Energy, Resources and the Environment

Words on Wednesday: River flood risk in Jakarta under scenarios of future change

Suzanne Hangx August 12, 2015

Words on Wednesday aims at promoting interesting/fun/exciting publications on topics related to Energy, Resources and the Environment. If you would like to be featured on WoW, please send us a link of the paper, or your own post, at ERE.Matters@gmail.com.

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Budiyono, Y., Aerts, J. C. J. H., Tollenaar, D., and Ward, P.: River flood risk in Jakarta under scenarios of future change, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., 3, 4435-4478, doi:10.5194/nhessd-3-4435-2015, 2015.

Abstract:

Given the increasing impacts of flooding in Jakarta, methods for assessing current and future flood risk are required. In this paper, we use the Damagescanner-Jakarta risk model to project changes in future river flood risk under scenarios of climate change, land subsidence, and land use change. We estimate current flood risk at USD 143 million p.a. Combining all future scenarios, we simulate a median increase in risk of +263 % by 2030. The single driver with the largest contribution to that increase is land subsidence (+173 %). We simulated the impacts of climate change by combining two scenario of sea level rise with simulations of changes in 1 day extreme precipitation totals from 5 Global Climate Models (GCMs) forced by 4 Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs). The results are highly uncertain; the median change in risk due to climate change alone by 2030 is a decrease by −4 %, but we simulate an increase in risk under 21 of the 40 GCM-RCP-sea level rise combinations. Hence, we developed probabilistic risk scenarios to account for this uncertainty. Finally, we discuss the relevance of the results for flood risk management in Jakarta.

Spatial distribution of projected total land subsidence over the period 2012–2025.

Words on Wednesday: Effects of land use changes and soil conservation intervention on soil properties as indicators for land degradation under a Mediterranean climate

loveless July 29, 2015

Words on Wednesday aims at promoting interesting/fun/exciting publications on topics related to Energy, Resources and the Environment. If you would like to be featured on WoW, please send us a link of the paper, or your own post, at ERE.Matters@gmail.com.

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Y. Mohawesh, A. Taimeh, and F. Ziadat: Effects of land use changes and soil conservation intervention on soil properties as indicators for land degradation under a Mediterranean climate, Solid Earth., 6, 857-868, 2015.

Abstract:

Land degradation resulting from improper land use and management is a major cause of declined productivity in the arid environment. The objectives of this study were to examine the effects of a sequence of land use changes, soil conservation measures, and the time since their implementation on the degradation of selected soil properties. The climate for the selected 105 km² watershed varies from semi-arid sub-tropical to Mediterranean sub-humid. Land use changes were detected using aerial photographs acquired in 1953, 1978, and 2008. A total of 218 samples were collected from 40 sites in three different rainfall zones to represent different land use changes and variable lengths of time since the construction of stone walls. Analyses of variance were used to test the differences between the sequences of land use changes (interchangeable sequences of forest, orchards, field crops, and range), the time since the implementation of soil conservation measures, rainfall on the thickness of the A-horizon, soil organic carbon content, and texture. Soil organic carbon reacts actively with different combinations and sequences of land use changes. The time since stone walls were constructed showed significant impacts on soil organic carbon and the thickness of the surface horizon. The effects of changing the land use and whether the changes were associated with the construction of stone walls varied according to the annual rainfall. The changes in soil properties could be used as indicators of land degradation and to assess the impact of soil conservation programs. The results help in understanding the effects of land use changes on land degradation processes and carbon sequestration potential and in formulating sound soil conservation plans.

Words on Wednesday: Brief Communication – The dark side of risk and crisis communication: legal conflicts and responsibility allocation

Suzanne Hangx July 22, 2015

Incoming Storm.
Credit: Jaap Schellekens (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Words on Wednesday aims at promoting interesting/fun/exciting publications on topics related to Energy, Resources and the Environment. If you would like to be featured on WoW, please send us a link of the paper, or your own post, at ERE.Matters@gmail.com.

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Scolobig, A.: Brief Communication: The dark side of risk and crisis communication: legal conflicts and responsibility allocation, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 15, 1449-1456, doi:10.5194/nhess-15-1449-2015, 2015.

Abstract:

Inadequate, misinterpreted, or missing risk and crisis communication may be a reason for practitioners, and sometimes science advisors, to become the subjects of criminal investigations. This work discusses the legal consequences of inadequate risk communication in these situations. After presenting some cases, the discussion focuses on three critical issues: the development of effective communication protocols; the role, tasks, and responsibilities of science advisors; and the collateral effects of practitioners’ defensive behaviours. For example, if the avoidance of personal liability becomes a primary objective for practitioners, it may clash with other objectives, such as the protection of vulnerable communities or the transparency of decision making. The conclusion presents some ideas for future research on the legal aspects of risk communication.

Towards observation-based gridded runoff estimates for Europe

ERE Matters July 15, 2015

Words on Wednesday aims at promoting interesting/fun/exciting publications on topics related to Energy, Resources and the Environment. If you would like to be featured on WoW, please send us a link of the paper, or your own post, at ERE.Matters@gmail.com.

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Gudmundsson, L. and Seneviratne, S. I.: Towards observation-based gridded runoff estimates for Europe, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 19, 2859-2879, doi:10.5194/hess-19-2859-2015, 2015. http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/19/2859/2015/hess-19-2859-2015.html

Abstract:

Terrestrial water variables are the key to understanding ecosystem processes, feed back on weather and climate, and are a prerequisite for human activities. To provide context for local investigations and to better understand phenomena that only emerge at large spatial scales, reliable information on continental-scale freshwater dynamics is necessary. To date streamflow is among the best-observed variables of terrestrial water systems. However, observation networks have a limited station density and often incomplete temporal coverage, limiting investigations to locations and times with observations. This paper presents a methodology to estimate continental-scale runoff on a 0.5° spatial grid with monthly resolution. The methodology is based on statistical upscaling of observed streamflow from small catchments in Europe and exploits readily available gridded atmospheric forcing data combined with the capability of machine learning techniques. The resulting runoff estimates are validated against (1) runoff from small catchments that were not used for model training, (2) river discharge from nine continental-scale river basins and (3) independent estimates of long-term mean evapotranspiration at the pan-European scale. In addition it is shown that the produced gridded runoff compares on average better to observations than a multi-model ensemble of comprehensive land surface models (LSMs), making it an ideal candidate for model evaluation and model development. In particular, the presented machine learning approach may help determining which factors are most relevant for an efficient modelling of runoff at regional scales. Finally, the resulting data product is used to derive a comprehensive runoff climatology for Europe and its potential for drought monitoring is illustrated.