Disaster risk reduction legislations: Is there a move from events to processes?

Disaster research and scholarship is now advocating a shift from focusing on the hazard event to processes that generate vulnerability and loss of resilience to disasters. Disaster legislations are among prominent instruments that can highlight the tensions as well as challenges that are being encountered towards this change in focus. Using textual analysis, this paper presents a study that investigated whether five post-2002 disaster legislations have shifted emphasis from the hazard to the vulnerability and resilience paradigms. The five examples illustrate that while there is a slight change, at least in rhetoric, from response to a prevention focus, disaster legislations largely promote a centralised institutional framework, with inadequate resource commitments and limited participation from vulnerable communities. Consequently, while generalisations simply cannot be made without a wider analysis of many more examples from different countries, the five disaster legislations appear to re-emphasise the response focus with less attention on the processes that reduce vulnerability and enhance resilience. The conclusion is that while the rhetoric has changed, the disaster legislations have not significantly moved from the hazard to vulnerability and resilience focus suggesting that reduction of losses and damages to disasters remains a big challenge     

Integrated compression of vehicle spatio‐temporal trajectories under the road stroke network constraint

With fast growth of all kinds of trajectory datasets, how to effectively manage the trajectory data of moving objects has received a lot of attention. This study proposes a spatio‐temporal data integrated compression method of vehicle trajectories based on stroke paths coding compression under the road stroke network constraint. The road stroke network is first constructed according to the principle of continuous coherence in Gestalt psychology, and then two types of Huffman tree—a road strokes Huffman tree and a stroke paths Huffman tree—are built, based respectively on the importance function of road strokes and vehicle visiting frequency of stroke paths. After the vehicle trajectories are map matched to the spatial paths in the road network, the Huffman codes of the road strokes and stroke paths are used to compress the trajectory spatial paths. An opening window algorithm is used to simplify the trajectory temporal data depicted on a time–distance polyline by setting the maximum allowable speed difference as the threshold. Through analysis of the relative spatio‐temporal relationship between the preceding and latter feature tracking points, the spatio‐temporal data of the feature tracking points are all converted to binary codes together, accordingly achieving integrated compression of trajectory spatio‐temporal data. A series of comparative experiments between the proposed method and representative state‐of‐the‐art methods are carried out on a real massive taxi trajectory dataset from five aspects, and the experimental results indicate that our method has the highest compression ratio. Meanwhile, this method also has favorable performance in other aspects: compression and decompression time overhead, storage space overhead, and historical dataset training time overhead.     

Spatiotemporal characteristics of white mold and impacts on yield in soybean fields in South Dakota

ABSTRACT

White mold of soybeans is one of the most important fungal diseases that affect soybean production in South Dakota. However, there is a lack of information on the spatial characteristics of the disease and relationship with soybean yield. This relationship can be explored with the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) derived from Landsat 8 and a fusion of Landsat 8 and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) images. This study investigated the patterns of yield in two soybean fields infected with white mold between 2016 and 2017, and estimated yield loss caused by white mold. Results show evidence of clustering in the spatial distribution of yield (Moran’s I = 0.38; p < 0.05 in 2016 and Moran’s I = 0.45; p < 0.05 in 2017) that can be explained by the spatial distribution of white mold in the observed fields. Yield loss caused by white mold was estimated at 36% in 2016 and 56% in 2017 for the worse disease pixels, with the most accurate period for estimating this loss on 21 August and 8 September for 2016 field and 2017 field, respectively. This study shows the potential of free remotely sensed satellite data in estimating yield loss caused by white mold.     

Avoiding pitfalls of least‐squares inversion by using the energy‐flux error criterion

Seismic inversion by modelling and data fitting depends on the criterion chosen to measure the misfit between observed and modelled data. The popular least‐squares error criterion has an important drawback: it is sensitive both to the shape of the recording surface and to velocity variations along this surface. Tests on synthetic seismic reflection data show that least‐squares inversion may work surprisingly poorly in situations where (i) the range of angles between reflected rays and the acquisition surface is large, (ii) the velocity varies significantly along this surface, or (iii) a compensation for the effects of dissipation is applied to the gradients. In these situations, the gradients may contain important artefacts and have incorrect amplitudes. The outgoing flux of energy of the residual wavefield across the acquisition surface provides an alternative measure of the data misfit which is independent of the recording surface, provided this surface is closed, and which is only sensitive to the aperture in the practical situation of an open surface or line of receivers. Energy‐flux inversion presents a strong resemblance to reverse‐time migration, but with the additional possibility of iteratively improving the images. In all the tests, energy‐flux inversion provided better images than least‐squares inversion.     

Influence of submerged aquatic vegetation on size class distribution of perch (Perca fluviatilis) and roach (Rutilus rutilus) in the littoral zone of Lake Geneva (Switzerland)

The abundance of different size classes of perch and roach in the littoral zone of Lake Geneva was compared between submerged aquatic vegetation and unvegetated zones. Samples were taken with gillnets during four periods between June and October 1993. During the vegetation period (June to September), perch 9 cm and roach 10 cm were more abundant in vegetation whereas roach > 20 cm were more abundant in open water. Perch larger than 18 cm and medium roach were equally distributed in both habitats whatever the period, whereas medium perch distribution fluctuated according to the period. In October, after the decline of the vegetation, no more differences in fish distribution were observed except for small roach, which were always more abundant in the vegetated sites.     

On the mathematical stability of stratified flow models with local turbulence closure schemes

Occasionally, numerical simulations using local turbulence closure schemes to estimate vertical turbulent fluxes exhibit small-scale oscillations in space, causing the eddy coefficients to vary over several orders of magnitude on short distances. Theoretical developments suggest that these spurious oscillations are essentially due to the way the eddy coefficients depend on the vertical gradient of the model’s variables. An instability criterion is derived based on the assumptions that the artefacts under study are due to the development of small-amplitude, small time- and space-scale perturbations of a smooth solution. The relevance of this criterion is demonstrated by applying it to a series a closure schemes, ranging from the Pacanowski–Philander formulas to the Mellor–Yamada level 2.5 model.     

Water balance components estimation under scenarios of land cover change in the Vea catchment,West Africa

ABSTRACT

The need for a detailed investigation of the Vea catchment water balance components cannot be overemphasized due to its accelerated land-cover dynamics and the associated impacts on the hydrological processes. This study assessed the possible consequences of land-use change scenarios (i.e. business as usual, BAU, and afforestation for the year 2025) compared to the 2016 baseline on the Vea catchment’s water balance components using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model. The data used include daily climate and discharge, soil and land use/land cover maps. The results indicate that the mean annual water yield may increase by 9.1% under the BAU scenario but decrease by 2.7% under the afforestation scenario; actual evapotranspiration would decrease under BAU but increase under afforestation; and groundwater recharge may increase under both scenarios but would be more pronounced under the afforestation scenario. These outcomes highlight the significance of land-cover dynamics in water resource management and planning at the catchment.     

Climatic and structural controls on Late-glacial and Holocene rockfall occurrence in high-elevated rock walls of the Mont Blanc massif (Western Alps)

In the Mont Blanc massif (European Western Alps), rockfalls are one of the main natural hazards for alpinists and infrastructure. Rockfall activity after the Little Ice Age is well documented. An increase in frequency during the last three decades is related to permafrost degradation caused by rising air temperatures. In order to understand whether climate exerts a long-term control on rockfall occurrence, a selection of paleo-rockfall scars was dated in the Glacier du Géant basin [>3200 m above sea level (a.s.l.)] using terrestrial cosmogenic nuclides. Rockfall occurrence was compared to different climatic and glacial proxies. This study presents 55 new samples (including replicates) and 25 previously-published ages from nine sampling sites. In total, 62 dated rockfall events display ages ranging from 0.03 ± 0.02 ka to 88.40 ± 7.60 ka. Holocene ages and their uncertainties were used to perform a Kernel density function into a continuous dataset displaying rockfall probability per 100 years. Results highlight four Holocene periods of enhanced rockfall occurrence: (i) c. 7–5.7 ka, related to the Holocene Warm Periods; (ii) c. 4.5–4 ka, related to the Sub-boreal Warm Period; (iii) c. 2.3–1.6 ka, related to the Roman Warm Period; and (iv) c. 0.9–0.3 ka, related to the Medieval Warm Period and beginning of the Little Ice Age. Laser and photogrammetric three-dimensional (3D) models of the rock walls were produced to reconstruct the detached volumes from the best-preserved rockfall scars (≤0.91 ± 0.12 ka). A structural study was carried out at the scale of the Glacier du Géant basin using aerial photographs, and at the scale of four selected rock walls using the 3D models. Two main vertical and one horizontal fracture sets were identified. They correspond respectively to alpine shear zones and veins opened-up during long-term exhumation of the Mont Blanc massif. Our study confirms that climate primarily controls rockfall occurrence, and that structural settings, coincident at both the massif and the rock wall scales, control the rock-wall shapes as well as the geometry and volume of the rockfall events. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Regularized tomographic inversion with geological constraints

Reflection tomography is the industry standard tool for velocity model building, but it is also an ill‐posed inverse problem as its solution is not unique. The usual way to obtain an acceptable result is to regularize tomography by feeding the inversion with some a priori information. The simplest regularization forces the solution to be smooth, implicitly assuming that seismic velocity exhibits some degree of spatial correlation. However, velocity is a rock property; thus, the geometry and structure of rock formations should drive correlation in velocity depth models. This observation calls for constraints driven by geological models. In this work, we present a set of structural constraints that feed reflection tomography with geometrical information. These constraints impose the desired characteristics (flatness, shape, position, etc.) on imaged reflectors but act on the velocity update. Failure to respect the constraints indicates either velocity inaccuracies or wrong assumptions concerning the constraints. Reflection tomography with structural constraints is a flexible framework that can be specialized in order to achieve different goals: among others, to flatten the base of salt bodies or detachment surfaces, to recover the horizontalness of oil–water contacts, or to impose the co‐location of the same imaged horizon between PP and PS images. The straightforward application of structural constraints is that of regularizing tomography through geological information, particularly at the latest stages of the depth imaging workflow, when the depth migration structural setting reached a consistent geological interpretation. Structural constraints are also useful in minimizing the well‐to‐seismic mis‐ties. Moreover, they can be used as a tool to check the consistency of interpreters' hypothesis with seismic data. Indeed, inversion with structural constraints will preserve image focusing only if the interpreters' insights are consistent with the data. Results from synthetic and real data demonstrate the effectiveness of reflection tomography with structural constraints.     

From whom Bells tolls: Reclassifying Bells among CR chondrites and implications for the formation conditions of CR parent bodies

The ungrouped carbonaceous chondrite (CC) Bells has long been considered petrographically similar to CM chondrites based on its matrix abundance and degree of aqueous alteration, but also shows significant isotopic affinities to CR chondrites. Its taxonomic status is thus important for clarifying the relationship of the CRHB (formerly “CR”) clan with other CCs. In this study, we measured the oxygen isotopic compositions of olivines in type I chondrules and isolated olivine grains in Bells. Bells olivines mostly have ∆¹⁷O > −4‰, similar to CR chondrites but unlike other CCs that are rich in refractory inclusions, in which chondrules are generally richer in ¹⁶O. Therefore, Bells is a CR chondrite (albeit an anomalous one), most similar to the rare, matrix-rich CRs like Al Rais. These chondrites (i) may not necessarily derive from the same primary parent body as mainstream CRs, (ii) bear witness to significant variations of the matrix/chondrule ratio within the CRHB clan, and (iii) may be a good analog for samples retrieved by the space mission OSIRIS-REx.