Regional landslide hazard assessment based on Distance Evaluation Model

There are many factors influencing landslide occurrence.The key for landslide control is to confirm the regional landslide hazard factors.The Cameron Highlands of Malaysia was selected as the study area.By bivariate statistical analysis method with GIS software the authors analyzed the relationships among landslides and environmental factors such as lithology,geomorphy,elevation,road and land use.Distance Evaluation Model was developed with Landslide Density(LD).And the assessment of landslide hazard of Cameron Highlands was performed.The result shows that the model has higher prediction precision.

Spatial correlation in building seismic performance for regional resilience assessment

Probabilistic seismic performance assessment method for buildings offers a valuable approach to simulate the broader regional impacts:economic losses,downtime,and casualties.A crucial aspect of this process entails ac-counting for the spatial correlation of building performances,aiming for an accurate estimation of the probability of extreme regional losses,such as the simultaneous collapse of buildings with similar structural characteristics.In this study,a correlation model based on a Gaussian random field is employed,and several key challenges associated with its application are addressed.In addition,efficiency of five different methods of selecting station records from the same earthquake scenario is compared.The minimum number of earthquake records necessary to achieve a stable correlation result is determined.Additionally,spatial correlations derived from different his-tory earthquake events are compared.By addressing these critical issues,this research contributes to refining the reliability of probabilistic methods for regional resilience assessment.

Seismic Hazard Assessment in the Boundary Region of Indo-China:First Phase of Implementation of the Global Seismic Hazard Assessment Program (GSHAP) in Continental Asia

The primary goal of the demonstration project endorsed by the Scientific and Technical Committee for IDNDR in 1992 is to ensure that national agencies are able to assess seismic hazard in a regionally coordinated fashion by using advanced methods.China,as a Regional Center of Central Southern Asia,has contacted with countries of the region to realistically practice seismic hazard assessments of Continental Asia.A test area located in the collision boundary between the Indian and Eurasian plates was chosen to examine the seismic hazard assessment approach in the regional coordinates.The seismotectonics and three versions of seismic sources of the test area are described in this paper and under the Global Seismic Hazard Assessment Program(GSHAP),guidelines an earthquake catalogue of the test area was assembled.Because of the incompleteness of earthquake data in different countries,we adopt different time windows for different magnitude intervals in order to obtain the seismicity parameters of sources.By

Changes in demand and supply of ecosystem services under scenarios of future land use in Vorarlberg, Austria

Ecosystem services(ES)are highly impacted by human-induced land-use change.Progressive urbanization and agricultural land abandonment in Western Europe necessitate assessments of future land-change impacts on ES to ensure sustainable service management.The present study aims at evaluating future demand and supply of three key services(flood protection,nearby recreation and biodiversity)in the mountainous region of Vorarlberg,Austria.We mapped the ES for the referenced time step 2016 and two scenarios for 2050,assuming the continuation of current land-change trends and pressure on landscape development.Results for the referenced landscape in 2016 show the highest ES supply for intermediate levels,while ES supply was low in the lowlands and valley bottoms and in high-elevation areas.We found a high positive correlation of ES with the distribution of forested areas.In contrast,service demand was highest in lowelevation areas and decreased with increasing elevation.This indicates that densely settled and intensively used agricultural areas currently suffer from ES undersupply.The projected future development of land use showed an increase in both supply and demand of the selected ES.The overall service supply increased more than the respective demand due to some reforestation of open land.As forests were found to be important synergistic areas for overall service provision,we expect decreasing demand on related services.Locally,demand was found to exceed the supply of ES,especially in the densely populated Rhine valley-requiring further policy interventions.Such ES-related information may contribute to regional policy making and ensure the long-term provision of ESs for future generations.

Extreme Weather Disruptions and Emergency Preparedness Among Older Adults in Ohio: An Eight-County Assessment

The disproportionate risks and impacts of climate change and extreme weather on older adults are increasingly evident. While especially true in disaster-prone areas, human-caused climate change introduces an element of uncertainty even in previously identified “safe” regions such as the Midwestern United States. Using a cumulative disadvantage and vulnerability-informed framework and descriptive statistics from multiple data sources, this article provides an overview of climate impacts, vulnerabilities, and county-level characteristics, focusing on older adults living in Central Ohio. A comparative multiple-case study methodology was used to triangulate regionally representative primary and secondary data sources to examine state and county-level measures of vulnerability, emergency preparedness, and disruptions caused by extreme weather among older adults across eight counties in Central Ohio. Seventy-eight percent of older adults in the sample reported being prepared for emergencies per Federal Emergency Management Agency guidelines. Older adults in Union County reported the highest rates of preparedness, while those in Fayette County reported the lowest. County-level rates of disruption of life activities by extreme weather ranged widely. Among the most rural in the region, Fayette County emerged as uniquely disadvantaged, with the lowest median income, the most vulnerable across multiple social vulnerability dimensions, and the most reported disruptions to life activities from extreme weather. County profiles offer a snapshot of existing vulnerabilities, socioeconomic conditions, special needs, preparedness, and current disruptions among older adults in the region and can inform resource mobilization across community and policy contexts.

Regional ecosystem health assessment using the GA-BPANN model:a case study of Yunnan Province,China

Background:Regional ecosystem health assessments are the basis for the sustainable development of society.However,an ecosystem is a complex integration of ecosystem mosaics and subsystems that influence each other,making it difficult to evaluate them using traditional assessment methods of linear and explicit functions.We introduce a back-propagation neural network model optimized by a genetic algorithm to evaluate ecosystem health in 16 districts in Yunnan Province.Result:(1)The model required fewer inputs to evaluate complex and nonlinear systems,avoided the need for subjective weights,and performed well in this practical application to regional ecosystem health assessment.(2)The ecosystem health in Yunnan Province was increasing,and there was a significant positive spatial autocorrelation during 2000-2020,showing that districts with high Ecosystem Health cluster together and the ecological protection policy of the region has produced a diffusion effect,leading to continuous improvement of the ecological health of the surrounding areas.High-low outlier areas of ecosystem health should be paid more attention,because of the increasing instability of local health levels.Conclusion:This study provides a methodological exploration for assessing spatial mosaics of different ecosystems at a regional scale.

Uncertainties in estimation of extrapolated annual occurence rate of earthquakes using logical tree

he logical tree methods are used for evaluate quantitatively relationship between frequency and magnitude, and deduce uncertainties of annual occurrence rate of earthquakes in the periods of lower magnitude earthquake. The uncertainties include deviations from the self-similarity of frequency-magnitude relations, different fitting methods, different methods obtained the annual occurrence rate, magnitude step used in fitting, start magnitude, error of magnitude and so on. Taking Xianshuihe River source zone as an example, we analyze uncertainties of occurrence rate of earthquakes M4, which is needed in risk evaluation extrapolating from frequency-magnitude relations of stronger earthquakes. The annual occurrence rate of M4 is usually required for seismic hazard assessment.The sensitivity analysis and examinations indicate that, in the same frequencymagnitude relations fitting method, the most sensitive factor is annual occurrence rate, the second is magnitude step and the following is start magnitude. Effect of magnitude error is rather small.Procedure of estimating the uncertainties is as follows:①Establishing a logical tree described uncertainties in frequencymagnitude relations by available data and knowledge about studied region.② Calculating frequencymagnitude relations for each end branches. ③ Examining sensitivities of each uncertainty factors, amending structure of logical tree and adjusting original weights. ④ Recalculating frequencymagnitude relations of end branches and complementary cumulative distribution function (CCDF) in each magnitude intervals.⑤ Obtaining an annual occurrence rate of M4 earthquakes under given fractiles.Taking fractiles as 20% and 80%, annual occurrence rate of M 4 events in Xianshuihe seismic zone is 0.643 0. The annual occurrence rate is 0.631 8 under fractiles of 50%, which is very close to that under fractiles 20% and 80%.

Landscape Visual Environment Impact Analysis of Wind Power Project in Plain Region--Case in One Wind Power Farm Project of Zhanjiang

The construction of wind power project is conducive to saving energy,reducing emissions and regulating energy structure. But it inevitably causes some impacts on the environment in the construction process. Because that the height of wind power generator generally exceeds 100 m,and visual range in plain region is farther,it is necessary to scientifically and rationally evaluate and analyze landscape visual environment impact of wind power generator in plain region. One wind power farm project of Zhanjiang is located in typical plain region of Guangdong coast. Referring to traditional analytic method of landscape visual impact and comparing with actual situation for the same kind of project in the region,results show that it is ＂ extremely sensitive＂ area at 0- 2. 5 km from wind power generator, ＂ very sensitive＂ area at 2. 5- 5. 0 km, ＂ sensitive＂ area at 5- 10 km, ＂generally sensitive＂ area at 10- 20 km,and non-sensitive area outside 20 km.

Metadata Analysis of Persistent Organic Pollutants in National Pools of Human Milk in Support of the Stockholm Convention Implementation

A set of human milk samples,consisting of pools from up to 50 mothers that delivered their first baby was assessed for the persistent organic pollutants(POPs)listed in the Stockholm Convention.It must be noted that only samples that qualified for the criteria,as established in the global monitoring plan of the Stockholm Convention,following an initial protocol from the World Health Organization,were included.The data do not allow for an assessment of POP concentrations in breast milk with lactation period nor,in most cases and when not indicated otherwise,a comparison within the same country.The assessment does not rank the POPs as to the risk for breastfeeding.Rather the measurements provide a basis for countries to compare among POPs or with other countries.A regional preference for certain POPs could not be identified;thus,taking into account global food supply chains and local production elsewhere does not allow us to prioritize a country for a certain POP.Although the highest concentrations were always found for the sum of DDT,these samples were not prominent in multivariate statistical analyses.The best indicator for the scale of POPs in breast milk was the sampling year:the earlier a national pool was created,the higher and the wider spread were the concentrations:see the example of dioxin-like POPs and indicator PCB.For some POPs,the income of a country seems to indicate scale and POP compounds.The population density was not found to be a suitable predictor or discriminator.Since all POPs seemed to level off and some POPs were only measured after the entry-into-force of the Stockholm Convention in 2004,we do not have a strong indicator to determine POP concentrations in the 1980s or before.