Increasing public awareness of natural hazards via the Internet

NOAA’s National Geophysical Data Center is using state-of-the-art Internet tools for natural hazards education, public outreach, and access to natural hazards data. For example, NGDC acquires, processes, and provides access to geologic hazards event data that are useful in natural hazards risk assessment and hazards-related research. In addition, a collection of natural hazards slides and a teacher’s guide on volcanoes are available online. NGDC also created an online “Kids Hazards Quiz” to test the user’s knowledge of disaster safety information. An online Natural Hazards Data Resources Directory provides access to information and links to organizations that provide natural hazards data and information. Expanded access to these data and information by the public and researchers can increase public awareness of natural hazards, improve hazards research, and ultimately reduce the devastating impacts of natural disasters.     

世界数据中心(WDC)回顾、变革与展望

世界数据中心(WDC)隶属于国际科学联合会(ICSU),自1957年成立以来已经在全球建立了51个学科中心,其所倡导的科学数据开放和共享的理念和做法影响巨大,为地球科学和相关学科的发展提供了大量的数据支撑服务.WDC在发展的同时,也面临着4个方面的问题与挑战:①WDC系统可持续性;②WDC系统顸层设计和总体布局;③针对国际科学计划的数据支撑服务能力;④不同数据中心之间的网络互操作体系.针对这些问题,国际科学联合会组织了包括WDC中国学科中心在内的所有中心共同研究制定解决对策,并于2008年10月最终确立了WDC的变革方案.该方案的核心就把ICSU下属的WDC和天文与地球物理联合服务中心(FAGS)合并重组,并吸收其他符合条件的中心,共同建立新的世界数据系统(WDS).在对该组织架构分析的基础上,提出中国WDC学科中心发展的6点具体建议.     

A technical note on seismic microzonation in the central United States

Microzonation is an effort to evaluate and map potential hazards found in an area, urban area in particular, that could be induced by strong ground shaking during an earthquake. These hazards include: ground motion amplification, liquefaction, and slope failure. The microzonation maps, depicting ground-motion amplification, liquefaction, and landslide potentials, can be produced if the ground motion on bedrock (input) and the site conditions are known. These maps, in combination with ground-motion hazard maps (on bedrock), can be used to develop a variety of hazard mitigation strategies such as seismic risk assessment, emergency response and preparedness, and land-use planning. However, these maps have certain limitations that result from the nature of regional mapping, data limitations, generalization, and computer modeling. These microzonations show that when strong ground shaking occurs, damage is more likely to occur, or be more severe, in the higher hazard areas. The zones shown on the hazard maps should not serve as a substitute for site-specific evaluations.     

Documentary proxies and interdisciplinary research on historic geomorphologic hazards: a discussion of the current state from a central European perspective

During the last two decades, documentary data (written and iconographic sources) have been increasingly employed in geomorphologic research aiming at reconstruction of territorial distribution, temporal occurrence and social and economic impacts of various geomorphologic hazards. The goal of this paper is to broaden the previous discussion (Glade et al. The use of historical data in natural hazard assessments. Kluwer, Dordrecht, 2001) of the methodological constraints on the use of documentary data for geomorphologic hazard research. Using the interdisciplinary approach of geomorphology, historiography and medial studies, we firstly summarise the major finding of papers that have employed various types of documentary data sources to study geomorphologic hazards in different regions. In the second section, we present case studies from the Czech Republic resulting from the ongoing research project that is devoted to the assessment of the potential of documentary data to reconstruct past occurrences of and mitigation strategies for geomorphologic hazards. Finally, we discuss three main methodological issues emerging from our research: (a) problems emerging from the positivist approach to documentary data sources and the necessity for critical analyses of documentary data sources based on modern historiographic approaches, (b) constraints arising from the combination of documentary data from different spatiotemporal scales and (c) lacks in the use of documentary data to study local-based adaptation strategies to cope with geomorphologic hazards.     

Undersampling power-law size distributions: effect on the assessment of extreme natural hazards

The effect of undersampling on estimating the size of extreme natural hazards from historical data is examined. Tests using synthetic catalogs indicate that the tail of an empirical size distribution sampled from a pure Pareto probability distribution can range from having one-to-several unusually large events to appearing depleted, relative to the parent distribution. Both of these effects are artifacts caused by limited catalog length. It is more difficult to diagnose the artificially depleted empirical distributions, since one expects that a pure Pareto distribution is physically limited in some way. Using maximum-likelihood methods and the method of moments, we estimate the power-law exponent and the corner size parameter of tapered Pareto distributions for several natural hazard examples: tsunamis, floods, and earthquakes. Each of these examples has varying catalog lengths and measurement thresholds, relative to the largest event sizes. In many cases where there are only several orders of magnitude between the measurement threshold and the largest events, joint two-parameter estimation techniques are necessary to account for estimation dependence between the power-law scaling exponent and the corner size parameter. Results indicate that whereas the corner size parameter of a tapered Pareto distribution can be estimated, its upper confidence bound cannot be determined and the estimate itself is often unstable with time. Correspondingly, one cannot statistically reject a pure Pareto null hypothesis using natural hazard catalog data. Although physical limits to the hazard source size and attenuation mechanisms from source to site constrain the maximum hazard size, historical data alone often cannot reliably determine the corner size parameter. Probabilistic assessments incorporating theoretical constraints on source size and propagation effects are preferred over deterministic assessments of extreme natural hazards based on historical data.     

Vulnerability assessments and their planning implications: a case study of the Hutt Valley, New Zealand

An understanding of vulnerability is not only crucial for the survival of the exposed communities to extreme events, but also for their adaptation to climate change. Vulnerability affects community participation in hazard mitigation, influences emergency response and governs adaptive capacity for the changing environmental and hazards characteristics. However, despite increased awareness, assessments and understanding of the processes that produce vulnerability, disaster risks prevail. This raises questions on the effectiveness of vulnerability assessments and their applications for hazard mitigation and adaptation. The literature includes a range of vulnerability assessment methods, wherein frequently the selection of any particular method is governed by the research objectives. On the other hand, hazard mitigation plans and policies even though mention vulnerability, their implementation pays less attention to the variations in its nature and underlying causes. This paper explores possible reasons for such gaps by exploring a case study of the Hutt Valley, New Zealand. It brings out the limitations of different vulnerability assessment methods in representing the local vulnerability and challenges they bring in planning for the vulnerability reduction. It argues that vulnerability assessment based on any particular method, such as deprivation index, principle component analysis, composite vulnerability index with or without weight, may not reveal the actual vulnerability of a place, and therefore, a comprehensive vulnerability assessment is needed.     

A Portfolio Approach to Evaluating Natural Hazard Mitigation Policies: An Application to Lateral-Spread Ground Failure in Coastal California

In the past, efforts to prevent catastrophic losses from natural hazards have largely been undertaken by individual property owners based on site—specific evaluations of risks to particular buildings. Public efforts to assess community vulnerability and encourage mitigation have focused on either aggregating site—specific estimates or adopting standards based upon broad assumptions about regional risks. This paper develops an alternative, intermediate—scale approach to regional risk assessment and the evaluation of community mitigation policies. Properties are grouped into types with similar land uses and levels of hazard, and hypothetical community mitigation strategies for protecting these properties are modeled like investment portfolios. The portfolios consist of investments in mitigation against the risk to a community posed by a specific natural hazard. and are defined by a community's mitigation budget and the proportion of the budget invested in locations of each type.

The usefulness of this approach is demonstrated through an integrated assessment of earthquake—induced lateral—spread ground failure risk in the Watsonville, California area. Data from the magnitude 6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989 are used to model lateral—spread ground failure susceptibility. Earth science and economic data are combined and analyzed in a Geographic Information System (CIS). The portfolio model is then used to evaluate the benefits of mitigating the risk in different locations. Two mitigation policies, one that prioritizes mitigation by land use type and the other by hazard zone, are compared with a status quo policy of doing no further mitigation beyond that which already exists. The portfolio representing the hazard zone rule yields a higher expected return than the land use portfolio does; however, the hazard zone portfolio experiences a higher standard deviation. Therefore, neither portfolio is clearly preferred. The two mitigation policies both reduce expected losses and increase overall expected community wealth compared to the status quo policy.     

4·20芦山地震次生山地灾害与减灾对策

4·20芦山地震不仅造成了特大地震灾害,同时还诱发大量的次生山地灾害,主要类型包括崩塌、滑坡、滚石、落石、堰塞湖和泥石流等。这些次生灾害不仅造成重大人员伤亡,还阻塞救援道路,延缓了救援进度。地震诱发的大量崩塌、滑坡为泥石流活动提供丰富物源,将促进泥石流活跃,在后期暴雨作用下产生严重的泥石流灾害。通过初步分析,提出了地震区山地灾害应急减灾对策,包括应急排查、监测预警、临时安置场所危险性评估、省道210线应急防护;并提出了地震区恢复重建中的减灾对策,包括提高山区城镇的防护能力,加强村寨聚落防灾能力,加强山地灾害监测预警,道路恢复重建中的减灾措施以及加强对流域漂木防治。     

Influences of place characteristics on hazards, perception and response: a case study of the hazardscape of the Wellington Region, New Zealand

The biophysical characteristics of a place not only bring variations in natural hazards, but also influence people??s associated perception and response to the hazard. Although these influences are noted in the literature, their relationship has been less explored for planning hazard mitigation and disaster response. This paper evaluates the role of place in a hazardscape by using a case study of the Wellington Region, New Zealand. The study explores the differences between the physical and perceived susceptibility to natural hazards and how this affects people??s response to a hazard. The analysis is based on a questionnaire survey and interviews conducted with local people. It finds that disparities between physical and perceived hazard susceptibility engender different motivations and types of response. A close alignment of the two produces a high response rate for earthquakes and droughts, whereas a significant divergence leads to a poor response as observed for volcanic ash fall. The relationship, however, is not linear, as indicated by the poor response even to such well-perceived hazards as tsunami and bushfire. The reasons behind this uneven response can be related back to place characteristics, such as the nature of hazard susceptibility, as well as factors such as fatalism or blasé effect. It is concluded that mapping physical and perceived susceptibility to hazards over space, understanding their relationship and ultimately narrowing the gap between perception and reality can contribute to effective hazard management at a place.     

二十世纪以来西南地区地质灾害研究历程与展望

西南地区发育有我国近30%的地质灾害隐患点,是我国地质灾害成因最复杂、数量最多、灾情最严重的地区之一,为更好地了解西南地区地质灾害研究历史和防灾减灾工作,本文在系统梳理西南地区地质灾害发育分布规律及危害特征现状基础上,简要回顾了二十世纪以来西南地区地质灾害研究的主要历程,并分三个主要阶段对所取得的进展和成效进行了总结。在此基础上,对未来西南地区地质灾害的主要研究趋势进行了展望,提出了西南地区地质灾害研究应重点关注高山极高山区高位远程地质灾害识别技术、特大地质灾害链形成机理与风险防控、基于地质灾害孕灾背景大数据智能挖掘的风险动态评价等,可供西南地区地质灾害研究与防治参考。     

坡地地质灾害的减灾策略——以降雨预警基准为例

降雨是诱发坡地地质灾害的重要原因,因此掌握降雨的趋势与分布规律,可有效地用于坡地灾害预警,但由于降雨预测精度、灾害资料统计的不足与坡地地质条件的不确定性,实际应用降雨预警基准仍存在许多困难。通过分析台风诱发坡地地质灾害的降雨特性,来说明降雨预警基准在防灾减灾工作上应用的条件与限制。结果表明,对于不同类型之坡地灾害与降雨分布特性,需采用不同的雨量预警基准。唯有通过岩土力学、工程地质学与气象学的整合研究,才能有效提高降雨预警基准预测的准确率,因此各学科的整合是未来防灾减灾研究工作的发展趋势。     

Natural hazards in Central Java Province,Indonesia: an overview

Central Java Province, Indonesia, suffers from natural hazard processes such as land subsidence, coastal inundation, flood, volcanic eruption, earthquake, tsunami, and landslide. The occurrence of each kind of natural hazard is varied according to the intensity of geo-processes. It is necessary to learn from the historical record of coastal inundation, flood, volcanic eruption, earthquake, tsunami, and landslide hazards in Central Java Province to address issues of comprehensive hazard mitigation and management action. Through the understanding about the nature and spatial distribution of natural hazards, treatments can be done to reduce the risks. This paper presents the natural hazard phenomena in Central Java Province and provides critical information for hazard mitigation and reduction.     

陕北黄土崩塌灾害风险评价指标体系构建

在滑坡的易发性、危险性和风险评价中,评价指标的选取和定量化是非常关键的。目前国内外采取的主要方法是利用GIS工具提取地形、岩性、距河流或断层带的距离、土地类型、植被、降雨、河流密度等因子进行分析和计算。这些指标在滑坡易发性和危险性区划中得到了广泛应用并取得了丰硕的成果,但也有一些局限性,具体表现在3个方面:一是不能针对不同的滑坡类型提供不同的评价指标体系;二是提取的这些因子中在区域上有些是共性因子,如岩性、降雨等;三是尚未建立一个完整的风险评价指标体系。本次研究专门针对陕西北部地区广泛发育的一种称之为"黄土崩塌"的滑坡类型,运用国际上流行的滑坡风险管理理论,确定其风险评价总体指标体系;基于大量野外调查数据的统计规律,分析了黄土崩塌危险性的主要来源和影响危害性的主要因素,从失稳可能性评价指标、崩塌强度评价指标、承灾体评价指标和易损性评价指标4个方面共确定了16大类36个评价指标。该指标体系的构建可为进一步的陕北黄土地区斜坡单元崩塌灾害风险评价提供基础。     

基于WebGIS的兰州市区滑坡灾害气象多元化模型预警系统研究

滑坡灾害是兰州市区最严重的地质灾害类型之一,具有数量多、规模大、突发性、历时短、破坏力强的特点。在MapGIS的支持下,研制了兰州市区滑坡灾害气象预警系统为防灾减灾服务。在收集资料的基础上,将引发滑坡的内在外在因素用GIS进行了量化处理,取得了兰州市相对固定的滑坡灾害潜在危险性评价图。根据降雨量与滑坡灾害的关系分析,得到了降雨量临界值表达式。系统提供4种降雨量模型和2种预警模型,分别对降雨量进行量化和将兰州市滑坡灾害潜在危险性概率值与降雨量概率值进行耦合,实现了降雨量模型和预警模型的多元化。每种预警模型提供3类、4类和5类界限阀值,供最终成图选用。通过MapGIS k9 IMS平台的二次开发技术,实现了滑坡灾害实时信息的Web发布。系统实现了从数据采集到数据分析计算,最终站点发布的自动化流程,可为兰州市区的防灾减灾工作提供决策依据。     

Possibilities and Limitations of Interdisciplinary, User-oriented Research: Experiences from the German Research Network Natural Disasters

The German Research Network for Natural Disasters (DFNK) linked 15 partners with scientific expertise in the field of natural hazards. Main objectives were the development and provision of the scientific fundamentals for an advanced risk management of important natural disasters in Germany, i.e., floods, earthquakes, storms and wildland fires. This included risk analyses, the development of information systems for supporting disaster management, and recommendations for risk reduction measures. This paper gives an overview of DFNK and summarises its experiences concerning multidisciplinarity and user-orientation. It illustrates the concept of risk chains, causally linking the different processes from hazard to risk. The step from hazard to risk requires interdisciplinary research teams. The experiences show that integrative concepts allow results not achievable with mono-disciplinary approaches. Integrative approaches pave the way to harmonised safety considerations taking into account the different hazards in a region within a common framework. User-orientation, policy advice and development of operational tools are key issues of disaster research. The experiences of DFNK illustrate the limitations of a research network in bridging the gap between research and application within rather short-term projects. Successful cooperation with users could be established by those activities where, at the beginning of the project, a user was identified who had a strong interest in solving an urgent problem.     

Defining geologic Hazards for natural resources management using tree-ring analysis

Landslides, avalanches, floods, and other geologic hazards impair natural resources management by jeopardizing public safety, damaging or restricting resource utilization, and necessitating expenditures for corrective measures The negative impact of geologic hazard events can be reduced by tailoring resources management to hazard potential of an area This requires assessment of where and how frequently the events occur National forests and other managed wildlands often lack monitoring or historical records to compute frequency of hazard occurrence Tree-ring analysis, based on internal growth response to external events such as tilting and abrasion, can provide frequency data Two examples of the use of tree-ring analysis to date landslide activity illustrate advantages and limitations of the technique An example from the Fishlake National Forest in central Utah illustrates assessment for planning purposes An example from the Sierra National Forest in east-central California shows assessment applied to project design Many geologic hazards in addition to landslides are suited to tree-ring analysis to establish frequency of occurrence Hazard reduction efforts in natural resources management could be enhanced by careful application of tree-ring analysis     

Factors Influencing the Incorporation of Hazard Mitigation During Recovery from Disaster

This paper examines the factors promoting theadoption of mitigation measures during long-term recoveryfollowing Hurricane Hugo in the United States. Recovery fromdisaster offers opportunities for improving community resilienceto future disasters and for promoting sustainability. Variousdynamics during recovery, however, can interfere with mitigationof hazards. In this study the adoption of mitigation duringrecovery in three case communities after Hurricane Hugo isevaluated, with a focus on the influence of various regulations onhazard mitigation. There is a very strong connection betweendevelopment management and hazard mitigation; resourcemanagement also contributes to hazard mitigation. Conditionsthat influence advancement of hazard mitigation at thecommunity level include local leadership, a linkage betweenwell-established ways of doing things and new policies,adaptation to dynamic local conditions, monitoring andcompliance strategies tailored to suit local conditions, recognitionof local rights, and stakeholders' involvement in developingstrategies.     

基于3D影像模型的长白山天池地质灾害现状与潜在危害分析

通过遥感解译及野外调查工作,查清了长白山天池地区主要地质灾害分布现状及规模,分析了灾害发生的机理,编制了地质灾害危害区划图,能够为相关防灾减灾部门提供决策依据.     

Post-disaster assessment of hazard mitigation for small and medium-magnitude debris flow disasters in Bali,Indonesia and Jimani,Dominican Republic

This article explores whether past exposure to debris flow disasters with a human dimension (e.g. caused in part by deforestation) results in adaptive hazard mitigation and improved environmental and resource management practices in affected areas. When guiding hazard mitigation practice, the ‘adaptive hazard mitigation’ approach views mitigation as a multi-dimensional experiment, with the associated need for post-experiment monitoring, evaluation, learning and adjustment, and attention paid to multiple scales (Bogardi 2004). This article explores how the concept of ‘adaptive hazard mitigation’ has emerged, linking this ‘adaptive management’ used increasingly in resource and environmental management. Two case studies of disasters linked to human-induced environmental change are examined, and the mitigation responses of local communities, NGOs and Government agencies are documented. Data sources include secondary data (journal articles, web-based disaster reports and grey literature) on each disaster, key informant interviews (n = 8) and direct observation over the 2005–2006 period of post-disaster mitigation actions implemented after each disaster. The research indicates that in both case studies, a limited range of hazard mitigation actions was employed, including both structural and non-structural approaches. However, the research also found that causal factors involving human-induced environmental change (e.g. deforestation) were not addressed, and overall, the hazard mitigation strategies adopted lacked monitoring, learning and adjustment. In both case studies, responses to disaster were judged to be examples of ‘trial and error’ adaptation, rather than either ‘passive’ or ‘active’ adaptation.

Community-based disaster risk and vulnerability models of a coastal municipality in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is one of the most natural hazard-prone countries in the world with the greatest negative consequences being associated with cyclones, devastating floods, riverbank erosion, drought, earthquake, and arsenic contamination, etc. One way or other, these natural hazards engulfed every corner of Bangladesh. The main aim of this research paper is to carry out a multi-hazards risk and vulnerability assessment for the coastal Matlab municipality in Bangladesh and to recommend possible mitigation measures. To this aim, hazards are prioritized by integrating SMUG and FEMA models, and a participation process is implemented so as to involve community both in the risk assessment and in the identification of adaptation strategies. The Matlab municipality is highly vulnerable to several natural hazards such as cyclones, floods, and riverbank erosion. The SMUG is a qualitative assessment, while FEMA is a quantitative assessment of hazards. The FEMA model suggests a threshold of highest 100 points. All hazards that total more than 100 points may receive higher priority in emergency preparedness and mitigation measures. The FEMA model, because it judges each hazard individually in a numerical manner, may provide more satisfying results than the SMUG system. The spatial distributions of hazard, risk, social institutions, land use, and other resources indicate that the flood disaster is the top environmental problem of Matlab municipality. Hazard-specific probable mitigation measures are recommended with the discussion of local community. Finally, this study tries to provide insights into the way field research combining scientific assessments tools such as SMUG and FEMA could feed evidence-based decision-making processes for mitigation in vulnerable communities.