Public Perception of Flood Hazard in the Niger Delta,Nigeria

Summary Our study had the aim of understanding how floodplain dwellers regard the risk of flooding. About 500 questionnaires were administered to landowners in the selected settlements in the study area using systematic random sampling. The results of analysis show, among other things, that the population regards most important the causes of floods as heavy, prolonged rainfall and river overflow. Nevertheless, they have little knowledge of the frequency of severe floods, and flood alleviation schemes. Most flood victims do not get compensation or relief during flood disaster, and the reason why they remain in the study area is influenced by their occupations, especially fishing, subsistence agriculture, and the presence of crude oil in the region which has attracted many migrants who cannot afford the high cost of accommodation and are therefore forced to live in vulnerable areas of the floodplain. Finally, the study concludes that flood control in the region needs the cooperation of government, community efforts and an enlightenment programmes through environmental education and mass media.     

GEOMORPHOLOGY OF STEEPLAND HEADWATERS: THE TRANSITION FROM HILLSLOPES TO CHANNELS1

Headwater streams comprise 60 to 80 percent of the cumulative length of river networks. In hilly to mountainous terrain, they reflect a mix of hillslope and channel processes because of their close proximity to sediment source areas. Their morphology is an assemblage of residual soils, landslide deposits, wood, boulders, thin patches of poorly sorted alluvium, and stretches of bedrock. Longitudinal profiles of these channels are strongly influenced by steps created by sediment deposits, large wood, and boulders. Due to the combination of small drainage area, stepped shallow gradient, large roughness elements, and cohesive sediments, headwater streams typically transport little sediment or coarse wood debris by fluvial processes. Consequently, headwaters act as sediment reservoirs for periods spanning decades to centuries. The accumulated sediment and wood may be episodically evacuated by debris flows, debris floods, or gully erosion and transported to larger channels. In mountain environments, these processes deliver significant amounts of materials that form riverine habitats in larger channels. In managed steepland forests, accelerated rates of landslides and debris flows resulting from the harvest of headwater forests have the potential to seriously impact the morphology of headwater streams and downstream resources.     

“We cannot let this happen again”: reversing UK flood policy in response to the Somerset Levels floods, 2014

The Multiple Streams Framework offers a theoretical account of how policy proposals move from latent possibilities to becoming favored for implementation. We apply this framework in the context of the policy response to the 2013–2014 flooding of the Somerset Levels and Moors. Stakeholder interviews and analysis of news media coverage evidence the way in which a specific policy option that had fallen out of favor with the national Environment Agency – dredging – came to the fore and was eventually adopted during the period in which the conjunction of problem, policy, and political pressures came to a head. Local political activists mobilized a wider campaign with the help of social media and capitalized on national political sensitivities to successfully promote dredging. What is less clear is the longevity of the policy reversal, given funding constraints.     

The Value of Using Feasibility Models in Systematic Conservation Planning to Predict Landholder Management Uptake

Understanding the social dimensions of conservation opportunity is crucial for conservation planning in multiple‐use landscapes. However, factors that influence the feasibility of implementing conservation actions, such as the history of landscape management, and landholders’ willingness to engage are often difficult or time consuming to quantify and rarely incorporated into planning. We examined how conservation agencies could reduce costs of acquiring such data by developing predictive models of management feasibility parameterized with social and biophysical factors likely to influence landholders’ decisions to engage in management. To test the utility of our best‐supported model, we developed 4 alternative investment scenarios based on different input data for conservation planning: social data only; biological data only; potential conservation opportunity derived from modeled feasibility that incurs no social data collection costs; and existing conservation opportunity derived from feasibility data that incurred collection costs. Using spatially explicit information on biodiversity values, feasibility, and management costs, we prioritized locations in southwest Australia to control an invasive predator that is detrimental to both agriculture and natural ecosystems: the red fox (Vulpes vulpes). When social data collection costs were moderate to high, the most cost‐effective investment scenario resulted from a predictive model of feasibility. Combining empirical feasibility data with biological data was more cost‐effective for prioritizing management when social data collection costs were low (<4% of the total budget). Calls for more data to inform conservation planning should take into account the costs and benefits of collecting and using social data to ensure that limited funding for conservation is spent in the most cost‐efficient and effective manner.     

LIDAR技术在内陆水系监测管理中应用综述

机载激光雷达(Light Detection and Ranging,LIDAR)测距系统是20世纪90年代发展起来的高新技术,该系统是集激光、全球定位系统和惯性导航系统3种技术于一体的测量系统,能够快速、精确的获取物体三维数据。文章简要说明了LIDAR技术的基本原理。介绍了国外LIDAR技术在内陆河流监测中的应用,如河网测绘、河漫滩的监测管理、河岸侵蚀监测、洪水监测管理等内陆水系监测管理实例。通过对流域范围的LIDAR点云数据进行滤波与分类,建立数字高程模型,或结合使用地理信息系统、遥感影像、全球定位系统采集的数据,来实现上述实例。简要评述了LIDAR技术在内陆水域监测管理方面的优势,以及当前我国内陆水系监测管理的技术现状。通过国外典型案例说明LIDAR技术在我国内陆水系监测管理中广阔的应用前景。     

青海省洪水变化情况的研究

为了研究青海省洪水变化情况,搜集了青海省内43个水文站的相关数据,其中选取具有长期观测资料的32个水文站资料,采用P-Ⅲ曲线作为其理论频率曲线,并与各站自建站-1974年和建站-2008年的水文计算成果进行比较,结果表明青海省水情发生了较大的变化,且在各水文分区的变化也不相同。     

1950-2009年洞庭湖流域农业水灾演变特征及分异规律

洞庭湖流域为我国重要农业生产区,而农业水灾却一直是制约农业可持续发展的最大障碍因素。以1950-2009年水灾统计资料为依据,用定性与定量相结合的方法,系统分析了该流域农业水灾演变特征及区域分异。结果表明:①年年发生流域性或区域性的农业水灾,其中重灾、特大水灾频率呈增大趋势;②在长时间尺度演变过程中,受灾率异常指数岀现2个波峰期和4个波谷期,成灾率异常指数岀现3个波峰期和3个波谷期,且水灾受灾率与成灾率大体上呈同步变化,但短时间內受灾率与成灾率却呈反向波动;③农业水灾具有突变性,但总体演变呈增加趋势;④受孕灾环境、洪涝致灾因子及经济发展水平组合差异的制约,农业相对灾情与绝对灾情在空间上的分布均呈明显的南北分异与东西分异。     

Preliminary report on methane emissions from the Three Gorges Reservoir in the summer drainage period

Considerable variations may exist in CH4 emissions from the Three Gorges Reservoir.     

横通道通风对隧道火灾烟气蔓延影响的数值模拟研究

为探究隧道横通道通风对隧道火灾烟气蔓延的影响规律,使用火灾动力学模拟软件FDS,对不同火源位置的横通道临界风速、主隧道温度分布以及烟气层高度进行研究。研究结果表明：在一定火源功率范围内,隧道横通道临界风速与火源功率的1/3次方成正比且火源距横通道越远,临界风速越小;当火源位于交叉口,横通道使用临界风速通风时,隧道内烟气温度明显降低,烟气迅速沉降到2 m以下;当火源距离交叉口10,20 m,横通道通风会加快火源下游烟气沉降,烟气沉降速度随横通道通风速率的增大而增大;当火源位于交叉口时,烟气沉降由横通道通风对烟气的降温作用和涡旋作用共同主导,当火源位于距离交叉口10,20 m时,烟气沉降主要由涡旋作用主导。     

El Niño platforms: participatory disaster response in Peru

Climate change is expected to lead to greater extremes (droughts and floods) in river regimes around the world. While the number of major calamities is predicted to rise, the efforts of the public sector, experts and local stakeholders are badly coordinated. Consequently, aid does not reach target groups, resulting in unnecessary losses. Hence, there is a need for more participatory and integrative approaches. To ensure a more concerted response to climate-induced disasters, stakeholders could coordinate and negotiate within Multi-Stakeholder Platforms. Such roundtables are increasingly being established for vision-building and integrated water resource management, but could be employed in disaster management as well. After discussing the advantages and disadvantages of participation, this article trace the rise of and the problems facing two 'El Ni?o' platforms: one in Ica, a city on the Peruvian coast that flooded unexpectedly in January 1998, and one in Ayacucho, which saw a climate change-induced drought around the same time. The issue of internal and external legitimacy receives particular emphasis.