Infrastructure Engineering - Theses
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ItemUnderstanding the Co-evolution of Land, Water, and Environmental Governance in Victoria during 1860 - 2016( 2019)There are many cases where the changes in government interventions have resulted in considerable negative consequences to social-ecological systems (SESs) instead of promoting improvement. Difficulties occur in guiding governance change to steer SESs onto desirable pathways. However, the linkage between the degradation of SESs and governance failure remains unclear. To address this gap, this research aims to understand the co-evolution of land, water, and environmental governance through the integration of policy into social-ecological system frameworks (SESFs). This research is presented into three chapters to answer the following three research questions: Research Question 1: How does land, water, and environmental governance steer the SES condition? Research Question 2: How have policy instruments for land, water, and environmental governance developed from 1860 to 2016 in Victoria, Australia? Research Question 3: How have the policy instruments for land, water, and environmental governance co-evolved? Is there any association with biophysical changes? Chapter 3 developed an SES framework by extending the SES frameworks proposed by Ostrom and Anderies. In the proposed framework, SES condition is viewed as the product of the accumulation of policy instruments used in land, water, and environmental governance to rule the interaction between and among components of biophysical and social systems. Policy instruments can help policy analysts explain the linkages between resources, resource users, and public infrastructure providers and which has a significant role in enhancing the robustness of SES. The framework provides a new way to develop a wider recognition and appreciation of dynamic, site-specific biophysical and social system conditions in influencing the government intervention, and in turn, have been shaped by them. In particular, the framework can help policymakers elucidate: 1. how the biophysical system has been understood in SES governance as represented by the relevant policy instruments; 2. how the social system has been set up in SES governance; and 3. how the synergies and trade-offs between the biophysical and social systems have been managed in the governance of the SES. It can help for systematically analyzing SES governance through the configuration of policy instruments. Chapter 4 used the proposed framework to investigate the evolution of policy instruments used in the land, water, and environmental governance in Victoria, Australia. The content analysis of Victorian Acts related to land, water, and environment practices between 1860 to 2016 was conducted. The investigation found that policy instruments to manage the behavior in resource utilization (substantive and procedural policy instruments) did not vary. However, they were differences in the circumstances in which they were implemented, in this case, differing interactions among components of the biophysical and social systems. The policy instruments held a particular focus in managing components of SESs in different periods and the evolution of each policy instrument has its pathway. Four regimes were identified in the evolution of policy instruments used in water governance: reserve, authority, information, and integration regimes. Whilst, policy instruments used in land governance experienced three regimes (authority, information, and integration regimes) and policy instruments used in environmental governance experienced two regimes (information and integration regimes). Chapter 5 associated the co-evolution of land, water, and environmental governance and biophysical changes. The co-evolution was analyzed by unpacking the integration of policy instruments used in land, water, and environmental governance. The integration was analyzed by examining the relationships between SES components covered in policy instruments. Represented by the subtle changes in their integration, the analysis showed the Victorian government’s learning process in adapting and accommodating the natural system and its desire to avoid significant negative impacts on the land, water, and environmental conditions have resulted in the inclusion of the dynamic interaction within SES as the consideration in formulating its policy instruments. Comparing the co-evolution of policy instruments used in land, water, and environmental governance with state-wide changes within the biophysical system, it is found that there is a strong association between the integration of land, water, and environmental governance and the change in SES condition in Victoria from 1860 to 2016. This longitudinal study of Victoria land, water, and environmental governance developed a new way to explain the linkage between natural resources governance and SES condition. Re-constructing government intervention through policy instruments implemented in the land, water, and environmental governance, the study found the way policy instruments were designed and implemented varied with the state of understanding of the dynamic interactions within the SESs. Looking back over Victoria’s history in developing policy instruments used in land, water, and environmental governance, the study suggests that policy instruments should be formulated to address the interactions among components within SES, in this case, policy instruments as managers of interaction within SES. This is crucial to steer SES conditions onto desirable conditions.
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ItemAssimilation of satellite observations into coastal biogeochemical models( 2006-07)This thesis has investigated the improvement of forecasting temperature in a coastal embayment through the assimilation of sea surface temperature (SST) observations. The research was prompted by the increasing pressures on the coastal marine environment. To better manage the environment, an improved understanding of its future state is necessary. Improving the forecasting of temperature advances our knowledge in this direction. Whilst assimilation of SST is routinely carried out for oceans, its use has been minimal in coastal regions, which is more complicated because of anisotropic covariances and a breakdown of geostrophy in the coastal region. Improvements in computing power, and the introduction of ensemble-based assimilation techniques have made the approach followed in this thesis possible. (For complete abstract open document)
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ItemStochastic joint probability modelling of estuarine flood levels( 2004)The determination of the annual exceedence probability (AEP) of extreme water levels, such as the 1% AEP flood level, in complex estuarine systems is an important and yet highly challenging issue. Water level AEP is required for land and water resources planning, emergency management and flood insurance underwriting. Extreme water levels in estuaries are caused by the combined effects of environmental forcings (river floods, winds and coastal ocean levels (COLs)), estuarine hydrodynamics, floodplain topography and catchment conditions. A comprehensive flood study should therefore entail a detailed hydrological, hydraulic and terrain modelling of the entire system. Unfortunately, there is currently no standard procedure for undertaking such a study. The question asked in this thesis is: "Is it possible to estimate, in a scientifically rigorous but computationally efficient way, the AEP of extreme water levels in large and complex estuarine systems such that the spatial and temporal forcing characteristics ranging from catchment to synoptic scales are preserved?" This question is addressed by developing a generic modelling method for application to any estuaries, and testing it on the Gippsland Lakes in southeast Australia - a coastal lagoon system having water surface area of almost 400 km2 and contributing catchment area of over 20,000 km2. The new method is a stratified Monte-Carlo stochastic-deterministic hydro-climatic modelling-based joint probability (MBJP) method. Conceptually, two thousand years of stochastic event-based concurrent hourly forcing sequences (river flows, winds and COLs) that preserve the space-time cross-correlations are generated using a sequence of hydro-climatic models developed in this thesis. Monte-Carlo (MC) simulation of event-based water levels around the estuarine system is then carried out using a calibrated hydrodynamic model (HDM) driven by the generated stochastic forcing sequences. (From Abstract)
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ItemScaling point based aquifer data for developing regional groundwater models: application to the Gippsland groundwater system( 2008)There are fundamental difficulties associated with developing regional groundwater models, including the accurate representation of point based field measurements at scales suitable for modelling purposes. In relation to models covering large areas, it is difficult to establish a methodology for representing spatial variation in hydraulic properties across the model domain. In particular, much of the data required for groundwater model input may not be available, or only available in localised regions of the model domain. When constructing a groundwater model, the modeller is confronted with the decision to:--Use local data across the whole model domain and risk creating a model that is not representative of the region modelled.-Alternatively, at the risk of requiring additional time and effort, upscale the data in an attempt to represent more realistic variations across the model domain. In large sedimentary basins, significant variation may exist regarding the hydraulic properties of aquifers. Even where groundwater resources are used, data regarding aquifer properties may only be available from localised areas that are commonly targeted for constructing high yielding groundwater abstraction wells. As such, hydraulic property data available from these sites may not be truly representative of regional hydraulic properties, and only represent highly transmissive productive zones. These data need to be scaled to reflect more regional values. This is particularly relevant if they are to be used in regional groundwater models that are capable of representing regional hydraulic data, as well as the change in hydraulic properties across the model domain. The models will then be robust enough to facilitate rapid model calibration, and enable confidence in future predictions. The Gippsland Basin, located in the state of Victoria in southeastern Australia, is a large sedimentary basin that has extensive groundwater resources within regional aquifers. These resources have been developed for power generation, domestic water supply and pastoral industries since the early 1960’s. The same aquifers continue offshore, where they have been impacted by the development of Victoria’s petroleum and gas resources. (For complete abstract open document)