Defining a multi-hazard index in territorial planning framework: application on the Coimbra municipality (western-central Portugal)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Dimuccio ◽  
Lúcio Cunha ◽  
Rui Figueiredo
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Hazard Index ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Related Factor ◽  
Territorial Planning ◽  
Risk Management Process ◽  
Central Portugal ◽  
Complex Relationships ◽  
Temporal Interaction

<p>In order to support a more integrated approach in the early phases of Risk Management Process, a multi-hazard index was defined to assess the spatial and temporal interaction between natural hazards affecting the same area in a specific timeframe. The Coimbra municipality (western-central Portugal) was used as case study. This territory is an example of the persistent occurrence of potentially dangerous natural events: e.g., floods, landslides and forest fires. Using weighting methodologies, numerical values were assigned to each hazard-related factor (weights) and their categories (ratings). To minimize subjectivity/bias in weighting and rating-assignment processes, several quantitative methods were applied, including probabilistic frequency distribution, multi-criteria analysis and artificial neural networks. Monothematic hazard index quantification and subsequently multi-hazard assessment were implemented in a geographic information system. In few hotspots, the relationship between the observed multi-hazard manifestations and the predicted multi-hazard occurrences was recognized. A framework containing the main hazardous processes and most of the complex relationships/interconnections between them was established. The different degree of multi-hazard zones was mapped. This map can be used to support the implementation of actions to mitigate exposure and vulnerability to these hazards, as well as to promote the territorial management and the development of a resilient municipal system.</p>

scholarly journals Polish-English Code-Switching in the Language of Polish Facebook Users

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-120
Author(s):  
Daria Pańka
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative Methods ◽  
Full Picture ◽  
Research Gap ◽  
L1 And L2

Social networking services, such as Facebook, are important channels of communication both for monolingual users and for those having various degrees of proficiency in L2, with the latter deploying expression both from L1 and L2. It can, therefore, be presumed that communication on FB plays a role in practicing the use of L2. One of the phenomena that can be examined in relation to that are various forms of code-switching. There is animmense research gap related to Polish-English code-switching appearing on this SNS. To obtain a full picture of the issue, the paper identifies and discusses types, strategies, and functions of Polish-English code-switches found in posts and comments published by Poles on Facebook in 2014–2019. It also indicates possible applications of FB tools and materials including CS in foreign language teaching and learning and shows how Facebook enables “social learning” (Mallia, 2013). The research is based on a corpus constructed by the author of this article. An integrated approach with both qualitative and quantitative methods of analysis is used in the paper. Three main CS types (intrasentential, intersentential, and tag-switching) and strategies (alternation, insertion, and congruent lexicalisation) have been attested in the material. The code-switches mostly indicate in-group membership but also, for example, introduce humor, quotes, and signal a lack of L1 equivalents. The study points out that there are certain relations between the types, strategies and functions. The resultsof the research are collated with the recent studies on Polish-English and Indonesian-English CS on Facebook.

Integrated approach to quality indices and health risk assessment of water in the Bahr Yusuf Canal, Fayoum, Egypt

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 337-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed E.M. Hassouna ◽  
Mohamed E. Goher ◽  
Seliem M. El-Sayed ◽  
Reda A.A.A. Hassan
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Health Risk ◽  
Hazard Quotient ◽  
Aquatic Toxicity ◽  
Human Health Risk ◽  
Hazard Index ◽  
Pollution Index ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Potential Health ◽  
Aquatic Life

Abstract The Bahr Yusuf Canal is the life artery of the Fayoum Province, which provides the province with two thirds of the freshwater quota from the Nile River. The present work was carried out to assess the suitability of water in the Bahr Yusuf Canal for various purposes and to assess the potential health risk associated with metal content. The results showed that the water quality of Bahr Yusuf was classified as poor and very poor for recreational use according to the Oregon WQI. On the other hand, the Aquatic Toxicity Index indicated the suitability of water for all fish species. The Canadian WQI and the Weighted Arithmetic WQI classified the canal water as good (WQI = 92), fair (WQI = 73) & marginal (WQI = 64) and excellent, poor to good & good to excellent for irrigation, drinking and aquatic life, respectively. Despite the significant contamination of water with heavy metals (as indicated by the Heavy Pollution Index, ranging from 104.44 to 206.32, from 16.81 to 38.48 and from 219.07 to 472.24 μg l−1), the Hazard Quotient (HQ) and the Hazard Index (HI) data indicate that water of Bahr Yusuf does not pose a human health risk through ingestion or dermal contact. In general, the study showed that water in the Bahr Yusuf Canal is characterized by different levels of pollution, which requires rapid and critical intervention by responsible authorities to prevent the discharge of different types of waste and further deterioration of the water quality during the lifetime of the channel and its subsequent rehabilitation.

scholarly journals Event-Based Integrated Assessment of Environmental Variables and Wildfire Severity through Sentinel-2 Data

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Picos ◽  
Laura Alonso ◽  
Guillermo Bastos ◽  
Julia Armesto
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Fire Suppression ◽  
Fire Severity ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Event Based ◽  
Sentinel 2

To optimize suppression, restoration, and prevention plans against wildfire, postfire assessment is a key input. Since little research has been carried out on applying Sentinel-2 imagery through an integrated approach to evaluate how environmental parameters affect fire severity, this work aims to fill this gap. A set of large forest fires that occurred in northwest Spain during extreme weather conditions were adopted as a case study. Sentinel-2 information was used to build the fire severity map and to evaluate the relation between it and a set of its driving factors: land cover, aspect, slope, proximity to the nearest stream, and fire recurrence. The cover types most affected by fire were scrubland, rocky areas, and Eucalyptus. The presence of streams was identified as a major cause of the reduced severity of fires in broadleaves. The occurrence of fires in the past is linked to the severity of fires, depending on the land cover. This research aims to help fire researchers, authority managers, and policy makers distinguish the conditions under which the damage by fire is minimized and optimize the resources allocated to restoration and future fire suppression.

scholarly journals Heavily burned wood from wildfires is less likely to provide substrate for stream biota

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Gonçalves Vaz ◽  
Eric C. Merten ◽  
Christopher T. Robinson ◽  
Paulo Pinto
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
Restoration Ecology ◽  
List Type ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Central Portugal ◽  
The Right ◽  
Stream Biota ◽  
In Fire ◽  
First Time ◽  
Biological Organisms

AbstractIncreasingly severe forest fires are recruiting more heavily burned wood into streams. Wood affects every ecological and physical process in streams differently throughout seasons. However, little is known about the seasonality of wood functions in fire-prone biomes and how it combines with wood burning level to guide future postfire restoration efforts.Through an extensive three-year seasonal tracking of stream wood following forest fires in central Portugal, we examined for the first time the influence of burning level, season, and a large suite of driving factors on the likelihood of each of four functions with primary ecological consequences — retention of organic matter, serving as substrate for aquatic biota, being key pieces forming wood jams, and deflecting flow including pool habitat formation.Our results strongly support that one of the main ecological functions of wood in rivers, i.e. to provide substrate for biological organisms — namely for vegetation, periphyton, biofilms, and ovipositions — can be negatively affected in heavily burned wood.Except for jam formation, the probability of each stream wood function changed markedly with season and the probability of non-function was nearly twice as high in the Euro-Mediterranean dry as in the wet season.More anchored and decayed wood increased the probability of all functions, whereas the effect of submergence depended on the function. Challenging the “size paradigm” assuming larger-sized pieces to provide more function, our data suggest the effect of size to be function-specific.Synthesis and applications. We show how postfire restoration success can be maximized by selecting the most appropriate wood, taking advantage of attribute-function relationships and choosing the right timing for operations. We urge managers to refrain from removing wood or to selectively remove the most heavily carbonized only, allowing the persistence of great potential to provide substrate for stream biota. The non-attraction of heavily burned wood as substrate can be compensated for by other wood with attributes enhancing this function, such as wood deeper within the bankfull area, and with large diameters. These results help to inform successful management, as is increasingly asked from restoration ecology.

scholarly journals High resolution fire hazard index based on satellite images

2018 ◽  
pp. 29-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Laneve ◽  
Lorenzo Fusilli
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
Satellite Images ◽  
Emergency Services ◽  
Fire Hazard ◽  
Hazard Index ◽  
Mediterranean Area ◽  
Information Support ◽  
Burnt Area ◽  
Radar Imagery ◽  
Information Products

In December 2015, after 3 year of activity, the FP7 project PREFER (Space-based Information Support for Prevention and REcovery of Forest Fires Emergency in the MediteRranean Area) came to an end. The project was designed to respond to the need to improve the use of satellite images in applications related to the emergency services, in particular, to forest fires. The project aimed at developing, validating and demonstrating information products based on optical and SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) imagery for supporting the prevention of forest fires and the recovery/damage assessment of burnt area. The present paper presents an improved version of one of the products developed under the PREFER project, which is the Daily Fire Hazard Index (DFHI).

scholarly journals Forest resources of the Far East, their use and reproduction

2020 ◽  
Vol 203 ◽  
pp. 03003
Author(s):  
Andrey Komin ◽  
Pavel Komin ◽  
Vladimir Usov ◽  
Alexander Gridnev
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Far East ◽  
Federal District ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Forest Resources ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Time Required ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Far Eastern

The paper provides an assessment of the state of forest resources in the Far Eastern Federal District and identifies the main factors affecting the qualitative state of forests. The reasons contributing to the increase in the area of forest fires are analyzed. One of the reasons contributing to the degradation of forest areas is also indicated - the accepted allowable cut, which does not always correspond to reality due to the use of outdated forest husbandry materials and its untimely implementation. Considering the issues of forest reproduction, an integrated approach is proposed for carrying out reforestation activities, including both the creation of forest plantations and the implementation of measures aimed at observing the technology of logging operations and preserving undergrowth. This will reduce the cost of reforestation work, as well as reduce the time required for the transfer of forest crops to a forested area. One of the conclusions is a change in the fundamental approaches to forest management in this area, taking into account the observance of environmental, economic and social requirements for forest management.

Ecocultural networks as grounds for spatial planning. A psychosocial approach applied to coastal development

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Ángel Gandarillas ◽  
Michael K. McCall
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Local Knowledge ◽  
Spatial Planning ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Coastal Development ◽  
Land Planning ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Territorial Planning ◽  
Sustainable Planning ◽  
Planning Methodology

PurposeThis work critiques the situation of the ecological and cultural heritage in many coastal territories and analyses how current land planning methodologies are responding to it. The study builds a new integrated approach founded on ecocultural values and local knowledge as resources for an effective territorial planning and sustainable development.Design/methodology/approachThe proposed framework was developed through: (1) analysing coastal planning needs and problems in European coastal areas; (2) identifying ecocultural values, including local knowledge, in such areas; (3) selecting best approaches and tools in spatial planning; (4) applying the selected planning approaches to use ecocultural values as resources for spatial planning and sustainable development; and (5) validating the final methodology.FindingsA dynamic approach for maritime-land planning was developed projecting coastal waters and river basins as strategic drivers for sustainable development, based on the natural capacity of water to shape and integrate the ecological and cultural territory. A participatory governance planning methodology supports the new articulations of space based on ecocultural value chains and networks as synergistic vectors, focusing on local knowledge as psychosocial capital for a collective mapping of cultural, historical, social, economic and ecological values into ecocultural littoral plans.Originality/valueThe results show the potentials of combining new approaches applying cultural and ecological heritage into an effective strategy of integration between society and territory as a powerful driver for effective sustainable planning and development.

Disastrous Forest Fires: Management and Control

2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.P. Vasudeva
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Forest Survey ◽  
Forest Fire Prevention ◽  
And Control ◽  
Rational Knowledge ◽  
Religious Considerations

Forest fires are the most common hazard in forests causing havoc with biodiversity. Forest fires may occur naturally; however, about 80 per cent of forest fires in the world are caused by human beings. Forest Survey of India estimates that about half of the country’s forests are affected by fire. The negative effects of forest fires override the beneficial effects requiring their strategic management. Management of forest fires through the disaster management continuum would lead to systematic tackling with better results. Involvement of communities with their viewpoint in devising strategy for forest fire prevention and control is required. Integrated approach incorporating ecological, economic, social, cultural and religious considerations, and rational knowledge of local people through consultative process to be considered by a fully accountable nodal department would go a long way in managing this disastrous menace.

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