7 CFR 1980.318 - Flood or mudslide hazard area precautions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... dwelling location and construction plans and specifications for new buildings or improvements to existing... SERVICE, RURAL BUSINESS-COOPERATIVE SERVICE, RURAL UTILITIES SERVICE, AND FARM SERVICE AGENCY, DEPARTMENT... there is no practical alternative. (a) Dwelling location. Dwellings and building improvements located in...

44 CFR 60.23 - Planning considerations for mudslide (i.e., mudflow)-prone areas.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... standards for schools, hospitals, nursing homes, orphanages, correctional and other residential institutions...)-prone areas; (j) Deterring the nonessential installation of public utilities and public facilities in...

Retrospective on the construction and practice of a state-level emergency medical rescue team.

Science.gov (United States)

Lei, Zhang; Haitao, Guo; Xin, Wang; Yundou, Wang

2014-10-01

For the past few years, disasters like earthquakes, landslides, mudslides, tsunamis, and traffic accidents have occurred with an ever-growing frequency, coverage, and intensity greatly beyond the expectation of the public. In order to respond effectively to disasters and to reduce casualties and property damage, countries around the world have invested more efforts in the theoretical study of emergency medicine and the construction of emergency medical rescue forces. Consequently, emergency medical rescue teams of all scales and types have come into being and have played significant roles in disaster response work. As the only state-level emergency medical rescue force from the Chinese People's Armed Police Forces, the force described here has developed, through continuous learning and practice, a characteristic mode in terms of grouping methods, equipment system construction, and training.

Analysis of Land Deformation on Slope Area using PS InSAR. Case Study: Malang Area

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sudiana, Dodi; Rizkinia, Mia; Arief, Rahmat; Rokhmatuloh; Ardiansyah; Setiadi, Bambang; Bayuaji, Luhur; Sri Sumantyo, Josaphat Tetuko

2014-01-01

The geographical position of Indonesia located between two continents and oceans is strategic, but at large risk of experiencing various disasters. Climate change and vulnerable location (surrounded by plates and geological faults in the Earth's crust) creates an earthquake-prone region and causes land/mudslides. In this paper, PS InSAR method (Persistent Scatterer Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar) is implemented to Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) data to study the potential damage caused by the earthquake or volcanic eruption in Malang vicinity. By comparing the amplitude images periodically, shifting soil can be determined using precise orbital information. The analysis showed a significant decrease of land deformation on slope area in Klojen district in Malang city, reached up to −7.128 mm/year

44 CFR 60.4 - Flood plain management criteria for mudslide (i.e., mudflow)-prone areas.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... the Federal Insurance Administrator which (i) regulates the location of foundation systems and utility... protective measures including but not necessarily limited to retaining walls, buttress fills, sub-drains...

Hydrometeorological Hazards: Monitoring, Forecasting, Risk Assessment, and Socioeconomic Responses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wu, Huan [University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA; Huang, Maoyi [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA; Tang, Qiuhong [Key Laboratory of Water Cycle and Related Land Surface Processes, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; Kirschbaum, Dalia B. [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA; Ward, Philip [Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands

2016-01-01

Hydrometeorological hazards are caused by extreme meteorological and climate events, such as floods, droughts, hurricanes, tornadoes, or landslides. They account for a dominant fraction of natural hazards and occur in all regions of the world, although the frequency and intensity of certain hazards, and society’s vulnerability to them, differs between regions. Severe storms, strong winds, floods and droughts develop at different spatial and temporal scales, but all can become disasters that cause significant infrastructure damage and claim hundreds of thousands of lives annually worldwide. Oftentimes, multiple hazards can occur simultaneously or trigger cascading impacts from one extreme weather event. For example, in addition to causing injuries, deaths and material damage, a tropical storm can also result in flooding and mudslides, which can disrupt water purification and sewage disposal systems, cause overflow of toxic wastes, and increase propagation of mosquito-borne diseases.

Field studies of safety security rescue technologies through training and response activities

Science.gov (United States)

Murphy, Robin R.; Stover, Sam

2006-05-01

This paper describes the field-oriented philosophy of the Institute for Safety Security Rescue Technology (iSSRT) and summarizes the activities and lessons learned during calendar year 2005 of its two centers: the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue and the NSF Safety Security Rescue industry/university cooperative research center. In 2005, iSSRT participated in four responses (La Conchita, CA, Mudslides, Hurricane Dennis, Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Wilma) and conducted three field experiments (NJTF-1, Camp Hurricane, Richmond, MO). The lessons learned covered mobility, operator control units, wireless communications, and general reliability. The work has collectively identified six emerging issues for future work. Based on these studies, a 10-hour, 1 continuing education unit credit course on rescue robotics has been created and is available. Rescue robots and sensors are available for loan upon request.

Estimation of sub-pixel water area on Tibet plateau using multiple endmembers spectral mixture spectral analysis from MODIS data

Science.gov (United States)

Cui, Qian; Shi, Jiancheng; Xu, Yuanliu

2011-12-01

Water is the basic needs for human society, and the determining factor of stability of ecosystem as well. There are lots of lakes on Tibet Plateau, which will lead to flood and mudslide when the water expands sharply. At present, water area is extracted from TM or SPOT data for their high spatial resolution; however, their temporal resolution is insufficient. MODIS data have high temporal resolution and broad coverage. So it is valuable resource for detecting the change of water area. Because of its low spatial resolution, mixed-pixels are common. In this paper, four spectral libraries are built using MOD09A1 product, based on that, water body is extracted in sub-pixels utilizing Multiple Endmembers Spectral Mixture Analysis (MESMA) using MODIS daily reflectance data MOD09GA. The unmixed result is comparing with contemporaneous TM data and it is proved that this method has high accuracy.

A landslide on a mudslide? Natural hazards and the right to life under the European Convention of Human Rights

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lauta, Kristian Cedervall; Rytter, Jens Elo

2016-01-01

This paper investigates the protection of individuals’ lives against natural hazards under the European Convention on Human Rights. In 2008, the European Court of Human Rights decided to include natural hazards in a well-established doctrine developed to protect individuals from life-threatening ...

Dynamic Critical Rainfall-Based Flash Flood Early Warning and Forecasting for Medium-Small Rivers

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Z.; Yang, D.; Hu, J.

2012-04-01

China is extremely frequent food disasters hit countries, annual flood season flash floods triggered by rainfall, mudslides, landslides have caused heavy casualties and property losses, not only serious threaten the lives of the masses, but the majority of seriously restricting the mountain hill areas of economic and social development and the people become rich, of building a moderately prosperous society goals. In the next few years, China will focus on prevention and control area in the flash flood disasters initially built "for the surveillance, communications, forecasting, early warning and other non-engineering measure based, non-engineering measures and the combinations of engineering measures," the mitigation system. The latest progresses on global torrential flood early warning and forecasting techniques are reviewed in this paper, and then an early warning and forecasting approach is proposed on the basis of a distributed hydrological model according to dynamic critical rainfall index. This approach has been applied in Suichuanjiang River basin in Jiangxi province, which is expected to provide valuable reference for building a national flash flood early warning and forecasting system as well as control of such flooding.

The Transmission Channel Tower Identification and Landslide Disaster Monitoring Based on Insar

Science.gov (United States)

Li, G.; Tan, Q.; Xie, C.; Fei, X.; Ma, X.; Zhao, B.; Ou, W.; Yang, Z.; Wang, J.; Fang, H.

2018-04-01

The transmission distance of transmission lines is long, the line affected by the diversity of climate and topography of the corridors of transmission lines, differences in regional geological structure conditions, variability of rock and soil types, and the complexity of groundwater. Under the influence of extreme weather conditions (ice-covered, strong wind, etc.) and sudden geological disasters (such as mudslides, flash floods, earthquakes, etc.), catastrophic damage and basic deformation problems of the tower foundations are prone, and even tower collapse accidents occur in severe cases, which affect the safe operation of transmission lines. Monitoring the deformation of power transmission towers and surrounding grounds, it is critical to ensuring the normal operation of transmission lines by assessing and controlling potential risks in advance. In this paper, using ALOS-2 PALSAR radar satellite data, differential interferometry was used to monitor surface deformation near the Sichuan Jinsu line transmission channel. The analysis found that a significant landslide hazard was found near the transmission channel tower in Yibin-Zhaotong section of Jinsu, Sichuan Province, the cumulative deformation reaches 9cm. The results of this paper can provide new monitoring means for safety monitoring of transmission towers.

Sensitivity of the WRF model to the lower boundary in an extreme precipitation event - Madeira island case study

Science.gov (United States)

Teixeira, J. C.; Carvalho, A. C.; Carvalho, M. J.; Luna, T.; Rocha, A.

2014-08-01

The advances in satellite technology in recent years have made feasible the acquisition of high-resolution information on the Earth's surface. Examples of such information include elevation and land use, which have become more detailed. Including this information in numerical atmospheric models can improve their results in simulating lower boundary forced events, by providing detailed information on their characteristics. Consequently, this work aims to study the sensitivity of the weather research and forecast (WRF) model to different topography as well as land-use simulations in an extreme precipitation event. The test case focused on a topographically driven precipitation event over the island of Madeira, which triggered flash floods and mudslides in the southern parts of the island. Difference fields between simulations were computed, showing that the change in the data sets produced statistically significant changes to the flow, the planetary boundary layer structure and precipitation patterns. Moreover, model results show an improvement in model skill in the windward region for precipitation and in the leeward region for wind, in spite of the non-significant enhancement in the overall results with higher-resolution data sets of topography and land use.

Dealing with natural hazards in the Barcelonnette region - a multi-disciplinary collaboration from understanding to management

Science.gov (United States)

Kappes, Melanie; Frigerio, Simone; Luna, Byron Quan; Traveletti, Julien; Spickermann, Anke; Krzeminska, Dominika; Angignard, Marjory

2010-05-01

The Barcelonnette area, part of the Ubaye-Valley in the South French Alps, is highly exposed to natural hazard (mudslides, debris flows, torrential floods, river floods, avalanches and rockfalls); La Valette, Poche, Super-Sauze, Faucon are examples of well-known risk settings studied by scientists for several decades. In the framework of the Mountain Risks network, young researchers are working on different steps and aspects of the protection of the communities. It requires the collaboration of experts from different disciplines assembling the "living with risk" chain that has to cover the identification of the hazard, the risk assessment, risk management and the socio-economic and political decision-making. On the example of the Barcelonnette region, this work demonstrates such a multi-disciplinary cooperation within the Mountain Risks project. Starting with a multi-hazard analysis on a medium-scale level (1:10.000-1:50.000) for an overview over the hotspots in the basin a link is established to the local level analyses going into more detail. To forecast potential landslides in black marls and to assess the risk it is important to know the mechanisms leading to failure and the mechanisms determining subsequent movement. With respect to the Super-Sauze and La Valette mudslides detailed monitoring of hydrological features (i.e. high resolution temperature observations, large and medium scale infiltration experiments), displacement monitoring for short and long term kinematics analysis (i.e. image correlation technique applied on terrestrial oblique optical image, aerial and terrestrial laser scanning survey, differential global positioning system), small-scale testing in the laboratory (i.e. standard geotechnical, flume and centrifuge tests) and numerical modelling are performed to understand the mechanisms that might trigger and control the landslide. Integration and interpretation of these multi-source data allow to constrain conceptual models which are essential

Using the Terrestrial Observation and Prediction System (TOPS) to Analyze Impacts of Climate Change on Ecosystems within Northern California Climate Regions

Science.gov (United States)

Pitts, K.; Little, M.; Loewenstein, M.; Iraci, L. T.; Milesi, C.; Schmidt, C.; Skiles, J. W.

2011-12-01

The projected impacts of climate change on Northern California ecosystems using model outputs from the Terrestrial Observation and Prediction System (TOPS) for the period 1950-2099 based on 1km downscaled climate data from the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) model are analyzed in this study. The impacts are analyzed for the Special Report Emissions Scenarios (SRES) A1B and A2, both maintaining present levels of urbanization constant and under projected urban expansion. The analysis is in support of the Climate Adaptation Science Investigation at NASA Ames Research Center. A statistical analysis is completed for time series of temperature, precipitation, gross primary productivity (GPP), evapotranspiration, soil runoff, and vapor pressure deficit. Trends produced from this analysis show that increases in maximum and minimum temperatures lead to declines in peak GPP, length of growing seasons, and overall declines in runoff within the watershed. For Northern California, GPP is projected under the A2 scenario to decrease by 18-25% by the 2090 decade as compared to the 2000 decade. These trends indicate a higher risk to crop production and other ecosystem services, as conditions would be less hospitable to vegetation growth. The increase in dried out vegetation would then lead to a higher risk of wildfire and mudslides in the mountainous regions.

The prevalence of ataques de nervios in the Puerto Rico disaster study. The role of culture in psychiatric epidemiology.

Science.gov (United States)

Guarnaccia, P J; Canino, G; Rubio-Stipec, M; Bravo, M

1993-03-01

This paper presents one of the few epidemiological studies of a popular category of distress, ataques de nervios (attacks of nerves), in the cross-cultural psychiatric literature. As part of a major study of the psychological consequences of the 1985 floods and mudslides which caused considerable damage and death in Puerto Rico, a question was added to the Diagnostic Interview Schedule/Disaster Supplement concerning ataques de nervios. This additional item provided the opportunity to carry out the first study of this important Puerto Rican popular category of distress using a representative, community-based sample. This paper addresses several key questions about ataques de nervios which come from previous psychiatric and anthropological literatures concerning the social correlates of who experiences an ataque de nervios and the relationship of ataques to social distress and psychiatric disorder. People who reported an ataque de nervios were more likely to be female, older, less educated, and formerly married. They were also more likely to meet criteria for anxiety and depressive disorders than those who had not experienced an ataque. The picture that emerges from our analyses is that those who suffer from a combination of social disadvantage, psychiatric disorder, and poor perceived health are more likely to experience an ataque de nervios.

Silicon utilizing microorganisms in the sea act as the environmental bellwether which foretell future trends in weather fluctuations

Science.gov (United States)

Das, S.

2012-12-01

It is well known that the southerly shift of the Gulf Stream is associated with major storms, heavy rains and mudslide in the adjoining northern part of the globe. Phytoplanktons particularly their silicon utilizing members like diatoms were found to play a major part in this phenomenon. A decrease in silicon utilizing phytoplanktons and chlorophyll-a , which sometimes occurs even more than 10 fold was found associated with a parallel significant decrease of zooplanktons as reflected in the CPR survey, leads to fall of sea temperature causing a shift of the Gulf Stream. This sea temperature changes is also associated with cooling of the adjoining atmosphere in a remarkable way which leads to weather changes. The association of silicon utilizing diatoms and the ocean currents guides the future trends in the climatic swing known as NAO, one of the great fluctuations that occur in the global climate, the largest of which is the ENSO phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean, which cause destruction all around the tropics. When total density and biovolume of phytoplanktons were studied it was found that the changes of pennate diatoms was unique and occurred in an opposite way in comparison to green algae, blue green algae, chrysophyte, cryptophytes, dinoflagellates and green flagellates.

Development of Petrov glacial-lake system (Tien Shan and outburst risk assessment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. A. Torgoev

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Global climate warming causes an intensive melting and retreat of glaciers in the Tien Shan mountains. Melting water of glaciers causes overfilling of high mountain lakes. The increase of the surface and volume of the Petrov Lake accompanied with the decrease of stability of the dam represents an extremely dangerous situation that can produce a natural disaster. Failure can happen due to erosion, a buildup of water pressure, an earthquake or if a large enough portion of a glacier breaks off and massively displaces the waters in a glacial lake at its base. In case of the lake dam rupture, flooding of a disposal site of highly toxic tailing from the gold mine Kumtor is a threat. If this happens, the toxic waste containing cyanides would contaminate a large area in the Naryn (Syrdarya river basin. Even if the flooding of the disposal site does not occur, the damage after lake dam fracture will be immense due to the glacial lake outburst flood may be a devastating mudslide. In order to prevent or reduce the risk of this event we recommend performing engineering surveys for the development and implementation of the project for the controlled reduction of water level in the Blue Bay of the Petrov Lake to a safe volume.

Investigation of Slow-Moving Landslides from ALOS/PALSAR Images with TCPInSAR: A Case Study of Oso, USA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qian Sun

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Monitoring slope instability is of great significance for understanding landslide kinematics and, therefore, reducing the related geological hazards. In recent years, interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR has been widely applied to this end, especially thanks to the prompt evolution of multi-temporal InSAR (MTInSAR algorithms. In this paper, temporarily-coherent point InSAR (TCPInSAR, a recently-developed MTInSAR technique, is employed to investigate the slow-moving landslides in Oso, U.S., with 13 ALOS/PALSAR images. Compared to other MTInSAR techniques, TCPInSAR can work well with a small amount of data and is immune to unwrapping errors. Furthermore, the severe orbital ramps emanated from the inaccurate determination of the ALOS satellite’s state vector can be jointly estimated by TCPInSAR, resulting in an exhaustive separation between the orbital errors and displacement signals. The TCPInSAR-derived deformation map indicates that the riverside slopes adjacent to the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River, where the 2014 mudslide occurred, were active during 2007 and 2011. Besides, Coal Mountain has been found to be experiencing slow-moving landslides with clear boundaries and considerable magnitudes. The Deer Creek River is also threatened by a potential landslide dam due to the creeps detected in a nearby slope. The slope instability information revealed in this study is helpful to deal with the landslide hazards in Oso.

Lessons learned from a landslide catastrophe in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Pereira, Bruno Monteiro Tavares; Morales, Wellington; Cardoso, Ricardo Galesso; Fiorelli, Rossano; Fraga, Gustavo Pereira; Briggs, Susan M

2013-01-01

On January, 2011, a devastating tropical storm hit the mountain area of Rio de Janeiro State in Brazil, resulting in flooding and mudslides and leaving 30,000 individuals displaced. This article explores key lessons learned from this major mass casualty event, highlighting prehospital and hospital organization for receiving multiple victims in a short period of time, which may be applicable in similar future events worldwide. A retrospective review of local hospital medical/fire department records and data from the Health and Security Department of the State were analyzed. Medical examiner archives were analyzed to determine the causes of death. The most common injuries were to the extremities, the majority requiring only wound cleaning, debridement, and suture. Orthopedic surgeries were the most common operative procedures. In the first 3 days, 191 victims underwent triage at the hospital with 50 requiring admission to the hospital. Two hundred fifty patients were triaged at the hospital by the end of the fifth day. The mortis cause for the majority of deaths was asphyxia, either by drowning or mud burial. Natural disasters are able to generate a large number of victims and overwhelm the main channels of relief available. Main lessons learned are as follows: 1) prevention and training are key points, 2) key measures by the authorities should be taken as early as possible, and 3) the centralization of the deceased in one location demonstrated greater effectiveness identifying victims and releasing the bodies back to families.

Use of dendrochronology and dendrochemistry in environmental forensics: Does it meet the Daubert criteria?

Science.gov (United States)

Balouet, J.-C.; Smith, K.T.; Vroblesky, D.; Oudijk, G.

2009-01-01

Dendrochronological methods have been in use for more than 100 years, providing us a record of climate, human activities (archaeology), floods, fire, mudslides and other geological and biological events. More recently, dendrochemisty has been used to assess the time frames of the onset and existence of environmental contamination. This article assesses the scientific status of dendrochronology and dendrochemistry with respect to the admissibility of expert testimony and Daubert legal criteria. The purpose of this article is to identify the crucial scientific aspects of dendrochronology and dendrochemistry that address the Daubert criteria and Rule 702 as amended in 2000. To clarify terminology, dendrochronology is the precise and reliable assignment of the year of formation of tree rings. Dendroecology is the use of dendrochronology to understand ecological and environmental processes (Schweingruber, 1996). Dendrochemistry is a subdiscipline of dendrochronology that analyzes and interprets the wood chemistry of precisely dated tree rings. Forensic dendrochemistry applies dendrochemistry to resolve environmental disputes and generally deal with questions regarding the timing and/or the source of environmental incidents. One significant application of forensic dendrochemistry to expert testimony is to address issues of anthropogenic contamination. Forensic dendroecology is a similar term to forensic dendrochemistry, but forensic dendrochemistry will be used in this discussion as the latter term emphasizes the use of chemical detection methods. Because dendrochemistry is based on the foundation of dendrochronology, both the former specialty and the latter broader discipline will be discussed. ?? Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Arctic adaptation and climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agnew, T.A.; Headley, A.

1994-01-01

The amplification of climatic warming in the Arctic and the sensitivity of physical, biological, and human systems to changes in climate make the Arctic particularly vulnerable to climate changes. Large areas of the Arctic permafrost and sea ice are expected to disappear under climate warming and these changes will have considerable impacts on the natural and built environment of the north. A review is presented of some recent studies on what these impacts could be for the permafrost and sea ice environment and to identify linkages with socioeconomic activities. Terrestrial adaptation to climate change will include increases in ground temperature; melting of permafrost with consequences such as frost heave, mudslides, and substantial settlement; rotting of peat contained in permafrost areas, with subsequent emission of CO 2 ; increased risk of forest fire; and flooding of low-lying areas. With regard to the manmade environment, structures that will be affected include buildings, pipelines, highways, airports, mines, and railways. In marine areas, climate change will increase the ice-free period for marine transport operations and thus provide some benefit to the offshore petroleum industry. This benefit will be offset by increased wave height and period, and increased coastal erosion. The offshore industry needs to be particularly concerned with these impacts since the expected design life of industry facilities (30-60 y) is of the same order as the time frame for possible climatic changes. 18 refs., 5 figs

Pacific Research Platform - Creation of a West Coast Big Data Freeway System Applied to the CONNected objECT (CONNECT) Data Mining Framework for Earth Science Knowledge Discovery

Science.gov (United States)

Sellars, S. L.; Nguyen, P.; Tatar, J.; Graham, J.; Kawsenuk, B.; DeFanti, T.; Smarr, L.; Sorooshian, S.; Ralph, M.

2017-12-01

A new era in computational earth sciences is within our grasps with the availability of ever-increasing earth observational data, enhanced computational capabilities, and innovative computation approaches that allow for the assimilation, analysis and ability to model the complex earth science phenomena. The Pacific Research Platform (PRP), CENIC and associated technologies such as the Flash I/O Network Appliance (FIONA) provide scientists a unique capability for advancing towards this new era. This presentation reports on the development of multi-institutional rapid data access capabilities and data pipeline for applying a novel image characterization and segmentation approach, CONNected objECT (CONNECT) algorithm to study Atmospheric River (AR) events impacting the Western United States. ARs are often associated with torrential rains, swollen rivers, flash flooding, and mudslides. CONNECT is computationally intensive, reliant on very large data transfers, storage and data mining techniques. The ability to apply the method to multiple variables and datasets located at different University of California campuses has previously been challenged by inadequate network bandwidth and computational constraints. The presentation will highlight how the inter-campus CONNECT data mining framework improved from our prior download speeds of 10MB/s to 500MB/s using the PRP and the FIONAs. We present a worked example using the NASA MERRA data to describe how the PRP and FIONA have provided researchers with the capability for advancing knowledge about ARs. Finally, we will discuss future efforts to expand the scope to additional variables in earth sciences.

A spatial and seasonal description of return-levels for the Berlin-Brandenburg region (Germany)

Science.gov (United States)

Fischer, Madlen; Rust, Henning W.; Ulbrich, Uwe

2016-04-01

Extreme precipitation events have a strong impact on the environment, society and economy. Besides the direct effect, e.g. damage due to hail, extreme precipitation can cause flood events, mudslides and increased erosion, which in turn lead to serious damage. Typically, return levels derived from annual maxima of daily precipitation sums are used for the design of hydraulic structures or for risk assessment in insurance companies. Seasonally or monthly resolved return levels are rarely considered, although they provide additional information: the higher temporal resolution can be beneficial for risk management, e.g. for agriculture or tourism sector. In addition, annual return levels derived from monthly maxima offer lower uncertainties, since a larger data basis are used for estimation. Here, the generalized extreme value distribution (GEV) is used to calculate monthly resolved return levels for 323 stations in the region Berlin-Brandenburg (Germany). Instead of estimating the parameters of the GEV for each month separately, the seasonal variation is captured by harmonic functions. This natural approach is particularly suitable for an efficient characterization of the seasonal variation of extreme precipitation. In a first step, a statistical model is developed for each station separately to estimate the monthly return levels. Besides the seasonal smoothness, also smoothness in space is exploited here. We use functions of longitude, latitude and altitude to describe the spatial variation of GEV parameters in the second step. Thus, uncertainty is reduced at gauges with short time series and estimates for ungauged sites can be obtained in a meaningful way.

Trends in total rainfall, heavy rain events, and number of dry days in San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1955-2009

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pablo A. Méndez-Lázaro

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Climate variability is a threat to water resources on a global scale and in tropical regions in particular. Rainfall events and patterns are associated worldwide with natural disasters like mudslides and landslides, meteorological phenomena like hurricanes, risks/hazards including severe storms and flooding, and health effects like vector-borne and waterborne diseases. Therefore, in the context of global change, research on rainfall patterns and their variations presents a challenge to the scientific community. The main objective of this research was to analyze recent trends in precipitation in the San Juan metropolitan area in Puerto Rico and their relationship with regional and global climate variations. The statistical trend analysis of precipitation was performed with the nonparametric Mann-Kendall test. All stations showed positive trends of increasing annual rainfall between 1955 and 2009. The winter months of January and February had an increase in monthly rainfall, although winter is normally a dry season on the island. Regarding dry days, we found an annual decreasing trend, also specifically in winter. In terms of numbers of severe rainfall events described as more than 78 mm in 24 hours, 63 episodes have occurred in the San Juan area in the last decade, specifically in the 2000-2009 time frame, with an average of 6 severe events per year. The majority of the episodes occurred in summer, more frequently in August and September. These results can be seen as a clear example of the complexity of spatial and temporal of rainfall distribution over a tropical city.

A prehistoric tsunami induced long-lasting ecosystem changes on a semi-arid tropical island--the case of Boka Bartol (Bonaire, Leeward Antilles).

Science.gov (United States)

Engel, Max; Brückner, Helmut; Fürstenberg, Sascha; Frenzel, Peter; Konopczak, Anna Maria; Scheffers, Anja; Kelletat, Dieter; May, Simon Matthias; Schäbitz, Frank; Daut, Gerhard

2013-01-01

The Caribbean is highly vulnerable to coastal hazards. Based on their short recurrence intervals over the intra-American seas, high-category tropical cyclones and their associated effects of elevated storm surge, heavy wave impacts, mudslides and floods represent the most serious threat. Given the abundance of historical accounts and trigger mechanisms (strike-slip motion and oblique collision at the northern and southern Caribbean plate boundaries, submarine and coastal landslides, volcanism), tsunamis must be considered as well. This paper presents interdisciplinary multi-proxy investigations of sediment cores (grain size distribution, carbonate content, loss-on-ignition, magnetic susceptibility, microfauna, macrofauna) from Washington-Slagbaai National Park, NW Bonaire (Leeward Antilles). No historical tsunami is recorded for this island. However, an allochthonous marine layer found in all cores at Boka Bartol reveals several sedimentary criteria typically linked with tsunami deposits. Calibrated (14)C data from these cores point to a palaeotsunami with a maximum age of 3,300 years. Alternative explanations for the creation of this layer, such as inland flooding during tropical cyclones, cannot entirely be ruled out, though in recent times even the strongest of these events on Bonaire did not deposit significant amounts of sediment onshore. The setting of Boka Bartol changed from an open mangrove-fringed embayment into a poly- to hyperhaline lagoon due to the establishment or closure of a barrier of coral rubble during or subsequent to the inferred event. The timing of the event is supported by further sedimentary evidence from other lagoonal and alluvial archives on Bonaire.

Deep Learning of Post-Wildfire Vegetation Loss using Bitemporal Synthetic Aperture Radar Images

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Z.; Glasscoe, M. T.; Parker, J. W.

2017-12-01

Wildfire events followed by heavy precipitation have been proven causally related to breakouts of mudflow or debris flow, which, can demand rapid evacuation and threaten residential communities and civil infrastructure. For example, in the case of the city of Glendora, California, it was first afflicted by a severe wildfire in 1968 and then the flooding caused mudslides and debris flow in 1969 killed 34 people. Therefore, burn area or vegetation loss mapping due to wildfire is critical to agencies for preparing for secondary hazards, particularly flooding and flooding induced mudflow. However, rapid post-wildfire mapping of vegetation loss mapping is not readily obtained by regular remote sensing methods, e.g. various optical methods, due to the presence of smoke, haze, and rainy/cloudy conditions that often follow a wildfire event. In this paper, we will introduce and develop a deep learning-based framework that uses Synthetic Aperture Radar images collected prior to and after a wildfire event. A convolutional neural network (CNN) approach will be used that replaces traditional principle component analysis (PCA) based differencing for non-supervised change feature extraction. Using a small sample of human-labeled burned vegetation, normal vegetation, and urban built-up pixels, we will compare the performance of deep learning and PCA-based feature extraction. The 2014 Coby Fire event, which affected the downstream city of Glendora, was used to evaluate the proposed framework. The NASA's UAVSAR data (https://uavsar.jpl.nasa.gov/) will be utilized for mapping the vegetation damage due to the Coby Fire event.

Recession-based hydrological models for estimating low flows in ungauged catchments in the Himalayas

Science.gov (United States)

Rees, H. G.; Holmes, M. G. R.; Young, A. R.; Kansakar, S. R.

The Himalayan region of Nepal and northern India experiences hydrological extremes from monsoonal floods during July to September, when most of the annual precipitation falls, to periods of very low flows during the dry season (December to February). While the monsoon floods cause acute disasters such as loss of human life and property, mudslides and infrastructure damage, the lack of water during the dry season has a chronic impact on the lives of local people. The management of water resources in the region is hampered by relatively sparse hydrometerological networks and consequently, many resource assessments are required in catchments where no measurements exist. A hydrological model for estimating dry season flows in ungauged catchments, based on recession curve behaviour, has been developed to address this problem. Observed flows were fitted to a second order storage model to enable average annual recession behaviour to be examined. Regionalised models were developed, using a calibration set of 26 catchments, to predict three recession curve parameters: the storage constant; the initial recession flow and the start date of the recession. Relationships were identified between: the storage constant and catchment area; the initial recession flow and elevation (acting as a surrogate for rainfall); and the start date of the recession and geographic location. An independent set of 13 catchments was used to evaluate the robustness of the models. The regional models predicted the average volume of water in an annual recession period (1st of October to the 1st of February) with an average error of 8%, while mid-January flows were predicted to within ±50% for 79% of the catchments in the data set.

The Development of IIA Method and the Application on the 1661 Luermen event

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, T. R.; Wu, H.; Hu, S. K.; Tsai, Y. L.

2016-12-01

In 1661, Chinese navy led by General Koxinga at the end of Ming Dynasty had a naval battle against the Netherlands. This battle was not only the first official sea warfare that China confronted the Western world, but also the only naval battle won by Chinese Navy so far. This case was significant because it altered the fate of Taiwan until today. Ace of the critical points that General Zheng won the battle was entering Lakjemuyse bay unexpected. Luermen bay was and is an extremely shallow bay with a 2.1m maximum water depth during the high tide, which was not possible for a fleet of 20,000 marines to cross. Hence, no defense was deployed from the Netherlands side. However, plenty of historical literatures mentioned a strange phenomenon that helped Chinese warships entered the Luermen bay, the rise of water level. In this study, we will discuss the possible causes that might rise the water level, e.g. Tsunami, storm surge, and high tide. We analyzed it based on the knowledge of hydrodynamics. We performed the newly developed Impact Intensify Analysis (IIA) for finding the potential tsunami sources, and the COMCOT tsunami model was adopted for the nonlinear scenario simulations, associated with the high resolution bathymetry data. Both earthquake and mudslide tsunamis were inspected. Other than that, we also collected the information of tide and weather for identifying the effects from high tide and storm surge. After the thorough study, a scenario that satisfies most of the descriptions in the historical literatures will be presented. The results will explain the cause of mysterious event that changed the destiny of Taiwan.

What caused the rise of water level in the battle of Luermen bay in 1661? Tsunami, Storm surge, or Tide?

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Tso-Ren; Wu, Han; Tsai, Yu-Lin

2016-04-01

In 1661, Chinese navy led by General Zheng Chenggong at the end of Ming Dynasty had a naval battle against Netherlands. This battle was not only the first official sea warfare that China confronted the Western world, but also the only naval battle won by Chinese Navy so far. This event was important because it changed the fate of Taiwan until today. One of the critical points that General Zheng won the battle was entering Luermen bay unexpected. Luermen bay was and is an extreme shallow bay with a 2.1m maximum water depth during the high tide, which was not possible for a fleet of 20,000 marines to across. Therefore, no defense was deployed from the Netherlands side. However, plenty of historical literatures mentioned a strange phenomenon that helped Chinese warships entered the Luermen bay, the rise of water level. In this study, we will discuss the possible causes that might rise the water level, e.g. Tsunami, storm surge, and high tide. We analyzed it based on the knowledge of hydrodynamics. We performed the newly developed Impact Intensify Analysis (IIA) for finding the potential tsunami sources, and the COMCOT tsunami model was adopted for the nonlinear scenario simulations, associated with the high resolution bathymetry data. Both earthquake and mudslide tsunamis were inspected. Other than that, we also collected the information of tide and weather for identifying the effects form high tide and storm surge. After the thorough study, a scenario that satisfy most of the descriptions in the historical literatures will be presented. The results will explain the cause of mysterious event that changed the destiny of Taiwan.

Integrated modeling of the dynamic meteorological and sea surface conditions during the passage of Typhoon Morakot

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Han Soo; Yamashita, Takao; Hsu, John R.-C.; Ding, Fei

2013-01-01

In August 2009, Typhoon Morakot caused massive flooding and devastating mudslides in the southern Taiwan triggered by extremely heavy rainfall (2777 mm in 4 days) which occurred during its passage. It was one of the deadliest typhoons that have ever attacked Taiwan in recent years. In this study, numerical simulations are performed for the storm surge and ocean surface waves, together with dynamic meteorological fields such as wind, pressure and precipitation induced by Typhoon Morakot, using an atmosphere-waves-ocean integrated modelling system. The wave-induced dissipation stress from breaking waves, whitecapping and depth-induced wave breaking, is parameterized and included in the wave-current interaction process, in addition to its influence on the storm surge level in shallow water along the coast of Taiwan. The simulated wind and pressure field captures the characteristics of the observed meteorological field. The spatial distribution of the accumulated rainfall within 4 days, from 00:00 UTC 6 August to 00:00 UTC 10 August 2009, shows similar patterns as the observed values. The 4-day accumulated rainfall of 2777 mm at the A-Li Shan mountain weather station for the same period depicted a high correlation with the observed value of 2780 mm/4 days. The effects of wave-induced dissipation stress in the wave-current interaction resulted in increased surge heights on the relatively shallow western coast of Taiwan, where the bottom slope of the bathymetry ranges from mild to moderate. The results also show that wave-breaking has to be considered for accurate storm surge prediction along the east coast of Taiwan over the narrow bank of surf zone with a high horizontal resolution of the model domain.

Adaptation and promotion of emergency medical service transportation for climate change.

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, Chih-Long; Chiu, Chun-Wen; Wen, Jet-Chau

2014-12-01

The purpose of this study is to find a proper prehospital transportation scenario planning of an emergency medical service (EMS) system for possible burdensome casualties resulting from extreme climate events. This project focuses on one of the worst natural catastrophic events in Taiwan, the 88 Wind-caused Disasters, caused by the Typhoon Morakot; the case of the EMS transportation in the Xiaolin village is reviewed and analyzed. The sequential-conveyance method is designed to promote the efficiency of all the ambulance services related to transportation time and distance. Initially, a proposed mobile emergency medical center (MEMC) is constructed in a safe location near the area of the disaster. The ambulances are classified into 2 categories: the first-line ambulances, which reciprocate between the MEMC and the disaster area to save time and shorten the working distances and the second-line ambulances, which transfer patients in critical condition from the MEMC to the requested hospitals for further treatment. According to the results, the sequential-conveyance method is more efficient than the conventional method for EMS transportation in a mass-casualty incident (MCI). This method improves the time efficiency by 52.15% and the distance efficiency by 56.02%. This case study concentrates on Xiaolin, a mountain village, which was heavily destroyed by a devastating mudslide during the Typhoon Morakot. The sequential-conveyance method for the EMS transportation in this research is not only more advantageous but also more rational in adaptation to climate change. Therefore, the findings are also important to all the decision-making with respect to a promoted EMS transportation, especially in an MCI.

Recession-based hydrological models for estimating low flows in ungauged catchments in the Himalayas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. G. Rees

2004-01-01

Full Text Available The Himalayan region of Nepal and northern India experiences hydrological extremes from monsoonal floods during July to September, when most of the annual precipitation falls, to periods of very low flows during the dry season (December to February. While the monsoon floods cause acute disasters such as loss of human life and property, mudslides and infrastructure damage, the lack of water during the dry season has a chronic impact on the lives of local people. The management of water resources in the region is hampered by relatively sparse hydrometerological networks and consequently, many resource assessments are required in catchments where no measurements exist. A hydrological model for estimating dry season flows in ungauged catchments, based on recession curve behaviour, has been developed to address this problem. Observed flows were fitted to a second order storage model to enable average annual recession behaviour to be examined. Regionalised models were developed, using a calibration set of 26 catchments, to predict three recession curve parameters: the storage constant; the initial recession flow and the start date of the recession. Relationships were identified between: the storage constant and catchment area; the initial recession flow and elevation (acting as a surrogate for rainfall; and the start date of the recession and geographic location. An independent set of 13 catchments was used to evaluate the robustness of the models. The regional models predicted the average volume of water in an annual recession period (1st of October to the 1st of February with an average error of 8%, while mid-January flows were predicted to within ±50% for 79% of the catchments in the data set. Keywords: Himalaya, recession curve, water resources, ungauged catchment, regionalisation, low flows

Quantitative Assessment on Anthropogenic Contributions to the Rainfall Extremes Associated with Typhoon Morakot (2009)

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, C. T.; Lo, S. H.; Wang, C. C.; Tsuboki, K.

2017-12-01

More than 2000 mm rainfall occurred over southern Taiwan when a category 1 Typhoon Morakot pass through Taiwan in early August 2009. Entire village and hundred of people were buried by massive mudslides induced by record-breaking precipitation. Whether the past anthropogenic warming played a significant role in such extreme event remained very controversial. On one hand, people argue it's nearly impossible to attribute an individual extreme event to global warming. On the other hand, the increase of heavy rainfall is consistent with the expected effects of climate change on tropical cyclone. To diagnose possible anthropogenic contributions to the odds of such heavy rainfall associated with Typhoon Morakot, we adapt an existing probabilistic event attribution framework to simulate a `world that was' and compare it with an alternative condition, 'world that might have been' that removed the historical anthropogenic drivers of climate. One limitation for applying such approach to high-impact weather system is that it will require models capable of capturing the essential processes lead to the studied extremes. Using a cloud system resolving model that can properly simulate the complicated interactions between tropical cyclone, large-scale background, topography, we first perform the ensemble `world that was' simulations using high resolution ECMWF YOTC analysis. We then re-simulate, having adjusted the analysis to `world that might have been conditions' by removing the regional atmospheric and oceanic forcing due to human influences estimated from the CMIP5 model ensemble mean conditions between all forcing and natural forcing only historical runs. Thus our findings are highly conditional on the driving analysis and adjustments therein, but the setup allows us to elucidate possible contribution of anthropogenic forcing to changes in the likelihood of heavy rainfall associated Typhoon Morakot in early August 2009.

Detecting surface runoff location in a small catchment using distributed and simple observation method

Science.gov (United States)

Dehotin, Judicaël; Breil, Pascal; Braud, Isabelle; de Lavenne, Alban; Lagouy, Mickaël; Sarrazin, Benoît

2015-06-01

Surface runoff is one of the hydrological processes involved in floods, pollution transfer, soil erosion and mudslide. Many models allow the simulation and the mapping of surface runoff and erosion hazards. Field observations of this hydrological process are not common although they are crucial to evaluate surface runoff models and to investigate or assess different kinds of hazards linked to this process. In this study, a simple field monitoring network is implemented to assess the relevance of a surface runoff susceptibility mapping method. The network is based on spatially distributed observations (nine different locations in the catchment) of soil water content and rainfall events. These data are analyzed to determine if surface runoff occurs. Two surface runoff mechanisms are considered: surface runoff by saturation of the soil surface horizon and surface runoff by infiltration excess (also called hortonian runoff). The monitoring strategy includes continuous records of soil surface water content and rainfall with a 5 min time step. Soil infiltration capacity time series are calculated using field soil water content and in situ measurements of soil hydraulic conductivity. Comparison of soil infiltration capacity and rainfall intensity time series allows detecting the occurrence of surface runoff by infiltration-excess. Comparison of surface soil water content with saturated water content values allows detecting the occurrence of surface runoff by saturation of the soil surface horizon. Automatic records were complemented with direct field observations of surface runoff in the experimental catchment after each significant rainfall event. The presented observation method allows the identification of fast and short-lived surface runoff processes at a small spatial and temporal resolution in natural conditions. The results also highlight the relationship between surface runoff and factors usually integrated in surface runoff mapping such as topography, rainfall

What We Have Learned with 16 Years of EO-1 Hyperion

Science.gov (United States)

Ungar, S.

2016-12-01

The Earth Observing-One (EO-1) satellite, launched in November of 2000, will complete its sixteenth and final year of operation at the end of calendar year 2016. Observations from the Hyperion Imaging Spectrometer on board EO-1 have contributed to hundreds of papers in refereed journals, conference proceeds and other presentations. The EO-1 Hyperion imaging spectrometer is the first and longest operating instrument that provides visible to shortwave infrared science-grade data from orbit. Hyperion has been used to study a variety of natural and anthropogenic phenomena including hazards and catastrophes, agricultural health and productivity, ecological disturbance/development, and land use/land cover change. As an example, Hyperion has been used in hazard and catastrophe studies to monitor and assess effects of tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, mudslides, tornadoes, hurricanes, wild-fires (natural and human ignited), oil spills, and the aftermath of world trade center bombing. This presentation summarizes the current status of EO-1 Hyperion in terms of key scientific findings to date and presents future plans for exploiting the upward of 90,000 scenes expected to be archived at USGS EROS by the end of the mission. Hyperion serves as the heritage orbital spectrometer for future global platforms, including the proposed NASA Hyperspectral Infrared Imager (HyspIRI) and the forthcoming German satellite, EnMAP. A key EO-1 mission goal was to evaluate the ability of satellite high spectral resolution imaging to characterize terrestrial surface state and processes at 30 m resolution. Researchers engaged in NASA's Terrestrial Ecology, Carbon Science, Land Use Change and other programs using the EO-1 Hyperion imaging spectrometer have achieved results with accuracies far exceeding those reached with the current spaceborne fleet of multispectral sensors. Hyperion data provide several advantages over data from multispectral satellite systems: they inherently provide

Untangling the Impacts of Climate Variability on Atmospheric Rivers and Western U.S. Precipitation Using PERSIANN-CONNECT

Science.gov (United States)

Sellars, S. L.; Gao, X.; Hsu, K. L.; Sorooshian, S.; McCabe-Glynn, S.

2014-12-01

Atmospheric Rivers (ARs), the large plumes of moisture transported from the tropics, impact many aspects of society in the Western U.S. When ARs make landfall, they are often associated with torrential rains, swollen rivers, flash flooding, and mudslides. We demonstrate that by viewing precipitation events associated with ARs as "objects", calculating their physical characteristics (mean intensity (mm/hr), speed (km/hr), etc.), assigning environmental characteristics (e.g. phase of the El Nino Southern Oscillation) for each system, and then performing empirical analyses, we can reveal interactions between different climate phenomena. To perform this analysis, we use a unique object oriented data set based on the gridded, satellite precipitation data from the Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Information using Artificial Neural Networks (PERSIANN) algorithm known as PERSIANN-CONNECT, for the period 3/2000 to 12/2010. The data is segmented into 4D objects (longitude, latitude, time and intensity). Each of the segmented precipitation systems is described by over 72 characteristics. A search of the PERSIANN-CONNECT database for all Western U.S. large-scale precipitation systems returns 626 systems. Out of the 626 large-scale precipitation systems, 200 occurred at the same time as documented Western U.S. land falling ARs (a list of ARs provided by Dr. Martin Ralph). Here we report the physical and environmental characteristics for these 200 storms including a comparison to the 426 non-AR storms. We also report results of an analysis of the δ18O measurements collected from Giant Forest, Sequoia National Park in the Southwestern Sierra Nevada Mountains (McCabe-Glynn et al., in prep.) for the 200 AR precipitation systems. For an overall assessment of the impacts of climate variability on all 626 precipitation systems, we focus on ENSO, and show that during El Nino/La Nina, as compared with Neutral phases of ENSO, the systems are larger (9505, 9097, vs. 6075km

San Gabriel Mountains, California, Radar image, color as height

Science.gov (United States)

2000-01-01

This topographic radar image shows the relationship of the urban area of Pasadena, California to the natural contours of the land. The image includes the alluvial plain on which Pasadena and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory sit, and the steep range of the San Gabriel Mountains. The mountain front and the arcuate valley running from upper left to the lower right are active fault zones, along which the mountains are rising. The chaparral-covered slopes above Pasadena are also a prime area for wildfires and mudslides. Hazards from earthquakes, floods and fires are intimately related to the topography in this area. Topographic data and other remote sensing images provide valuable information for assessing and mitigating the natural hazards for cities along the front of active mountain ranges.This image combines two types of data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. The image brightness corresponds to the strength of the radar signal reflected from the ground, while colors show the elevation as measured by SRTM. Colors range from blue at the lowest elevations to white at the highest elevations. This image contains about 2300 meters (7500 feet) of total relief. White speckles on the face of some of the mountains are holes in the data caused by steep terrain. These will be filled using coverage from an intersecting pass.The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), launched on February 11,2000, uses the same radar instrument that comprised the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) that flew twice on the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1994. The mission is designed to collect three-dimensional measurements of the Earth's surface. To collect the 3-D data, engineers added a 60-meter-long (200-foot) mast, an additional C-band imaging antenna and improved tracking and navigation devices. The mission is a cooperative project between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) and the

Peculiarities of S.Typhi isolation from the river water polluted with radionuclides at different times of the year

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Toichuev, R. M. [Institute of Medical Problems of the Southern Branch, Osh(Kyrgyzstan)

2012-09-15

Full text:Objective: to assess the effect of radionuclide pollution of river water on the isolation rate of S. Tuphi at different times of the year. Materials and methods: Since the number of typhoid fever cases reported in the Mayluusuu Valley (23 tailing pits and 16 tailing dumps are located in the area) tends to increase after the mudslides we collected river water specimens considering all these factors. Water specimens were collected from the Mayluusuu River, Shaidan-sai River, Kara-Unkur River and Ak-Buura River. Bacterial inoculation was performed in accordance with standard procedures. Concentration levels of pesticides (DDT, DDE, DDD, GCCG {alpha}, {beta}, {gamma} Aldrin and Dieldrin) were measured with a spectrograph. The present work was done in the framework of the ISTC Project KR-1516. Results and discussion: Out of the total of 2360 water specimens collected from the Shaidan-Sai River, S. Typhi was isolated from one (0.04%) water specimen. No cases of S. Typhi isolation from the water specimens collected from the Kara-Unkur River were reported for the past 10 years. Out of the total of 8969 water specimens collected from the Ak-Buura River, isolation of S. Typhi was reported in 4 (0.044%) cases. Starting from 2006 typhoid fever cases have been reported in the winter and spring times among the residents of the Mayluusuu Valley. A total of 1200 patients with a presumptive diagnosis of typhoid fever were admitted to the hospitals during the period. S. Typhi was isolated from 2 out of the total of 51 (3.9%) water specimens collected from the Mayluusuu River in the winter time, 4 (2.4%) out of the total 164 - in the spring time, 3.4% and 4.5% in the summer and autumn, respectively. Concentration levels of thorium (Th) and uranium (U) were 0.025-0.045 mg/l and 0.35-15.0 mg/l. No traces of the pesticides were found in water specimens. DDE at concentration of 0.024 mg/l and GCCG {alpha} (0.06 mg/l) were found in silt specimens collected downstream the Ak

San Gabriel Mountains, California, Shaded relief, color as height

Science.gov (United States)

2000-01-01

This topographic image shows the relationship of the urban area of Pasadena, California to the natural contours of the land. The image includes the alluvial plain on which Pasadena and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory sit, and the steep range of the San Gabriel Mountains. The mountain front and the arcuate valley running from upper left to the lower right are active fault zones, along which the mountains are rising. The chaparral-covered slopes above Pasadena are also a prime area for wildfires and mudslides. Hazards from earthquakes, floods and fires are intimately related to the topography in this area. Topographic data and other remote sensing images provide valuable information for assessing and mitigating the natural hazards for cities along the front of active mountain ranges.This shaded relief image was generated using topographic data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. A computer-generated artificial light source illuminates the elevation data to produce a pattern of light and shadows. Slopes facing the light appear bright, while those facing away are shaded. On flatter surfaces, the pattern of light and shadows can reveal subtle features in the terrain. Colors show the elevation as measured by SRTM. Colors range from blue at the lowest elevations to white at the highest elevations. This image contains about 2300 meters (7500 feet) of total relief. White speckles on the face of some of the mountains are holes in the data caused by steep terrain. These will be filled using coverage from an intersecting pass.The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), launched on February 11,2000, uses the same radar instrument that comprised the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) that flew twice on the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1994. The mission is designed to collect three-dimensional measurements of the Earth's surface. To collect the 3-D data, engineers added a 60-meter-long (200-foot) mast, an additional C-band imaging antenna

Using of the Boolean Stochastic Generation method to target field investigations: the Mortisa landslide (eastern Italian Alps) case study

Science.gov (United States)

Bossi, Giulia; Marcato, Gianluca; Gottardi, Guido; Borgatti, Lisa

2016-04-01

When designing the geotechnical model of a landslide the information to define the soil profile within the slope is usually inferred from a small amount of data. This is particularly true for large landslides where the study area is vast and the variability of terrains is high. In this framework, a method allowing the best locations for further field investigation campaigns to be identified would be extremely useful. The Boolean Stochastic Generation method (BoSG), which randomly generates different soil distributions of two definite soil types in both 2D and 3D models, is a newly developed algorithm that can guide in this process. In this work the method has been applied to the Mortisa landslide case study, which is located in the Cortina d'Ampezzo valley (Veneto, Italy), part of the Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage list. The mudslide is 3.5 km long, stretching from 1750 to 1300 m a.s.l., and is located in a highly antrophized area where is damaging some buildings and a national road with its almost continuous movements. In fact, from year 2008, GNSS surveys recorded rates of displacements reaching 1.2 m/year in the most active parts of the landslide; the movements occur on a slip surfaces are located between 20 and 50 m below the surface. From the borecores some wooden samples were extracted allowing to reconstruct the sequence of events that led to the development of the present-day Mortisa slope. Interdigitated layers of gravel in a silty clay matrix originated from subsequent earth and debris flows events since the Lateglacial compose the landslide body, a condition that is particularly apt to be investigated with BoSG. A BoSG run for the Mortisa landslide was performed calculating 1200 soil configurations and using laboratory test parameters for the silty-clay matrix. The results were stacked in a tridimensional matrix in order to calculate the mean and the standard deviation (SD) of displacements for each element of the model mesh. In this way maps of the SD

Use of satellite imagery to identify vegetation cover changes following the Waldo Canyon Fire event, Colorado, 2012-2013

Science.gov (United States)

Cole, Christopher J.; Friesen, Beverly A.; Wilson, Earl M.

2014-01-01

The Waldo Canyon Fire of 2012 was one of the most destructive wildfire events in Colorado history. The fire burned a total of 18,247 acres, claimed 2 lives, and destroyed 347 homes. The Waldo Canyon Fire continues to pose challenges to nearby communities. In a preliminary emergency assessment conducted in 2012, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) concluded that drainage basins within and near the area affected by the Waldo Canyon Fire pose a risk for future debris flow events. Rainfall over burned, formerly vegetated surfaces resulted in multiple flood and debris flow events that affected the cities of Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs in 2013. One fatality resulted from a mudslide near Manitou Springs in August 2013. Federal, State, and local governments continue to monitor these hazards and other post-fire effects, along with the region’s ecological recovery. At the request of the Colorado Springs Office of Emergency Management, the USGS Special Applications Science Center developed a geospatial product to identify vegetation cover changes following the 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire event. Vegetation cover was derived from July 2012 WorldView-2 and September 2013 QuickBird multispectral imagery at a spatial resolution of two meters. The 2012 image was collected after the fire had reached its maximum extent. Per-pixel increases and decreases in vegetation cover were identified by measuring spectral changes that occurred between the 2012 and 2013 image dates. A Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and Green-Near Infrared Index (GRNIR) were computed from each image. These spectral indices are commonly used to characterize vegetation cover and health condition, due to their sensitivity to detect foliar chlorophyll content. Vector polygons identifying surface-cover feature boundaries were derived from the 2013 imagery using image segmentation software. This geographic software groups similar image pixels into vector objects based upon their spatial and spectral

Landslide barriers at A83 Rest and be Thankful in Scotland and their first event 2015

Science.gov (United States)

Wendeler, Corinna; Volkwein, Axel; Luis, Roberto

2016-04-01

Rest and be Thankful is a part of the road A83 in northern Scotland and has a long history of landslides. In 2007, the site was closed for several weeks after a shallow landslide. A kind of mudslides deposited 400 tons of material on the road. In early September 2009, a further event resulted in 1070 tons of material slipping onto the road at the same place, forcing its closure for 48 hours. No one was hurt in either incident, but these slides pose a serious threat to the country's main rural routes (Gibson, 2010). The site has then been the subject of study and is included in the recent Scottish Roads Network Landslides Study produced by Transport Scotland. The study identified the A83 at Rest and be Thankful as one of the most risk sites for debris flow and/or landslides - a fact confirmed by the events that have occurred. The development of flexible debris flow and landslide barriers is more recent but has reached a point where they may be designed, specified and installed with confidence. Indeed, installations are now quite common in European alpine areas, California, Japan and Korea in particular. The standard system SL-150 of company Geobrugg with a height of 3.5 m was installed in 2011, the design parameters as well as the calculation of the structural system were checked by WSL to fulfil newest research results out of a 3 year research project (Bugnion et al, 2011 and 2012). In 2015, the first event happened to the barrier SL-150. Storm Desmond released on Saturday 5th December during daytime a first slide of around 150 m3 into the barrier, afterwards around night time a second slide with 100 m3 impacted the same barrier and some smaller slides followed. In total 300 m3 of material were captured successfully by that SL-150 barrier and the major transport route in this area remained open while storm Desmond. No failure at the barrier happened, only the so called energy absorbers got activated. A big success of the past research project in which originally

Mathematical modelling of the transport of a poorly sorted granular mixture as a debris-flow. The case of Madeira Island torrential floods in 2010

Science.gov (United States)

Ferreira, Rui M. L.; Oliveira, Rodrigo P.; Conde, Daniel

2016-04-01

On the 20th February 2010, heavy rainfall was registered at Madeira Island, North Atlantic. Stony debris flows, mudflows and mudslides ensued causing severe property loss, 1.5 m thick sediment deposits at downtown Funchal including 16th century monuments, and a death toll of 47 lives. Debris-flow fronts propagated downstream while carrying very high concentrations of solid material. These two-phase solid-fluid flows were responsible for most of the infrastructural damage across the island, due to their significantly increased mass and momentum. The objective of the present modelling work is to validate a 2DH model for torrential flows featuring the transport and interaction of several size fractions of a poorly-sorted granular mixture typical of stony debris flow in Madeira. The module for the transport of poorly-sorted material was included in STAV-2D (CERIS-IST), a shallow-water and morphology solver based on a finite-volume method using a flux-splitting technique featuring a reviewed Roe-Riemann solver, with appropriate source-term formulations to ensure full conservativeness. STAV-2D also includes formulations of flow resistance and bedload transport adequate for debris-flows with natural mobile beds (Ferreira et al., 2009) and has been validated with both theoretical solutions and laboratory data (Soares-Frazão et al., 2012; Canelas et al., 2013). The modelling of the existing natural and built environment is fully explicit. All buildings, streets and channels are accurately represented within the mesh geometry. Such detail is relevant for the reliability of the validation using field data, since the major sedimentary deposits within the urban meshwork of Funchal were identified and characterized in terms of volume and grain size distribution during the aftermath of the 20th February of 2010 event. Indeed, the measure of the quality of the numerical results is the agreement between simulated and estimated volume of deposited sediment and between estimated and

Intensity of geomorphological processes in NW sector of Pacific rim marginal mountain belts

Science.gov (United States)

Lebedeva, Ekaterina; Shvarev, Sergey; Gotvansky, Veniamin

2014-05-01

Continental marginal mountains, including the mountain belts of Russian Far East, are characterized by supreme terrain contrast, mosaic structure of surface and crust, and rich complex of modern endogenous processes - volcanism, seismicity, and vertical movements. Unstable state of geomorphological systems and activity of relief forming processes here is caused also by deep dissected topography and the type and amount of precipitation. Human activities further stimulate natural processes and increase the risk of local disasters. So these territories have high intensity (or tension) of geomorphological processes. Intensity in the authors' understanding is willingness of geomorphological system to be out of balance, risk of disaster under external and internal agent, both natural and human. Mapping with quantitative accounting of intensity of natural and human potential impact is necessary for indication the areal distribution trends of geomorphological processes intensity and zones of potential risk of disasters. Methods of map drowning up are based on several criteria analyzing: 1) total terrain-form processes and their willingness to be a hazard-like, 2) existence, peculiarity and zoning of external agents which could cause extreme character of base processes within the territory, 3) peculiarity of terrain morphology which could cause hazard way of terrain-form processes. Seismic activity is one of the most important factors causing activation of geomorphological processes and contributing to the risk of dangerous situations. Earthquake even small force can provoke many catastrophic processes: landslides, mudslides, avalanches and mudflows, tsunami and others. Seismic gravitational phenomenons of different scale accompany almost all earthquakes of intensity 7-8 points and above, and some processes, such as avalanches, activated by seismic shocks intensity about 1-3 points. In this regard, we consider it important selection of high intensity seismic zones in

Research on the Placement of the Ecological Shelter Zone in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, China

Science.gov (United States)

Shan, N.; Ruan, X.

2011-12-01

The Three Gorges Dam is built on the middle reaches of Yangtze River (Changjiang) in south-central China, which is the world's third longest river. The Three Gorges Reservoir Region (TGRR), including the entire inundated area and 19 administrative units (counties and cities) on both sides of the river, is regarded as an environmentally sensitive area. The total area of the TGRR is approximately 58000 km2. As the Three Gorges Dam fully operated, for the flood control, the water level should be kept in the range between 145 m and 175 m and the reservoir surface water area(over 1080 km2)at a water level of 175 m, with a length of 600 km. Many of cities, villages and farms have been submerged. Moreover, as a result of reservoir operation, the water-level alternation of the reservoir is opposite to the nature, which is low water level (145m) in summer and high water level (175m) in winter. The Hydro-Fluctuation Belt, with a height of 30m, will become a new pollution source due to the riparian being flooded and the submerged areas may still contain trace amounts of toxic or radioactive materials. The environmental impacts associated with large scale reservoir area often have significant negative impacts on the environment. It affects forest cover, species in the area, some endangered, water quality, increase the likelihood of earthquakes and mudslides in the area. To solve these problems, it is necessarily to construct the Ecological Shelter Zone (ESZ) along with the edge of the reservoir area. The function of the ESZ is similar to the riparian zone in reducing flood damage, improving water quality, decreasing the levels of the nonpoint source pollution load and soil erosion and rebuilding the migration routes of plant and wildlife. However, the research of the ESZ is mainly focused on rivers at field scale by now, lack of research method on reservoir at the watershed scale. As the special nature of the Three Gorges Reservoir, the construction of the ESZ in the TGRA is

Archaeological prospection of cultural heritage in the Nasca region, Peru, by coupling ENVISAT ASAR 2003-2007 and optical-VHR time series

Science.gov (United States)

Tapete, Deodato; Cigna, Francesca; Masini, Nicola; Lasaponara, Rosa

2013-04-01

. Advantages and shortcomings of the SAR signature-based recognition of archaeological features on the ground are discussed through the test sites of the geoglyphs groups belonging to the Nasca Lines and the puquios along Rio Taruga, with specific reference to the medium spatial resolution offered by ENVISAT ASAR scenes and the supporting comparison with the VHR-optical imagery. Amplitude change detection demonstrates high suitability to highlight temporal differences from which we can infer: (i) modifications due to human activity (e.g., looting in Cahuachi); (ii) surface alteration of the exposed archaeological structures (i.e. site conservation issues); (iii) variations of soil water content and vegetation in agricultural areas where puquios are built; and (iv) land surface processes which can trigger natural hazards potentially damaging cultural and natural heritage, as also demonstrated by past and recent mudslides in Cahuachi and the Andean foot-hills. References Lasaponara R., Masini N. 2012. Investigating satellite Landsat TM and ASTER multitemporal data set to discover ancient canals and acqueduct systems, in Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Vol. 7335, Issue 3, 2012, Pages 497-511, 12th International Conference on Computational Science and Its Applications, ICCSA 2012, doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-31137-6_38. Masini N., Lasaponara R., Rizzo E., Orefici G. 2012. Integrated Remote Sensing Approach in Cahuachi (Peru): Studies and Results of the ITACA Mission (2007-2010), In: Lasaponara R., Masini N. (Eds) 2012, Satellite Remote Sensing: a new tool for Archaeology, Springer, Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, ISBN 978-90-481-8800-0, doi: 10.1007/978-90-481-8801-7_14; pp. 307-344.