur le paysage rural par la mise en œuvre d’une nouvelle planification agraire, la centuriation de Pise, qui structure encore significativement le réseau hydraulique, le réseau routier et le système urbain. L’étude du processus de transformation et de transmission du réseau orthogonal nécessite une analyse approfondie des facteurs qui, au cours des différentes phases historiques, l’ont rendu “ visible ”, surtout pendant la période médiévale caractérisée par le “ retour ” d’un pouvoir centralisé, celui de la Commune de Pise, capable d’exercer un plus grand contrôle sur le territoire et les ressources hydriques. La recherche vise à reconstituer les principales caractéristiques et les différentes phases d’évolution du paysage centurié au cours des siècles, ce qui implique une étude approfondie des dynamiques paléoenvironnementales et paléohydrographiques qui ont affecté le contexte de Pise avant même la colonisation romaine.Pour obtenir les résultats attendues, une approche méthodologique interdisciplinaire et diachronique a été utilisée, capable de saisir les facteurs naturels et anthropiques qui, au cours des siècles, ont conditionné ce processus “ constructif ”. La lecture morphologique des parcelles urbaines et agraires a permis la reconnaissance des formes d’organisation du paysage de Pise, en particulier de la grille centuriée et des phénomènes de transmission et de déformation de ses éléments constitutifs. L’intégration des données stratigraphiques, enrichis par une campagne de carottages menée en 2016 en collaboration avec d’autres universités italiennes, aux résultats de l’étude historique-archéologique, archivistique et planimétrique, a permis d’obtenir de nouveaux résultats sur l’évolution pedosédimentaire et paléohydrographique de la plaine pisane étudié et de formuler des nouvelles hypothèses sur le scénario paléogéographique à l’époque romaine et son évolution pendant les siècles suivants.Les études de surface et de sous-sol ont ainsi permis de reconstituer la relation existante entre le systèmede peuplement, les formes d’exploitation et de gestion des ressources, les transformations paléoenvironnementales et paléohydrographiques et les dynamiques morphologiques (modalités de transmission et/ou de transformation de la trame centuriée) dans la longue durée, montrant que la centuriation visible dans sa version “ la plus actuelle ” est le résultat d’un processus long et continu d’interaction homme-environnement. / The plain of Pisa, located in northwestern Tuscany, close to the Arno River’s delta, which flows into the Ligurian Sea near the town of Pisa after 241 km, is the result of different geomorphological processes (erosion, transport, accumulation). These are mainly conditioned by the fluvial and marine system (fluvial sedimentary accumulation, formation of the delta system, progradation of the coastline), as well as by human intervention, which together have led to its current formation. The abundance of natural resources, in particular water resources, the geographical location and the accessibility of the plain are some of the factors that have favoured a stable and lasting settlement since the Lower Palaeolithic. The populations that lived here over the course of the historical periods, however, had to face the changing and dynamic character of the plain, and in particular the force of the water, which represented an inestimable resource as well as an unpredictable danger. The research carried out during this PhD particularly focuses on the study of two historical phases that were crucial in the formation of the Pisa plain: the Roman and the medieval periods. The interventions carried out at the time of the Augustan colonization (I century BC) transformed the plain, impacting the rural landscape through the construction of a new agrarian system or the centuriation of Pisa, which still significantly structures the hydric network, the road network and the settlement system today. The transformation and transmission process of the orthogonal grid requires a developed analysis of the factors that have made it “visible” during different historical phases. This is especially true for the medieval period, which is characterised by the “return” of the Municipality of Pisa, a centralised power that was able to exercise greater control over territory and water resources. This research aims to reconstruct the main characteristics and the different evolutionary phases of the centuriated landscape over the centuries through the study of the palaeoenvironmental and palaeohydrographic dynamics that have affected Pisa even before Roman colonization.An interdisciplinary and diachronic methodological approach was applied in order to best identify and understand the natural and anthropic factors that have conditioned this “constructive” process over time. The morphological analysis of the urban and agrarian parcels allowed the recognition of the organisational forms of the Pisan landscape, in particular of the centurial grid and the phenomena of transmission and deformation of its constituent elements. The integration of the stratigraphic database (enriched by a coring campaign carried out in 2016 in collaboration with several Italian universities) with the historical-archaeological, archival and planimetric data has made it possible to obtain new results on the pedosedimentary and paleohydrographic evolution of the Pisan plain. It has also permitted us to propose new hypotheses on the paleogeography of the Roman period as well as its evolution over the centuries.Surface and subsoil surveys have made it possible to reconstruct the relationship between the settlement system, the forms of exploitation and management of resources, the palaeoenvironmental and palaeohydrographic transformations and the morphological dynamics (modes of transmission and/or transformation of the centurial grid) over the long term, demonstrating that the visible centuriation in its “most updated” version is the result of a long and continuous process of human-environment interaction.

The increased demand for fast deliveries of goods have led to more costly and less environmentally friendly transports since many of the delivering trucks are not being fully loaded. The inefficiencies of deliveries have created a need for development of new freight systems. One alternative vehicle that has gained increasingly interest is usage of UAVs (unmanned arial vehicles), also known as drones. Several drones in varying sizes and configurations are being developed and applications within transports of both people and goods is seen as promising areas for the future. The study aims at investigating the performance of drone deliveries regarding time, cost, and environmental impact and to see what parameters are important for the performance. This have been made by comparing a UAV to two different vans (electric and HVO) for parcel deliveries in four chosen missions in both urban and rural settings. The evaluation takes a future perspective and are based on information received through both literature review and a market investigation.  The result from this study indicates that UAVs are likely to be a competitive future option for parcel deliveries regarding time and cost. This is concluded since the results shows significant savings in both costs and delivery time and these results are not changed by the sensitivity analyses. The result regarding environmental performance shows that the UAVs competitiveness depends on the vehicle of comparison. The drone has a better environmental performance than vans with fossil-based propellants but given the energy intensity of the UAV, it is not favourable compared to an electric van. The energy requirement of the drone is one of the most important factors affecting the performance. The energy requirements per km for the UAV increases when the routes become shorter since different phases of the flight have different energy intensity. The most demanding phase is lifting and when the distance between the stops is reduced this phase becomes more prominent. Another important factor is the possibility to reduce the travelled distance by taking the straight path with the UAV compared to being bound by the road infrastructure. The shorter distance for the UAV contributes both to reduced time but also reduced energy requirements which in its turn affect both environmental and economic performance. The distances and energy requirements are thus not the most important factor for the economic sustainability but rather the cost of staff. Since the drones are unmanned, several UAVs could be controlled by the same operator contributing to reduced cost of staff. The low energy requirements for the UAV in the longer and more rural cases makes this type of applications the most beneficial regarding environmental performance. Urban missions are instead the most preferable regarding cost and time, since a bigger share of the distance can be saved and the difference in speed between the UAV and the van is larger.

Background: The last-mile logistics of the supply chain is often the most expensive part for an e-commerce retailer. It is also according to Lim and Srai (2018) where the consumers are the most demanding. It is no longer exclusively the e-commerce retailers’ job to choose the delivery method of the parcel they are sending out to their customer. As a consumer in Sweden today, you will often get the option to choose how you want your online order to be delivered. The result of consumers wanting to have more of a say in how their parcel is delivered is that the carrier companies now compete for the opportunity to deliver parcels (Post- och telestyrelsen 2020).  Purpose: This master’s thesis has as a purpose to investigate what reasoning there is behindthe choices the actors in B2C last-mile delivery make when it comes to their offerings ofdelivery options, and their chosen strategy. As e-commerce retailing has grown in hugeproportions during the last decades, there will also be a focus on what the industry mightdevelop into, as this will have an impact on the actors in the industry. There is a lack of insightinto the subject of this study, i.e. how e-commerce retailers and parcel carriers tackle theconstantly changing world of last-mile logistics. To help answer the purpose of the master’sthesis, literature on last-mile parcel delivery was compiled together with theories such as agencytheory, co-opetition, dynamic capabilities, and transaction cost analysis. Research questions: What should the different actors in B2C last-mile delivery take intoaccount when developing their parcel delivery strategy? What will the future of B2C parceldeliveries look like according to the different actors in B2C last-mile delivery? Methodology: The study used a qualitative method with an abductive reasoning. Thequalitative method that was used for collecting the data was qualitative semi-structuredinterviews. As this master’s thesis has a focus on the actors in B2C last-mile delivery, theinterviews were conducted with professionals within the e-commerce retailing, parcel carrier,and last-mile logistics industry. Conclusion: The study then concludes that the e-commerce retailer will try to adapt theirdelivery offerings based on what the consumers wish, and to be able to do this, the e-commerceretailer need to be flexible in their offerings. The parcel carriers need to keep in mind that theyhave a dependency towards the e-commerce retailers. The option of co-opetition is alsosomething that they should consider. It is important for the last-mile logistics companies to beaware of all this as they are working with both e-commerce retailers and parcel carriers. Thefindings of the study show that many believe that the future of parcel delivery will be to useparcel lockers. What needs to be kept in mind is that it is important for the consumer to be ableto choose when, where, and how their parcel is delivered. This master’s thesis can be used bye-commerce retailers, parcel carriers, and last-mile logistics companies, to gain insight intowhat the parcel delivery market looks like today, and what is important for all actors on it.

This engineering thesis deals with quantification of the value of a development land built buildings that are destined to be demolished. This thesis outlines the aspects of demolition procedures with subsequent usage of the building rubble for recyclation. The goal of this thesis is to illustrate issues of demolitions of bulindings situated on a development land and of determinativ of the total price of such land.

The interrelationship between trees and humans is primordial. As pressures on natural resources grow and become more complex this innate connection drives an increased need for improved data and analytical techniques for assessing the status and trends of forests, trees, their products, and their services. Techniques for using readily available data such as the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) database and output from forest disturbance detection algorithms derived from Landsat data, such as Vegetation Change Tracker (VCT), for estimating forest attributes across time from the state and inventory unit level down to the stand and pixel level are presented. Progressively more comprehensive harvest and parcel boundary records are incorporated appropriately. Quantification of attributes, including non-timber forest products and fine-scale age estimates, across the landscape both historically and into the future is emphasized. Spatial information on the distribution of forest resources by age-class provides knowledge of timber volume through time and across the landscape to support forest management for sustained production. In addition to monitoring forest resources in regards to their value as products for human consumption, their measurement facilitates analysis of the relationship of their spatial and temporal abundance to other resources such as water and wildlife. / Ph. D.

The parcel shelf in a car is one of the things that are most exposed to ultraviolet light and heat. The sunlight causes ultraviolet radiation and excessive heat to this area. This can cause the material to degrade, fade or drift in colour. The parcel shelf production is today divided between three producers. This requires a good contact and cooperation between the different actors. As the automobile industry is a very complex industry, high demand is required of everyone involved. The goal of this study was to find improvements that could lead to a better ultraviolet and heat protection. Volvo Cars provided material and the experiments were held on their test facility. The tests were conducted based on the Volvo Cars requirements and methods. A Weather-Ometer is used to simulate the ultraviolet light and heat, the same way a parcel shelf is exposed to outdoors. Chemical analyses are used to determine whether there is any difference in the material when it is aged in a Weather-Ometer or not. The parcel shelf is made of needle punched, dispersed dyed polyester. The results showed that the present parcel shelf material does indeed show a colour shift after ageing. The authors present a number of suggestions to improve the material's characteristics. For example, Volvo could consider using an acrylic non-woven instead of polyester. Dyes that withstand ultraviolet radiation better can also be chosen and a variety of ultraviolet absorbers can be added. 2-(2-hydroxy-5-carboxy-phenyl)-2H-benzotriazole, Tinuvin P, 327 [2-(2-hydroxy-5-methyl-phenyl) 2H-benzotriazole, 2-(3,5-butyl-6-hydroxy)-2H-2-chloro-benzotriazole respectively] and 2,4-dihydroxy-benzophenone are example of absorbers that can be added to make the ultraviolet resistance better. / Program: Textilingenjörsutbildningen

Effective management of forest resources requires reliable and timely information on their status. In this regard, remote sensing techniques have played an important role, as they allow collection of data on extensive, remote and inaccessible areas. Historically, aerial photographs were the primary remote sensing data source in forest inventory and mapping, and they are still extensively for visual photo-interpretation. In this thesis, we show that their use can be improved thanks to automatic processing and an application using digitised orthophotos is provided. Satellite-based remote sensing has been regarded as an alternative, low-cost and rapid, data source to aerial photography and ground survey. Indeed, it has proved to be effective at the continental and global scales, but applications for local forest management purposes are still rare. The main reason for this is that the spatial resolution of satellite remote sensing data that was available until recently (mainly from Landsat TM/ETM and SPOT HRV) was too coarse for stand level information. Satellite images with enhanced spatial resolution (such as IKONOS) should overcome this limitation. This thesis investigates their actual capabilities for forest stand mapping and characterisation. We show that they are well suited for forest stand type classification and for retrieval of several dendrometric variables in coniferous stands with an accuracy similar to that of field sampling. For the sake of solutions to provide more precise and detailed information on forest stand, we assessed also the contribution of hyperspectral and multiple-view angle data acquired by CHRIS/PROBA. Although the winter season scene did not fully permit utilisation of the hyperspectral dimension of this dataset, the study provides insights into directional effects. This work makes, hopefully, a step towards automated processing and effective integration of satellite-based remote sensing data into the forest management information system and, by upscaling, into the national forest inventories.

Introduction: In today’s global world, supply chain and logistics operations have become far too complicated to be handled by individual firms. Nowadays, it is dealt by logistics and freight solution providing companies. The companies introduce an amount of flexibility for the firms doing their business. The performance of supply chain operations depends upon various dimensions such as location, quality, on-time delivery, dependability and cost. Reducing the operational costs by increasing effectiveness of process helps to gain a competitive advantage. Background: Logistics is a highly labour intensive industry. The primary role of a distribution centre as a supply chain element is to sort and forward the incoming goods(parcels) as effectively as possible within the minimum time. Due to the varied physical attributes of incoming goods/parcels, the sorting process in distribution centres involves different handling techniques. One such technique is the use of a parcel sorter conveyor system, there are various factors based on which the output increases or decreases in such systems. Flexibility is a factor that is seldom compromised, thus failing to operate effectively when volume increases, reduce a competitive advantage for the any distribution centre. Purpose: The purpose is to identify reasons for ineffectiveness during the process and find improvement opportunities which enables a distribution centre to handle more volume on a daily basis. Case: This single case study is carried out at a regional distribution centre aiming to grow regarding the number of suppliers and volume of handled parcels. Findings: The sources of ineffectiveness and improvement opportunities were identified (some of the improvement opportunities are case specific). Discussions: The study provides evidence that errors which are thought to be caused due to human actions can have other root causes, a synergetic approach is suitable in situations where high interdependency of variables exist.   Conclusions: The study has focused on a single case study, conducting the similar type of study with other companies working within a similar environment can provide more generalisable evidence. Improvement should be seen with a mentality of sustaining, with high variability of changes occurring, there should be a focus towards continuous improvement as well.

The purpose of this thesis was to determine the extent of sea level rise (SLR) impact on sea turtle nesting beach habitat on Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) as well as impacts on management strategies. The Archie Carr NWR is of exceptional importance due to the high density of Loggerhead, Leatherback, and Green sea turtles that nest there in the summer months. GIS data provided by the Archie Carr NWR and various SLR scenarios, provided by both the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as well as leading scholars, were used to determine inundation area loss across the Refuge as well as nearby parcels targeted for possible acquisition. Inundation losses for the six scenarios were calculated to be in the 20-25% range. Approximately 26% of current lower priority parcels are reclassified as high priority when integrating this information. Therefore, a significant revision to future acquisition strategies is recommended.

The aim of the diploma thesis is to find out and evaluate the influences affecting the price of building lands in the given region. Furthermore, the results are confronted with the valuation decree. In the theoretical part are given the definitions of building lands according to different legal regulations. In the practical part, thirty parcels are valued, divided into two localities and subsequently compared with the purchase price of the individual lands.