An introspective glance into damage assessment: challenges and lessons learned from the Paso Robles (San Simeon) earthquake

This paper underscores the importance of damage assessment and recognizes the direct effect it has on post-disaster response and recovery operations. The paper first explores the literature on this subject, including the history, types, methods, and problems relating to damage assessment. After discussing the employed research methodology, the paper uses the Paso Robles (San Simeon, California) earthquake as a case study to illustrate the challenges and successes with regard to damage assessment. Logistics, politics, information management, coordination, preparedness, and other topics are discussed in this section. The paper concludes with lessons and opportunities for research and its application.     

Characterisation of organic matter and microbial communities in contrasting arsenic-rich Holocene and arsenic-poor Pleistocene aquifers,Red River Delta,Vietnam

High concentrations of geogenic As in the groundwaters of south and SE Asia, which are used as drinking waters, are causing severe health impacts to the exposed human populations. It is widely accepted that As mobilisation from sediments into these shallow reducing groundwaters requires active metal-reducing microbes and electron donors such as organic matter (OM). Although OM in such Holocene aquifers has been characterised, there is a dearth of data on Pleistocene aquifers from the same areas. Reported here are preliminary studies of OM and microbial communities present in two aquifers, one of Pleistocene and one of Holocene age, with contrasting concentrations of As (viz. Pleistocene: low As <10 μg/L; Holocene: high As up to 600 μg/L) from Van Phuc village in the Red River Delta, Vietnam. Results revealed OM inputs from multiple sources, including potential contributions from naturally occurring petroleum seeping into the shallow aquifer sediments from deeper thermally mature source rocks. Although concentrations vary, no noticeable systematic differences in biomarker distribution patterns within the OM were observed between the two sites. Microbial analyses did not show a presence of microbial communities previously associated with As mobilisation. All clone libraries were dominated by α-, β-, and γ-Proteobacteria not known to be able to reduce Fe(III) or sorbed As(V). Furthermore, representatives of the Fe(III)-reducing genus Geobacter could only be detected at very low abundance by PCR, using highly selective 16S rRNA gene primers, supporting the hypothesis that metal reduction is not a dominant in situ process in these sediments. No correlation between As concentration in groundwater and OM composition nor microbial community in the host sediments was found. This suggests that either (i) As is not being significantly mobilised in situ in these sediments, instead As appears to be mobilised elsewhere and transported by groundwater flow to the sites or (ii) sorption/desorption processes, as implicated by geochemical data from the cores, play a critical role in controlling As concentrations at these sites.     

Volatile loss from melt inclusions in pyroclasts of differing sizes

We have investigated the loss of H₂O from olivine-hosted melt inclusions (MIs) by designing an experiment using tephra samples that cooled at different rates owing to their different sizes: ash, lapilli, and bomb samples that were deposited on the same day (10/17/74) of the sub-Plinian eruption of Volcán de Fuego in Guatemala. Ion microprobe, laser ablation-ICPMS, and electron probe analyses show that MIs from ash and lapilli record the highest H₂O contents, up to 4.4 wt%. On the other hand, MIs from bombs indicate up to 30 % lower H₂O contents (loss of ~1 wt% H₂O) and 10 % post-entrapment crystallization of olivine. This evidence is consistent with the longer cooling time available for a bomb-sized clast, up to 10 min for a 3–4-cm radius bomb, assuming conductive cooling and the fastest H diffusivities measured in olivine (D~10^?9 to 10^?10 m²/s). On the other hand, several lines of evidence point to some water loss prior to eruption, during magma ascent and degassing in the conduit. Thus, results point to both slower post-eruptive cooling and slower magma ascent affecting MIs from bombs, leading to H₂O loss over the timescale of minutes to hours. The important implication of this study is that a significant portion of the published data on H₂O concentrations in olivine-hosted MIs may reflect unrecognized H₂O loss via diffusion. This work highlights the importance of reporting clast and MI sizes in order to assess diffusive effects and the potential benefit of using water loss as a chronometer of magma ascent.     

Turbulence Statistics Above And Within Two Amazon Rain Forest Canopies

The turbulence structure in two Amazon rain forestswas characterised for a range of above-canopystability conditions, and the results compared withprevious studies in other forest canopies and recenttheory for the generation of turbulent eddies justabove forest canopies. Three-dimensional wind speedand temperature fluctuation data were collectedsimultaneously at up to five levels inside and abovetwo canopies of 30–40 m tall forests, during threeseparate periods. We analysed hourly statistics, jointprobability distributions, length scales, spatialcorrelations and coherence, as well as power spectraof vertical and horizontal wind speed.The daytime results show a sharp attenuation ofturbulence in the top third of the canopies, resultingin very little movement, and almost Gaussianprobability distributions of wind speeds, in the lowercanopy. This contrasts with strongly skewed andkurtotic distributions in the upper canopy. At night,attenuation was even stronger and skewness vanishedeven in the upper canopy. Power spectral peaks in thelower canopy are shifted to lower frequencies relativeto the upper canopy, and spatial correlations andcoherences were low throughout the canopy. Integrallength scales of vertical wind speed at the top of thecanopy were small, about 0.15 h compared to avalue of 0.28 h expected from the shear lengthscale at the canopy top, based on the hypothesis that theupper canopy air behaves as a plane mixing layer. Allthis suggests that, although exchange is not totallyinhibited, tropical rain forest canopies differ from other forests in that rapid, coherentdownward sweeps do not penetrate into the lowercanopy, and that length scales are suppressed. This isassociated with a persistent inversion of stability inthat region compared to above-canopy conditions. Theinversion is likely to be maintained by strong heatabsorption in the leaves concentrated near thecanopy top, with the generally weak turbulence beingunable to destroy the temperature gradients over thelarge canopy depth.     

Getting by: The ethnomethods of everyday cycling navigation

Cycling is often carried out in public places, meaning that it is easy to both observe and video-record cycling in action. Within sociology, ethnomethodology focuses on practical activities, often by collecting and analysing video data. Geographers have also used video data in researching cycling, but the two perspectives have little crossover. This article showcases an ethnomethodological analysis of video data on everyday cycling navigation, presenting three empirical examples. We see that cycling, accomplished by real interacting people, needs analysing in fine detail. Further knowledge of the mundane aspects of cycling mobility can usefully build upon such a videographic approach.     

Direct observations of bipolar outflow from HM sagittae

We observed HM Sagittae with theMulti-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) at 6 cm and 18cm. We find non-thermal bipolar outflow in the eastwest direction, associated with optical emission lines, and thermal ridges to the north and south associated with the UV nebulosity detected by the HST.     

High resolution radio images of the symbiotic system R aquarii

We present MERLIN images of the symbiotic system R Aquarii obtained at 1.7 and 5 GHz. We identify the emission from the binary system and derive a mass loss rate for the Mira that is commensurate with that in typical Miras. We show that variations in the radio emission over the last decade are consistent with the jet model for the system originally presented by Solf (1992). In addition, we calculate the spectral index distribution and find that there is no evidence of non-thermal emission.     

Detecting shadows in multi-temporal aerial imagery to support near-real-time change detection

Multi-temporal aerial imagery captured via an approach called repeat station imaging (RSI) facilitates post-hazard assessment of damage to infrastructure. Spectral-radiometric (SR) variations caused by differences in shadowing may inhibit successful change detection based on image differencing. This study evaluates a novel approach to shadow classification based on bi-temporal imagery, which exploits SR change signatures associated with transient shadows. Changes in intensity (brightness from red–green–blue images) and intensity-normalized blue waveband values provide a basis for classifying transient shadows across a range of material types with unique reflectance properties, using thresholds that proved versatile for very different scenes. We derive classification thresholds for persistent shadows based on hue to intensity ratio (H/I) images, by exploiting statistics obtained from transient shadow areas. We assess shadow classification accuracy based on this procedure, and compare it to the more conventional approach of thresholding individual H/I images based on frequency distributions. Our efficient and semi-automated shadow classification procedure shows improved mean accuracy (93.3%) and versatility with different image sets over the conventional approach (84.7%). For proof-of-concept, we demonstrate that overlaying bi-temporal imagery also facilitates normalization of intensity values in transient shadow areas, as part of an integrated procedure to support near-real-time change detection.     

The GF algorithm for reservoir storage, yield and spillage distributions for non-seasonal and seasonal independent inflow processes

a well-known generating function formula for the equilibrium storage distribution in a finite Moran reservoir having IID inflows and unit release is extended to apply to a class of nondecreasing staircase-like release policies withm unit increments,m>1, and to seasonal inflows. The analysis is conducted in terms of an alternative to the Moran inflow-outflow sequencing scheme, with the release during a working interval controlled by the water level at the beginning of that interval.In addition to the storage, the equilibrium distributions of yield and spillage are obtained. Illustrative examples are provided.     

Isotope and Trace Element Geochemistry of Augustine Volcano, Alaska: Implications for Magmatic Evolution

Augustine Volcano, a Quaternary volcanic centre of the easternAleutian Arc, produces predominantly andesites and dacites oflow- to medium-K calc-alkaline composition. Mineralogical andmajor element characteristics of representative lavas suggestthat magmatic evolution has been influenced by both crystalfractionation and magma-mixing processes. However, incompatibletrace element variations (e.g. K/Rb) indicate that these evolvedlavas have been contaminated by the mafic arc crust of the underlyingTalkeetna accreted terrane. The limited range of isotope compositionsalso supports the assimilation of non-radiogenic mafic crust(e.g. ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0.7032–0.7034; ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴ Nd = 0.51301–0.5130).In addition, Pb-isotope compositions parallel the North Pacificmean oceanic trend (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴ Pb = 18.3–18.8; ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb= 15.5–15.6; ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 38.2–38.3) and do notrequire a subducted sediment component in the source. Relativelyhigh (Ba/La) N (0.79–18.10) and B/Be (14.5) ratios do,however, suggest a metasomatic fluid component derived fromthe dehydration of the subducting plate. The thickened continental crust (35 km) of the eastern AleutianArc prevents the ascent of basaltic melts, which fractionateand assimilate at various depths to produce andesitic magmas.These andesites evolve towards more silicic compositions byfractional crystallization. The absence of evidence for a largehigh-level crustal magma chamber implies that the magmatic systembeneath the volcano is young and at an immature stage of evolution. KEY WORDS: Augustine Volcano; Aleutians; assimilation; melasomatism; geochemistry ^*Corresponding author. Present address: Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA 70148, USA