A refined model for spinning dust radiation

We present a comprehensive treatment of the spectrum of electric dipole emission from spinning dust grains, updating the commonly used model of Draine & Lazarian. Grain angular velocity distributions are computed using the Fokker–Planck equation; we revisit the drift and diffusion coefficients for the major torques on the grain, including collisions, grain-plasma interactions and infrared emission. We use updated grain optical properties and size distributions. The theoretical formalism is implemented in the companion code, spdust , which is publicly available. The effect of some environmental and grain parameters on the emissivity is shown and analysed.     

Landslide susceptibility mapping using analytic hierarchy process and information value methods along a highway road section in Constantine,Algeria

This research work deals with the landslide susceptibility assessment using Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and information value (IV) methods along a highway road section in Constantine region, NE Algeria. The landslide inventory map which has a total of 29 single landslide locations was created based on historical information, aerial photo interpretation, remote sensing images, and extensive field surveys. The different landslide influencing geoenvironmental factors considered for this study are lithology, slope gradient, slope aspect, distance from faults, land use, distance from streams, and geotechnical parameters. A thematic layer map is generated for every geoenvironmental factor using Geographic Information System (GIS); the lithological units and the distance from faults maps were extracted from the geological database of the region. The slope gradient, slope aspect, and distance from streams were calculated from the Digital Elevation Model (DEM). Contemporary land use map was derived from satellite images and field study. Concerning the geotechnical parameters maps, they were determined making use of the geotechnical data from laboratory tests. The analysis of the relationships between the landslide-related factors and the landslide events was then carried out in GIS environment. The AUC plot showed that the susceptibility maps had a success rate of 77 and 66% for IV and AHP models, respectively. For that purpose, the IV model is better in predicting the occurrence of landslides than AHP one. Therefore, the information value method could be used as a landslide susceptibility mapping zonation method along other sections of the A1 highway.     

GIS-based spatial prediction of debris flows using logistic regression and frequency ratio models for Zêzere River basin and its surrounding area,Northwest Covilhã, Portugal

Landslide susceptibility mapping (LSM) is important for catastrophe management in the mountainous regions. They focus on generating susceptibility maps beginning from landslide inventories and considering the main predisposing parameters. The aim of this study was to assess the susceptibility of the occurrence of debris flows in the Zêzere River basin and its surrounding area using logistic regression (LR) and frequency ratio (FR) models. To achieve this, a landslide inventory map was created using historical information, satellite imagery, and extensive field works. One hundred landslides were mapped, of which 75% were randomly selected as training data, while the remaining 25% were used for validating the models. The landslide influence factors considered for this study were lithology, elevation, slope gradient, slope aspect, plan curvature, profile curvature, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), distance to roads, topographic wetness index (TWI), and stream power index (SPI). The relationships between landslide occurrence and these factors were established, and the results were then evaluated and validated. Validation results show that both methods give acceptable results [the area under curve (AUC) of success rates is 83.71 and 76.38 for LR and FR, respectively]. Furthermore, the AUC results for prediction accuracy revealed that LR model has the highest predictive performance (AUC of predicted rate?=?80.26). Hence, it is concluded that the two models showed reasonably good accuracy in predicting the landslide susceptibility in the study area. These two models have the potential to aid planners in development and land-use planning and to offer tools for hazard mitigation measures.     

Disaster community resilience assessment method: a consensus-based Delphi and AHP approach

Natural Hazards - Several studies have highlighted the importance of community resilience in disaster management. The paper focuses on Saudi Arabia and proposes a ‘community resilience to...     

Study of Shoreline Changes Through Digital Shoreline Analysis System and Wave Modeling: Case of the Sandy Coast of Bou-Ismail Bay,Algeria

Ocean Science Journal - This work aims to analyze the evolution of Bou-Ismail coastline in Algeria using aerial photographs and quick-bird satellite image during the elapsed period from 1959 to...     

Subsurface geophysics applied to archaeological investigation of Thabudeos Roman fortress (Biskra,Algeria)

Tahouda, former Roman Thabudeos, is situated 400 km south of Algiers (Algeria). It is one of the fortresses belonging to Roman south defense line in North Africa. This region is archaeologically very poorly known except for surface remains. The geophysical survey formed part of a wider research project designed to record and assess the landscape context of the longest Roman defense line in North Africa. We present the geophysical mapping and imaging using electric resistivity tomography and electromagnetics to help in investigating the subsurface properties of the region. Data were obtained using: (1) Saris resistance meter with up to 25 electrodes spaced at 2 m intervals and lines up to 50 m long. A total of 11 lines was obtained. (2) Geonics EM31, in two dipole configuration modes with 16 lines up to 100 m sampled every meter. These methods prove to be very powerful tools to give insight and locate the anthropologic remains from the surface to a depth of 6 m and outline their geometry. The results obtained by the two methods are consistent above the main remains like walls and rooms.