The Åland Islands Meet European Integration : The Politics of History and the EU Referendums

This thesis aims to provide an analysis of the decision of the Parliament of Åland to join the European Union in 1994. The chosen time frame is the period between the Korfu Summit on 24 June 1994 and the decision of the Parliament to join on 2 December 1994. While the EU process has its roots at the end of the Cold War and Finland’s membership to the Council of Europe in 1989, this timeline is chosen to emphasize the deliberative process in which Åland decided to join the European Union. The theoretical approach is discourse analysis as foreign policy analysis by Ole Waever. This rests on the post structuralist understandings of language which due to its constitutive power can be used to explain the foreign policy choices which lie upon historical and identarian legacies. This is done by analysing the relationship between the “core concepts” such as “state” and “nation” with “Europe” in which the national identity is constructed upon. This thesis aims to analyse the Ålandic decision to join the EU by using 7 parliamentary debates as primary data alongside newspaper articles to construct a chronology of the referendum process while at the same time adjusting Waever’s framework to suit the regional context of Åland. This study shows that the Ålandic EU debate took place in a context in which the Regional Parliament had to consider the choices of its immediate environment and the lack of enthusiasm of the Ålandic voter. On the pro EU camp, the prospect of EU membership was understood as new field for Åland’s external relations, an economic opportunity and further recognition of Åland’s status according to international law. The anti-EU camp drew arguments from a fear of centralisation, transferring legislative authority and concern regarding the competences of the EU in agriculture and fisheries. This study also shows that the choice of certain arguments was structured by the regional parties’ conceptualisation of Europe and the relationship between that and their conceptualisation of “autonomy” and the “people” which are in turn constructed by the two main cleavages on Åland: the autonomy policy cleavage and the urban-rural cleavage

Climate-informed stochastic hydrological modeling: Incorporating decadal-scale variability using paleo data

A hierarchical framework for incorporating modes of climate variability into stochastic simulations of hydrological data is developed, termed the climate-informed multi-time scale stochastic (CIMSS) framework. A case study on two catchments in eastern Australia illustrates this framework. To develop an identifiable model characterizing long-term variability for the first level of the hierarchy, paleoclimate proxies, and instrumental indices describing the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO) and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) are analyzed. A new paleo IPO-PDO time series dating back 440 yr is produced, combining seven IPO-PDO paleo sources using an objective smoothing procedure to fit low-pass filters to individual records. The paleo data analysis indicates that wet/dry IPO-PDO states have a broad range of run lengths, with 90% between 3 and 33 yr and a mean of 15 yr. The Markov chain model, previously used to simulate oscillating wet/dry climate states, is found to underestimate the probability of wet/dry periods >5 yr, and is rejected in favor of a gamma distribution for simulating the run lengths of the wet/dry IPO-PDO states. For the second level of the hierarchy, a seasonal rainfall model is conditioned on the simulated IPO-PDO state. The model is able to replicate observed statistics such as seasonal and multiyear accumulated rainfall distributions and interannual autocorrelations. Mean seasonal rainfall in the IPO-PDO dry states is found to be 15%-28% lower than the wet state at the case study sites. In comparison, an annual lag-one autoregressive model is unable to adequately capture the observed rainfall distribution within separate IPO-PDO states. Copyright © 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.Benjamin J. Henley, Mark A. Thyer, George Kuczera and Stewart W. Frank

Climate-informed stochastic hydrological modeling: Incorporating decadal-scale variability using paleo data

A hierarchical framework for incorporating modes of climate variability into stochastic simulations of hydrological data is developed, termed the climate-informed multi-time scale stochastic (CIMSS) framework. A case study on two catchments in eastern Australia illustrates this framework. To develop an identifiable model characterizing long-term variability for the first level of the hierarchy, paleoclimate proxies, and instrumental indices describing the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO) and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) are analyzed. A new paleo IPO-PDO time series dating back 440 yr is produced, combining seven IPO-PDO paleo sources using an objective smoothing procedure to fit low-pass filters to individual records. The paleo data analysis indicates that wet/dry IPO-PDO states have a broad range of run lengths, with 90% between 3 and 33 yr and a mean of 15 yr. The Markov chain model, previously used to simulate oscillating wet/dry climate states, is found to underestimate the probability of wet/dry periods >5 yr, and is rejected in favor of a gamma distribution for simulating the run lengths of the wet/dry IPO-PDO states. For the second level of the hierarchy, a seasonal rainfall model is conditioned on the simulated IPO-PDO state. The model is able to replicate observed statistics such as seasonal and multiyear accumulated rainfall distributions and interannual autocorrelations. Mean seasonal rainfall in the IPO-PDO dry states is found to be 15%-28% lower than the wet state at the case study sites. In comparison, an annual lag-one autoregressive model is unable to adequately capture the observed rainfall distribution within separate IPO-PDO states. Copyright © 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.Benjamin J. Henley, Mark A. Thyer, George Kuczera and Stewart W. Frank

Optimal sizing of storage tanks in domestic rainwater harvesting systems: A linear programming approach

This paper proposes an optimization model to determine the optimal tank size of a single residential housing unit for rainwater harvesting and storage. Taking into account the site specific data such as the rainfall profile, the roof area of the building, the water consumption per capita and the number of residents, an integrated optimization model based on linear programming is proposed to decide on the size of rainwater storage tank to build such that the net present value of the total tank construction costs and freshwater purchase costs is minimized. The proposed model was tested on a case study from Northern Cyprus, the results of which emphasized the feasibility of rainwater harvesting as a sustainable supplement to the depleting aquifers in the region. The study also offers managerial insights on the impact of various parameters such as the number of residents, roof area, discount rate, water consumption per capita, unit cost of building the rainwater tank, and rainfall characteristics on the optimal tank size and on the net financial benefit gained from rainwater harvesting through detailed sensitivity analysis

Optimum tank size for a rainwater harvesting system: Case study for Northern Cyprus

The available freshwater is limited on earth. On the other hand, available water resources on earth have been depleting and being polluted due to climate change and population growth. In order to reduce the risk of water scarcity and water resources contamination, Integrated water resources management (IWRM) is required. IWRM is a concept to manage water resources that aims to balance economic efficiency, social equity, and environmental sustainability. When rainwater harvesting systems (RWHS), one of the techniques of IWRM, are implemented, the stress on water resources is reduced. Since the installation cost of rainwater harvesting systems significantly depends on the size of the rainwater storage tanks, in the implementation of rainwater harvesting, the selection of tank size is one of the main concerns for the feasibility of the system. This study aims to investigate the feasibility of domestic rainwater harvesting systems for a single house. In order to find the optimum storage tank size of the rainwater harvesting system, a linear programming (LP) optimization model is employed. As a case study, the LP model is applied to six regions from semi-arid Eastern Mediterranean island Northern Cyprus, where water resources are limited. The model considers thirty-seven years monthly rainfall data, the roof area of the building, the water consumption per capita, the discount rate, the cost of the rainwater storage tank, and the number of residents. The results of the selected study areas show that the implementation of the RWHS for a single house is infeasible due to the substantial installation costs and maintenance expenses. The financial losses caused by the implementation of the RWHS are found higher than the installation costs and maintenance expenses for all regions. In addition to economic analyses, environmental benefits of the RWHS should be included into the feasibility analysis

Developing flood mitigation measures for the northern part of Nicosia

This study aims to examine a set of alternatives as remedial measures for the flood management purposes in order to protect the northern part of Nicosia which has been affected by major flooding events in recent years. In this context, at first, in order to obtain the run-off hydrographs at the entrance of reservoirs, the hydrological modelling of the ungauged catchments of Kanlikoy and Gonyeli Reservoirs which are located at the upstream part of the city was performed. In the simulation of these rainfall–run-off processes for different extreme precipitation events, the HEC-HMS software was employed using Soil Conservation Service Unit Hydrograph approach. In hydraulic modelling, the branches of Pedieos (Kanlidere) River and its urbanized floodplain were modelled by coupling the models of one-dimensional (1D) MIKE 11 and two-dimensional (2D) MIKE 21 using MIKE FLOOD tool. The calibration of the coupled hydrodynamic model was carried out by locally modifying the Manning’s roughness coefficients of the floodplains to match with the observed flood inundation extent of 2010 Flood. Consequently, the calibrated model showed nearly 94% similarity in terms of simulating the flood extent areas. Amongst different alternatives, the final proposed solution consisting of implementation of a new nearby upstream reservoir in Kanlikoy, dredging Gonyeli Reservoir and raising the crest elevations of its embankment and spillway, and restoration of possible channels sufficiently contributed to the mitigation of inundation problem and protected the northern part of Nicosia against the flooding events up to 500-year return period

Rainwater Harvesting System for Dormitories of METU - Northern Cyprus Campus

Water scarcity in the Mediterranean islands has become an important issue to be addressed due to inadequate water supplies and low precipitation in the region. Rainwater harvesting system (RWHS) is one of the promising solutions to overcome the water shortage which not only conserves water resources but also reduces the overall carbon foot print of water collection and distribution cycle. This paper presents the theoretical potential of rainfall in Northern Cyprus for constructing a Rainwater Harvesting System for the dormitories of Middle East Technical University – Northern Cyprus Campus. Instead of introducing RWHS in each of the three dormitories ineffectively, it is found to be realistic for non-potable uses in only one dormitory with an overall collected volume of 2831 m3 and a volumetric reliability of ~93%. The results of this study provide an opportunity for water scarce regions to use their limited resources in an efficient manner

The Effects of the Professional Maturity Levels of Secondary School Students on Their Academic Motivations

This study focused on the analysis about the effects of secondary school students' professional maturity levels on their academic motivations. The sampling consisted of 607 secondary school students studying at high schools in Ankara. The data were collected through the "Academic Motivation Scale" developed by Bozanoglu (2004) along with the "Professional Maturity Scale" developed by Kuzgun and Bacanli (1991). The findings obtained were used to evaluate the changes in the academic motivation levels of secondary schools students in terms of their grade levels as well as the effects of their professional maturity levels on their academic motivations. The Crobach alpha reliability coefficient of the Academic Motivation Scale was found to be .86 and the reliability coefficient value for the Professional Maturity Scale was .89. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd.Wo