No / The relationship between the academy and the business community is currently perceived to be important to the future of both parties. Universities provide graduates to meet the needs and requirements of society and industry, and the latter supplies products and services to meet the needs of the market place. Whether public or private, industry increasingly seeks to use tools and techniques that increase efficiency and effectiveness, whilst at the same time maximizing quality and minimizing cost. The current trend towards companies outsourcing their R & D requirements to reduce corporate overheads and optimize staffing levels means that Universities can utilize the opportunity and bid to supply this expertise. Universities also generate their own spin-outs from intellectual property they create, as well as licensing technology to industry, rather than transferring it. However, the relationship between university and industry is not without its challenges, chief of which is the historical commitment of the academy to advance knowledge whether it is directly applicable or not. In addition, there are many fundamental and important long term research issues that many would argue are the primary duty of the academy to address, which may have no direct application in the short to medium term. This is resulting in increasing tensions in the academy, and in the priorities for national and international funding agencies. There can also be significant cultural differences and reward models between the academy and industry which give rise to difficult issues for staff at the interface. This chapter reviews the current developments and the issues at the interface between business and the academy.

Hotet mot den biologiska mångfalden ökar i takt med urbaniseringen. En konsekvens av livet i staden är de ljusföroreningar som artificiellt ljus på natten (ALAN) ger upphov till. För att mitigera ljusföroreningarnas negativa effekter på människan och biologisk mångfald kan mörker användas som resurs i samhällsplanering. Denna studie syftar till att utforska vad svenska kommuner ser för möjligheter och hinder med att integrera mörka områden i samhällsplaneringen för att bevara biologisk mångfald. Vidare syftar studien till att utforska vilka åtgärder som behövs för att överkomma identifierade hinder. Genom en kombination av semistrukturerade intervjuer med personer som arbetar med ljussättning i fem svenska kommuner och innehållsanalys av de valda kommunernas belysningsprogram  identifierar studien faktorer som påverkar arbetet med mörka områden. Frågan är komplex då många aspekter ständigt måste vägas mot varandra när belsut om belysning tas. Studien fann att medborgarnas efterfrågan av belysning ur ett trygghetsperspektiv i kombination med bristande kunskap kan stå i vägen för arbetet med mörka områden. Utbildning för medborgare och anställda, samarbete inom och mellan myndigheter och kommuner, samt nationella riktlinjer är åtgärder som möjliggör arbete med mörker. Dessa åtgärder är beroende av vidare forskning inom området, från ett holistiskt perspektiv. Studien bidrar med insikter som kan vägleda framtida samhällsplanering och belysningsstrategier för att främja en balans mellan människans behov av ljus och bevarandet av biologisk mångfald. / The threat to biological diversity keeps increasing with urbanization. One consequence of life in the city is the light pollution caused by artificial light at night (ALAN). To mitigate the negative effects of light pollution on humans and biodiversity, darkness can be used as a resource in urban planning. This study aims to explore what Swedish municipalities see as opportunities and obstacles in integrating dark areas into urban planning to preserve biodiversity. Furthermore, the study aims to explore what measures are needed to overcome identified obstacles. Through a combination of semi-structured interviews with people who work with lighting in five Swedish municipalities and content analysis of the selected municipalities' lighting programs, the study identifies factors that influence the work with dark areas. The issue is complex as many aspects must constantly be weighed against each other when making decisions about lighting. The study found that citizens' demand for lighting from a safety point of view combined with a lack of knowledge can stand in the way of implementing dark areas. Education for citizens and employees, cooperation within and between authorities and municipalities, as well as national guidelines are measures that enable working with darkness. These measures are dependent on further research in the field, from a holistic perspective. The study contributes insights that can guide future urban planning and lighting strategies to promote a balance between human needs for light and conserving biodiversity.

Accurate and cost-effective weather prediction is crucial for various industries, yet current methods and tools are either expensive or lack real-time, local applicability. This thesis presents the development and evaluation of a cost-effective sky-imaging weather station designed to accurately track cloud cover using a combination of visual and environmental data. Our research focuses on constructing a system that utilises a single camera and image processing techniques for cloud separation. By employing colour-space filtering and modern image processing methods, we aim to enhance accuracy while minimising costs. The hardware design leverages consumer-grade components, reducing the unit cost to a fraction of existing solutions. The methodology involves an iterative design process, expert consultation, and rigorous testing to refine the prototype. We evaluate the system's performance by comparing sensor readings to METAR data and assessing accuracy. Additionally, we investigate the feasibility of using the Lifted Condensation Level as a substitute for Cloud Base Height. Our findings demonstrate that it is possible to create a sky-imaging weather station at a cost significantly lower than that of comparable products while achieving accurate cloud tracking and separation. This research contributes to the field by offering a practical, low-cost sky imager with potential applications in everyday weather preparedness, industrial forecasting, and solar energy management.

Masters of Science / Observations that push the boundaries have historically fuelled scientific breakthroughs, and these observations frequently involve phenomena that were previously unseen and unidentified. Data sets have increased in size and quality as modern technology advances at a record pace. Finding these elusive phenomena within these large data sets becomes a tougher challenge with each advancement made. Fortunately, machine learning techniques have proven to be extremely valuable in detecting outliers within data sets. Astronomaly is a framework that utilises machine learning techniques for anomaly detection in astronomy and incorporates active learning to provide target specific results. It is used here to evaluate whether machine learning techniques are suitable to detect anomalies within the optical astronomical data obtained from the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey. Using the machine learning algorithm isolation forest, Astronomaly is applied on subsets of the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey (DECaLS) data set. The pre-processing stage of Astronomaly had to be significantly extended to handle real survey data from DECaLS, with the changes made resulting in up to 10% more sources having their features extracted successfully. For the top 500 sources returned, 292 were ordinary sources, 86 artefacts and masked sources and 122 were interesting anomalous sources. A supplementary machine learning algorithm known as active learning enhances the identification probability of outliers in data sets by making it easier to identify target specific sources. The addition of active learning further increases the amount of interesting sources returned by almost 40%, with 273 ordinary sources, 56 artefacts and 171 interesting anomalous sources returned. Among the anomalies discovered are some merger events that have been successfully identified in known catalogues and several candidate merger events that have not yet been identified in the literature. The results indicate that machine learning, in combination with active learning, can be effective in detecting anomalies in actual data sets. The extensions integrated into Astronomaly pave the way for its application on future surveys like the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time.

This thesis analyses the programme Single European Sky, which aims to reorganise the air space and to supply navigation and air traffic services in Europe. It describes the current state of implementation in the individual functional blocks of the air space as well as presents Maastricht Upper Area Control.

Le rayonnement solaire est la variable la plus importante pour le calcul du bilan thermique du bâtiment. Son calcul requiert des relations géométriques pour la composante directe et un modèle de ciel pour distribuer le rayonnement diffus sur la voûte céleste. Des modèles développés pour des collecteurs solaires sont utilisés pour calculer le rayonnement solaire atteignant l'enveloppe du bâtiment. Des outils calculent le rayonnement en adaptant des modèles de ciel développés pour l'éclairage naturel. Bien que ces modèles de ciel, avec des genèses différents, servent à calculer le rayonnement solaire, il convient de préciser quel est le plus adapté pour travailler en milieu urbain.En nous appuyant sur une étude des données météorologiques, des modèles de ciel et des techniques numériques, on a mis en place un code susceptible de calculer le rayonnement direct (soleil) et diffus (ciel) et leur interaction avec la géométrie urbaine. La nouveauté réside dans l'évaluation du rayonnement solaire en utilisant un modèle de ciel isotrope et deux anisotropes. L’interaction entre ces modèles et la géométrie urbaine est mise en évidence avec une série d’exemples géométriques progressivement plus complexes. Des méthodes pour tuiler la voûte céleste sont présentées. Les différences entre le rayonnement calculé avec les modèles anisotropes (le modèle de source ponctuelle et le modèle tout temps de Perez) qui sont peu importantes dans une scène dégagée, deviennent significatives dans une scène urbaine. Des contributions ont également été apportées à la mise en place d’une station météorologique ainsi que des procédures pour l’analyse statistique des données et leur contrôle de qualité. / Solar irradiation is the most important parameter for building thermal simulation. Its calculation requires geometrical relationships for the direct radiation from the Sun and a sky model to distribute the radiance over the sky vault. Sky models developed for solar collectors are used to calculate the building’s solar irradiation availability. Some software calculates building’s irradiation by adapting sky models for lighting simulations. These models allow to compute solar irradiation, but the selection of the most suitable model for urban applications has not been defined clearly enough. We developed a code, based on the study of numerical methods, sky models and the necessary meteorological data. It calculates the solar irradiation availability in the urban context. The novelty lies in its capacity to evaluate the solar irradiation from the Sun and the sky by using three sky models: one isotropic and two anisotropic. The interaction between each sky model and the urban context is made clear in a series of progressively more complex geometric examples. Procedures to partition the sky vault are presented.Differences between the predicted irradiance by the anisotropic models (Perez punctual source and Perez All-Weather) are classified as small and large in unobstructed and obstructed scenes respectively. Contributions have also been made to set up a meteorological station. Statistical analyses as well as quality control procedures of meteorological data were also implemented.

This thesis investigates the use of the Swedish Allsky Meteor Network (SAMN) for observing, identifying, and determining the orbits of satellites. The overall goal of this project is to determine the feasibility of using such a network for Space Situational Awareness (SSA) purposes, which requires identification and monitoring of objects in orbit. This thesis is a collaboration with the Swedish Defense Research Agency (FOI) to support their efforts in SSA. Within the frame of this project, the author developed software that can take data of observations of an object collected from the all-sky cameras of SAMN and do an Initial Orbit Determination (IOD) of the object. An algorithm that improves the results of the IOD was developed and integrated into the software. The software can also identify the object if it is in a database that the program has access to or, if it could not be identified, make an approximate prediction of when and where the object will be visible again the next time it flies over. A program that analyses the stability of the results of the IOD was also developed. This measures the spread in results of the IOD when a small amount of artificial noise is added to one or more of the observed coordinates in the sky. It was found that using multiple cameras at different locations greatly improves the stability of the solutions. Gauss' method was used for doing the IODs. The advantages and disadvantages of using this method are discussed, and ultimately other methods, such as the Gooding method or Double R iteration, are recommended for future works. This is mostly because Gauss' method has a singularity when all three lines of sight from observer to object lie in the same plane, which makes the results unreliable. The software was tested on a number of observations, both synthetic and real, and the results were compared against known data from public databases. It was found that these techniques can, with some changes, be used for doing IOD and satellite identification, but that doing very accurate position determination required for full orbit determination is not feasible. / Detta examensarbete undersöker möjligheterna att använda ett svenskt nätverk av allskykameror kallat SAMN (Swedish Allsky Meteor Network) för att observera, identifiera och banbestämma satelliter. Det övergripande målet med detta projekt är att bestämma hur användbart ett sådant nätverk skulle vara för att skapa en rymdlägesbild, vilken i sin tur kräver bevakning och identifikation av objekt som ligger i omloppsbana. Detta examensarbete är ett samarbete mellan Uppsala Universitet och FOI (Totalförsvarets Forskningsinstitut). Inom ramen för detta projekt har författaren utvecklat mjukvara som kan ta data från observationer av objekt utförda av SAMN och göra initiala banbestämningar av objekten. En algoritm som förbättrar resultaten av den initiala banbestämningen utvecklades och integrerades i programmen. Programmen kan också identifiera satelliter om de finns med i en databas som programmet har tillgång till eller förutsäga objektets nästa passage över observatören om det inte kunde identifieras. Ett annat program som analyserar känsligheten av resultaten av den initiala banbestämningen utvecklades också. Detta program mäter spridningen i resultat som orsakas av små störningar i de observerade koordinaterna på himlen. Det framkom att stabiliteten av resultaten kan förbättras avsevärt genom att använda flera observatörer på olika orter. I detta projekt användes Gauss metod för att göra banbestämningarna. Metodens för- och nackdelar diskuteras och i slutänden rekommenderas istället andra metoder, som Goodings metod eller Dubbel R-iteration, för framtida arbeten. Detta beror mest på att Gauss metod innehåller en singularitet när alla siktlinjer från observatören till objektet ligger i samma plan som varandra vilket gör resultaten opålitliga i de fallen. Programmen testkördes på ett antal olika observationer, både artificiella och verkliga, och resultaten jämfördes med kända positioner. Slutsatsen av arbetet är att de undersökta teknikerna kan, med vissa modifikationer, användas för att göra initiala banbestämningar och satellitidentifikationer, men att göra de väldigt precisa positionsbestämningarna som krävs för fullständig banbestämning är inte genomförbart.

A atividade de se observar o Céu é de suma importância para a obtenção de informações sobre a grande maioria dos objetos celestes, particularmente os de fora do Sistema Solar: não existem ainda meios tecnológicos que nos permitam obter tais informações in loco, seja por meio de sondas robóticas, seja por meio de naves tripuladas. Sob este ponto de vista, é então relevante oferecer a crianças e jovens a oportunidade de participarem de atividades didáticas de Observação do Céu, propiciando, assim, o estabelecimento de um primeiro contato sistemático deles com o Céu e, consequente e essencialmente, com todo o Universo que existe fora de nosso planeta. Neste trabalho estamos preocupados, particularmente, com o ensino sobre a Observação do Céu: estamos interessados em tratar sobre propostas didáticas, nas quais se ensine sobre como observar o Céu. Nosso principal objeto de estudo é o atual Currículo do Estado de São Paulo, mais especificamente os chamados Cadernos do Professor, que integram o conjunto de materiais didáticos vinculados a esse Currículo. Nesta dissertação nos propusemos a avaliar as atividades didáticas de Observação do Céu que são propostas junto aos Cadernos do Professor para as disciplinas de Ciências do Ensino Fundamental e Física do Ensino Médio. Essa avaliação foi feita a partir de dois pontos de vista. No primeiro, a análise se deu a respeito dos conteúdos presentes nas atividades, os quais foram comparados, por meio de Mapas Conceituais, com aqueles presentes nos Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais. O segundo ponto de vista para a avaliação se deu a respeito da estrutura das atividades. Para subsidiar tal análise foi feito um estudo junto a pesquisas da área de Ensino de Astronomia a partir da qual foram elencadas 6 dimensões ligadas à proposição de atividades didáticas de Observação do Céu - \"Objetos e fenômenos observáveis\"; \"Condições de observação, planejamento e preparação\"; \"Público alvo, contexto e interatividade do público\"; \"Objetivos maiores da observação\"; \"Registros das observações\"; e \"Tipos de observação e instrumentos\" -, as quais foram tratadas como parâmetros importantes na construção de propostas dessa natureza, sendo então utilizadas como categorias de análise daquelas presentes nos Cadernos do Currículo do Estado. Os principais resultados mostram que os conteúdos ligados à prática de Observação do Céu, tanto nos PCN quanto nos Cadernos do Currículo do Estado são significativamente semelhantes, inclusive a presença restrita ao Ensino Fundamental. Além disso, as atividades de Observação do Céu dos Cadernos parecem apresentar coerência interna e tendem a contemplar os resultados de pesquisas em Educação em Astronomia. / The activity of observing the Sky is very important to obtain information about the vast majority of celestial objects, particularly those from outside our Solar System: there are no technological means nowadays that allow us to obtain such information on-site, whether through robotic probes or by manned spacecraft. Under this view, it is therefore important to offer children and teenagers the opportunity to participate in didactic activities of the Sky Observation, thus allowing them to have a first systematic contact with the Sky, consequently and essentially with the whole Universe that exists outside our planet. In this work we are concerned particularly with the teaching about the Sky Observation: we are interested in dealing with proposals about teaching, in which one teaches \'how to observe the Sky\'. Our main object of study is the current Curriculum of the State of São Paulo, more specifically the Teacher\'s textbooks, which constitute the set of educational materials related to such Curriculum. In this dissertation we propose to evaluate the didactic activities of Sky Observation that are proposed in the Teacher\'s textbooks for the discipline of Science in Elementary School and for Physics in High School. This evaluation was made from two viewpoints. First, the analysis was about the content present in the activities, which were compared with the National Curriculum Parameters by means of Concept Maps. The second point of the evaluation was made regarding the structure of activities. To support this analysis, a study was done with some research of the area of Astronomy Teaching from which we listed 6 dimensions related to the proposition of didactic activities about Sky Observation - \"Objects and observable phenomena\"; \"Conditions of observation, planning and preparation\", \"Audience, context and audience interactivity\", \"Main objectives of observation\"; \"Records of observations\"; and \"Types of observation and instruments\" - which were treated as important parameters in building such proposals, then being used as analytical categories of those present in the textbooks of the Curriculum of the State. The main results show that the contents linked to the practice of Sky Observation, both the PCN and the Curriculum of the State are significantly similar, even the restricted theme of Sky Observation to elementary schools. Moreover, the activities of the Sky Observation in the textbook seem to have internal consistency and tend to contemplate the results of research in Astronomy Education.

Die Wüstenameise, Cataglyphis, orientiert sich vor allem mittels Wegintegration. Über einen Heimvektor, den sie aus Distanz und Richtung einzelner Wegabschnitte berechnet, kann sie auf dem kürzesten Weg zu ihrem Ausgangspunkt zurückkehren. Zur Bestimmung der zurückgelegten Strecken verwendet sie einen Schrittintegrator. Die Laufrichtung wird hauptsächlich über Himmelsinformationen (Polarisationsmuster, Sonnenstand und Spektral- und Intensitätsgradienten) definiert. In dieser Arbeit über die Orientierungsfähigkeit von Cataglyphis fortis wird die Rolle des Polarisationskompasses bei der Bestimmung der Laufrichtung untersucht. In verschiedenen Versuchen wurden der Polarisationskompass der Ameise mit Hilfe eines Polarisationsfilters gezielt manipuliert und künstliche Konfliktsituationen erzeugt. Die Richtungsbestimmung wurde vom Polarisationskompass dominiert, wenn allein die Information des Polarisationskompass und idiothetische Richtungsinformation zur Verfügung standen. Erfuhren die Ameise widersprüchliche Informationen von Sonnen- und Polarisationskompass, berechneten sie eine mittlere Heimlaufrichtung, was eine gemeinsame neuronale Verarbeitung der beiden Signale voraussetzt. Diese These wurde durch Transferexperimente gestützt. In einer weiteren Versuchsreihe wurde die Wahrnehmung des Polarisationsmusters durch direkte Manipulation der entsprechenden Region (DRA) im Ameisenauge untersucht. Standen der Ameise in beiden Augen die frontale oder caudale DRA zur Verfügung führte dies zu einem deutlichen Orientierungsverlust. Die intakte DRA eines Auges erlaubte eine zielgerichtete Fortbewegung, die jedoch von der Erwartungsrichtung abwich. Zusammenfassend zeigen die Ergebnisse der vorliegenden Studie, dass der Polarisationskompass die präziseste Richtungsinformation liefert und den Himmelskompass der Wüstenameise dominiert. / The desert ant, Cataglyphis, navigates predominantly by means of path integration. The information about the distance and direction of individual path segments is integrated into a home vector, which allows the ant to return to the starting point on the shortest way. The distances covered are determined by a stride integrator. The heading direction is inferred mainly via celestial cues: the sky’s polarization pattern, the position of the sun, and the spectral and intensity gradient. This thesis focuses generally on the orientation abilities of Cataglyphis fortis and particularly on the role of the polarization compass to determine the heading direction. In the experiments, the ant’s polarization compass was selectively manipulated using a polarization filter and artificial cue conflict situations were created. The ants relied exclusively on the polarization compass to determine their heading direction if only idiothetic information and information from the polarization compass were available. When the ants experienced contradicting information detected via the sun and the polarization compass systems, an intermediate homing direction was calculated, suggesting a combined neural processing of both signals. This statement was supported by transfer experiments. In a further series of experiments, the input part of the polarization compass was manipulated. Particular regions of the ant’s eye (DRA) that detect polarized light were occluded. Ants with only the frontal or caudal parts of the DRA became disoriented, whereas ants with the entire DRA of one eye were able to perform more precise paths, although deviated from the expected direction. Overall, the results from this thesis suggest that the polarization compass provides the most accurate directional information and dominates the celestial compass system of the desert ant.

Galaktische und extra-galaktische Objekte sind in der Lage geladene Teilchen (die kosmische Strahlung) zu sehr hohen Energien zu beschleunigen. Allerdings sind noch viele Fragen bezüglich dieser Objekte und der Beschleunigungsmechanismen offen. Sowohl Gammastrahlung als auch Neutrinos werden von den Quellen kosmischer Strahlung erwartet. Ihr Nachweis ermöglicht die Studie dieser kosmischen Teilchenbeschleuniger. Gammastrahlung wurde von galaktischen und extra-galaktischen Objekten beobachtet. Für viele dieser Objekte ist es jedoch nicht eindeutig ob diese Gammastrahlung ein Resultat der Beschleunigung kosmischer Strahlen ist. Für Neutrinos besteht diese Zweideutigkeit nicht, sie sind eindeutige Spuren der Beschleunigung kosmischer Strahlen. Der Südhimmel beheimatet viele galaktische Objekte von denen Gammastrahlung im GeV und TeV Bereich beobachtet wird. Die Detektion von Neutrinos wäre ein Beweis für die Beschleunigung kosmischer Strahlung. Der Nachweis dieser Neutrinos mit IceCube wird durch den großen Untergrund von atmosphärischen Myonen erschwert. Die hier verwendete Analyse ist auf die Selektion von Myonspuren aus Wechselwirkungen von Myonneutrinos im Detektorvolumen spezialisiert. Energieverlust und Richtung der resultierenden Myonspur wird rekonstruiert. Diese Informationen werden verwendet um nach potentiellen Quellen astrophysikalischer Neutrino im Rahmen einer ungebinnten Likelihoodanalyse zu suchen. Daten die zwischen 2011 und 2015 mit IceCube genommen wurden werden für diese Analyse verwendet. Der Fokus liegt auf Neutrinos mit Energien zwischen ein paar TeV und 100 TeV. In diesem Energiebereich wird die Sensitivität für die Detektion einer Neutrinopunktquelle um einen Faktor zwei (oder besser) verbessert. Die Resultate für eine Liste von 96 Quellkandidaten und für eine offene Suche am gesamten Südhimmel werden präsentiert. Es wurde keine signifikante Abweichung von der Untergrundhypothese gefunden. Daraus resultieren Limitationen für Neutrinoemissionen. / There are accelerators in the universe that can accelerate charged particles (cosmic rays) to very high energies. Many questions regarding these accelerators are still open. Gamma rays and neutrinos are particles expected from sites of cosmic ray acceleration and can be used to study the environment and acceleration mechanisms of these sites. While sources for both galactic and extra-galactic gamma rays have been observed, it is often unclear whether these gamma rays are by-products of cosmic ray acceleration. This ambiguity does not exist for neutrinos. An astrophysical neutrino flux has been measured by the IceCube detector. Single sources have not been resolved yet. The part of the sky visible from the southern hemisphere hosts many galactic sources observed in GeV and TeV gamma-rays. Detection of neutrinos from these sources would identify them as acceleration sites and lead to a better understanding of the environment of the acceleration sites and the acceleration mechanisms. However, this is difficult due to the vast background of atmospheric muons also detected in the IceCube detector. For this thesis, a data selection was developed that reduces this background by using parts of the detector as veto. This selection focuses on the selection of muon-tracks from muon-neutrino interactions inside the detector volume. The direction and the energy-profile of these tracks can be reconstructed. This information is used to search for potential sources using an unbinned likelihood method. This analysis uses data taken between 2011 and 2015. In contrast to earlier IceCube analyses this analysis is optimized for energies between a few TeV and 100 TeV and improves the sensitivity of the detector for a point-like source by factor of two (or better) in this energy range. Results for a list of 96 sources observed in TeV gamma-rays and a sky-scan are presented. No significant overfluctuation has been observed and limits on the neutrino emission of the sources are given.