Distribution of Lightning Accidents in Sri Lanka from 1974 to 2019 Using the DesInventar Database

The reported lightning accidents that are available in the DesInventar database—which consist of 549 deaths, 498 injured people, 39 destroyed houses, and 741 damaged houses—were analyzed in terms of their geographical and temporal variation. The average lightning flash densities were calculated using zonal statistics using the geographic information system (GIS), referring to the respective raster maps generated based on Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) data from the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) Satellite. Hence, the variations of the lightning accidents—monthly and climate season-wise—in response to the lightning flash density were also reported. The calculated average lightning flash density in Sri Lanka is 8.26 flashes km−2 year−1, and the maximum average lightning flash density of 31.33 flashes km−2 year−1 is observed in April in a calendar year. April seems to be more vulnerable to lightning accidents, as the maximum number of deaths (150 deaths) and injuries (147 injuries) were recorded in this month. Most of the high-risk lightning accident regions that were identified in Sri Lanka are well known for agricultural activities, and those activities will eventually create the platform for lightning victims. In Sri Lanka, in a year, 12 people were killed and 11 people were injured, based on the reported accidents from 1974 to 2019. Conversely, a substantial increase in the number of deaths, injuries, and incidents of property damage has been observed in the last two decades (2000–2019). On average, for the period from 2000 to 2019, 18 people were killed and 16 people were injured per year. Furthermore, considering the population of the country, 0.56 people per million per year were killed, and 0.51 people per million per year were injured due to lightning accidents based on the reported accidents from 1974 to 2019. Moreover, for the 2000–2019 period, these estimated values are significantly higher; 0.86 people per million per year were killed, and 0.77 people per million per year were injured.

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Spatiotemporal Variability of Lightning Flash Distribution over Sri Lanka

International Letters of Chemistry Physics and Astronomy ◽

10.18052/www.scipress.com/ilcpa.82.1 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 82 ◽

pp. 1-13

Author(s):

U.G.Dilaj Maduranga ◽

Mahesh Edirisinghe ◽

L. Vimukthi Gamage

Keyword(s):

Sri Lanka ◽

Monsoon Season ◽

Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission ◽

Spatiotemporal Variability ◽

Spatial And Temporal Variation ◽

Lightning Flash ◽

Northeast Monsoon ◽

Time Period ◽

Total Lightning ◽

Imaging Sensor

The variation of the lightning activities over Sri Lanka and surrounded costal belt (5.750N-10.000N and 79.50E-89.000E) is studied using lightning flash data of Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) which was launched in November 1997 for NASA’s Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). The LIS data for the period of 1998 to 2014 are considered for this study. The spatial and temporal variation of lightning activities is investigated and respective results are presented. The diurnal variation over the studied area presents that maximum and minimum flash count recorded at 1530-1630 Local Time (10-11UTC) and 0530-0630LT (00-01UTC) respectively. Maximum lightning activities over the observed area have occurred after the 1330LT (08UTC) in every year during the considered time period. The seasonal variation of the lightning activities shows that the maximum lightning activities happened in First inter monsoon season (March to April) with 30.90% total lightning flashes and minimum lightning activities recorded in Northeast monsoon season (December to February) with 8.51% of total lightning flashes. Maximum flash density of 14.37fl km-2year-1 was observed at 6.980N/80.160E in First inter monsoon season. These seasonal lighting activities are agree with seasonal convective activities and temperature variation base on propagation of Intra-Tropical Convection Zone over the studied particular area. Mean monthly flash count presents a maximum in the month of April with 29.12% of lightning flashes. Variation pattern of number of lightning activities in month of April shows a tiny increment during the time period of 1998 to 2014. Maximum annual flash density of 28.09fl km-2yr-1 was observed at 6.980N/80.170E. The latitudinal variation of the lightning flash density is depicted that extreme lightning activities have happened at the southern part of the county and results show that there is a noticeable lack of lightning activities over the surrounded costal belt relatively landmass.

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Multivariate spatio-temporal approach to identify vulnerable localities in dengue risk areas using Geographic Information System (GIS)

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-83204-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Gayan P. Withanage ◽

Malika Gunawardana ◽

Sameera D. Viswakula ◽

Krishantha Samaraweera ◽

Nilmini S. Gunawardena ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Information System ◽

Geographic Information System ◽

High Risk ◽

Sri Lanka ◽

Risk Model ◽

Early Warning Systems ◽

Geographic Information ◽

Distance Functions ◽

Public Places ◽

Risk Areas

AbstractDengue is one of the most important vector-borne infection in Sri Lanka currently leading to vast economic and social burden. Neither a vaccine nor drug is still not being practiced, vector controlling is the best approach to control disease transmission in the country. Therefore, early warning systems are imminent requirement. The aim of the study was to develop Geographic Information System (GIS)-based multivariate analysis model to detect risk hotspots of dengue in the Gampaha District, Sri Lanka to control diseases transmission. A risk model and spatial Poisson point process model were developed using separate layers for patient incidence locations, positive breeding containers, roads, total buildings, public places, land use maps and elevation in four high risk areas in the district. Spatial correlations of each study layer with patient incidences was identified using Kernel density and Euclidean distance functions with minimum allowed distance parameter. Output files of risk model indicate that high risk localities are in close proximity to roads and coincide with vegetation coverage while the Poisson model highlighted the proximity of high intensity localities to public places and possibility of artificial reservoirs of dengue. The latter model further indicate that clustering of dengue cases in a radius of approximately 150 m in high risk areas indicating areas need intensive attention in future vector surveillances.

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Climatology of Lightning Activities over Bandaranaike International Airport in Sri Lanka

International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning ◽

10.18280/ijsdp.160604 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (6) ◽

pp. 1027-1038

Author(s):

Dilaj Maduranga ◽

Mahesh Edirisinghe

Keyword(s):

Sri Lanka ◽

Monsoon Season ◽

Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission ◽

Southwest Monsoon ◽

Aviation Industry ◽

Lightning Flash ◽

Northeast Monsoon ◽

International Airport ◽

Environmental Goals ◽

Imaging Sensor

This study reveals the spatiotemporal distribution of lightning activities over Bandaranaike International Airport, the main international airport of Sri Lanka. Lightning flash data was acquired from the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) on Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) of NASA to investigate lightning activities from 1998 to 2014 covering an area of 30 km×30 km over the airport. Overhead annual flash density was 8.19 flashes km-2 year-1. The maximum lightning activities (57%) with an overhead flash density of 28.83 flashes km-2 year-1 was recorded in the first inter-monsoon season. The overhead flash density of 5.28 flashes km-2 year-1, 16.36 flashes km-2 year-1 and 7.46 flashes km-2 year-1 were recorded in the southwest monsoon season, second inter-monsoon season, and northeast monsoon season respectively. The month of April accounts for the highest number of lightning activities while maximum lightning flashes (22%) had occurred during 19.00-20.00 Local Time. According to the international climate season, maximum lightning activities over the study area have been recorded from March to May and during this seasonal period, the northern hemisphere is in spring and the southern hemisphere is in autumn. Safety guidelines are proposed to minimize lightning accidents in the airport. It is important to concern the regions with high lightning activity and vulnerable time periods to mitigate lightning accidents and to take adequate safety precautions to ensure the safety of passengers and the working crew to achieve environmental goals of sustainable development in the aviation industry.

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The Point Bonitation Method and Its Adaptation in Risk Studies: A Case Study in Sri Lanka’s Cities in the Coastal Zone

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18042060 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (4) ◽

pp. 2060

Author(s):

Dorota Rucińska ◽

Martyna Zagrzejewska

Keyword(s):

Risk Management ◽

High Risk ◽

Sri Lanka ◽

Natural Disasters ◽

Economic Geography ◽

Disaster Risk ◽

Specific Result ◽

Weighting Method ◽

Tsunami Risk

Article proposes using weighting method named the Point Bonitation Method, a popular interdisciplinary method, especially in the tourism and socio-economic geography, for giving optional direction to further researching tsunami risk. This method qualifies and quantifies those factors that lead to natural disasters so that it is possible to make comparisons with their roles in disaster areas. This case study in Sri Lanka shows a specific result that is quantification of vulnerability by regions and can be used and developed locally for disaster risk management and reduction. This paper presents discussion about other possible reasons of high risk in regions.

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Management Information System - Human Resource & Payroll System for Sri Lanka Ports Authority

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.3847635 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

K J Lokugama

Keyword(s):

Information System ◽

Sri Lanka ◽

Human Resource ◽

Management Information System ◽

Management Information

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Adoption of Accounting Information System Practices by Entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka (with Special Reference to Polonnaruwa District)

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.2906180 ◽

2016 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ganeesha Kaluarachchi

Keyword(s):

Information System ◽

Sri Lanka ◽

Special Reference ◽

Accounting Information ◽

Accounting Information System

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Assessment of Women participation in Agriculture in Vavuniya district, Sri Lanka

International Journal of Social Sciences and Management ◽

10.3126/ijssm.v3i3.15137 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 3 (3) ◽

pp. 159-162

Author(s):

Gopalakrishnan Tharani ◽

Mohamed Sameem Roshan Akther ◽

Nanthakumaran Ananthini

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Sri Lanka ◽

Multiple Regression ◽

Urban Area ◽

Rural Area ◽

Rural Women ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Agricultural Activities ◽

Urban And Rural Areas ◽

Women Participation

An attempt was made to assess the women contribution towards agriculture in Vavuniya district, Sri Lanka. 60 farm family households' women were randomly selected from rural and urban area of Kovilkulam AI region of Vavuniya district in Sri Lanka and the data were collected by constructed questionnaire. The objectives of this study are to identify the factors contributing women participation in agriculture, to identify the constraints faced by the women in participating agriculture and to evaluate the women participation in decision making activity in agriculture. Minitab 15 and MS excel were used for data analysis. The level of women participation in agricultural activities was found out using chi-square test and the factors contributing for women participation in agricultural activities were identified using multiple regression analysis in urban and rural areas separately (α=0.05). The results revealed that 90% of the rural women respondents and 50% of the urban respondents participated in the agricultural activities which is a significant difference. The mean values of women participation in agricultural activities in urban and rural areas were 77 hours and 836 hours per annum respectively. The multiple regression model for women participation in urban area found that the participation of women negatively correlated with status of employment, age and education level (p=0.000). In rural area, age and educational level were negatively influencing on women participation in agricultural activities (p=0.000). R-square values of fitted regression models were 72 % and 91% in urban and rural area respectively 72% and 91% variation in respective women participation were explained by these models. The obstacles for the women in participation in agricultural activities were reported as lack of knowledge and training in agriculture field, family burden, cultural and social barriers and physical constraints. 60% of women from rural areas and 90% of women from urban areas were involved in decision making especially in the selection of crops and varieties for planting and livestock rearing. Enhancing the awareness and the technical knowledge to the women in the field of agriculture would contribute to increase income from agriculture at household level, district level and finally at national level. Int. J. Soc. Sc. Manage. Vol. 3, Issue-3: 159-162

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Study of mammography reports made between 2015 and 2019

Mastology ◽

10.29289/259453942020v30s1024 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 30 (Suppl 1) ◽

Author(s):

Marina Hernandes Carvalho ◽

Pedro César Garcia Gonçalves ◽

Gabriel Carvalho Carnelossi ◽

Maria Júlia Carvalho Carnelossi ◽

Felipe Colombelli Pacca

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Information System ◽

High Risk ◽

Scientific Evidence ◽

Radiological Finding ◽

Develop Breast Cancer ◽

Cáncer De Mama ◽

Cancer Information ◽

Age Group ◽

Number Of Patients

Introduction: Screening and early diagnosis are crucial strategies for the detection of breast cancer. In Brazil, the Ministry of Health recommends annual clinical screening in women over 40 years of age, with the addition of biennial mammography for those aged between 50 and 69 years. However, high-risk patients should have mammography annually after the age of 35 years. Objectives: To study the reasons for mammography screening in the age group 50 to 69 years. Method: This is an ecological study of the number of patients per mammography report according to age group, from 2015 to 2019. Data from the Cancer Information System (Sistema de Informação do Câncer – SISCAN) were obtained from the Technology Department of the public health system (Departamento de Informática do Sistema Único de Saúde – DATASUS). Results: When comparing data from the Breast Cancer Information System (Sistema de Informação do Câncer de Mama – SISMAMA) from 2015 to 2019, we found 8,569,457 mammographies, of which 5,216,473 were performed in women aged 50 years to 69 years, which corresponds to 60.87% of the procedures. In addition, 4.90% of these women were high-risk individuals, and 1.24% had been treated for breast cancer. Mammography reports showed that 12.01% of the results were inconclusive, 38.28% were normal, 46.12% had a benign radiological finding, 2.58% had a probably benign finding, 0.78% had a suspicious finding, 0.14% had a highly suspicious finding, and 0.04% had malignant confirmation. The proportion of BI-RADS categories 4, 5, and 6 totaled 83,852 screenings, the equivalent to 0.97% of reports. In addition, 59.49% (49,891) of women who presented mammographic findings with malignant characteristics belonged to the age group 50–69 years. Conclusion: This study concluded that the strategy of biennial breast cancer screening shows scientific evidence of mortality reduction, given that 59.49% of the reports with malignant characteristics corresponded to the age group 50 to 69 years. However, the data presented did not allow calculating the number of women outside this age group who do not receive care and develop breast cancer.

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Application of Geographical Information System Techniques to Determine High Crash-Prone Areas in the Fort Peck Indian Reservation

The Open Transportation Journal ◽

10.2174/1874447802014010174 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 174-185

Author(s):

Sahima Nazneen ◽

Mahdi Rezapour ◽

Khaled Ksaibati

Keyword(s):

Information System ◽

High Risk ◽

Injury Severity ◽

Statistical Significance ◽

Temporal Analysis ◽

The United States ◽

Geographical Information ◽

Improvement Program ◽

Indian Reservation ◽

Road Segments

Background: Historically, Indian reservations have been struggling with higher crash rates than the rest of the United States. In an effort to improve roadway safety in these areas, different agencies are working to address this disparity. For any safety improvement program, identifying high risk crash locations is the first step to determine contributing factors of crashes and select corresponding countermeasures. Methods: This study proposes an approach to determine crash-prone areas using Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques through creating crash severity maps and Network Kernel Density Estimation (NetKDE). These two maps were assessed to determine the high-risk road segments having a high crash rate, and high injury severity. However, since the statistical significance of the hotspots cannot be evaluated in NetKDE, this study employed Getis-Ord Gi* (d) statistics to ascertain statistically significant crash hotspots. Finally, maps generated through these two methods were assessed to determine statistically significant high-risk road segments. Moreover, temporal analysis of the crash pattern was performed using spider graphs to explore the variance throughout the day. Results: Within the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, some parts of the US highway 13, BIA Route 1, and US highway 2 are among the many segments being identified as high-risk road segments in this analysis. Also, although some residential roads have PDO crashes, they have been detected as high priority areas due to high crash occurrence. The temporal analysis revealed that crash patterns were almost similar on the weekdays reaching the peak at traffic peak hours, but during the weekend, crashes mostly occurred at midnight. Conclusion: The study would provide tribes with the tool to identify locations demanding immediate safety concerns. This study can be used as a template for other tribes to perform spatial and temporal analysis of the crash patterns to identify high risk crash locations on their roadways.

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