Prototyping low-cost automatic weather stations for natural disaster monitoring

Weather events put human lives at risk mostly when people might occupy areas susceptible to natural disasters.Deploying Professional Weather Stations(PWS)in vulnerable areas is key for monitoring weather with reliable measurements.However,such professional instrumentation is notably expensive while remote sensing from a number of stations is paramount.This imposes challenges on the large-scale weather station deployment for broad monitoring from large observation networks such as in Cemaden—The Brazilian National Center for Monitoring and Early Warning of Natural Disasters.In this context,in this paper,we propose a Low-Cost Automatic Weather Station(LCAWS)system developed from Commercial Off-The-Shelf(COTS)and open-source Internet of Things(IoT)technologies,which provides measurements as reliable as a reference PWS for natural disaster monitoring.When being automatic,LCAWS is a stand-alone photovoltaic system connected wirelessly to the Internet in order to provide real-time reliable end-to-end weather measurements.To achieve data reliability,we propose an intelligent sensor calibration method to correct measures.From a 30-day uninterrupted observation with sampling in minute resolution,we show that the calibrated LCAWS sensors have no statistically significant differences from the PWS measurements.As such,LCAWS has opened opportunities for reducing maintenance costs in Cemaden's observational network.

A Relationship between Solar Activity and Frequency of Natural Disasters in China

The relationship between the length of the solar cycle, a good indicator of long-term change in solar activity, and natural disasters (drought, flood, and strong earthquakes) in China during the last 108 yearsis analyzed. The results suggest that the length of solar cycle may be a useful indicator for drought/flood and strong earthquakes. When the solar activity strengthens, we see the length of the solar cycle shorten and more floods occur in South China and frequent strong earthquakes happen in the Tibetan Plateau, but the droughts in East China as well as the strong earthquakes in Taiwan and at the western boundary of China are very few. The opposite frequencies occur when the solar activity weakens. The current study indicates that the solar activity may play an important role in the climate extremes and behavior in the lithosphere.

A catastrophic natural disaster chain of typhoon-rainstorm-landslide-barrier lake-flooding in Zhejiang Province, China

On August 10,2019,due to the effect of a rainstorm caused by Super Typhoon Lekima,a landslide occurred in Shanzao Village,China.It blocked the Shanzao stream,forming a barrier lake,and then the barrier lake burst.This is a rare natural disaster chain of typhoon-rainstorm-landslide-barrier lake-flooding.This study was built on field surveys,satellite image interpretation,the digital elevation model(DEM),engineering geological analysis and empirical regression.The purpose was to reveal the characteristics and causes of the landslide,the features and formation process of the barrier lake and the dam break flooding discharge.The results show that the volume of the landslide deposit is approximately 2.4×105 m3.The burst mode of the landslide dam is overtopping,which took only 22 minutes from the formation of the landslide dam to its overtopping.The dam-break peak flow was 1353 m3/s,and the average velocity was 2.8–3.0 m/s.This study shows that the strongly weathered rock and soil slope has low strength and high permeability under the condition of heavy rainfall,which reminds us the high risk of landslides and the importance of accurate early warning of landslides under heavy rainfalls in densely populated areas of Southeast China,as well as the severity of the disaster chain of typhoon-rainstorm-landslide-barrier lake-flooding.

THEORY AND PRACTICE FOR COMPILING THE ATLAS OF NATURAL DISASTERS IN CHINA

This article inquires into theoretical and practical problems on compilation of an atlas of regional natural disasters. (1) The basic theory of compiling an atlas of regional disasters has been founded on the combination of the sciences of disasters, cartography and regional geogrphy. The content structure of a regional disaster atlas should be composed of at least the following five parts:hazard-formative environments and hazard-affected bodies,hazards, disaster effects, monitoring and warning system for natural disasters, and countermeasures for natural disaster reduction. (2) Contents of cartographic design of a regional disaster atlas should be composed of at least the following five parts: base map system, cartographic representation, Symbol System, color system, map edition and map layout system. (3) Based on theory and cartographic design of compiling an atlas of regional disaster, the Atlas of Natural Disater in China, which reveals objectively the temporal and spaial pattern of regional natural disasters of China,has been compiled and published.

An efficient framework for ensemble of natural disaster simulations as a service

Calculations of risk from natural disasters may require ensembles of hundreds of thousands of simulations to accurately quantify the complex relationships between the outcome of a disaster and its contributing factors.Such large ensembles cannot typically be run on a single computer due to the limited computational resources available.Cloud Computing offers an attractive alternative,with an almost unlimited capacity for computation,storage,and network bandwidth.However,there are no clear mechanisms that define how to implement these complex natural disaster ensembles on the Cloud with minimal time and resources.As such,this paper proposes a system framework with two phases of cost optimization to run the ensembles as a service over Cloud.The cost is minimized through efficient distribution of the simulations among the cost-efficient instances and intelligent choice of the instances based on pricing models.We validate the proposed framework using real Cloud environment with real wildfire ensemble scenarios under different user requirements.The experimental results give an edge to the proposed system over the bag-of-task type execution on the Clouds with less cost and better flexibility.

The Bionic Anticipation of Natural Disasters

After major natural disasters, such as the recent earthquake-tsunami event in South Asia, reports appear about the mysterious ability of animals to anticipate and to escape the impending danger. This is an opportunity to recall the long history of this phenomenon in the traditions of different civilizations, to evaluate Chinese efforts, 30-40 years ago, to use this phenomenon for earthquake prediction, and to judge its state of acceptance in modem science. An effort is made to introduce this phenomenon as a research field of modem bionics. The timing is favorable since, increasingly, infrared thermal anomalies, monitored from satellite, suggesting litho-atmospheric processes, are found to precede earthquakes. They were unexpected by seismologists and are here suggested to essentially reflect the energy conversion patterns responsible for the signals monitored by animals. The aim is to learn from animals in the long term how natural disasters can better be anticipated, and how simple technical warning systems can be developed. Some challenges are analyzed. One is interpretation of the nature of energy release prior to the main earthquake disaster resulting in ＂macro-anomaly＂ precursors, another is better to understand the effect on animal senses. The role of non-linear cooperative phenomena including tsunamitype waves is emphasized.

The Recurrence of Natural Disasters in Jowhar, Middle Shabelle Region, Somalia: The Causes and Impacts

Natural disasters usually involve a phenomenon with consequences that exceed the response capabilities of local communities and have a significant impact on the region’s socioeconomic development. Droughts, floods, and hurricanes are all natural disasters that jeopardize the environment and the lives of Somalis. Severe floods have devastated the south and central parts of the country multiple times, destroying infrastructure and homes and killing many vulnerable people. Droughts in the south and central parts of the country, particularly in the Middle Shebelle region, have killed a number of children and mothers. It also had a negative influence on crops and cattle. Objective of this study is to know the recurrence of Natural Disasters in Jowhar, Middle Shabelle region, Somalia: The Causes and Impacts. The Somali people are completely aware of natural disasters such as droughts and floods, and they are self-sufficient in dealing with the consequences of these disasters. Furthermore, the Somali government has not fully created environmental laws to protect and conserve the environment, and the majority of laws, rules, acts, and regulations are not used or administered effectively. We also found that the Somali government is not yet financially prepared to deal with these crises, and that there are no strategic plans in the central government or even state administrations to prevent or at least control these disasters from causing extreme harm to the community and the environment.

Evaluating Effective Pediatric Psychological Trauma Treatments Post-Traumatic Natural Disasters

What are the best treatment approaches for children experiencing trauma after natural disasters? Historically, the U.S. emergency response system has not provided psychological support to communities impacted by disasters. Instead, the traditional emergency response community focused on ensuring the physical survival of the individuals and communities that it protects. The goal of all disaster interventions, whether physical or psychological in nature, is to restore the individual to his/her level of pre-disaster functioning. Emphasizing psychological intervention and treatment after disasters is essential in restoring health in individuals post-trauma because mental health is necessary for proper physical health, forming of coping mechanisms, and the ability of individuals to move past the trauma and lead normal lives. At young ages, the body is still developing mentally and physically, meaning the impact of a traumatic event may be completely different from that of most adults. For example, children have greater thought suppression, which leads to an associated increase in PTSD and internalizing behaviors. Thus, children require a different treatment approach to ensure that trauma is not long-lasting and prevalent in future adult life, such as through trouble expressing and regulating emotions, as well as vulnerability to future exposure to stress, which may negatively impact individuals’ identity and interpersonal abilities. The purpose of this review paper is to evaluate various memory-related disorders to then explain the pros and cons of various treatment approaches based on their efficiency in treating PTSD-related symptoms post-natural disasters in children. This review identifies the best pediatric trauma treatment approaches used after natural disasters, highlighting a lack of efficient, effective, and specific psychological treatments. By comparing various existing psychological treatments, this paper provides future directions for research by identifying existing gaps in the field and explains contrasting approaches for various memory-related and natural disaster related psychological trauma disorders.

Geostatistical Analysis of the Colorada and Quimichule Canyons Located in Popocatépetl Volcano (Mexico) for the Prevention of Natural Disasters

This paper aims to contribute to the prevention of natural disasters and generate a complement to other similar studies. The Popocatépetl volcano has showed significant and constant activity since 1994. The Colorada and Quimichule canyons are located within its geologic structure;due to their topographic features, ejected volcanic material and torrential rains in the past recent years, they put nearby communities at risk. This work presents a geostatistical analysis to obtain the gravity acceleration, slope by the distance-elevation relation, height-gravity and the fluid force on the canyons. The conversion of UTM to geographical coordinates was made with the use of the program Traninv applying the ITRF2008 epoch 2010.0 Datum and the 14 Zone;the local gravity was calculated with the use of International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML) and the statistical analysis was obtained with the use of the Geostatistical Environmental Assessment. The structural modeling was performed using Surfer, and the spending and force were calculated using hydrological models. The correlation analysis concluded that Quimichule has the greatest gravity and that it would transport lahars faster. Mapping, geomorphological and statistical techniques and models were applied in accordance with the study to obtain the results presented here.

Natural Disaster in Tbilisi City (Riv. Vere Basin) in the Year 2015

During 13-14 June 2015 heavy rainfall in the Riv. Vere basin area and its tributaries caused a drastic increase in the water level and triggered/activated large-scale landslide and debrisflow events. This put the Tskneti-Samadlo and Tsnketi-Akhal- daba motorways out of order. Residential buildings and miscellaneous infrastructural facilities, buildings and structures and Tbilisi Zoo located at the low elevations in the Riv. Vere Gorge were significantly damaged or/and totally destroyed. 23 persons died during the disaster. This study presents the results on an analysis of the landslides/ debrisflows in the riv. Vere catchment and discusses main triggering factors of natural disaster, statistics for the prior period, and geodynamic situation of Akhaldaba “big” landslide developed at the Tskneti-Samadlo road section. It is given recommendations for future activities to reduce landslide/debrisflow hazard in this catchment.

COMMUNAL VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT FOR NATURAL DISASTERS

An integral part of risk assessment for natural hazards, communal vulnerability assessment (CVA) is now receiving considerable attention, with the on-going International Decade of Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR). This article expounds the definition of the CVA concept and its implication. In addition, it offers a brief discussion of the reasons why CVA has been neglected and its relationship with socio-economic and physical vulnerability assessment. The article also gives an explorative exposition of the methodology and application of communal vulnerability analysis in risk reduction.

Catalysts or Barriers?The Impacts of Natural Disasters on Internal Labor Migration in China

This paper discusses ways in which negative economic shocks captured by natural disasters can shape internal labor migration in China.The impact of negative economic shocks on migration depends on the combination of two opposite driving forces:(i)negative economic shocks can make staying in the affected area less profitable,thus enhancing returns to migration;(ii)the shocks can make it more difficult to migrate out,thus inducing a higher fixed cost of migration.Based on a nationwide dataset of China,this paper shows that when natural disasters were not severe,they caused migration out of rural areas.With sufficiently severe damage,however,the negative effect of natural disasters could be mitigated by villages'prior migrant networks.Specifically,with a severe shock,only clan members were able to migrate in response to natural disasters and enjoyed the complementary effects of prior migrant networks,as they could receive more help from social capital.

Strategy for Protection of Cultural Heritage Exposed to the Natural and Man-Made Activity Disasters in Serbia

Natural disasters and the adverse human activities are the key events in the history of mankind that form our history and shape our collective memory to this day.People on the planet Earth are not obsessed only with natural hazards,caused by earthquakes,floods and volcanic eruptions,and troubles unlikely come solely from the action of nature.Disasters threatening the human race can be caused also by people themselves.Both types of disasters cause vast human suffering,at the same time destroying cultural heritage as well,that has the function of determining the identity of social communities.These sufferings should be added to those that can be determined only by in-depth analyses which are derived from the synergy of natural forces and mistaken choices made by the humans,when it comes to their habitat.The proposed strategic plan for protection of built heritage in emergency situations may become the powerful catalyst for the process of revitalization by which the social tissue of community is maintained and restored,creating the symbol of resistance by which it endures each and every natural element and evil men behaviour.

Natural Disaster Risk Monitoring for Immovable Cultural Relics Based on Digital Twin

Natural disaster risk monitoring is an important task for disaster prevention and reduction.In the case of immovable cultural relics,however,the feedback mechanism,risk factors,monitoring logic,and monitoring indicators of natural disaster risk monitoring are complex.How to achieve intelligent perception and monitoring of natural disaster risk for immovable cultural relics has always been a focus and a challenge for researchers.Based on the analysis of the concepts and issues related to the natural disaster risk of immovable cultural relics,this paper proposes a framework for natural disaster risk monitoring for immovable cultural relics based on the digital twin.This framework focuses on risk monitoring,including the physical entities of natural disaster risk for immovable cultural relics,monitoring indicators,and virtual entity construction.A platform for monitoring the natural disaster risk of immovable cultural relics is proposed.Using the Puzhou Ancient City Site as a test bed,the proposed concept can be used for monitoring the natural disaster risk of immovable cultural relics at different scales.

Migration for survival under natural disasters:A reluctant and passive choice for agriculturalists in historical China

This study quantitatively investigates the long-term dynamics of the association between natural disasters and the migration of agriculturists in historical China. Population pressure is also studied because migration is a population density-dependent phenomenon. This study has adopted correlation analysis, multivariate linear/Poisson regression analyses, and Granger causality analysis to verify the linkages of natural disaster-migration and population-migration in historical China by collecting updated datasets. This study is the first attempt to reveal that the duration effects of natural disasters on the migration of agriculturalists are short-term and almost instantaneous. Although the agrarian society has a low buffering capacity, the effects of natural disasters within a short-term scale could be relieved to some extent. However, population pressure can push migration on a long-term scale despite its limited forcefulness.

Understanding global natural disasters and the role of earth observation

Since earthquakes,tropical storms,and floods are the three main global natural disasters causing the biggest loss,they should be the main focus of research in disaster science and disaster mitigation and prevention.This paper discusses the characteristics of these three global natural disasters from a scientific point of view,and analyses their patterns of distribution,origin and result,as well as the extent of their damage and measures of disaster mitigation and prevention.The paper,at the technical level,introduces the role of earth observation(EO)technologies in disaster mitigation,and real and quasi-real-time monitoring and assessment using advanced optical and microwaveEOcapacities,while digital earth technologies provide avery important role in rapidly acquiring spatial information of the disaster areas.The paper concludes by discussing the relationship between man and natural disasters,and proposes the viewpoint that man and nature should be able to harmoniously coexist,and the importance of understanding disasters from an earth system science perspective so as to better meet the challenges of natural disasters.

Natural disaster warning system for safe operation of a high-speed railway

In this paper,the least square support vector machine(LSSVM)is used to study the safety of a high-speed railway.According to the principle of LSSVM regression prediction,the parameters of the LSSVM are optimized to model the natural disaster early warning of safe operation of a high-speed railway,and the management measures and methods of high-speed railway safety operation under natural disasters are given.The relevant statistical data of China’s high-speed railway are used for training and verification.The experimental results show that the LSSVM can well reflect the nonlinear relationship between the accident rate and the influencing factors,with high simulation accuracy and strong generalization ability,and can effectively predict the natural disasters in the safe operation of a high-speed railway.Moreover,the early warning system can improve the ability of safety operation evaluation and early warning of high-speed railway under natural disasters,realize the development goals of high-speed railway(safety,speed,economic,low-carbon and environmental protection)and provide a theoretical basis and technical support for improving the safety of a high-speed railway.

Natural Disasters Warning for Enterprises Through Fuzzy Keywords Search

With the ever-increasing number of natural disasters warning documents in document databases, the document database is becoming an economic and efficient way for enterprise staffs to learn and understand the contents of the natural disasters warning through searching for necessary text documents. Generally, the document database can recommend a mass of documents to the enterprise staffs through analyzing the enterprise staff's precisely typed keywords. In fact, these recommended documents place a heavy burden on the enterprise staffs to learn and select as the enterprise staffs have little background knowledge about the contents of the natural disasters warning. Thus, the enterprise staffs fail to retrieve and select appropriate documents to achieve their desired goals.Considering the above drawbacks, in this paper, we propose a fuzzy keywords-driven Natural Disasters Warning Documents retrieval approach(named NDWDkeyword). Through the text description mining of documents and the fuzzy keywords searching technology, the retrieval approach can precisely capture the enterprise staffs' target requirements and then return necessary documents to the enterprise staffs. Finally, a case study is run to explain our retrieval approach step by step and demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of our proposal.

Risk assessment of large-scale winter sports sites in the context of a natural disaster

Accidents induced by natural disasters at sports sites may cause catastrophic loss of great concern.However,previous studies on risk assessments of sports sites have only focused on operational risk and equipment failure.With the frequent occurrence of extreme disasters,the risk of domino chains caused by natural disasters at large-scale events,such as large-scale winter sports sites,cannot be ignored.In this study,a natural disaster-induced accident-chain evolution analysis model(NAEA model)is proposed.Based on the results of the NAEA model,a fuzzy Bayesian network for domino accidents triggered by an earthquake at large-scale winter sports sites was established.Through sensitivity analysis and scenario analysis,it was found that fire and explosion accidents and crowded stampede accidents are the main causes of serious loss in domino disaster chains in large-scale sports sites.Simultaneously,improving the early warning capability,reliability of electrical equipment,and automatic sprinkler systems are the most effective ways to prevent and control major accidents.In addition,an optimal safety strategy improvement analysis was performed to facilitate the decision-making of safety managers to prevent serious accidents and reduce accident loss.

A Small “Think Tank” Integrating Foresight,Innovation,and Practicability: A Review on Practice and Reflections on Local Governments' Response to Major Natural Disasters

Practice and Reflections on Local Governments’Response to Major Natural Disasters Authors:He Zhen et al.Year:2014Publisher:People’s Publishing House ISBN:9787010137049(478 pages,in Chinese)China is a countr y with frequent occur rence of major natural disasters.Especially since the 21st century,natural disasters。