@misc{Moehring2021,
  type      = {Master Thesis},
  author    = {M{\"o}hring, Jan},
  title     = {Stochastic inversion for core field modeling using satellite data},
  doi       = {10.25932/publishup-49807},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-498072},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {vii, 55},
  year      = {2021},
  abstract  = {Magnetfeldmodellierung mit Kugelfl{\"a}chenfunktionen basiert auf der Inversion nach hunderten bis tausenden von Parametern. Dieses hochdimensionale Problem kann grunds{\"a}tzlich als ein Optimierungsproblem formuliert werden, bei dem ein globales Minimum einer gewissen Zielfunktion berechnet werden soll. Um dieses Problem zu l{\"o}sen, gibt es eine Reihe bekannter Ans{\"a}tze, dazu z{\"a}hlen etwa gradientenbasierte Verfahren oder die Methode der kleinsten Quadrate und deren Varianten. Jede dieser Methoden hat verschiedene Vor- und Nachteile, beispielsweise bez{\"u}glich der Anwendbarkeit auf nicht-differenzierbare Funktionen oder der Laufzeit zugeh{\"o}riger Algorithmen. In dieser Arbeit verfolgen wir das Ziel, einen Algorithmus zu finden, der schneller als die etablierten Verfahren ist und sich auch f{\"u}r nichtlineare Probleme anwenden l{\"a}sst. Solche nichtlinearen Probleme treten beispielsweise bei der Absch{\"a}tzung von Euler-Winkeln oder bei der Verwendung der robusteren L_1-Norm auf. Dazu untersuchen wir die Anwendbarkeit stochastischer Optimierungsverfahren aus der CMAES-Familie auf die Modellierung des geomagnetischen Feldes des Erdkerns. Es werden sowohl die Grundlagen der Kernfeldmodellierung und deren Parametrisierung anhand einiger Beispiele aus der Literatur besprochen, als auch die theoretischen Hintergr{\"u}nde der stochastischen Verfahren gegeben. Ein CMAES-Algorithmus wurde erfolgreich angewendet, um Daten der Swarm-Satellitenmission zu invertieren und daraus das Magnetfeldmodell EvoMag abzuleiten. EvoMag zeigt gute {\"U}bereinstimmung mit etablierten Modellen, sowie mit Observatoriumsdaten aus Niemegk. Wir thematisieren einige beobachtete Schwierigkeiten und pr{\"a}sentieren und diskutieren die Ergebnisse unserer Modellierung.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Khawaja2023,
  author    = {Khawaja, Muhammad Asim},
  title     = {Improving earthquake forecast modeling and testing using the multi-resolution grids},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {107},
  year      = {2023},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Sharma2024,
  author    = {Sharma, Shubham},
  title     = {Integrated approaches to earthquake forecasting},
  doi       = {10.25932/publishup-63612},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-636125},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {xvi, 76},
  year      = {2024},
  abstract  = {A comprehensive study on seismic hazard and earthquake triggering is crucial for effective mitigation of earthquake risks. The destructive nature of earthquakes motivates researchers to work on forecasting despite the apparent randomness of the earthquake occurrences. Understanding their underlying mechanisms and patterns is vital, given their potential for widespread devastation and loss of life. This thesis combines methodologies, including Coulomb stress calculations and aftershock analysis, to shed light on earthquake complexities, ultimately enhancing seismic hazard assessment. The Coulomb failure stress (CFS) criterion is widely used to predict the spatial distributions of aftershocks following large earthquakes. However, uncertainties associated with CFS calculations arise from non-unique slip inversions and unknown fault networks, particularly due to the choice of the assumed aftershocks (receiver) mechanisms. Recent studies have proposed alternative stress quantities and deep neural network approaches as superior to CFS with predefined receiver mechanisms. To challenge these propositions, I utilized 289 slip inversions from the SRCMOD database to calculate more realistic CFS values for a layered-half space and variable receiver mechanisms. The analysis also investigates the impact of magnitude cutoff, grid size variation, and aftershock duration on the ranking of stress metrics using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Results reveal the performance of stress metrics significantly improves after accounting for receiver variability and for larger aftershocks and shorter time periods, without altering the relative ranking of the different stress metrics. To corroborate Coulomb stress calculations with the findings of earthquake source studies in more detail, I studied the source properties of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and its aftershocks, aiming to unravel the seismotectonics of the NW Himalayan syntaxis. I simultaneously relocated the mainshock and its largest aftershocks using phase data, followed by a comprehensive analysis of Coulomb stress changes on the aftershock planes. By computing the Coulomb failure stress changes on the aftershock faults, I found that all large aftershocks lie in regions of positive stress change, indicating triggering by either co-seismic or post-seismic slip on the mainshock fault. Finally, I investigated the relationship between mainshock-induced stress changes and associated seismicity parameters, in particular those of the frequency-magnitude (Gutenberg-Richter) distribution and the temporal aftershock decay (Omori-Utsu law). For that purpose, I used my global data set of 127 mainshock-aftershock sequences with the calculated Coulomb Stress (ΔCFS) and the alternative receiver-independent stress metrics in the vicinity of the mainshocks and analyzed the aftershocks properties depend on the stress values. Surprisingly, the results show a clear positive correlation between the Gutenberg-Richter b-value and induced stress, contrary to expectations from laboratory experiments. This observation highlights the significance of structural heterogeneity and strength variations in seismicity patterns. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that aftershock productivity increases nonlinearly with stress, while the Omori-Utsu parameters c and p systematically decrease with increasing stress changes. These partly unexpected findings have significant implications for future estimations of aftershock hazard. The findings in this thesis provides valuable insights into earthquake triggering mechanisms by examining the relationship between stress changes and aftershock occurrence. The results contribute to improved understanding of earthquake behavior and can aid in the development of more accurate probabilistic-seismic hazard forecasts and risk reduction strategies.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Esfahani2022,
  author    = {Esfahani, Reza Dokht Dolatabadi},
  title     = {Time-dependent monitoring of near-surface and ground motion modelling: developing new data processing approaches based on Music Information Retrieval (MIR) strategies},
  doi       = {10.25932/publishup-56767},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-567671},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {xiv, 107},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {Seismology, like many scientific fields, e.g., music information retrieval and speech signal pro- cessing, is experiencing exponential growth in the amount of data acquired by modern seismo- logical networks. In this thesis, I take advantage of the opportunities offered by "big data" and by the methods developed in the areas of music information retrieval and machine learning to predict better the ground motion generated by earthquakes and to study the properties of the surface layers of the Earth. In order to better predict seismic ground motions, I propose two approaches based on unsupervised deep learning methods, an autoencoder network and Generative Adversarial Networks. The autoencoder technique explores a massive amount of ground motion data, evaluates the required parameters, and generates synthetic ground motion data in the Fourier amplitude spectra (FAS) domain. This method is tested on two synthetic datasets and one real dataset. The application on the real dataset shows that the substantial information contained within the FAS data can be encoded to a four to the five-dimensional manifold. Consequently, only a few independent parameters are required for efficient ground motion prediction. I also propose a method based on Conditional Generative Adversarial Networks (CGAN) for simulating ground motion records in the time-frequency and time domains. CGAN generates the time-frequency domains based on the parameters: magnitude, distance, and shear wave velocities to 30 m depth (VS30). After generating the amplitude of the time-frequency domains using the CGAN model, instead of classical conventional methods that assume the amplitude spectra with a random phase spectrum, the phase of the time-frequency domains is recovered by minimizing the observed and reconstructed spectrograms. In the second part of this dissertation, I propose two methods for the monitoring and characterization of near-surface materials and site effect analyses. I implement an autocorrelation function and an interferometry method to monitor the velocity changes of near-surface materials resulting from the Kumamoto earthquake sequence (Japan, 2016). The observed seismic velocity changes during the strong shaking are due to the non-linear response of the near-surface materials. The results show that the velocity changes lasted for about two months after the Kumamoto mainshock. Furthermore, I used the velocity changes to evaluate the in-situ strain-stress relationship. I also propose a method for assessing the site proxy "VS30" using non-invasive analysis. In the proposed method, a dispersion curve of surface waves is inverted to estimate the shear wave velocity of the subsurface. This method is based on the Dix-like linear operators, which relate the shear wave velocity to the phase velocity. The proposed method is fast, efficient, and stable. All of the methods presented in this work can be used for processing "big data" in seismology and for the analysis of weak and strong ground motion data, to predict ground shaking, and to analyze site responses by considering potential time dependencies and nonlinearities.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Laudan2019,
  author    = {Laudan, Jonas},
  title     = {Changing susceptibility of flood-prone residents in Germany},
  doi       = {10.25932/publishup-43442},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-434421},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {113},
  year      = {2019},
  abstract  = {Floods are among the most costly natural hazards that affect Europe and Germany, demanding a continuous adaptation of flood risk management. While social and economic development in recent years altered the flood risk patterns mainly with regard to an increase in flood exposure, different flood events are further expected to increase in frequency and severity in certain European regions due to climate change. As a result of recent major flood events in Germany, the German flood risk management shifted to more integrated approaches that include private precaution and preparation to reduce the damage on exposed assets. Yet, detailed insights into the preparedness decisions of flood-prone households remain scarce, especially in connection to mental impacts and individual coping strategies after being affected by different flood types. This thesis aims to gain insights into flash floods as a costly hazard in certain German regions and compares the damage driving factors to the damage driving factors of river floods. Furthermore, psychological impacts as well as the effects on coping and mitigation behaviour of flood-affected households are assessed. In this context, psychological models such as the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) and methods such as regressions and Bayesian statistics are used to evaluate influencing factors on the mental coping after an event and to identify psychological variables that are connected to intended private flood mitigation. The database consists of surveys that were conducted among affected households after major river floods in 2013 and flash floods in 2016. The main conclusions that can be drawn from this thesis reveal that the damage patterns and damage driving factors of strong flash floods differ significantly from those of river floods due to a rapid flow origination process, higher flow velocities and flow forces. However, the effects on mental coping of people that have been affected by flood events appear to be weakly influenced by different flood types, but yet show a coherence to the event severity, where often thinking of the respective event is pronounced and also connected to a higher mitigation motivation. The mental coping and preparation after floods is further influenced by a good information provision and a social environment, which encourages a positive attitude towards private mitigation. As an overall recommendation, approaches for an integrated flood risk management in Germany should be followed that also take flash floods into account and consider psychological characteristics of affected households to support and promote private flood mitigation. Targeted information campaigns that concern coping options and discuss current flood risks are important to better prepare for future flood hazards in Germany.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{RodriguezZuluaga2020,
  author    = {Rodriguez Zuluaga, Juan},
  title     = {Electric and magnetic characteristics of equatorial plasma depletions},
  doi       = {10.25932/publishup-44587},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-445873},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {xvi, 87},
  year      = {2020},
  abstract  = {Near-Earth space represents a significant scientific and technological challenge. Particularly at magnetic low-latitudes, the horizontal magnetic field geometry at the dip equator and its closed field-lines support the existence of a distinct electric current system, abrupt electric field variations and the development of plasma irregularities. Of particular interest are small-scale irregularities associated with equatorial plasma depletions (EPDs). They are responsible for the disruption of trans-ionospheric radio waves used for navigation, communication, and Earth observation. The fast increase of satellite missions makes it imperative to study the near-Earth space, especially the phenomena known to harm space technology or disrupt their signals. EPDs correspond to the large-scale structure (i.e., tens to hundreds of kilometers) of topside F region irregularities commonly known as Spread F. They are observed as depleted-plasma density channels aligned with the ambient magnetic field in the post-sunset low-latitude ionosphere. Although the climatological variability of their occurrence in terms of season, longitude, local time and solar flux is well-known, their day to day variability is not. The sparse observations from ground-based instruments like radars and the few simultaneous measurements of ionospheric parameters by space-based instruments have left gaps in the knowledge of EPDs essential to comprehend their variability. In this dissertation, I profited from the unique observations of the ESA's Swarm constellation mission launched in November 2013 to tackle three issues that revealed novel and significant results on the current knowledge of EPDs. I used Swarm's measurements of the electron density, magnetic, and electric fields to answer, (1.) what is the direction of propagation of the electromagnetic energy associated with EPDs?, (2.) what are the spatial and temporal characteristics of the electric currents (field-aligned and diamagnetic currents) related to EPDs, i.e., seasonal/geographical, and local time dependencies?, and (3.) under what conditions does the balance between magnetic and plasma pressure across EPDs occur? The results indicate that: (1.) The electromagnetic energy associated with EPDs presents a preference for interhemispheric flows; that is, the related Poynting flux directs from one magnetic hemisphere to the other and varies with longitude and season. (2.) The field-aligned currents at the edges of EPDs are interhemispheric. They generally close in the hemisphere with the highest Pedersen conductance. Such hemispherical preference presents a seasonal/longitudinal dependence. The diamagnetic currents increase or decrease the magnetic pressure inside EPDs. These two effects rely on variations of the plasma temperature inside the EPDs that depend on longitude and local time. (3.) EPDs present lower or higher plasma pressure than the ambient. For low-pressure EPDs the plasma pressure gradients are mostly dominated by variations of the plasma density so that variations of the temperature are negligible. High-pressure EPDs suggest significant temperature variations with magnitudes of approximately twice the ambient. Since their occurrence is more frequent in the vicinity of the South Atlantic magnetic anomaly, such high temperatures are suggested to be due to particle precipitation. In a broader context, this dissertation shows how dedicated satellite missions with high-resolution capabilities improve the specification of the low-latitude ionospheric electrodynamics and expand knowledge on EPDs which is valuable for current and future communication, navigation, and Earth-observing missions. The contributions of this investigation represent several 'firsts' in the study of EPDs: (1.) The first observational evidence of interhemispheric electromagnetic energy flux and field-aligned currents. (2.) The first spatial and temporal characterization of EPDs based on their associated field-aligned and diamagnetic currents. (3.) The first evidence of high plasma pressure in regions of depleted plasma density in the ionosphere. These findings provide new insights that promise to advance our current knowledge of not only EPDs but the low-latitude post-sunset ionosphere environment.},
  language  = {en}
}