Resumo: As redes ativas GPS tem se tornando cada vez mais utilizadas nos levantamentos geodésicos. As estações que fazem parte dessas redes têm suas coordenadas determinadas com alta precisão que, devido à estabilidade na sua construção e disponibilidade de dados, são chamadas estações de referência. Os dados podem ser empregados numa diversidade de pesquisas e projetos, sendo um dos mais comuns atualmente os de levantamentos geodésicos. O estudo e monitoramento do vapor d'água na atmosfera e movimento de placas litosféricas são exemplos de aplicações. Dentre os métodos de posicionamento GPS, o Posicionamento por Ponto Preciso (PPP) vem apresentando resultados muito promissores. Uma característica do PPP está relacionada com a modelagem e/ou estimação de todos os erros envolvidos nesse método. A acurácia obtida para as coordenadas pode ser da ordem de poucos milímetros, tal como no método de posicionamento relativo. Efeitos sazonais podem afetar esta acurácia caso não sejam considerados. Desta forma, é desejável dispor do conhecimento de todos os fatores sazonais (movimento do pólo, marés terrestres e cargas oceânicas) que interferem na posição da estação, visando minimizá-los ou modelá-los. Contudo, há evidências da existência de outros efeitos dessa natureza ainda não levados em consideração no PPP. Nesta pesquisa, foram realizados alguns experimentos com a finalidade de investigar os efeitos sazonais presentes nas séries temporais das coordenadas das estações Brasília (BRAZ), Euzébio (BRFT) e Manaus (NAUS) pertencentes à Rede Brasileira de Monitoramento Contínuo (RBMC)... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The active GPS networks have being more and more used in the geodetic surveying. The stations that belong to these networks have the coordinates determined with high precision, due to the construction stability and data availability, so they are called reference stations. The reference station data can be employed in a diversity of researches, where the geodetic positioning is one of the most common. The study and monitoring of the water vapor in the atmosphere and the lithosphere plates movement are examples of applications. Among the existent methods of GPS positioning, the Precise Point Positioning (PPP) has been presented great results. The accuracy obtained for the coordinates can reaches few millimeters, such as in the relative positioning. An important aspect concerning PPP is related to the modeling and / or estimation of all errors that affect this method. Among the errors, the seasonal effects can affect PPP accuracy if they are not considered. In this way, it is desirable to take care of all the seasonal factors (polar motion, solid tides and ocean loading) that interfere in the station position, aiming to minimize or to model them. Besides, there are evidences of other seasonal effects that still remain in PPP. In this research, some experiments were carried out with the finality of investigating the seasonal effects in the coordinate time series of the stations Brasília (BRAZ), Euzébio (BRFT) and Manaus (NAUS), that belong to the Rede Brasileira de Monitoramento Contínuo (RBMC). The coordinates of these stations were estimated daily using... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Orientador: João Francisco Galera Monico / Coorientador: João Carlos Chaves / Banca: Marcelo Tomio Matsuoka / Banca: Ailton Pagamisse / Mestre

Prairie dogs (Cynomys sp.) are considered keystone species and ecosystem engineers for their grazing and burrowing activities (summarized here as disturbances). As climate changes and its variability increases, the mechanisms underlying organisms' interactions with their habitat will likely shift. Understanding the mediating role of prairie dog disturbance on vegetation structure, and its interaction with environmental conditions through time, will increase knowledge on the risks and vulnerability of grasslands. Here, we compared how plant taxonomical diversity, functional diversity metrics, and community-weighted trait means (CWM) respond to prairie dog C. mexicanus disturbance across grassland types and seasons (dry and wet) in a priority conservation semiarid grassland of Northeast Mexico. Our findings suggest that functional metrics and CWM analyses responded to interactions between prairie dog disturbance, grassland type and season, whilst species diversity and cover measures were less sensitive to the role of prairie dog disturbance. We found weak evidence that prairie dog disturbance has a negative effect on vegetation structure, except for minimal effects on C4 and graminoid cover, but which depended mainly on season. Grassland type and season explained most of the effects on plant functional and taxonomic diversity as well as CWM traits. Furthermore, we found that leaf area as well as forb and annual cover increased during the wet season, independent of prairie dog disturbance. Our results provide evidence that grassland type and season have a stronger effect than prairie dog disturbance on the vegetation of this short-grass, water-restricted grassland ecosystem. We argue that focusing solely on disturbance and grazing effects is misleading, and attention is needed on the relationships between vegetation and environmental conditions which will be critical to understand semiarid grassland dynamics under future climate change conditions in the region.

L’un des objectifs de cette thèse est d’interpréter les observations des principaux hydrocarbures(C2H2 et C2H6) effectuées par Cassini (NASA/ESA) sur Jupiter et Saturne. Les modèles photochimiques à une dimension sont insuffisants pour interpréter ces observations spatialement résolues. J’ai développé le premier modèle photochimique saisonnier à deux dimensions (altitude-latitude) des planètes géantes qui calcule leur composition chimique.En l’absence de transport méridional, la composition chimique de Saturne suit les variations d’ensoleillement. Les abondances de C2H2 et C2H6 mesurées par Cassini (Guerletet al., 2009) sont reproduites jusqu’aux latitudes moyennes, à des pressions supérieures à0,1mbar. Les écarts notés dans l’hémisphère sud suggèrent la présence de dynamique ou d’une chimie entre les ions et les espèces neutres. J’ai couplé, pour la première fois, mon modèle photochimique avec le modèle radiatif de Greathouse et al. (2008). Nous prédisons un décalage du pic saisonnier de température, par rapport aux précédents modèles, d’une demi-saison à haute altitude et aux hautes latitudes.Jupiter présente de faibles variations saisonnières de composition chimique, uniquement contrôlées par son excentricité. Les distributions méridionales observées de C2H2 etC2H6 présentent des tendances opposées (Nixon et al., 2010). Mon modèle est en accord avec les observations de C2H6 lorsque j’invoque une combinaison de diffusion méridionale et de circulation stratosphérique, tout en provoquant un plus grand désaccord avec les observations de C2H2. La chimie ionique pourrait principalement affecter C2H2 et jouer un rôle important dans l’atmosphère de Jupiter. / One of the goals of this thesis is to interpret the observations of the main hydrocarbons(C2H2 and C2H6) from Cassini (NASA/ESA) on Jupiter and Saturn. The one-dimensional photochemical models are insufficient to explain these spatially resolved observations. I have developed the first two-dimensional (altitude-latitude) seasonal photochemical model for the giant planets, which predicts their chemical composition.Without meridional transport, Saturn’s chemical composition follows the insolation variations. The C2H2 and C2H6 abundances measured by Cassini (Guerlet et al., 2009)are reproduced from the equator up to mid-latitudes, at pressures higher than 0.1mbar.At higher latitudes, the disagreements suggest either a stratospheric circulation cell orthe signature of ion-neutral chemistry. For the first time, I have coupled our seasonal photochemical model with the seasonal radiative model of Greathouse et al. (2008). I predict that the seasonal temperature peak is shifted half a season earlier, with respect to previous models, at high latitudes in the higher stratosphere.Jupiter shows weak seasonal variations of chemical composition, only controlled by its orbital eccentricity. The observed meridional distributions of C2H2 and C2H6 show opposition trends (Nixon et al., 2010). C2H6 observed distribution is reproduced when Isuppose a combination of meridional diffusion and stratospheric circulation, while causingat the same time a stronger agreement with the C2H2 observations. Accounting for theion-neutral chemistry might preferentially affect C2H2 and potentially play a key role on hydrocarbon abundances in Jupiter’s stratosphere.