Merging science into community adaptation planning processes: a cross-site comparison of four distinct areas of the Lower Mekong Basin

Climate change is increasingly affecting rural areas worldwide. The Lower Mekong Basin (LMB) is at particular risk due to heat stress, changing rainfall patterns, rising sea levels, and more frequent and extreme climatic events. It is imperative that local-level adaptation plans are developed in a manner that builds resilience to these growing threats. Strategies for developing adaptation plans tend to comprise predominantly science-led or predominantly community-led processes. This study examines an approach that balances inputs from both processes in characterizing community vulnerability as a component of the adaptation planning workflow. Evaluation sites are located within four distinct sub-regions of the LMB: the Vietnam Mekong Delta, the Annamite Mountains of Lao PDR, the Cambodia central lowlands, and the mid-elevation forests of northern Thailand. Our results indicate that by merging science-based data with community-level perspective, knowledge gaps from both sides are filled and a more comprehensive understanding of vulnerability is factored into adaptation planning.     

Vulnerability assessment of coastal areas to sea level rise from the physical and socioeconomic parameters: case of the Gulf Coast of Bejaia,Algeria

The study area (the Gulf of Bejaia) is a coastal zone of about 70 km long in the eastern-central part of the Algerian coast. The coastline characterized by sandy beaches, hotels and tourist facilities, airport, port, villages and towns has known during these last decades several threats like storms, floods and erosion. The present work concerns the mapping of the physical and socioeconomic vulnerability of the Gulf Coast of Bejaia to sea level rise, using Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) and geospatial tools. The Physical CVI (CVI_Phys) is calculated from seven physical variables: geomorphology, coastal slope, coastal regional elevation, sea level rise rate, shoreline erosion/accretion rates, tidal range and significant wave height. On the other hand, the parameters population, cultural heritage, roads, railways, land use and conservation designation constitute, for their part, the socioeconomic CVI (CVI_eco). The values obtained from the calculation of CVI_Phys vary between 3.53 and 81.83. These results revealed that 22.42 km of the studied coastline has a low physical vulnerability, 21.68 km a high vulnerability and 15.83 km a very high vulnerability, indicating that the most part of the coastline (53.59%) is vulnerable to sea level rise. According to the obtained values of CVI_eco, the most vulnerable areas of high and very high risk represent 31.81 km of the total coastline. They were found along the western (Bejaia and Tichy) and eastern (Aokas, Souk El Tenine and Melbou) coast, while the least vulnerable stretches, covering 38.19 km of the total length of the coast, occupy the rest of the area. This study highlighted areas that will be most affected by future sea level rise (SLR) and storm events. It revealed that several development projects of Bejaia Gulf Coast, including tourist expansion areas, are planned in sites identified as very vulnerable. The results obtained from this assessment could guide local planners and decision-makers in developing coastal management plans in the most vulnerable areas.     

Detailed ground radiometric surveys on Gabal El Sela,Southeastern Desert,Egypt

Gabal El Sela area lies in the extreme southeastern part of the eastern desert in Egypt. It is covered by basement rocks of different compositions. The detailed work in this area covers about 4 km² and it is represented mainly by coarse younger granite as a curved shape extended in NE–SW direction and dissected by many faults in various trends; some of them are invaded by dykes especially the lamprophyre dykes in the ENE–WSW trend. Detailed geological, structural, and radiometric investigations are carried out on the area. The radiometric data are statistically analyzed and the results show that the total count radiometric map reflects six separate anomalies. The field work revealed that four anomalies are related to lamprophyre dykes, the other two anomalies are structurally controlled by NE–SW and E–W faults. These anomalies are followed by some trenches which traced and measured in detail exhibiting the possible extension of these anomalies with depth. These measurements show that lamprophyre dyke has the highest reading of radioactivity, it reaches 270 Ur in the surface and to 6,300 in the trenches. While the granite of the sela area is considered possesses high level of radioactivity, where its radioactivity ranges from 19.9 to 81 Ur with an average of about 32 Ur.     

Formal solution of the asteroid motion near the 2:1 commensurability

In a previous paper (Ammar in Proc. Math. Phys. 77:99, 2002) the statement of the problem was formulated and the basic equations of motion were formed in terms of variables suitable for the applications in the problem of asteroid motion close to 2:1 commensurability. The short period terms has been eliminated up to the first order in masses O(μ), using a perturbation approach based on the Lie series, the problem is reduced to that of secular resonance one. In the present work the extended Delaunay method has been applied to develop the Hamiltonian and the generator as a power series in rather than the power of ε, where ε is a small parameter of order of the relative mass of the perturber. Hamilton–Jacobi method were used as a method of integration of the equations of the dynamical system in order to build a formal solution for the resonant problem of the type 2:1 with one degree of freedom.     

Multichannel seismic data imaging of inversion tectonics of the Alboran Ridge (western Mediterranean Sea)

The Alboran Ridge is an anticlinorium structure trending N65°E bounded by two main right lateral strikeslip fault systems, one north and one south. These transpressional features connect westward to a pull-apart zone where massive diapirism occurs. The orientation of the diapiric zone is N150°E. That orientation and the right lateral motion along the Alboran Ridge fit a N150°E convergent motion between African and Iberian plates. We suggest that the southern Alboran Basin evolved as an extensional stage from Burdigalian to Langhian and as a transpressional stage during Tortonian to present time.     

Fusion Methods and Multi-classifiers to Improve Land Cover Estimation Using Remote Sensing Analysis

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - Adopting a low spatial resolution remote sensing imagery to get an accurate estimation of Land Use Land Cover is a difficult task to perform. Image fusion...