Coarse particulate organic matter (CPOM) is an essential part of the food chain in aquatic ecosystems because it represents a readily available carbon and energy source. The process by which it decomposes in rivers has been well studied and documented. However, the rate and extent of biodegradability of various CPOM components (i.e., twigs, leaves, grass, etc.) in storm drains is not well understood. The Jordan River TMDL study identified storm water generated CPOM as a likely cause of low dissolved oxygen levels in the lower Jordan River, but recent investigations have suggested that dissolved organic matter generated from this CPOM in storm drains and culverts entering into the Jordan River, rather than the CPOM itself, is the main driver of oxygen impairment. The degradability of CPOM components transported and stored in the storm drain system was studied to understand its relative impact on dissolved oxygen and nutrient status in the Jordan River. Results indicate the generation of highly degradable organic material is a function of the starting CPOM, and oxygen consumption is associated with the dissolved portion of organic material leached from CPOM in water. Leaves and grass produced the highest levels of all parameters studied. Between 93% to 95% of total oxygen demand is generated within the first 1 to 3 hours of the 24 hour test. Chemical oxygen demand and dissolved organic carbon proved to be the best indicator of biochemical oxygen demand. By using the results of the leaching study an estimate of water quality indicator levels in the Jordan River was made, and was compared to levels in samples collected from the Jordan River. The estimate proved accurate for dissolved organic carbon but not for total or volatile suspended solids. Results of this study were used to discuss possible solutions to reduce oxygen demand in the Jordan River.

As local authorities are becoming more interested in the assessment of pollutant loads, this study offers a Geographic Information System (GIS) model for assessing nonpoint source of pollution for two scenarios: the current and ultimate stage of urbanization. The Puhinui Catchment, Manukau City, has been used as a case study in developing and testing this model. This catchment has all the attributes of a "typical" urban area and gives a good representation of the effects of land use on the receiving waters of Puhinui Stream and its estuary. Annual mass contaminant loadings were calculated by firstly assessing the physical characteristics of the Puhinui catchment (case study catchment) and secondly describing the nature of storm water quality and calculating the annual mass contaminant loadings.GIS is used to multiply the annual runoff volume by a mean pollutant concentration to acquire an average annual pollutant load. The annual runoff volume is calculated from the drainage area, runoff coefficient and annual rainfall. To calculate the total mean pollutant load, the pollutant loads for all land use types within the catchment are summed and the process is applied for each pollutant. This GIS model determines the connection of typical pollutant concentrations with land uses in the catchment and offers a characterisation of nonpoint source pollution in that catchment. This model can be used for, identifying catchment areas that contribute considerably to the pollution of waterways, determining the appropriate treatment of the storm water runoff for particular sub catchment, storm water quality improvement prioritization and cost-benefit analysis, selecting locations for water-quality monitoring stations, improvement in maintenance practices, assessment of proposed development environmental effects.

This study arose out of what I saw as a gap in the criticism of Patrick White's fiction in which satire and its related subversive forms are largely overlooked. It consequently reads five of White's post-1948 novels from the standpoint of satire. It discusses the history and various theories of satire to develop an analytic framework appropriate to his satire and it conducts a comprehensive review of the critical literature to account for the development of the dominant orthodox religious approach to his fiction. It compares aspects of White's satire to aspects of the satire produced by some of the notable exemplars of the English and American traditions and it takes issue with a number of the readings produced by the religious and other established approaches to White's fiction. I initially establish White as a satirist by elaborating the social satire that emerges incidentally in The Tree of Man and rather more episodically in Voss. I investigate White's sources for Voss to shed light on the extent of his engagement with history, on his commitment to historical accuracy, and on the extent to which this is a serious high-minded historical work in which he seeks to teach us more about our selves, particularly about our history and identity. The way White expands his satire in Voss given that it is an eminently historical novel is instructive in terms of his purposes. I illustrate White's burgeoning use of satire by elaborating the extended and sometimes extravagant satire that he develops in Riders in the Chariot, by investigating the turn inwards upon his own creative activity that occurs when he experiments with a variant subversive form, satire by parody, in The Eye of the Storm, and by examining his use of the devices, tropes, and strategies of post-modem grotesque satire in The Twyborn Affair. My reading of White's novels from the standpoint of satire enables me to identify an important development within his oeuvre that involves a shift away from the symbolic realism of The Aunt's Story (1948) and the two novels that precede it to a mode of writing that is initially historical in The Tree of Man and Voss but which becomes increasingly satirical as White expands his satire and experiments with such related forms as burlesque, parody, parodic satire, and grotesque satire in his subsequent novels. I thus chart a change in the nature of his satire that reflects a dramatic movement away from the ontological concerns of modernism to the epistemological concerns of post-modernism. Consequent upon this, I pinpoint the changes in the philosophy that his satire bears as its ultimate meaning. I examine the links between the five novels and White's own period to establish the socio-historical referentiality of his satire. I argue that because his engagement with Australian history, society, and culture, is ongoing and thorough, then these five novels together comprise a subjective history of the period, serving to complement our knowledge in these areas. This study demonstrates that White's writing, because of the ongoing development of his satire, is never static but ever-changing. He is not simply or exclusively a religious or otherwise metaphysical novelist, or a symbolist-allegorist, or a psychological realist, or any other kind of generic writer. Finally, I demonstrate that White exceeds the categories that his critics have tried to impose upon him.

The present dissertation examines conceptions of masculinity in the works of Theodor Storm, a representative of German Poetic Realism. It shows how variations of masculinities are arranged, constructed and performed in Storm’s novellas within the bourgeois order of the supposedly 'stable' 19th century. The different types of masculinities are viewed and analysed in selected areas, as represented in the following four texts: Schweigen, Der Herr Etatsrat, Ein Doppelgänger and Der Schimmelreiter. Simultaneously, they constitute different research fields within Men's Studies, such as family, body/health, power/violence and also society/"male spaces". The main thesis of the dissertation is that Storm expands contemporary 19th-century perceptions of masculinity and femininity by making traditional gender stereotypes converge in his late novellas. The characters only partially match the bourgeois, bipolar gender model, and masculinity should be understood as a variation rather than as an opposition to femininity. Furthermore, the dissertation proposes that Storm should be considered a precursor to literary modernity to a larger extent than has previously been assumed. Therefore, the dissertation focuses on internal differentiation of the hegemonic bourgeois masculinity typical of the 19th century in Storm's works. Here, free spaces are observed between gender identities traditionally conceived as binary. Using Robert Connell's theoretical concept of hegemonic masculinity as a basis, the relationship between inferior, marginalized masculinities and normative ideals is particularly emphasized. Furthermore, the dissertation analyses the depiction of bourgeois self-conflicts in the text, through which Storm exposes the hegemonic stereotype of masculinity.

80% of all lifeguard related rescues along the beaches of northwest Florida are believed to be related to rip currents. A rip current is the strong flow of water, seaward extending from the beach to the breaker line. It has previously been shown that there are rip current hot spots at Pensacola Beach, forced by a ridge and swale topography offshore, but the annual evolution/behavior of these hotspots (i.e. location, size, frequency, and orientation) have not been examined in detail. Remote imagery from Casino Beach was rectified to a planar view in order to examine the rip channel characteristics. These characteristics were analyzed to determine variations and patterns on a daily, monthly, and seasonal basis and in relation to reset storms, wind and wave characteristics, and the beach states of Casino Beach in order to characterize the rip development and variation throughout a year. Beach states and rip configurations were impacted by many frontal storms and one tropical storm, which were classified as a reset storm when reconfigurations of the beach state and rips occurred. Given sufficient time between reset storms, the bar migrated onshore in a manner consistent with the Wright and Short (1984) model, transitioning from LBT, to RBB, and finally to TBR state. The lack of reset storms after March 2010 resulted in a large frequency of observed rip channels (64) between April and May. It is shown that these rip channels are clustered into 7 statistically significant groups based on their location alongshore at the 95 % confidence interval. It is argued that the rip channel clusters are a direct result of the wave forcing caused by the ridge and swale topography. This situation causes the bar to move onshore that without interruption of a reset storm will attach at certain locations creating a transverse bar and rip morphology. The bar appears to attach to the beach at consistent locations throughout the year creating similar rip locations and subsequently the rip clusters. The risk posed to beach users by these rip currents is concentrated in certain locations which are persistent throughout the year.

To adequately evaluate risk associated hurricane flooding, numerous surge events must be considered, and the cost associated with high resolution numerical modeling for several storms is excessive. The Joint Probability Method with Optimal Sampling (JPM-OS) has been recently shown to be a reliable method in estimating extreme value probabilities of hurricane flooding – it relies heavily on a hurricane surge matrix comprised of surge values from several hurricane scenarios (with varying meteorological and climate change characteristics). Surge Response Functions (SRFs) are physics-based equations developed using scaling laws to adequately scale surge response in dimensionless space; they serve as surrogates to high resolution numerical models in estimating hurricane peak surge to populate the JPM-OS surge matrix. Research presented in this dissertation is primarily focused on the development of dimensionless formulations using physics-based scaling laws to account for the contribution of forward speed (v_f), approach angle (theta) and Sea Level Rise (SLR). These parameters are incorporated into pre-existing SRFs for open coast locations and bays. For the bays, in addition to accounting for the effects of v_f and theta in the SRFs, a new dimensionless formulation for the influence of storm size (R_p) is included in the SRFs.   To account for the influence of v_f in the SRFs, the dimensionless formulations primarily consist of the time it takes for surge to build up (over the shelf, for open coast SRFs and within the bays, for bay SRFs). The formulation for the influence of theta primarily accounts for the rotation of the hurricane wind field as the storm makes landfall. For the influence of R_p in the bays, the new formulation scales R_p with the farthest distance through which water mass will move inside the bay, from its center of gravity. A simple correction based on a linear model is derived to account for the influence of SLR on surge response at open coast locations and in bays. The developed dimensionless formulations for v_f and theta (and R_p for bay SRFs) are incorporated into the SRFs to obtain revised versions of the response functions. For open coast locations, the revised SRFs estimate peak surge with an increased accuracy (based on root-mean-square errors of modeled versus SRF-estimated peak surge) of up to 12.5% reduction in root-mean-square errors. In addition, the new formulations improve the predictions of 65% of surge events of 2 m or greater. For the bays, the revised SRFs reduce the root-mean-square errors (by up to 54% in Matagorda Bay), when compared to the previous formulation. These results indicate that the new formulations, which include v_f and tehta (and R_p for bay SRFs), significantly improve the accuracy of the SRFs. Application of the revised open coast SRFs to the JPM-OS framework shows only minor impacts of v_f and theta variation on surge versus return period curves (about 5.2% maximum increase in surge for theta varying from -80 degrees to +80 degrees, and a maximum of 6.7% for fvvarying from 1.54 m/s to 10.8 m/s). Climate change parameters however show a much more significant impact on the surge versus return period curves. SLR variation from 0.5 m to 2.0 m yields a maximum of 42.4% increase in surge, while hurricane intensification from 0.5 degrees C to 1.5 degrees C yields an increase of up to 11.3% in surge.

Enligt Svenskt Vatten ska dagvattensystem vara dimensionerade för att klara ett regnmed en återkomsttid på 10 år. För att utvärdera om ett system är rätt dimensionerat kanen dagvattenmodell upprättas. Det är då viktigt att veta vilka nivåer ledningarna har mendenna information är bristfällig hos många kommuner. Ledningarna borde dock följatopografin i generella drag och borde därför kunna uppskattas därifrån.Syftet med denna studie var därför att utveckla en metod för hur vattenledningarnasnivåer kunde ansättas på ett enkelt sätt utifrån marknivån och hur stor betydelse detskulle ha vid dagvattenmodellering. Ett ytterligare syfte var att även bedöma Lidingöstads dagvattensystem, där information om ledningarnas nivåer saknades, utifrån dennametod. För att metoden skulle vara användbar var det också viktigt att den var enkel attapplicera även för stora dagvattensystem.Delar av Sundbybergs dagvattennät i Stockholms län användes för att utvecklametoden. Där var ledningarnas nivåer kända och en analys av detta resulterade i enmetod där brunnarnas djup, som styr ledningarnas nivåer, ansattes på 2 m djup. Ettundantag var tvunget att göras vid de fall då ledningarna fick bakfall. Där ansattes ettdjup så att ledningen låg horisontellt.Vid utvärdering av hur stor påverkan ansättningen av djupet hade togs hänsyn tillosäkerheten av avrinningskoefficienten genom att använda tre olika scenarier;oförändrad, 30 % lägre samt 30 % högre avrinningskoefficient. För varje brunn vägdesrisken för översvämning ihop från resultatet av dessa tre scenarier och sammanställdesmed att varje brunns trycknivå fick status över mark, under mark eller osäker. Dettagjordes för både modell med kända och med ansatta nivåer. Statusen för varje brunnjämfördes sedan dem emellan för att utvärdera hur bra metoden för att ansättabrunnarnas djup var.Resultatet av studien visar att metoden i stora drag gav samma resultat vad gäller riskenför översvämning jämfört med om nivåerna hade varit kända. Avvikelser uppstodfrämst vid diken men även för enstaka instängda områden och utlopp. För Lidingösdagvattennät hamnade trycknivån för 18 % av brunnarna över marknivån vid ett 10-årsregn och ytterligare 16 % var osäkra. / According to The Swedish Water and Wastewater Association (SWWA), a storm waternetwork must be able to handle a rainfall with a return period of 10 years. In order toevaluate whether a drain system is adequately dimensioned, a storm water model can beestablished. This requires knowledge about the levels at which the conduits are situated,and this information is insufficient in many areas. However, the pipes could largely beassumed to follow the topography and the pipes levels can be estimated from it.Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop a method for how the level of stormwater conduits could be assessed from the ground level, and the significance thismethod had for storm water modeling. A further aim was also to, according to thismethod; assess the storm water systems of the Lidingö community, which lackedinformation on the pipe levels. Furthermore, for the method to be useful it wasimportant to make it easily applicable even to large storm water networks.The method was developed using parts of the storm water network in Sundbyberg,Stockholm. The levels of the conduits were known beforehand, and an analysis of themresulted in a method where the depth of the manhole, which controls the levels of theconduits, was estimated to 2 m. An exception had to be made when the conduits were inreverse slope, in which cases horizontal slope was assumed.When evaluating the impact from the depth assessment on the runoff, the uncertaintyfrom the imperviousness was taken into account by using three different scenarios;unchanged, 30% lower and 30% higher imperviousness. The risk of flooding for eachone of the manholes was weighted from the results of these three scenarios. Thisresulted in a pressure level for each manhole, either above ground, below ground orinconclusive. This was done for the model with both known levels for the conduits, andwith the assessed levels. In order to evaluate how well the method for applying thedepth worked, the status of each manhole was compared between the two models.The conclusion from this study was that the method developed here, more or less gavethe same results as when the levels of the conduits were previously known.Discrepancies arose mainly in ditches, but also for a few landlocked areas and outlets.For the Lidingö storm water network, 18 % of the wells ended up with a pressure levelabove ground when applied to a rain with a 10 year return period. Another 16 % of thewells were inconclusive.

A major upgrade to the wastewater treatment plant in Saskatoon, Canada significantly improved the final effluent quality. Consequently, the relative impact of the citys urban runoff on the receiving stream, the South Saskatchewan River, has increased. Moreover, at the inception of the study, pending amendments to provincial legislation governing urban runoff were such that urban runoff would no longer be automatically exempt from regulation. In response to this impending change, which has since been made, Saskatchewan Environment initiated a study to examine the water quality of the urban runoff in Saskatoon, because little had been done to date involving the water quality of urban runoff in Saskatchewan.<p>The field program was conducted in 2001 and 2002 to collect representative urban runoff water quality and flow rate data from four different land uses: newer residential, older residential, commercial, and industrial. Three characterizations of the water quality were developed on the basis of the data collected: Site Mean Concentration (SMC), multiple variable regression models, and the unit load. The SMC results indicate that the average water quality parameter concentrations in Saskatoon are greater than those from NURP, the updated U.S. nationwide urban runoff database, and from Vancouver, Canada, but are similar to those from Wisconsin. The regression analyses indicate that the rainfall depth is the most frequently significant parameter in the prediction of event loads. The unit load analyses indicate that the commercial catchment produces the most pollutant load per unit area. Comparison of the methods indicates that the SMC can be used to estimate longer term urban runoff loads, in lieu of the more complex regression method.<p>Heavy metals, pesticides, and fecal coliforms were detected in the urban runoff at concentrations that exceed guideline values. Further investigation is recommended.<p>In comparison to the loads discharged by local point sources, urban runoff contributes larger total suspended solids (TSS) and total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) loads to the South Saskatchewan River. The load of COD to the river is comparable to that of the Saskatoon Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). The total phosphorus load contributed by urban runoff is slightly smaller than that of the WWTP. Considering the relative load of TSS from urban runoff to the WWTP and the potential for other, more toxic pollutants to adsorb to the TSS, sediment controls should be implemented at all levels of development. Further examination of urban runoff with specific emphasis on spring and winter runoff is recommended.

This current study is a lab-scale investigation focused on the treatment of stormwater runoff generated in wood-storage areas. The main target constituents of the proposed treatment were: metals (Cu, Cd, Co, V, Pb, Zn, Ni, Cr, Fe, As), COD, TOC, Phenols, and color. The method implemented for this project follows the main concept of using low-cost and environmentally friendly technologies and had as main steps the use of a by-product of wood-based industries - wood fly ashes as sorbents - followed by oxidation with H2O2 (Hydrogen Peroxide). The results obtained during this investigation were vey promising since satisfactory removal % was achieved. Removal rates of 98.5%, 86%, 89.6%, 79.6% were achieved for color, chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic carbon (TOC) and phenols respectively. Furthermore a decrease in metals concentrations was also observed with the exception of chromium. The study showed that for 300 ml storm water, optimum conditions were with 7g wood fly ash, 5 hours time reaction, pH≈11.46 and 150 μl of a 30% H2O2 solution in a room temperature. To conclude it can be stated that the use of a by-product from wood industry to treat contaminated water from the same sector, following the concept of a closed-loop system, is promising and possible. However further studies need to be conducted in order to evaluate such system in scaled-up conditions.

Coastal atmospheric concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were measured at top of a building on campus of the National Sun Yat-sen University of Kaohsiung. Concentrations of 52 PAH compounds were analyzed in both gaseous and particulate phases in air samples collected from May 2008 through April 2009. PAHs diagnostic, Hierarchical Analysis (HCA) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) were employed to determine the potential sources of PAHs. The Group Method of Data Handling (GMDH) was applied to relate atmospheric PAH concentration to air quality variables like SO2 and O3, as well as meteorological conditions like precipitation and temperature. During the sampling period the mean of total PAH concentrations was 14.2 ng/m3. Over all, PAH concentrations in winter were higher than summer, with the lowest concentrations of PAHs occurred in June (2.22 ng/m3), while the highest occurred in January (32.4 ng/m3). The night-time concentrations of PAHs are higher than daytime. The 2, 3-ring PAHs were mostly present in the gaseous phase, 4-ring were dominant in the gaseous phase, while 5, 6, 7-ring PAHs were mostly present in the particulate phase. During the Ghost festival and Asian dust storm events, atmospheric concentrations of PAHs and PAHs/TSP ratios were both found increased. Meteorological conditions, such as temperature and relative humidity, may strongly affect PAH concentrations, the gaseous and particulate PAHs correlate significantly with SO2, NOx, and PM10. Result from analyses of diagnostic rations, HCA and PCA, indicates the major sources of PAHs include gasoline and diesel exhaust. By using GMDH, a reasonable appraisal index was obtained for the pattern forecast potency with the meteorological and air quality variables. The GMDH algorithm obtained during 2008~2009 was tested in predictions and compared with what measured in 2007~2008.