@phdthesis{Nitze2017,
  author    = {Nitze, Ingmar},
  title     = {Remote sensing of rapid permafrost landscape dynamics},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {151},
  year      = {2017},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Irrgang2017,
  author    = {Irrgang, Anna Maria},
  title     = {Temporal and spatial dynamics of Arctic coastal changes and the resulting impacts: Yukon Territory, Canada},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {154},
  year      = {2017},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Murawski2017,
  author    = {Murawski, Aline},
  title     = {Trends in precipitation over Germany and the Rhine basin related to changes in weather patterns},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-412725},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {112},
  year      = {2017},
  abstract  = {Niederschlag als eine der wichtigsten meteorologischen Gr{\"o}ßen f{\"u}r Landwirtschaft, Wasserversorgung und menschliches Wohlbefinden hat schon immer erh{\"o}hte Aufmerksamkeit erfahren. Niederschlagsmangel kann verheerende Auswirkungen haben, wie z.B. Missernten und Wasserknappheit. {\"U}berm{\"a}ßige Niederschl{\"a}ge andererseits bergen jedoch ebenfalls Gefahren in Form von Hochwasser oder Sturzfluten und wiederum Missernten. Daher wurde viel Arbeit in die Detektion von Niederschlags{\"a}nderungen und deren zugrundeliegende Prozesse gesteckt. Insbesondere angesichts von Klimawandel und unter Ber{\"u}cksichtigung des Zusammenhangs zwischen Temperatur und atmosph{\"a}rischer Wasserhaltekapazit{\"a}t, ist großer Bedarf an Forschung zum Verst{\"a}ndnis der Auswirkungen von Klimawandel auf Niederschlags{\"a}nderungen gegeben. Die vorliegende Arbeit hat das Ziel, vergangene Ver{\"a}nderungen in Niederschlag und anderen meteorologischen Variablen zu verstehen. F{\"u}r verschiedene Zeitr{\"a}ume wurden Tendenzen gefunden und mit entsprechenden Ver{\"a}nderungen in der großskaligen atmosph{\"a}rischen Zirkulation in Zusammenhang gebracht. Die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit k{\"o}nnen als Grundlage f{\"u}r die Attributierung von Hochwasserver{\"a}nderungen zu Klimawandel genutzt werden. Die Annahmen f{\"u}r die Maßstabsverkleinerung („Downscaling") der Daten von großskaligen Zirkulationsmodellen auf die lokale Skala wurden hier getestet und verifziert. In einem ersten Schritt wurden Niederschlagsver{\"a}nderungen in Deutschland analysiert. Dabei lag der Fokus nicht nur auf Niederschlagssummen, sondern auch auf Eigenschaften der statistischen Verteilung, {\"U}bergangswahrscheinlichkeiten als Maß f{\"u}r Trocken- und Niederschlagsperioden und Extremniederschlagsereignissen. Den r{\"a}umlichen Fokus auf das Rheineinzugsgebiet, das gr{\"o}ßte Flusseinzugsgebiet Deutschlands und einer der Hauptwasserwege Europas, verlagernd, wurden nachgewiesene Ver{\"a}nderungen in Niederschlag und anderen meteorologischen Gr{\"o}ßen in Bezug zu einer „optimierten" Wetterlagenklassifikation analysiert. Die Wetterlagenklassifikation wurde unter der Maßgabe entwickelt, die Varianz des lokalen Klimas bestm{\"o}glich zu erkl{\"a}ren. Die letzte hier behandelte Frage dreht sich darum, ob die beobachteten Ver{\"a}nderungen im lokalen Klima eher H{\"a}ufigkeits{\"a}nderungen der Wetterlagen zuzuordnen sind oder einer Ver{\"a}nderung der Wetterlagen selbst. Eine gebr{\"a}uchliche Annahme f{\"u}r einen Downscaling-Ansatz mit Hilfe von Wetterlagen und einem stochastischen Wettergenerator ist, dass Klimawandel sich allein durch eine Ver{\"a}nderung der H{\"a}ufigkeit von Wetterlagen ausdr{\"u}ckt, die Eigenschaften der Wetterlagen dabei jedoch konstant bleiben. Diese Annahme wurde {\"u}berpr{\"u}ft und die F{\"a}higkeit der neuesten Generation von Zirkulationsmodellen, diese Wetterlagen zu reproduzieren, getestet. Niederschlagsver{\"a}nderungen in Deutschland im Zeitraum 1951-2006 lassen sich zusammenfassen als negativ im Sommer und positiv in allen anderen Jahreszeiten. Verschiedene Niederschlagscharakteristika best{\"a}tigen die Tendenz in den Niederschlagssummen: w{\"a}hrend mittlere und extreme Niederschlagstageswerte im Winter zugenommen haben, sind auch zusammenh{\"a}ngende Niederschlagsperioden l{\"a}nger geworden (ausgedr{\"u}ckt als eine gestiegene Wahrscheinlichkeit f{\"u}r einen Tag mit Niederschlag gefolgt von einem weiteren nassen Tag). Im Sommer wurde das Gegenteil beobachtet: gesunkene Niederschlagssummen, untermauert von verringerten Mittel- und Extremwerten und l{\"a}ngeren Trockenperioden. Abseits dieser allgemeinen Zusammenfassung f{\"u}r das gesamte Gebiet Deutschlands, ist die r{\"a}umliche Verteilung von Niederschlagsver{\"a}nderungen deutlich heterogener. Vermehrter Niederschlag im Winter wurde haupts{\"a}chlich im Nordwesten und S{\"u}dosten Deutschlands beobachtet, w{\"a}hrend im Fr{\"u}hling die st{\"a}rksten Ver{\"a}nderungen im Westen und im Herbst im S{\"u}den aufgetreten sind. Das saisonale Bild wiederum l{\"o}st sich f{\"u}r die zugeh{\"o}rigen Monate auf, z.B. setzt sich der Anstieg im Herbstniederschlag aus deutlich vermehrtem Niederschlag im S{\"u}dwesten im Oktober und im S{\"u}dosten im November zusammen. Diese Ergebnisse betonen die starken r{\"a}umlichen Zusammenh{\"a}nge der Niederschlags{\"a}nderungen. Der n{\"a}chste Schritt hinsichtlich einer Zuordnung von Niederschlagsver{\"a}nderungen zu {\"A}nderungen in großskaligen Zirkulationsmustern, war die Ableitung einer Wetterlagenklassifikation, die die betrachteten lokalen Klimavariablen hinreichend stratifizieren kann. Fokussierend auf Temperatur, Globalstrahlung und Luftfeuchte zus{\"a}tzlich zu Niederschlag, wurde eine Klassifikation basierend auf Luftdruck, Temperatur und spezifischer Luftfeuchtigkeit als am besten geeignet erachtet, die Varianz der lokalen Variablen zu erkl{\"a}ren. Eine vergleichsweise hohe Anzahl von 40 Wetterlagen wurde ausgew{\"a}hlt, die es erlaubt, typische Druckmuster durch die zus{\"a}tzlich verwendete Temperaturinformation einzelnen Jahreszeiten zuzuordnen. W{\"a}hrend die F{\"a}higkeit, Varianz im Niederschlag zu erkl{\"a}ren, relativ gering ist, ist diese deutlich besser f{\"u}r Globalstrahlung und nat{\"u}rlich Temperatur. Die meisten der aktuellen Zirkulationsmodelle des CMIP5-Ensembles sind in der Lage, die Wetterlagen hinsichtlich H{\"a}ufigkeit, Saisonalit{\"a}t und Persistenz hinreichend gut zu reproduzieren. Schließlich wurden dieWetterlagen bez{\"u}glich Ver{\"a}nderungen in ihrer H{\"a}ufigkeit, Saisonalit{\"a}t und Persistenz, sowie der Wetterlagen-spezifischen Niederschl{\"a}ge und Temperatur, untersucht. Um Unsicherheiten durch die Wahl eines bestimmten Analysezeitraums auszuschließen, wurden alle m{\"o}glichen Zeitr{\"a}ume mit mindestens 31 Jahren im Zeitraum 1901-2010 untersucht. Dadurch konnte die Annahme eines konstanten Zusammenhangs zwischen Wetterlagen und lokalem Wetter gr{\"u}ndlich {\"u}berpr{\"u}ft werden. Es wurde herausgefunden, dass diese Annahme nur zum Teil haltbar ist. W{\"a}hrend Ver{\"a}nderungen in der Temperatur haupts{\"a}chlich auf Ver{\"a}nderungen in der Wetterlagenh{\"a}ufigkeit zur{\"u}ckzuf{\"u}hren sind, wurde f{\"u}r Niederschlag ein erheblicher Teil von Ver{\"a}nderungen innerhalb einzelner Wetterlagen gefunden. Das Ausmaß und sogar das Vorzeichen der Ver{\"a}nderungen h{\"a}ngt hochgradig vom untersuchten Zeitraum ab. Die H{\"a}ufigkeit einiger Wetterlagen steht in direkter Beziehung zur langfristigen Variabilit{\"a}t großskaliger Zirkulationsmuster. Niederschlagsver{\"a}nderungen variieren nicht nur r{\"a}umlich, sondern auch zeitlich - Aussagen {\"u}ber Tendenzen sind nur in Bezug zum jeweils untersuchten Zeitraum g{\"u}ltig. W{\"a}hrend ein Teil der Ver{\"a}nderungen auf {\"A}nderungen der großskaligen Zirkulation zur{\"u}ckzuf{\"u}hren ist, gibt es auch deutliche Ver{\"a}nderungen innerhalb einzelner Wetterlagen. Die Ergebnisse betonen die Notwendigkeit f{\"u}r einen sorgf{\"a}ltigen Nachweis von Ver{\"a}nderungen m{\"o}glichst verschiedene Zeitr{\"a}ume zu untersuchen und mahnen zur Vorsicht bei der Anwendung von Downscaling-Ans{\"a}tzen mit Hilfe von Wetterlagen, da diese die Auswirkungen von Klimaver{\"a}nderungen durch das Vernachl{\"a}ssigen von Wetterlagen-internen Ver{\"a}nderungen falsch einsch{\"a}tzen k{\"o}nnten.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Golly2017,
  author    = {Golly, Antonius},
  title     = {Formation and evolution of channel steps and their role for sediment dynamics in a steep mountain stream},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-411728},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {180},
  year      = {2017},
  abstract  = {Steep mountain channels are an important component of the fluvial system. On geological timescales, they shape mountain belts and counteract tectonic uplift by erosion. Their channels are strongly coupled to hillslopes and they are often the main source of sediment transported downstream to low-gradient rivers and to alluvial fans, where commonly settlements in mountainous areas are located. Hence, mountain streams are the cause for one of the main natural hazards in these regions. Due to climate change and a pronounced populating of mountainous regions the attention given to this threat is even growing. Although quantitative studies on sediment transport have significantly advanced our knowledge on measuring and calibration techniques we still lack studies of the processes within mountain catchments. Studies examining the mechanisms of energy and mass exchange on small temporal and spatial scales in steep streams remain sparse in comparison to low-gradient alluvial channels. In the beginning of this doctoral project, a vast amount of experience and knowledge of a steep stream in the Swiss Prealps had to be consolidated in order to shape the principal aim of this research effort. It became obvious, that observations from within the catchment are underrepresented in comparison to experiments performed at the catchment's outlet measuring fluxes and the effects of the transported material. To counteract this imbalance, an examination of mass fluxes within the catchment on the process scale was intended. Hence, this thesis is heavily based on direct field observations, which are generally rare in these environments in quantity and quality. The first objective was to investigate the coupling of the channel with surrounding hillslopes, the major sources of sediment. This research, which involved the monitoring of the channel and adjacent hillslopes, revealed that alluvial channel steps play a key role in coupling of channel and hillslopes. The observations showed that hillslope stability is strongly associated with the step presence and an understanding of step morphology and stability is therefore crucial in understanding sediment mobilization. This finding refined the way we think about the sediment dynamics in steep channels and motivated continued research of the step dynamics. However, soon it became obvious that the technological basis for developing field tests and analyzing the high resolution geometry measured in the field was not available. Moreover, for many geometrical quantities in mountain channels definitions and a clear scientific standard was not available. For example, these streams are characterized by a high spatial variability of the channel banks, preventing straightforward calculations of the channel width without a defined reference. Thus, the second and inevitable part of this thesis became the development and evaluation of scientific tools in order to investigate the geometrical content of the study reach thoroughly. The developed framework allowed the derivation of various metrics of step and channel geometry which facilitated research on the a large data set of observations of channel steps. In the third part, innovative, physically-based metrics have been developed and compared to current knowledge on step formation, suggested in the literature. With this analyses it could be demonstrated that the formation of channel steps follow a wide range of hydraulic controls. Due to the wide range of tested parameters channel steps observed in a natural stream were attributed to different mechanisms of step formation, including those based on jamming and those based on key-stones. This study extended our knowledge on step formation in a steep stream and harmonized different, often time seen as competing, processes of step formation. This study was based on observations collected at one point in time. In the fourth part of this project, the findings of the snap-shot observations were extended in the temporal dimension and the derived concepts have been utilized to investigate reach-scale step patterns in response to large, exceptional flood events. The preliminary results of this work based on the long-term analyses of 7 years of long profile surveys showed that the previously observed channel-hillslope mechanism is the responsible for the short-term response of step formation. The findings of the long-term analyses of step patterns drew a bow to the initial observations of a channel-hillslope system which allowed to join the dots in the dynamics of steep stream. Thus, in this thesis a broad approach has been chosen to gain insights into the complex system of steep mountain rivers. The effort includes in situ field observations (article I), the development of quantitative scientific tools (article II), the reach-scale analyses of step-pool morphology (article III) and its temporal evolution (article IV). With this work our view on the processes within the catchment has been advanced towards a better mechanistic understanding of these fluvial system relevant to improve applied scientific work.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Theuring2017,
  author    = {Theuring, Philipp Christian},
  title     = {Suspended sediments in the Kharaa River, sources and impacts},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-410550},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {135},
  year      = {2017},
  abstract  = {Anthropogenically amplified erosion leads to increased fine-grained sediment input into the fluvial system in the 15.000 km2 Kharaa River catchment in northern Mongolia and constitutes a major stressing factor for the aquatic ecosystem. This study uniquely combines the application of intensive monitoring, source fingerprinting and catchment modelling techniques to allow for the comparison of the credibility and accuracy of each single method. High-resolution discharge data were used in combination with daily suspended solid measurements to calculate the suspended sediment budget and compare it with estimations of the sediment budget model SedNet. The comparison of both techniques showed that the development of an overall sediment budget with SedNet was possible, yielding results in the same order of magnitude (20.3 kt a- 1 and 16.2 kt a- 1). Radionuclide sediment tracing, using Be-7, Cs-137 and Pb-210 was applied to differentiate sediment sources for particles < 10μm from hillslope and riverbank erosion and showed that riverbank erosion generates 74.5\% of the suspended sediment load, whereas surface erosion contributes 21.7\% and gully erosion only 3.8\%. The contribution of the single subcatchments of the Kharaa to the suspended sediment load was assessed based on their variation in geochemical composition (e.g. in Ti, Sn, Mo, Mn, As, Sr, B, U, Ca and Sb). These variations were used for sediment source discrimination with geochemical composite fingerprints based on Genetic Algorithm driven Discriminant Function Analysis, the Kruskal-Wallis H-test and Principal Component Analysis. The contributions of the individual sub-catchment varied from 6.4\% to 36.2\%, generally showing higher contributions from the sub-catchments in the middle, rather than the upstream portions of the study area. The results indicate that river bank erosion generated by existing grazing practices of livestock is the main cause for elevated fine sediment input. Actions towards the protection of the headwaters and the stabilization of the river banks within the middle reaches were identified as the highest priority. Deforestation and by lodging and forest fires should be prevented to avoid increased hillslope erosion in the mountainous areas. Mining activities are of minor importance for the overall catchment sediment load but can constitute locally important point sources for particular heavy metals in the fluvial system.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Schmidt2017,
  author    = {Schmidt, Katja},
  title     = {Assessing, testing, and implementing socio-cultural valuation methods to operationalise ecosystem services in land use management},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-411049},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {165},
  year      = {2017},
  abstract  = {Ecosystem services (ESs) are defined as the contributions that ecosystems make to human wellbeing and are increasingly being used as an approach to explore the importance of ecosystems for humans through their valuation. Although value plurality has been recognised long before the mainstreaming of ESs research, socio-cultural valuation is still underrepresented in ESs assessments. It is the central goal of this PhD dissertation to explore the ability of socio-cultural valuation methods for the operationalisation of ESs research in land management. To address this, I formulated three research objectives that are briefly outlined below and relate to the three studies conducted during this dissertation. The first objective relates to the assessment of the current role of socio-cultural valuation in ESs research. Human values are central to ESs research yet non-monetary socio-cultural valuation methods have been found underrepresented in the field of ESs science. In regard to the unbalanced consideration of value domains and conceptual uncertainties, I perform a systematic literature review aiming to answer the research question: To what extent have socio-cultural values been addressed in ESs assessments. The second objective aims to test socio-cultural valuation methods of ESs and their relevance for land use preferences by exploring their methodological opportunities and limitations. Socio-cultural valuation methods have only recently become a focus in ESs research and therefore bear various uncertainties in regard to their methodological implications. To overcome these uncertainties, I analysed responses to a visitor survey. The research questions related to the second objective were: What are the implications of different valuation methods for ESs values? To what extent are land use preferences explained by socio-cultural values of ESs? The third objective addressed in this dissertation is the implementation of ESs research into land management through socio-cultural valuation. Though it is emphasised that the ESs approach can assist decision making, there is little empirical evidence of the effect of ESs knowledge on land management. I proposed a way to implement transdisciplinary, spatially explicit research on ESs by answering the following research questions: Which landscape features underpinning ESs supply are considered in land management? How can participatory approaches accounting for ESs be operationalised in land management? The empirical research resulted in five main findings that provide answers to the research questions. First, this dissertation provides evidence that socio-cultural values are an integral part of ESs research. I found that they can be assessed for provisioning, regulating, and cultural services though they are linked to cultural services to a greater degree. Socio-cultural values have been assessed by monetary and non-monetary methods and their assessment is effectively facilitated by stakeholder participation. Second, I found that different methods of socio-cultural valuation revealed different information. Whereas rating revealed a general value of ESs, weighting was found more suitable to identify priorities across ESs. Value intentions likewise differed in the distribution of values, generally implying a higher value for others than for respondents themselves. Third, I showed that ESs values were distributed similarly across groups with differing land use preferences. Thus, I provided empirical evidence that ESs values and landscape values should not be used interchangeably. Fourth, I showed which landscape features important for ESs supply in a Scottish regional park are not sufficiently accounted for in the current management strategy. This knowledge is useful for the identification of priority sites for land management. Finally, I provide an approach to explore how ESs knowledge elicited by participatory mapping can be operationalised in land management. I demonstrate how stakeholder knowledge and values can be used for the identification of ESs hotspots and how these hotspots can be compared to current management priorities. This dissertation helps to bridge current gaps of ESs science by advancing the understanding of the current role of socio-cultural values in ESs research, testing different methods and their relevance for land use preferences, and implementing ESs knowledge into land management. If and to what extent ESs and their values are implemented into ecosystem management is mainly the choice of the management. An advanced understanding of socio-cultural valuation methods contributes to the normative basis of this management, while the proposal for the implementation of ESs in land management presents a practical approach of how to transfer this type of knowledge into practice. The proposed methods for socio-cultural valuation can support guiding land management towards a balanced consideration of ESs and conservation goals.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Bredow2017,
  author    = {Bredow, Eva},
  title     = {Geodynamic models of plume-ridge interaction},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-411732},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {104},
  year      = {2017},
  abstract  = {According to the classical plume hypothesis, mantle plumes are localized upwellings of hot, buoyant material in the Earth's mantle. They have a typical mushroom shape, consisting of a large plume head, which is associated with the formation of voluminous flood basalts (a Large Igneous Province) and a narrow plume tail, which generates a linear, age-progressive chain of volcanic edifices (a hotspot track) as the tectonic plate migrates over the relatively stationary plume. Both plume heads and tails reshape large areas of the Earth's surface over many tens of millions of years. However, not every plume has left an exemplary record that supports the classical hypothesis. The main objective of this thesis is therefore to study how specific hotspots have created the crustal thickness pattern attributed to their volcanic activities. Using regional geodynamic models, the main chapters of this thesis address the challenge of deciphering the three individual (and increasingly complex) Réunion, Iceland, and Kerguelen hotspot histories, especially focussing on the interactions between the respective plume and nearby spreading ridges. For this purpose, the mantle convection code ASPECT is used to set up three-dimensional numerical models, which consider the specific local surroundings of each plume by prescribing time-dependent boundary conditions for temperature and mantle flow. Combining reconstructed plate boundaries and plate motions, large-scale global flow velocities and an inhomogeneous lithosphere thickness distribution together with a dehydration rheology represents a novel setup for regional convection models. The model results show the crustal thickness pattern produced by the plume, which is compared to present-day topographic structures, crustal thickness estimates and age determinations of volcanic provinces associated with hotspot activity. Altogether, the model results agree well with surface observations. Moreover, the dynamic development of the plumes in the models provide explanations for the generation of smaller, yet characteristic volcanic features that were previously unexplained. Considering the present-day state of a model as a prediction for the current temperature distribution in the mantle, it cannot only be compared to observations on the surface, but also to structures in the Earth's interior as imaged by seismic tomography. More precisely, in the case of the Réunion hotspot, the model demonstrates how the distinctive gap between the Maldives and Chagos is generated due to the combination of the ridge geometry and plume-ridge interaction. Further, the Rodrigues Ridge is formed as the surface expression of a long-distance sublithospheric flow channel between the upwelling plume and the closest ridge segment, confirming the long-standing hypothesis of Morgan (1978) for the first time in a dynamic context. The Réunion plume has been studied in connection with the seismological RHUM-RUM project, which has recently provided new seismic tomography images that yield an excellent match with the geodynamic model. Regarding the Iceland plume, the numerical model shows how plume material may have accumulated in an east-west trending corridor of thin lithosphere across Greenland and resulted in simultaneous melt generation west and east of Greenland. This provides an explanation for the extremely widespread volcanic material attributed to magma production of the Iceland hotspot and demonstrates that the model setup is also able to explain more complicated hotspot histories. The Iceland model results also agree well with newly derived seismic tomographic images. The Kerguelen hotspot has an extremely complex history and previous studies concluded that the plume might be dismembered or influenced by solitary waves in its conduit to produce the reconstructed variable melt production rate. The geodynamic model, however, shows that a constant plume influx can result in a variable magma production rate if the plume interacts with nearby mid-ocean ridges. Moreover, the Ninetyeast Ridge in the model is created by on-ridge activities, while the Kerguelen plume was located beneath the Australian plate. This is also a contrast to earlier studies, which described the Ninetyeast Ridge as the result of the Indian plate passing over the plume. Furthermore, the Amsterdam-Saint Paul Plateau in the model is the result of plume material flowing from the upwelling toward the Southeast Indian Ridge, whereas previous geochemical studies attributed that volcanic province to a separate deep plume. In summary, the three case studies presented in this thesis consistently highlight the importance of plume-ridge interaction in order to reconstruct the overall volcanic hotspot record as well as specific smaller features attributed to a certain hotspot. They also demonstrate that it is not necessary to attribute highly complicated properties to a specific plume in order to account for complex observations. Thus, this thesis contributes to the general understanding of plume dynamics and extends the very specific knowledge about the Réunion, Iceland, and Kerguelen mantle plumes.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Tanski2017,
  author    = {Tanski, George},
  title     = {Fate of organic matter mobilized from eroding permafrost coasts},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {IX, 106, 57 S.},
  year      = {2017},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Herbrich2017,
  author    = {Herbrich, Marcus},
  title     = {Einfluss der erosionsbedingten Pedogenese auf den Wasserund Stoffhaushalt ackerbaulich genutzter B{\"o}den der Grundmor{\"a}nenbodenlandschaft NO-Deutschlands - hydropedologische Untersuchungen mittels w{\"a}gbarer Pr{\"a}zisionslysimeter},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-408561},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {186},
  year      = {2017},
  abstract  = {In the arable soil landscape of hummocky ground moraines, an erosion-affected spatial differentiation of soils can be observed. Man-made erosion leads to soil profile modifications along slopes with changed solum thickness and modified properties of soil horizons due to water erosion in combination with tillage operations. Soil erosion creates, thereby, spatial patterns of soil properties (e.g., texture and organic matter content) and differences in crop development. However, little is known about the manner in which water fluxes are affected by soil-crop interactions depending on contrasting properties of differently-developed soil horizons and how water fluxes influence the carbon transport in an eroded landscape. To identify such feedbacks between erosion-induced soil profile modifications and the 1D-water and solute balance, high-precision weighing lysimeters equipped with a wide range of sensor technique were filled with undisturbed soil monoliths that differed in the degree of past soil erosion. Furthermore, lysimeter effluent concentrations were analyzed for dissolved carbon fractions in bi-weekly intervals. The water balance components measured by high precision lysimeters varied from the most eroded to the less eroded monolith up to 83 \% (deep drainage) primarily caused due to varying amounts of precipitation and evapotranspiration for a 3-years period. Here, interactions between crop development and contrasting rainfall interception by above ground biomass could explain differences in water balance components. Concentrations of dissolved carbon in soil water samples were relatively constant in time, suggesting carbon leaching was mainly affected by water fluxes in this observation period. For the lysimeter-based water balance analysis, a filtering scheme was developed considering temporal autocorrelation. The minute-based autocorrelation analysis of mass changes from lysimeter time series revealed characteristic autocorrelation lengths ranging from 23 to 76 minutes. Thereby, temporal autocorrelation provided an optimal approximation of precipitation quantities. However, the high temporal resolution in lysimeter time series is restricted by the lengths of autocorrelation. Erosion-induced but also gradual changes in soil properties were reflected by dynamics of soil water retention properties in the lysimeter soils. Short-term and long-term hysteretic water retention data suggested seasonal wettability problems of soils increasingly limited rewetting of previously dried pore regions. Differences in water retention were assigned to soil tillage operations and the erosion history at different slope positions. The threedimensional spatial pattern of soil types that result from erosional soil profile modifications were also reflected in differences of crop root development at different landscape positions. Contrasting root densities revealed positive relations of root and aboveground plant characteristics. Differences in the spatially-distributed root growth between different eroded soil types provided indications that root development was affected by the erosion-induced soil evolution processes. Overall, the current thesis corroborated the hypothesis that erosion-induced soil profile modifications affect the soil water balance, carbon leaching and soil hydraulic properties, but also the crop root system is influenced by erosion-induced spatial patterns of soil properties in the arable hummocky post glacial soil landscape. The results will help to improve model predictions of water and solute movement in arable soils and to understand interactions between soil erosion and carbon pathways regarding sink-or-source terms in landscapes.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Gudipudi2017,
  author    = {Gudipudi, Venkata Ramana},
  title     = {Cities and global sustainability},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-407113},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {xxii, 101},
  year      = {2017},
  abstract  = {In the wake of 21st century, humanity witnessed a phenomenal raise of urban agglomerations as powerhouses for innovation and socioeconomic growth. Driving much of national (and in few instances even global) economy, such a gargantuan raise of cities is also accompanied by subsequent increase in energy, resource consumption and waste generation. Much of anthropogenic transformation of Earth's environment in terms of environmental pollution at local level to planetary scale in the form of climate change is currently taking place in cities. Projected to be crucibles for entire humanity by the end of this century, the ultimate fate of humanity predominantly lies in the hands of technological innovation, urbanites' attitudes towards energy/resource consumption and development pathways undertaken by current and future cities. Considering the unparalleled energy, resource consumption and emissions currently attributed to global cities, this thesis addresses these issues from an efficiency point of view. More specifically, this thesis addresses the influence of population size, density, economic geography and technology in improving urban greenhouse gas (GHG) emission efficiency and identifies the factors leading to improved eco-efficiency in cities. In order to investigate the in uence of these factors in improving emission and resource efficiency in cities, a multitude of freely available datasets were coupled with some novel methodologies and analytical approaches in this thesis. Merging the well-established Kaya Identity to the recently developed urban scaling laws, an Urban Kaya Relation is developed to identify whether large cities are more emission efficient and the intrinsic factors leading to such (in)efficiency. Applying Urban Kaya Relation to a global dataset of 61 cities in 12 countries, this thesis identifed that large cities in developed regions of the world will bring emission efficiency gains because of the better technologies implemented in these cities to produce and utilize energy consumption while the opposite is the case for cities in developing regions. Large cities in developing countries are less efficient mainly because of their affluence and lack of efficient technologies. Apart from the in uence of population size on emission efficiency, this thesis identified the crucial role played by population density in improving building and on-road transport sector related emission efficiency in cities. This is achieved by applying the City Clustering Algorithm (CCA) on two different gridded land use datasets and a standard emission inventory to attribute these sectoral emissions to all inhabited settlements in the USA. Results show that doubling the population density would entail a reduction in the total CO2 emissions in buildings and on-road sectors typically by at least 42 \%. Irrespective of their population size and density, cities are often blamed for their intensive resource consumption that threatens not only local but also global sustainability. This thesis merged the concept of urban metabolism with benchmarking and identified cities which are eco-efficient. These cities enable better socioeconomic conditions while being less burden to the environment. Three environmental burden indicators (annual average NO2 concentration, per capita waste generation and water consumption) and two socioeconomic indicators (GDP per capita and employment ratio) for 88 most populous European cities are considered in this study. Using two different non-parametric ranking methods namely regression residual ranking and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), eco-efficient cities and their determining factors are identified. This in-depth analysis revealed that mature cities with well-established economic structures such as Munich, Stockholm and Oslo are eco-efficient. Further, correlations between objective eco-efficiency ranking with each of the indicator rankings and the ranking of urbanites' subjective perception about quality of life are analyzed. This analysis revealed that urbanites' perception about quality of life is not merely confined to the socioeconomic well-being but rather to their combination with lower environmental burden. In summary, the findings of this dissertation has three general conclusions for improving emission and ecological efficiency in cities. Firstly, large cities in emerging nations face a huge challenge with respect to improving their emission efficiency. The task in front of these cities is threefold: (1) deploying efficient technologies for the generation of electricity and improvement of public transportation to unlock their leap frogging potential, (2) addressing the issue of energy poverty and (3) ensuring that these cities do not develop similar energy consumption patterns with infrastructure lock-in behavior similar to those of cities in developed regions. Secondly, the on-going urban sprawl as a global phenomenon will decrease the emission efficiency within the building and transportation sector. Therefore, local policy makers should identify adequate fiscal and land use policies to curb urban sprawl. Lastly, since mature cities with well-established economic structures are more eco-efficient and urbanites' perception re ects its combination with decreasing environmental burden; there is a need to adopt and implement strategies which enable socioeconomic growth in cities whilst decreasing their environment burden.},
  language  = {en}
}