From the Proceedings of the 1971 Meetings of the Arizona Section - American Water Resources Assn. and the Hydrology Section - Arizona Academy of Science - April 22-23, 1971, Tempe, Arizona / The Colorado River is the only major stream in the U.S. whose water supply is fully utilized. This distinction has brought the Colorado more than its share of controversy, within states, between states and between nations. The Colorado River compact, whose purpose was to equitably apportion the waters between the upper and lower basins and to provide protection for the upper basin through water reservation, was ratified by all states except Arizona, in 1923. Arizona finally ratified it in 1944. The history of controversies and negotiation concerning the compact are outlined through the supreme court decision on march 9, 1964, which entitled California to 4.4 maf, Nevada to 0.3 maf and Arizona to 2.8 maf, of the first 7.5 maf available in the lower Colorado. Unfortunately, the court did not attempt to establish priorities in the event of shortage. The problem is complicated by an international treaty of 1944, guaranteeing Mexico 1.5 maf annually, except in years of unusual circumstances. Because Senator Connally of Texas was then chairman of the senate foreign relations committee and because the treaty allocated twice as much Colorado River water to Mexico as it was then using, it was argued that this treaty represented a tradeoff to Mexico, giving it less water from the Rio Grande in exchange for more water from the overburdened Colorado. Problems of inter-basin water transfer studies, uniform Colorado basin water quality standards and central Arizona project planning are discussed.

From the Proceedings of the 1972 Meetings of the Arizona Section - American Water Resources Assn. and the Hydrology Section - Arizona Academy of Science - May 5-6, 1972, Prescott, Arizona / Increased useer intensity of the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park and Monument required the national park service and the Colorado River outfitters association to adopt new policies to improve the quality of river trips and to protect the river. This study was undertaken to gain a greater awareness and understanding of visitor expectations, perceptions, interactions, satisfactions and dissatisfactions by analysis of response to a questionnaire mailed to a random sample of 2,622 past river runners from which a 65 percent return was received. Analysis of individual question tabulation and multivariate data-cluster analysis were performed. Users found crowding or user density to be at least tolerable. The largest group of runners were average in wilderness or other activities, and low relative to less strenuous activities. A large group of runners had relatively little experience in the wilderness. A large group of runners enjoyed the trip, desired more regulations, and were moderate about taking more trips. A large group rated the trip as a wilderness adventure which provided the opportunity to 'get away'. Cluster analysis is shown to be a useful tool of policy-making institutions.

From the Proceedings of the 1977 Meetings of the Arizona Section - American Water Resources Assn. and the Hydrology Section - Arizona Academy of Science - April 15-16, 1977, Las Vegas, Nevada / This paper describes a water supply data base being developed for the Colorado River Basin States by the University of Arizona under contract with the Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. This data base is a guide to existing natural, technical, economic, and legal water data and water data agencies in the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.

No description available.

Hydrological data extracted directly from Water Survey of Canada archives covering the 1913-2002 time period is used to assess river ice break-up in the Mackenzie River basin. A return-period analysis indicates that 13 (14) of 28 sites in the basin are dominated by peak water-levels occurring during the spring break-up (open-water) period. One location has a mixed signal. A map of flooding regimes is discussed in terms of physical, hydrological and climatic controls. Annual break-up is found to progress from south to north, over a period representing ~¼ of the year. Average annual duration is ~8 weeks. The at site break-up period, recognized as the most dynamic time of the year on cold-regions river systems is found to last from 4 days to 4 weeks. Break-up timing (1966-1995) is found to be occurring earlier in the western portions of the basin (~3 days/decade), concurrent with late 20th century warming.

Το αντικείμενο της παρούσας διδακτορικής διατριβής είναι η οικολογική αξιολόγηση δύο ποτάμιων οικοσυστημάτων του Αχέροντα και του Λούρου, με βάση τις κοινότητες υδρόβιων μακροφύτων, την ποιότητα του νερού και τα υδρογεωμορφολογικά χαρακτηριστικά, καθώς και η ανάπτυξη και η οριστικοποίηση μεθοδολογίας για τη συλλογή, την επεξεργασία, την ανάλυση και την αξιολόγηση των δεδομένων πεδίου προσαρμοσμένης και εφαρμόσιμης στις ελληνικές συνθήκες. Οι επιμέρους στόχοι της διδακτορικής διατριβής διακρίνονται σε 4 επί μέρους κεφάλαια. Το πρώτο κεφάλαιο (Κεφάλαιο Α) αφορά τη διερεύνηση των αβιοτικών παραμέτρων που επηρεάζουν την κατανομή των υδρόβιων μακροφύτων κατά μήκος των δύο λεκανών απορροής. Στο δεύτερο κεφάλαιο (Κεφάλαιο Β) πραγματοποιείται διερεύνηση της δομής της παρόχθιας ζώνης και εκτίμηση των βασικών προτύπων οικολογικής διαβάθμισης και ανθρώπινης παρέμβασης. Στο τρίτο κεφάλαιο (Κεφάλαιο Γ) πραγματοποιείται αβιοτική τυπολογική διάκριση των θέσεων δειγματοληψίας με σκοπό τη μείωση της χωρικής διακύμανσης, έλεγχο της διαχρονικής και εποχικής διακύμανσης στην κατανομή των υδρόβιων μακροφύτων και καθορισμός των κοινοτήτων αναφοράς σε κάθε τμήμα του ποτάμιου οικοσυστήματος. Τέλος στο τέταρτο κεφάλαιο (Κεφάλαιο Δ) δίνεται η μεθοδολογία ανάπτυξης του συστήματος αξιολόγησης των επιπτώσεων των υδρομορφολογικών τροποποιήσεων στη σύνθεση και αφθονία των υδρόβιων και των παρόχθιων ειδών και η δημιουργία του Πολυμετρικού Δείκτη Μακροφύτων. Τα δεδομένα συλλέχθηκαν από συνολικά 32 θέσεις δειγματοληψίας οι οποίες επιλέχθηκαν με κριτήρια 1) την κάλυψη ευρείας διαβάθμισης χρήσεων γης, 2) την επιλογή περισσοτέρων του ενός τμημάτων με παρόμοια γεωμορφολογικά χαρακτηριστικά, 3) τη σταθερή απόσταση μεταξύ των θέσεων δειγματοληψίας, 4) την ομοιογένεια των τμημάτων και τέλος 5) την προσβασιμότητα στα σημεία δειγματοληψίας καθ’ όλη τη διάρκεια της παρακολούθησης. Με βάση τα πιο πάνω κριτήρια επιλέχθηκαν 15 θέσεις δειγματοληψίας στη λεκάνη απορροής του ποταμού Αχέροντα [11 Αχέροντας (A1-8 & A11-13), 1 Κωκυτός (A9), 1 Βουβό Ρέμα (A15), 2 αρδευτικά κανάλια (A10 & A14)] και 17 Θέσεις Δειγματοληψίας στη λεκάνη απορροής του ποταμού Λούρου (S1-17). Η περιοχή αξιολόγησης περιλαμβάνει ένα ομοιογενές τμήμα ποταμού μήκους 100 m, το οποίο χωρίστηκε σε τρία επί μέρους τμήματα: α) το τμήμα της κοίτης το οποίο καλύπτεται με νερό, β) τα κράσπεδα, δηλαδή το ενεργό τμήμα της κοίτης γ) την παρόχθια-δασική ζώνη. Για τη συλλογή και την αξιολόγηση της υδρόβιας και παρόχθιας βλάστησης πραγματοποιήθηκαν εποχικές δειγματοληψίες κατά τη διάρκεια των βλαστητικών περιόδων των ετών 2005-2007 και η αφθονία ειδών καταγράφηκε με την 5-βάθμια κλίμακα DAFOR (5: κυριαρχία και 1: απουσία). Στο πεδίο μετρήθηκαν επίσης οι φυσικοχημικές παράμετροι του νερού (pH, διαλυμένο οξυγόνο, θερμοκρασία, αγωγιμότητα, ταχύτητα νερού και μέσο βάθος νερού) και συλλέχθηκαν δείγματα επιφανειακού νερού για χημικές αναλύσεις θρεπτικών αλάτων αζώτου (ΝΟ3-Ν, ΝΟ2-Ν, ΝΗ4-Ν) και φωσφόρου (PO4-P & TP), Chl-a και αλκαλικότητας. Επίσης καταγράφηκαν στο πεδίο και υπολογίστηκαν στο εργαστήριο υδρογεωμορφολογικά στοιχεία και δεδομένα τοπίου τα οποία αφορούν τόσο την περιοχή αξιολόγησης όσο και όλη τη λεκάνη απορροής. Για τη στατιστική επεξεργασία των δεδομένων χρησιμοποιήθηκαν 1) Ιεραρχική Ανάλυση Συστάδων για βιοτική τυπολογία των υδρόβιων μακροφύτων κατά μήκος των ποταμών και για τον προσδιορισμό της δομής της παρόχθιας βλάστησης, 2) Ανάλυση Ειδών Δεικτών (ISA), για την περιγραφή της ιεραρχικής δομής της κάθε ομάδας και για τη διάκριση των σημαντικών Ειδών-Δεικτών (IndSps), και 3) Ταξιθέτηση όπου χρησιμοποιήθηκαν τόσο έμμεσες όσο και άμεσες αναλύσεις διαβάθμισης. Στις έμμεσες αναλύσεις διαβάθμισης χρησιμοποιήθηκαν α) Ανάλυση Κύριων Συνιστωσών (PCA), για τον προσδιορισμό των Γεωμορφολογικών Ενοτήτων και στον Καθορισμό της κλίμακας πιέσεων και β) Βελτιωμένη Ανάλυση Αντιστοιχιών (DCA), για τη χωρική κατανομή της αφθονίας των ειδών και τον έλεγχος των εποχικών και διαχρονικών διακυμάνσεων των κοινοτήτων αναφοράς. Ως άμεσες αναλύσεις διαβάθμισης χρησιμοποιήθηκαν α) Ανάλυση Πλεονασμού (RDA), για συσχέτιση των φυσικοχημικών χαρακτηριστικών του νερού με τα είδη δείκτες και β) Ανάλυση Κανονικών Αντιστοιχιών (CCA), για συσχέτιση των γεωμορφολογικών παραμέτρων με τα είδη-δείκτες και τον καθορισμό κύριων μεταβλητών υποβάθμισης της παρόχθιας ζώνης. Τα αποτελέσματα έδειξαν ότι κατά μήκος των δύο λεκανών απορροής διακρίνονται έξι Ομάδες Βλάστησης με παρόμοιο περιβαλλοντικό πρότυπο (πηγές-εκβολές). Στις ορεινές περιοχές και των δύο λεκανών απορροής (Αχέροντα και Λούρου) κυριαρχούν τα είδη Pteridium aquilinum, είδη βρυόφυτων και είδη του γένους Carex, C. acuta για τον ποταμό Αχέροντα και C. pendula για τον ποταμό Λούρο. Στο μέσο ρου των ποταμών διακρίθηκαν 4 διαφορετικές ομάδες βλάστησης. Ο διαφορετικός βαθμός ανθρωπογενούς τροποποίησης των εκβολών στις δύο λεκάνες απορροής αντανακλά και στη σύνθεση των φυτοκοινοτήτων όπου στις εκβολές του ποταμού Αχέροντα κυριαρχούν χλωροφύκη και το ανθεκτικό είδος Potamogeton pectinatus ενώ στον ποταμό Λούρο οι εκβολές χαρακτηρίζονται από την απουσία χλωροφυκών και την κυριαρχία του είδους Potamogeton nodosus. Οι σημαντικότεροι φυσικοχημικοί παράγοντες οι οποίοι επηρεάζουν την κατανομή των υδρόβιων μακροφύτων κατά μήκος των λεκανών απορροής της περιοχής μελέτης είναι: το pH, η αγωγιμότητα, η θερμοκρασία νερού, η μέση ταχύτητα νερού, οι συγκεντρώσεις των αλάτων αζώτου (ΝΟ3-Ν, ΝΗ4-Ν, ΝΟ2-Ν) και ορθοφωσφορικών (PO4-P) και Chl-a. Ενώ οι σημαντικότεροι γεωμορφολογικοί παράγοντες είναι: το υψόμετρο, το υπόστρωμα κοίτης, το πλάτος της κοίτης, η σκίαση της κοίτης, ο τύπος ενδιαιτήματος και το βάθος του νερού. Η διερεύνηση της δομής της παρόχθιας ζώνης έδειξε την ύπαρξη 4 διαφορετικών ομάδων παρόχθιας βλάστησης. Οι ορεινές περιοχές και άνω μέσος ρους και των δύο λεκανών απορροής χαρακτηρίζεται από την κυριαρχία των ειδών Platanus orientalis και Quercus coccifera. Οι βασικές τροποποιήσεις που δέχονται οι περιοχές αυτές αφορούν μεταβολές σε τοπικό επίπεδο γεγονός που επιβεβαιώνεται από τις υψηλές τιμές δείκτη QBR. Οι πεδινές περιοχές χαρακτηρίζονται από την κυριαρχία των ειδών Salix alba και Populus alba. Οι σημαντικότερες πιέσεις που δέχεται το πεδινό τμήμα των ποταμών αφορούν τις γεωργικές δραστηριότητες, τη δημιουργία τεχνικών αναχωμάτων, την ενίσχυση της όχθης, τις αμμοχαλικοληψίες, τη διευθέτηση και την ευθυγράμμιση της όχθης. Το είδος Phragmites australis χαρακτηρίζει τις εκβολές των ποταμών, ενώ σημαντική ήταν η αφθονία των ειδών Arundo donax και του εισαγόμενου είδους Eucalyptus camaldulensis. Σύμφωνα με τα αποτελέσματα η αφθονία των ειδών ήταν χαμηλή σε όλες τις Ομάδες Βλάστησης. Εφαρμόστηκαν επίσης οι δείκτες: QBR ο οποίος αποτελεί μέτρο αξιολόγησης της ποιότητας της παρόχθιας ζώνης, HQA όπου αποτελεί δείκτη αξιολόγησης της οικολογικής ποιότητας του ποτάμιου ενδιαιτήματος και HMS ο οποίος είναι δείκτης ανθρωπογενούς τροποποίησης του ενδιαιτήματος. Τα αποτελέσματα από την εφαρμογή των πιο πάνω δεικτών έδειξαν ότι η οικολογική ακεραιότητα παρόχθιας ζώνης αυξάνει τη συνολική οικολογική ποιότητα. Σύμφωνα με τις υδρογεωμορφολογικές μεταβλητές, οι οποίες εξετάστηκαν, οι θέσεις δειγματοληψίας ομαδοποιηθήκαν σε τρεις Γεωμορφολογικές Ενότητες οι οποίες αντιστοιχούν στο Ορεινό, Πεδινό και Εκβολικό Τμήμα των ποταμών. Σε κάθε Γεωμορφολογική Ενότητα πραγματοποιήθηκε ανάλυση πιέσεων και διακρίθηκαν οι σταθμοί αναφοράς οι οποίοι για το ορεινό τμήμα ήταν 7, στο πεδινό 3 ενώ στο εκβολικό τμήμα μόνο 2 σταθμοί χαρακτηρίστηκαν ως περιοχές αναφοράς. Σε κάθε Γεωμορφολογική Ενότητα διερευνήθηκαν οι εποχικές και διαχρονικές μεταβολές στη σύνθεση των κοινοτήτων αναφοράς και προσδιορίστηκε δομή τους. Τα αποτελέσματα έδειξαν, ότι η σύνθεση των κοινοτήτων αναφοράς στο πεδινό τμήμα των ποταμών φαίνεται να παραμένουν σταθερές στις φυσικές διακυμάνσεις. Από την άλλη, οι μικρές διαφορές οι οποίες καταγράφηκαν στο ορεινό και εκβολικό τμήμα των ποταμών οφείλονται κυρίως στην όψιμη Άνοιξη και στις υψηλές θερμοκρασίες που επικρατούν κατά τους καλοκαιρινούς μήνες και εντοπίζονται στο μειωμένο αριθμό των βρυοφύτων και πτεριδοφύτων αντίστοιχα. Τέλος σύμφωνα τα αποτελέσματα η περίοδος διεξαγωγής των δειγματοληψιών προσδιορίζεται ανάμεσα στο χρονικό διάστημα μεταξύ τέλος Απριλίου και τέλος Σεπτεμβρίου αφού σε αυτό το χρονικό διάστημα οποιαδήποτε επίσκεψη στο πεδίο αναμένεται να δώσει την ίδια σύνθεση των κοινοτήτων αναφοράς. Διερευνήθηκαν, στο μεγαλύτερο δυνατό βαθμό, όλες οι πιθανές παράμετροι και πιέσεις, οι οποίες επηρεάζουν τη σύνθεση και την κατανομή υδρόβιων μακροφύτων κατά μήκος των λεκανών απορροής. Οι σημαντικότερες πιέσεις που δέχεται η περιοχή μελέτης επηρεάζουν κυρίως τα υδρομορφολογικά χαρακτηριστικά του οικοσυστήματος. Ως πιο αξιόπιστος και ολιστικός τρόπος αξιολόγησης της οικολογικής κατάστασης της περιοχής μελέτης επιλέχθηκε η Πολυμετρική προσέγγιση. Σαν πίεση επιλέχθηκε η υδρομορφολογική τροποποίηση. Συνολικά, διερευνήθηκαν 86 υποψήφιες μετρικές οι οποίες ανήκουν σε 5 κατηγορίες: 1) Αφθονίας/Ποικιλότητας, 2) Τροφικής κατάστασης, 3) Σύνθεσης φυτικών κοινοτήτων, 4) Ποιότητας Δομής της παρόχθιας ζώνης και 5) Ευαισθησίας/Ανοχής, οι οποίες προέρχονται από τις βιοκοινότητες του υγρού δίαυλου, της ενεργής κοίτης και της όχθης. Ο καθορισμός της κλίμακας πιέσεων πραγματοποιήθηκε με τη χρήση της Ανάλυσης Κύριων Συνιστωσών (PCA) με 36 υδρομορφολογικές μεταβλητές υποβάθμισης σε 2 χωρικά επίπεδα: Μακροκλίμακας και Μικροκλίμακας. Στον τελικό Πολυμετρικό δείκτη συμπεριλήφθηκαν μόνο οι μετρικές οι οποίες ικανοποιούσαν συγκεκριμένα κριτήρια. Τα κριτήρια αυτά αφορούσαν: την εκπλήρωση του κριτηρίου από την εφαρμογή των θηκογραμμάτων με απολήξεις (δηλαδή εξαιρούνται οι μετρικές οι οποίες έχουν στενό εύρος τιμών, πολλές ακραίες τιμές και πολλές απόμακρες παρατηρήσεις), την αποφυγή αλληλεπικαλυπτόμενων πληροφοριών (Spearman ǀrǀ>0,800) και την υψηλή συσχέτιση με τις κλίμακες πιέσεων (Spearman ǀrǀ>0,500). Συνολικά από τις 86 υποψήφιες μετρικές οι 6 θεωρήθηκαν ως κεντρικές μετρικές αφού ικανοποίησαν όλα τα πιο πάνω κριτήρια. Οι κεντρικές μετρικές είναι: 1) Δείκτης IBMR, 2) Δείκτης QBR, 3) Αριθμός Βρυοφυτικών taxa, 4) % Είδη Αναφοράς, 5) % Νιτρόφιλα είδη και 6) % Ελοφυτικά είδη (Phe_herbids). Ο Πολυμετρικός Δείκτης Μακροφύτων (Multimetric Macrophyte Index-MMI) είναι ο αριθμητικός μέσος των 6 κανονικοποιημένων «κεντρικών» μετρικών. Κανονικοποίηση καλείται η προσαρμογή του εύρους τιμών της κάθε μετρικής στο ενδεικτικό όριο από 0 μέχρι 1. Σημαντικό σημείο στην κανονικοποίηση των μετρικών είναι ο καθορισμός του ανώτερου (upper anchor) και κατώτερου ορίου (lower anchor) της κάθε «κεντρικής» μετρικής. Το ανώτερο και το κατώτερο όριο δείχνουν το ενδεικτικό εύρος της κάθε μετρικής όπου το ανώτερο όριο (anchor) αντιστοιχεί στην τιμή της μετρικής κάτω από τις συνθήκες αναφοράς. Στην παρούσα εργασία για το ανώτερο όριο κάθε μετρικής επιλέχθηκε το 75ο εκατοστημόριο (percentile) των μη διαταραγμένων περιοχών και για το κατώτερο όριο το 5ο εκατοστημόριο (percentile) των διαταραγμένων περιοχών. Για την αξιολόγηση της οικολογικής ποιότητας, των θέσεων δειγματοληψίας, με βάση τον Πολυμετρικό Δείκτη Μακροφύτων, απαιτείται ο καθορισμός των ορίων μεταξύ των 5 ποιοτικών κλάσεων όπως απαιτεί η Οδηγία Πλαίσιο για τα Ύδατα 2000/60/ΕΕ. Τα όρια του δείκτη καθορίστηκαν υπολογίζοντας αρχικά το όριο μεταξύ της «Υψηλής»/«Καλής» οικολογικής κατάστασης το οποίο ορίστηκε ως το 25o εκατοστημόριο μη διαταραγμένων περιοχών (0,623). Το υπόλοιπο εύρος τιμών χωρίστηκε σε τέσσερις ίσες κλάσεις. Τα αποτελέσματα έδειξαν, ότι ο ΜΜΙ δίνει πολύ καλή ένδειξη της οικολογικής κατάστασης των μεσαίου μεγέθους πεδινών ποταμών της Δυτικής Ελλάδας (RM-2). Σύμφωνα με τα αποτελέσματα το 29,6% των θέσεων δειγματοληψίας (8 θέσεις) ταξινομήθηκαν στην Υψηλή οικολογική κατάσταση, το 4% (14 θέσεις) στην Καλή οικολογική κατάσταση, το 22,3% (6 θέσεις) στην Μέτρια, το 29,6% (8 θέσεις) στην Φτωχή και μόνο το 3,7% (1 θέση) χαρακτηρίστηκε ως Κακής Οικολογικής Ποιότητας. Η παρούσα Διδακτορική Διατριβή, αποτελεί µια πρώτη προσπάθεια στον Ελληνικό χώρο για δημιουργία ενός ολοκληρωμένου συστήματος παρακολούθησης της οικολογικής ποιότητας των ρεόντων υδάτων με χρήση των υδρόβιων μακροφύτων ως βιολογικών ποιοτικών στοιχείων. Η μεθοδολογία αναπτύχθηκε και εφαρμόστηκε πιλοτικά σε δύο λεκάνες απορροής στα μεσαίου μεγέθους πεδινά ποτάμια της Ηπείρου Αχέροντα και Λούρου ακολουθώντας πιστά τις απαιτήσεις και τις κατευθυντήριες γραμμές της Ευρωπαϊκής Οδηγίας Πλαίσιο για τα Ύδατα 2000/60/ΕΕ. Επίσης το σύστημα αξιολόγησης το οποίο προτείνεται αναπτύχθηκε με σκοπό την εφαρμογή του σε όλα τα παρόμοιου τύπου ποτάμια της Ελλάδας αφού τόσο ο κατάλογος με τις υποψήφιες μετρικές όσο και ο ίδιος ο πολυμετρικός δείκτης μπορεί να ελεγχθεί και σε άλλους τύπους ποταμών της Ελλάδας (RM-1, RM-3, RM-4 & RM-5). Τέλος, τα αποτελέσματα που προκύπτουν συμβάλλουν στην ορθολογικότερη διαχείριση και ανάδειξη των ποτάμιων ενδιαιτημάτων και στην εφαρμογή της περιβαλλοντικής πολιτικής του νερού στην Ελλάδα. / The main objective of the present thesis was the ecological assessment of two river basins, Acheron and Louros; based on aquatic plant communities, water quality and hydromorphological characteristics, as well as, the development of a methodology for collecting, analyzing and assessing field data, specific adapted to Greek conditions. The specific objectives of the doctoral thesis include: a) the investigation of abiotic parameters influencing the distribution of aquatic macrophytes along the two river basins (Chapter A); b) the investigation of riparian zone structure and the assessment of “key” environmental gradient and human intervention (Chapter B); c) abiotic typology for reducing the spatial variability, monitoring the temporal and seasonal variation in of aquatic macrophytes distribution, and determination of reference communities in each geomorphological unit of the riverine ecosystem (Chapter C), and d) the development of the Macrophyte Multimetric Index (MMI) which is described step by step in Chapter D. Data were collected from 32 sampling sites, which were chosen according to the following criteria: i) covering a wide gradient of land used i.e. from natural to artificial; ii) selection of more than one site with similar geomorphological characteristics; iii) the constant distance between sampling sites; iv) the homogeneity of the sampling sites, and v) the accessibility to the sampling points throughout the duration of monitoring. Based on the above criteria, 15 sites were selected along Acheron river basin [11, Acheron river (A1-8 & A11-13); 1, Cocytos (A9); 1, Vouvo Rema (A15); 2, irrigation canals (A10 & A14)]. Additionally, 17 sampling sites were selected along Louros river (S1-S15). The survey area was subdivided into 3 zones, a) the wetted part of the channel, b) the marginal-active channel and c) the riparian woodland plot. The survey area length was standardized at 100 m according to the widely accepted methods [e.g. Mean Trophic Rank, (MTR); Riparian Forest Quality, (QBR)]. On the other hand, the width of each plot includes the area between, the end of the active channel and the riparian woodland. The field surveys were conducted during the vegetation periods (April to September) of the years 2005 to 2007. The coverage of each macrophyte species was visually estimated using DAFOR 5-point scale (1: Rare, 2: Occasional, 3: Frequent, 4: Abundant and 5: Dominant). Also, water physicochemical parameters such as temperature, DO, pH, conductivity, were measured in situ using portable equipment (WTW340i/SET). Additionally, surface water samples were collected for determination of nutrients such as nitrate and nitrite nitrogen, total nitrogen, ammonium, phosphorus nutrients (soluble reactive phosphorus and total phosphorus), Chl-a, and alkalinity (HCO-3, CO3=). Nutrient samples were collected and analyzed according to APHA standard analytical method (APHA, 1989). For the statistical processing of the data were used: 1) Hierarchical cluster analysis (Bray-Curtis), for the biotic typology of macrophyte data along river basins and to determine the structure of the riparian vegetation; 2) Indicator Species Analysis, was used to describe the hierarchical structure of each group to distinguish the indicator species (Ind_Sps) for each vegetation group; 3) Ordination, which were used both Indirect and Direct gradient analyses. Indirect gradient analyzes were used: a) Principal Component Analysis (PCA), to identify Geomorphological Units and to determining the pressure gradients; and b) Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA), for researching the spatial distribution of species abundance, and for seasonal and inter-annual variability of the reference communities. For direct gradient analyzes were used: a) Redundancy Analysis (RDA), for correlation between, water physicochemical parameters and Indicator species; and b) Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA), for correlation between geomorphological characteristics and indicator species, as well as, to determine the key variables best explain the degradation of the riparian zone. The results showed that along the two river basins, six vegetation groups can be distinguished, with similar environmental gradient pattern (springs-estuaries). The dominant species for the upper part of Acheron and Louros river basins were: Pteridium aquilinum, bryophyte taxa and Carex species (C. acuta and C. pendula respectively). Moreover, four different vegetation groups were characterized the middle part of both river basins. The different degree of anthropogenic alteration of river estuaries (Acheron and Louros), reflects in the composition of the plant communities. The estuaries of Acheron were characterized by the dominant of green algae and the tolerant species Potamogeton pectinatus, while the estuaries of Louros river was characterized by the absence of green algae and the dominance of Potamogeton nodosus. The most important physicochemical variables that significantly affect the distribution of aquatic macrophytes along the river basins were: pH, conductivity, water temperature, and mean water velocity, concentrations of nitrogen nutrients (ΝΟ3-Ν, ΝΗ4-Ν, ΝΟ2-Ν) and orthophosphate (PO4-P), as well as, Chl-a. Whereas, the most important geomorphological factors were: altitude, bed substrate, channel width, channel shading, habitat type, water depth. Hierarchical cluster analysis distinguished five vegetation groups of the riparian zone of the study area. The following groups were indentified and characterized by the dominant riparian species. The upper reaches were characterized by the Vegetation Group Ia: Platanus orientalis and Ib: Quercus coccifera-P. orientalis; the middle reaches by II: Salix alba and Populus alba; and lowland areas until estuaries by III: Phragmites australis. Vegetation Group IV was characterized by the dominant of non native species Eucalyptus camaldulensis and the giant reed Arundo donax. According to the results, species abundance was low in all Vegetation Groups. Also, the applied indices Riparian quality assessment (QBR), Habitat Quality Assessment (HQA) and Habitat Modification Score (HMS) revealed that the ecological integrity of the riparian zone increases the overall ecological quality of the riparian ecosystem. According to the hydromorphological characteristics, the sampling sites were grouped into three Geomorphological Units: Upper –Middle reaches-Estuaries. In each Geomorphological Unit (GU) a pressure gradient analysis was performed, and the reference sites were identified. For GU I the number of reference sites was 7, for GU II 3 reference sites were identified, while, for the estuaries the number of the reference sites were only 2. Also in each GU the seasonal and inter annual changes in reference communities, were investigated, and the structure of the reference community was determined. The results showed that the composition of the reference communities in lowland rivers appears to remain constant in the physical fluctuations. On the other hand, the slight differences which were recorded, in the GU I, during spring and summer sampling, referred to the reduction of bryophytes. This reduction might be cause due to the late spring (May), at the upper part of Louros river. Also, differences were recorded between autumn and spring samplings, in the GU III (estuaries). Those differences referred to the reduction of pteridophytes, maybe due to the high temperatures that prevail during the summer months. Finally, the sampling period could be set between late April and late September, since, during this period, any field visit will give the same composition of the reference communities. We investigated, to the greatest possible degree, all the potential parameters and pressures, which could influence the composition and distribution of aquatic macrophytes along the river basins. The most significant effect, from the current pressures, in the studied area, is the alteration of the hydromorphological characteristics of the ecosystem. The Multimetric approach was chosen, as the most holistic and reliable evaluation method of the ecological status of the study area. A preliminary list of potential plant metrics was compiled from a review of the literature, and in situ observations of plant community patterns. The metrics were grouped into five categories, so that each one representing a different ecological aspect of aquatic and riparian plant communities: 1) Richness/Diversity, 2) Trophic status, 3) Composition, 4) Riparian Integrity, and 5) Sensitivity/Tolerance. A total of 86 metrics were tested, of which 7 belonged to the category of "Abundance/Diversity", 4 to the category of "Trophic” status, 46 metric referred to “Composition” of plant communities, 11 referred to "Riparian Integrity”, and finally, 18 belonged to “Sensitivity/Tolerance” category. The estimation of the pressure gradient was performed using Principal Component Analyses (PCAs), with 36 hydromorphological degradation variables in 2 spatial scales: macroscale and microscale. Candidate metrics, which can be identified as robust and most informative, are scrutinized further, in the process of selecting core metrics. To be selected as a core metric the following aspects have to be considered: 1) core metrics should cover different metric types (see above); 2) metrics should not give redundant information. Inter-correlation tests between candidate metrics were carried out to detect redundant metrics (threshold value Spearman’s r<0.800). In case of redundancy we further investigate: the correlation of each metric with stress gradient (threshold value Spearman’s r<0.05); the correlation of each of the pair of metrics with the other metrics in order to finally omit the one that showed the higher overall mean correlation; and how well they separate stressed from unstressed sampling sites (graphical analysis of box-whisker plots). The final index includes 6 metrics out of 86 candidated metrics. The core metrics are: 1) IBMR, 2) QBR, 3) Number of Bryophyte, 4) % Reference Species, 5) % Nitrophilous taxa and 6) % Helophyte taxa (Phe_herbids). The different numerical scales of each core metric (e.g. abundance class, number of individuals) were normalized to unitless scores between 0 and 1. The upper and lower anchors mark the indicative range of a metric. The upper anchor corresponds to the upper limit of the metric’s value under reference conditions, and it was set as the 75th of the unstressed sites. The lower anchor corresponds to the lower limit of the metric’s value under the worst attainable conditions and it was set as 5th percentile of stressed sites. The multimetric index was calculated as the arithmetic mean of the normalized metrics (Böhmer et al., 2004). The final Multimetric Index provides a score that represents the overall relationship between the combined values of the biological parameters observed for a given site and the expected value under reference conditions. This score is – as for single metrics – expressed as a numerical value between zero and one. This range can be subdivided into any number of categories corresponding to various levels of impairment. To determine the boundaries of Multimetric Index, the 25th percentile of the unstressed sites (0,623) was set as the boundary for the high/good ecological class. We propose quality classes with equal ranges, to provide five ordinal rating categories for assessment of impairment in accordance with the demands of the WFD. The application of Macrophyte Multimetric Index (MMI) in the medium lowland rivers of Greece led to the ecological classification in five quality classes. The results indicated that the 29.6% of the sampling sites (8 sites) were classified in High ecological status, 4% (4 sites) in Good ecological status; the 22.3% (6 sites) in Moderate, 29.6% (8 sites) in the Poor and only 3.7% (1 site) was characterized as Bad ecological quality. The current doctoral thesis was the first attempt in the Greece, for establishing an integrated monitoring system of ecological quality of running water ecosystems, using aquatic macrophytes as biological quality element. The methodology developed, was pilot implemented in two river basins, Acheron and Louros, in Epirus, following the requirements and guidelines of the European Water Framework Directive, 2000/60/EE. Also, the evaluation system was developed to be proposed for implementation at all similar river types of Greece, since both the list of candidate metrics and the Multimetric Index itself, can be tested in other types of Greek rivers (RM-1, RM-3, RM-4 & RM-5). Finally, the results, will contribute to the sustainable management and conservation of riverine ecosystems, as well as, to the implementation of the water environmental policy in Greece.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:03:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 PauloCMA_DISSERT.pdf: 4872324 bytes, checksum: c2fbbe9b5d2839b7409ecae2d848efcd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-12-23 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / The reality of water resources management in semiarid regions, such as the Serid? region, has been shaped by a complex chain involving social-cultural, political, economic and environmental aspects, covering different spheres of activity - from local to federal. Because water is a scarce element, the most rational way pointed out by our recent history has been to move towards an increasing emphasis on the need for a truly rational, integrated, sustainable and participatory water resources management, supported by legislation and by a network of institutions that could materialize it. In this sense, despite all the advances in the formulation of public policies in water resources, which ones have indeed lead to significant changes that have occurred or are underway in semiarid regions such as Serid?? What factors may be preventing the realization of the desires rationality embedded in the framers of water policies intents? How to properly manage water resources if the current actors who promote their management and the political, human, cultural and institutional processes that intervene in this management, show strong traces of unsustainability? The research methodology adopted in this paper led to a breakdown of the traditional approach to water resource management, to integrate it into other areas of knowledge, especially to political science and public administration, catalyzed by the concept of "sustainable development". From a broad, interdisciplinary literature review, an exhaustive characterization of the river basin Serid?, a set of interviews with key people in the public administration acting in the region, a series of diagnoses and a set of propositions were made in order to correct the direction of current public policies for the region. From the point of view of public policies, it is in the deployment phase, not in its formulation, which lies a major problem of the lack of significant progress in water management. The lack of coordination between government programs are well characterized, as well as the lack of efficiency and effectiveness of their actions. The causes of this secular model are also discussed, including political factors and social relations of production, which led to a stalemate difficult, but of possible solution. It can be perceived there is a scenario of progressive deterioration of natural resources of the fragile ecosystem and a network of environmental and social consequences difficult to reverse, the result of a persistent and inertial sociopolitical culture, whose main factors reinforce itself. The work leads towards a characterization of the water resources management also from the perspective of environmental, institutional, political and human sustainability , the latter being identified, particularly as investment in the development of people as autonomous beings - not based in ideological directives of any kind - in the emancipation of the traditional figure of the poor man of the hinterland" to the "catalyst for change" responsible for their own decisions or omissions, based upon an education for free-thinking that brings each one as co-responsible epicenter of (self-) sustainable changes in their midst / A realidade da gest?o dos recursos h?dricos em regi?es semi?ridas, como ? o caso da regi?o do Serid?, tem sido moldada por uma cadeia complexa envolvendo aspectos socioculturais, pol?ticos, econ?micos e ambientais, abrangendo diferentes esferas de atua??o do local ao federativo. Sendo a ?gua um elemento escasso, o caminho mais racional apontado pela nossa hist?ria recente tem sido o de caminhar no sentido de uma ?nfase cada vez maior na necessidade de uma gest?o verdadeiramente racional, integrada, sustent?vel e participativa dos recursos h?dricos, sustentada por uma legisla??o e por uma rede de institui??es que dessem materialidade a essa gest?o. Nesse sentido, apesar de todos os avan?os na parte de formula??o das pol?ticas p?blicas em recursos h?dricos, quais t?m sido, de fato, as mudan?as significativas que j? ocorreram ou est?o em marcha em regi?es semi?ridas como o Serid?? Quais fatores podem estar impedindo a realiza??o da desejada racionalidade embutida na inten??o dos formuladores das pol?ticas h?dricas? Como gerir adequadamente recursos h?dricos, sendo que os atuais atores que promovem a sua gest?o, os processos pol?ticos, humanos, culturais e institucionais que nesta gest?o interv?m, apresentam fortes tra?os de insustentabilidade? A metodologia de investiga??o adotada nesta disserta??o levou a uma ruptura da tradicional abordagem da gest?o de recursos h?dricos, para integr?-la a outras ?reas do conhecimento, notadamente ?s ci?ncias pol?ticas e ? administra??o p?blica, tendo como elemento agregador o conceito de desenvolvimento sustent?vel . A partir de uma ampla e interdisciplinar an?lise bibliogr?fica, de uma caracteriza??o exaustiva da bacia do rio Serid? e de um conjunto de entrevistas com pessoas-chave da administra??o p?blica atuantes na regi?o, chegou-se a uma s?rie de diagn?sticos e um conjunto de proposi??es para a corre??o de rumos das atuais pol?ticas p?blicas para a regi?o. Sob o ponto de vista das pol?ticas p?blicas, ? na fase de implanta??o, e n?o na de sua formula??o, que reside um dos principais problemas da falta de avan?o consider?vel na gest?o h?drica. A falta de articula??o entre programas governamentais est?o bem caracterizadas, bem como a falta de efici?ncia, efetividade e efic?cia de suas a??es. As causas desse modelo secular s?o tamb?m discutidas, abrangendo fatores pol?ticos e as rela??es sociais e de produ??o, que levaram a um impasse de dif?cil, mas poss?vel solu??o. Como pano de fundo, observa-se um cen?rio de progressiva deteriora??o dos recursos naturais do fr?gil ecossistema e uma rede de consequ?ncias ambientais e sociais dif?ceis de serem revertidas, fruto de uma cultura sociopol?tica persistente e inercial, cujos fatores principais refor?am a si mesma. O trabalho conduz no sentido de uma caracteriza??o da gest?o de recursos h?dricos tamb?m pelo vi?s da sustentabilidade ambiental, institucional, pol?tica e humana, sendo esta ?ltima identificada, sobretudo, como investimento no desenvolvimento das pessoas enquanto seres aut?nomos e n?o no seu adestramento ideol?gico de qualquer natureza -, na emancipa??o da figura tradicional do pobre sertanejo para o agente catalisador de mudan?as respons?vel por suas decis?es ou omiss?es, tendo como fundamento uma educa??o para o livre-pensar que coloque o indiv?duo como epicentro co-respons?vel das mudan?as (auto)sustent?veis em seu meio

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / In the present study, we applied a fast diagnostic protocol to the analysis of the quality of aquatic habitats (PAR) to assess the headwaters of the Siriri River, a first-order tributary of the Japaratuba River basin, Sergipe. The main source is located at UTM (707680, 8837848) in a 100-hectare fragment of Atlantic Forest, in the coastal plateau domain. The diagnosis proposed to evaluate external and internal human pressures, impacts resulting from the use of land and the exploitation of forest resources by the local Mata do Cipó community. The environmental diagnosis of this community was based on 52 semi-structured questionnaires applied to 24 men and 28 women, used to identify local conflicts, and the use of land and water resources. Land use was characterized by an historical overview together with a description of the geomorphology and aspects of the geology, soil, topography, climate, and vegetation. The rapid assessment protocol of habitat quality (RAP), adapted from Callisto et al (2002) was applied at 13 points along the Siriri stream, where a series of physical-chemical parameters of the water (pH, DO, TDS, ORP, eH, salinity, and total N and P) were analyzed and compared with the water quality parameters recommended by CONAMA (357). The environmental diagnosis of the community indicated a strong historical dependence for more than 80 years, the intensive exploitation of forest resources for bathing, hunting, leisure activities, and religious practices (African beliefs). The principal external pressure was the use of the land for sugarcane plantations and the main internal pressure was the exploitation of water resources by the neighboring town of Capela. The RAP concluded that 25% of the aquatic habitats are altered, with a loss of environmental resistance, while pH, nitrogen, and eH all exceeded CONAMA recommendations. We conclude that (a) this fragment of Atlantic Forest is a conservation priority due to the confirmation interviewees of the local occurrence and extinction of the titi monkey, Callicebus coimbrai Kobayashi & Langguth, 1999), (b) despite a low level of impact (25%) on this headwater environment, some physical-chemical parameters of the water have been affected, and (c) the local ecosystem appears to be resilient, although the habitats that surround the headwaters of the Siriri River require restoration. / Neste estudo aplicou o diagnóstico rápido da qualidade dos habitats terrestres e aquáticos (PAR) para avaliar a nascente do Rio Siriri, um tributário de primeira ordem da Bacia do Rio Japaratuba, Sergipe. A nascente principal está localizada na coordenada UTM (707680, 8837848) que compreende um fragmento de 100 hectares de Mata Atlântica, domínio dos Tabuleiros Costeiros. O diagnóstico propôs também avaliar as pressões antrópicas externas e internas, o estado e os impactos exercidos pelo uso da terra e pela comunidade Mata Cipó. O diagnóstico socioambiental da comunidade do entorno foram aplicados 52 questionários semiestruturados entre homens (24) e mulheres (28) com a finalidade de identificar os conflitos locais, uso do solo e dos recursos hídricos. Na caracterização uso do solo foi feito um breve histórico do uso da terra e uma descrição da geomorfologia e aspectos da litologia, solo, altimetria, relevo, clima e vegetação. O protocolo de avaliação rápida da qualidade de habitat (PAR), adaptado de Callisto et al (2002) foi aplicado em 13 pontos do riacho Siriri, assim com foram feitos análise dos parâmetros físico-químico da água: pH, OD, TDS, ORP, eH, salinidade, N e P totais e confrontadas com os parâmetros de qualidade da água pela portaria do CONAMA (357). O diagnóstico socioambiental da comunidade mostrou forte dependência histórica por mais de 80 anos de uso intenso dos recursos da mata para uso da água, lazer, caça e práticas e cultos religiosos afro. As pressões externa e interna sobre a comunidade e o fragmento de mata foram identificadas como o principal a monocultura de cana de açúcar sobre o uso do solo e a prefeitura de Capela sobre os recurso hídricos. Na avaliação do PAR constatou que 25% dos habitats aquáticos estão alterados com perda da resistência ambiental, enquanto os parâmetros da qualidade da água: pH, Nitrogênio, e eH estão acima dos parâmetros do CONAMA. Concluímos que: a) o fragmento de Mata Atlântica é prioritário para fins conservacionistas uma vez que comunidade confirmou a ocorrência e a extinção local do macaco Guigó, Callicebus coimbrai Kobayashi & Langguth, 1999); b) mesmo com 25% dos habitats de nascentes os parâmetros físico-químico da água estão alterados; c) o fragmento de mata tem capacidade de resiliência ecossistêmica, todavia os habitats de nascentes alterados necessitem de intervenção de restauração.

O desenvolvimento e aplicação de métodos analíticos na avaliação das concentrações de metais nas frações dissolvida e lábil na bacia do rio Piracicaba são de relevante importância para o estudo do comportamento químico-ambiental desses metais e para seu monitoramento, devido ao impacto das atividades antropogênicas nessa bacia. A técnica de difusão em filmes finos por gradiente de concentração (DGT, do inglês diffusive gradients in thin-films), é uma promissora ferramenta analítica de amostragem, pois permite pré-concentração, análise temporal, remoção de interferentes, avaliação lábil e amostragem in situ. A quantificação dos metais pelas técnicas de fluorescência de raios X dispersiva em energia por reflexão total (TXRF, total reflection X-ray fluorescence analysis) para amostras líquidas e da fluorescência de raios X dispersiva em energia (EDXRF, energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence) para amostras sólidas, mostram-se interessantes devido ao caráter multielementar, simultâneo e não destrutivo da análise. Neste trabalho avaliou-se a DGT para a determinação de Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn e Pb em águas naturais, utilizando-se como agente ligante a membrana de celulose P 81 e como meio difusivo, o papel cromatográfico 3 MM. Calcularam-se os fatores de eluição e coeficientes de difusão para estes metais. Estudou-se o efeito da substância húmica, em diferentes concentrações, no desempenho da DGT para esses metais, e os resultados foram comparados e concordantes com as frações livre e a ligada à matéria orgânica, calculadas pelo programa Visual MINTEQ. Compararam-se o agente ligante e o meio difusivo à base de celulose, utilizados neste trabalho, com os à base de gel de poliacrilamida, empregando-se o complexante Chelex-100. Avaliou-se a homogeneidade da retenção dos analitos e do grupo ligante fosfato sobre a superfície do agente ligante. Nesses ensaios utilizaram-se soluções sintéticas contendo os analitos em pH 5,5 e força iônica 0,05 mol L-1 (ajustados com NaNO3). As determinações foram realizadas por TXRF e EDXRF. Avaliaram-se os acoplamentos DGT-SRTXRF e da DGT-EDXRF para a determinação da fração lábil de Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn e Pb em amostras de água da bacia do rio Piracicaba, através de imersão em laboratório e in situ. Esses resultados foram comparados com as concentrações dissolvidas desses metais determinados pela técnica de fluorescência de raios X por reflexão total com excitação por luz síncrotron (SRTXRF, synchrotron radiation total reflection X-ray analysis). Os valores de concentrações de Mn, Cu e Zn nas frações dissolvida e lábil foram comparados com os valores máximos estabelecidos pela legislação brasileira Nas amostragens in situ, nos cinco pontos de coleta, as concentrações de Mn dissolvido e lábil foram maiores que a concentração total máxima permitida para esse elemento. Os elmentos Cr, Co, Ni e Pb, nas amostras coletadas, apresentaram-se abaixo do limite de detecção das técnicas SRTXRF (dissolvido), DGT-SRTXRF (lábil) e DGT-EDXRF (lábil). Os limites de detecção para o Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn e Pb foram de 2,2 a 10 \'mü\'g L-1 na SRTXRF, de 0,21 a 3,6 \'mü\'g L-1 e de 7,2 a 24 \'mü\'g L-1 na DGT-SRTXRF e DGT-EDXRF, respectivamente / Analytical methods evaluation for metal dissolved and labile fractions determination in Piracicaba river basin is notable for metal-behavior studies in this environment as well as their monitoring due to anthropogenic activities. The diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) is a promising sampling technique because of its pre-concentration, time-integrated, matrix interference removal, labile evaluation and in situ analytical features. The analytical techniques total reflection X-ray fluorescence (TXRF) for liquid samples and energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) for solid samples analysis are advantageous due to simultaneous, multielemental and non-destructive characteristics. In this work, it was evaluated the DGT technique for Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb determination in freshwater, using P 81 cellulose membrane as bind agent and 3 MM chromatographic paper as diffusive layer. Elution factors and diffusion coefficients were calculated for these metals. The humic acids effect on DGT performance was assessed and compared to free and humic acid bound metal fractions estimated by Visual MINTEQ software, in which agreement results were found. The paper-based DGT and gel-based one with Chelex-100 as bind agent were compared. The metal retention and phosphate group homogenization on P 81 membrane bind agent surface was studied. For these tests it was utilized a synthetic solution these metals containing with pH and ionic strength adjust to 5.5 and 0.05 mol L-1 (NaNO3), respectively. It was used the TXRF and EDXRF techniques for these metal quantifications. The DGT-SRTXRF and DGT-EDXRF were assessed in order to determine Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb labile fractions in batch and in situ in Piracicaba river basin freshwater samples. These results were compared to their dissolved fractions by synchrotron radiation total reflection X-ray analysis, SRTXRF. The dissolved and labile Mn, Cu and Zn concentrations levels were compared to maximum allowed set by Brazilian legislation. The dissolved and labile Mn concentrations were higher than the maximum allowed in all five samples in situ sampling. Cr, Co, Ni, and Pb concentrations were lower than their limits of detection for dissolved fractions (SRTXRF) and labile ones (DGT-SRTXRF and DGT-EDXRF). The detection limits for Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb were from 2.2 to 10 \'mü\'g L-1 for SRTXRF, from 0.21 to 3.6 \'mü\'g L-1 and from 7.2 to 24 \'mü\'g L-1 for DGT-SRTXRF and DGT-EDXRF, respectively

Error characteristics associated with satellite-derived precipitation products are important for atmospheric and hydrological model data assimilation, forecasting, and climate diagnostic applications. This information also aids in the refinement of physical assumptions within algorithms by identifying geographical regions and seasons where existing algorithm physics may be incorrect or incomplete. Examination of relative errors between independent estimates derived from satellite microwave data is particularly important over regions with limited surface-based equipments for measuring rain rate such as the global oceans and tropical continents. In this context, analysis of microwave based satellite datasets from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) enables to not only provide information regarding the inherent uncertainty within the current TRMM products, but also serves as an opportunity to prototype error characterization methodologies for the TRMM follow-on program, the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) . Most of the TRMM uncertainty evaluation studies focus on the accuracy of rainfall accumulated over time (e.g., season/year). Evaluation of instantaneous rainfall intensities from TRMM orbital data products is relatively rare. These instantaneous products are known to potentially cause large uncertainties during real time flood forecasting studies at the watershed scale. This is more so over land regions, where the highly varying land surface emissivity offers a myriad of complications, hindering accurate rainfall estimation. The error components of orbital data products also tend to interact nonlinearly with hydrologic modeling uncertainty. Keeping these in mind, the present thesis fosters the development of uncertainty analysis using instantaneous satellite orbital data products (latest version 7 of 1B11, 2A25, 2A23, 2B31, 2A12) derived from the passive and active microwave sensors onboard TRMM satellite, namely TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) and precipitation radar (PR). The study utilizes 11 years of orbital data from 2002 to 2012 over the Indian subcontinent and examines the influence of various error sources on the convective and stratiform precipitation types. Two approaches are taken up to examine uncertainty. While the first approach analyses independent contribution of error from these orbital data products, the second approach examines their combined effect. Based on the first approach, analysis conducted over the land regions of Mahanadi basin, India investigates three sources of uncertainty in detail. These include 1) errors due to improper delineation of rainfall signature within microwave footprint (rain/no rain classification), 2) uncertainty offered by the transfer function linking rainfall with TMI low frequency channels and 3) sampling errors owing to the narrow swath and infrequent visits of TRMM sensors. The second approach is hinged on evaluating the performance of rainfall estimates from each of these orbital data products by accumulating them within a spatial domain and using error decomposition methodologies. Microwave radiometers have taken unprecedented satellite images of earth’s weather, proving to be a valuable tool for quantitative estimation of precipitation from space. However, as mentioned earlier, with the widespread acceptance of microwave based precipitation products, it has also been recognized that they contain large uncertainties. One such source of uncertainty is contributed by improper detection of rainfall signature within radiometer footprints. To date, the most-advanced passive microwave retrieval algorithms make use of databases constructed by cloud or numerical weather model simulations that associate calculated microwave brightness temperature to physically plausible sample rain events. Delineation of rainfall signature from microwave footprints, also known as rain/norain classification (RNC) is an essential step without which the succeeding retrieval technique (using the database) gets corrupted easily. Although tremendous advances have been made to catapult RNC algorithms from simple empirical relations formulated for computational expedience to elaborate computer intensive schemes which effectively discriminate rainfall, a number of challenges remain to be addressed. Most of the algorithms that are globally developed for land, ocean and coastal regions may not perform well for regional catchments of small areal extent. Motivated by this fact, the present work develops a regional rainfall detection algorithm based on scattering index methodology for the land regions of study area. Performance evaluation of this algorithm, developed using low frequency channels (of 19 GHz, 22 GHz), are statistically tested for individual case study events during 2011 and 2012 Indian summer monsoonal months. Contingency table statistics and performance diagram show superior performance of the algorithm for land regions of the study region with accurate rain detection observed in 95% of the case studies. However, an important limitation of this approach is comparatively poor detection of low intensity stratiform rainfall. The second source of uncertainty which is addressed by the present thesis, involves prediction of overland rainfall using TMI low frequency channels. Land, being a radiometrically warm and highly variable background, offers a myriad of complications for overland rain retrieval using microwave radiometer (like TMI). Hence, land rainfall algorithms of TRMM TMI have traditionally incorporated empirical relations of microwave brightness temperature (Tb) with rain rate, rather than relying on physically based radiative transfer modeling of rainfall (as implemented in TMI ocean algorithm). In the present study, sensitivity analysis is conducted using spearman rank correlation coefficient as the indicator, to estimate the best combination of TMI low frequency channels that are highly sensitive to near surface rainfall rate (NSR) from PR. Results indicate that, the TMI channel combinations not only contain information about rainfall wherein liquid water drops are the dominant hydrometeors, but also aids in surface noise reduction over a predominantly vegetative land surface background. Further, the variations of rainfall signature in these channel combinations were seldom assessed properly due to their inherent uncertainties and highly non linear relationship with rainfall. Copula theory is a powerful tool to characterize dependency between complex hydrological variables as well as aid in uncertainty modeling by ensemble generation. Hence, this work proposes a regional model using Archimedean copulas, to study dependency of TMI channel combinations with respect to precipitation, over the land regions of Mahanadi basin, India, using version 7 orbital data from TMI and PR. Studies conducted for different rainfall regimes over the study area show suitability of Clayton and Gumbel copula for modeling convective and stratiform rainfall types for majority of the intraseasonal months. Further, large ensembles of TMI Tb (from the highly sensitive TMI channel combination) were generated conditional on various quantiles (25th, 50th, 75th, 95th) of both convective and stratiform rainfall types. Comparatively greater ambiguity was observed in modeling extreme values of convective rain type. Finally, the efficiency of the proposed model was tested by comparing the results with traditionally employed linear and quadratic models. Results reveal superior performance of the proposed copula based technique. Another persistent source of uncertainty inherent in low earth orbiting satellites like TRMM arise due to sampling errors of non negligible proportions owing to the narrow swath of satellite sensors coupled with a lack of continuous coverage due to infrequent satellite visits. This study investigates sampling uncertainty of seasonal rainfall estimates from PR, based on 11 years of PR 2A25 data product over the Indian subcontinent. A statistical bootstrap technique is employed to estimate the relative sampling errors using the PR data themselves. Results verify power law scaling characteristics of relative sampling errors with respect to space time scale of measurement. Sampling uncertainty estimates for mean seasonal rainfall was found to exhibit seasonal variations. To give a practical demonstration of the implications of bootstrap technique, PR relative sampling errors over the sub tropical river basin of Mahanadi, India were examined. Results revealed that bootstrap technique incurred relative sampling errors of <30% (for 20 grid), <35% (for 10 grid), <40% (for 0.50 grid) and <50% (for 0.250 grid). With respect to rainfall type, overall sampling uncertainty was found to be dominated by sampling uncertainty due to stratiform rainfall over the basin. In order to study the effect of sampling type on relative sampling uncertainty, the study compares the resulting error estimates with those obtained from latin hypercube sampling. Based on this study, it may be concluded that bootstrap approach can be successfully used for ascertaining relative sampling errors offered by TRMM-like satellites over gauged or ungauged basins lacking in in-situ validation data. One of the important goals of TRMM Ground Validation Program has been to estimate the random and systematic uncertainty associated with TRMM rainfall estimates. Disentangling uncertainty in seasonal rainfall offered by independent observations of TMI and PR enables to identify errors and inconsistencies in the measurements by these instruments. Motivated by this thought, the present work examines the spatial error structure of daily precipitation derived from the version 7 TRMM instantaneous orbital data products through comparison with the APHRODITE data over a subtropical region namely Mahanadi river basin of the Indian subcontinent for the seasonal rainfall of 6 years from June 2002 to September 2007. The instantaneous products examined include TMI and PR data products of 2A12, 2A25 and 2B31 (combined data from PR and TMI). The spatial distribution of uncertainty from these data products was quantified based on the performance metrics derived from the contingency table. For the seasonal daily precipitation over 10x10 grids, the data product of 2A12 showed greater skill in detecting and quantifying the volume of rainfall when compared with 2A25 and 2B31 data products. Error characterization using various error models revealed that random errors from multiplicative error models were homoscedastic and that they better represented rainfall estimates from 2A12 algorithm. Error decomposition technique, performed to disentangle systematic and random errors, testified that the multiplicative error model representing rainfall from 2A12 algorithm, successfully estimated a greater percentage of systematic error than 2A25 or 2B31 algorithms. Results indicate that even though the radiometer derived 2A12 is known to suffer from many sources of uncertainties, spatial and temporal analysis over the case study region testifies that the 2A12 rainfall estimates are in a very good agreement with the reference estimates for the data period considered. These findings clearly document that proper characterization of error structure offered by TMI and PR has wider implications in decision making, prior to incorporating the resulting orbital products for basin scale hydrologic modeling. The current missions of GPM envision a constellation of microwave sensors that can provide instantaneous products with a relatively negligible sampling error at daily or higher time scales. This study due to its simplicity and physical approach offers the ideal basis for future improvements in uncertainty modeling in precipitation.