ALBERT

Description / Table of Contents: The Handbook provides a comprehensive statement and reference point for hazard and disaster research, policy making, and practice in an international and multi-disciplinary context. It offers critical reviews and appraisals of current state of the art and future development of conceptual, theoretical and practical approaches as well as empirical knowledge and available tools. Organized into five inter-related sections, this Handbook contains sixty-five contributions from leading scholars. Section one situates hazards and disasters in their broad political, cultural, economic, and environmental context. Section two contains treatments of potentially damaging natural events/phenomena organized by major earth system. Section three critically reviews progress in responding to disasters including warning, relief and recovery. Section four addresses mitigation of potential loss and prevention of disasters under two sub-headings: governance, advocacy and self-help, and communication and participation. Section five ends with a concluding chapter by the editors.The engaging international contributions reflect upon the politics and policy of how we think about and practice applied hazard research and disaster risk reduction. This Handbook provides a wealth of interdisciplinary information and will appeal to students and practitioners interested in Geography, Environment Studies and Development Studies.

Description / Table of Contents: Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are revolutionizing the world in a way their original developers never envisaged. From being military 'war' tools, GNSS satellites are rapidly becoming 'peace' tools that play a potentially critical role in enabling changing environmental phenomenon that do not permit direct measurements to be remotely observed via their all-weather, highly accurate and continuously updatable positional time series. This is evident, for example, in their use in emerging environmental monitoring methods that are considered in this book. These include: GPS-based radio telemetry, which is enhancing ecological and conservation monitoring by more accurately mapping animal movements, their behaviours, and their impact on the environment; GNSS-meteorology, which is contributing to weather and climate change studies; GNSS-remote sensing, which, for example, allows the rapid monitoring of changes in fresh water resources and cryosphere; Geosensor network techniques, which are earning a crucial role in disaster response management; Epidemiology, for improved efficiency in tracking and studying the spread of infectious diseases and climate change effects on vector-borne diseases; and Economics, to provide data for the econometric modelling of casual impact of policies. In Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA), Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEA), and Sustainability Assessments (SA), GNSS, together with other spaced-based remote sensing techniques, are emerging, not only as modern tools that connect the developers to the community, but also provide information that support Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) methods, which inform decision making and policy formulations.By bringing the two fields of geodesy (the parent of GNSS technology) and environmental studies (potential users of this technology), this book presents the concepts of GNSS in a simplified way that can, on the one hand, be understood and utilised by environmentalists, while on the other, outlines its potential applications to environmental monitoring and management for those engaged more with its technology, which hopefully will further energise the already innovative research that is being carried out. Lastly, this book is most relevant to all the professionals whose work is related to the environment such as hydrologists, meteorologists, epidemiologists, economist, and engineers, to name just a few.

Description / Table of Contents: This book provides a comprehensive overview of the state of the art in the field of thermal infrared remote sensing. Temperature is one of the most important physical environmental variables monitored by earth observing remote sensing systems. Temperature ranges define the boundaries of habitats on our planet. Thermal hazards endanger our resources and well-being. In this book renowned international experts have contributed chapters on currently available thermal sensors as well as innovative plans for future missions. Further chapters discuss the underlying physics and image processing techniques for analyzing thermal data. Ground-breaking chapters on applications present a wide variety of case studies leading to a deepened understanding of land and sea surface temperature dynamics, urban heat island effects, forest fires, volcanic eruption precursors, underground coal fires, geothermal systems, soil moisture variability, and temperature-based mineral discrimination. Thermal Infrared Remote Sensing: Sensors, Methods, Applications is unique because of the large field it spans, the potentials it reveals, and the detail it provides.

Description / Table of Contents: Hyperspectral remote sensing is an emerging, multidisciplinary field with diverse applications that builds on the principles of material spectroscopy, radiative transfer, imaging spectrometry, and hyperspectral data processing. While there are many resources that suitably cover these areas individually and focus on specific aspects of the hyperspectral remote sensing field, this book provides a holistic treatment that captures its multidisciplinary nature.The content is oriented toward the physical principles of hyperspectral remote sensing as opposed to applications of hyperspectral technology. Readers can expect to finish the book armed with the required knowledge to understand the immense literature available in this technology area and apply their knowledge to the understanding of material spectral properties, the design of hyperspectral systems, the analysis of hyperspectral imagery, and the application of the technology to specific problems.

Description / Table of Contents: Volcanoes have played a profound role in shaping our planet, and volcanic activity is a major hazard locally, regionally and globally. Many volcanoes are, however, poorly accessible and sparsely monitored. Consequently, remote sensing is playing an increasingly important role in tracking volcano behaviour, while synoptic remote sensing techniques have begun to make major contributions to volcanological science. Volcanology is driven in part by the operational concerns of volcano monitoring and hazard management, but the goal of volcanological science is to understand the processes that underlie volcanic activity. This volume shows how we may reach a deeper understanding by integrating remote sensing measurements with modelling approaches and, if available, ground-based observations. It includes reviews and papers that report technical advances and document key case studies. They span a range of remote sensing applications to volcanoes, from volcano deformation, thermal anomalies and gas fluxes, to the tracking of eruptive ash and gas plumes. The result is a state-of-the-art overview of the ever-growing importance of remote sensing to volcanology.

Description / Table of Contents: Für die Beantwortung verschiedener Fragestellungen im Siedlungsraum werden kleinräumige Informationen zur Siedlungsstruktur (funktional, morphologisch und sozio-ökonomisch) benötigt. Der Gebäudebestand spielt eine besondere Rolle, da dieser die physische Struktur prägt und sich durch dessen Nutzung Verteilungsmuster von Wohnungen, Arbeitsstätten und Infrastrukturen ergeben. In amtlichen Geodaten, Karten und Diensten des Liegenschaftskatasters und der Landesvermessung sind die Gebäude in ihrem Grundriss modelliert. Diese besitzen allerdings nur selten explizite semantische Informationen zum Gebäudetyp. Es stellt sich die Frage, ob und wie genau eine automatische Erkennung von Gebäudetypen unter Nutzung von Methoden der Geoinformatik, der Mustererkennung und des maschinellen Lernens möglich ist.In diesem Buch werden methodische Bausteine zur automatischen Klassifizierung von Gebäudegrundrissen vorgestellt. Im Kern werden Fragen beantwortet zu den Datenanforderungen, der Gebäudetypologie, der Merkmalsgewinnung sowie zu geeigneten Klassifikationsverfahren und den Klassifikationsgenauigkeiten, die abhängig von Eingangsdaten, Siedlungstyp und Trainingsdatenmenge erzielt werden können. Der Random-Forest-Algorithmus zeigte die höchste Flexibilität, Generalisierungsfähigkeit und Effizienz und wurde als bestes Klassifikationsverfahren identifiziert.Die Arbeit leistet einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Gewinnung kleinräumiger Informationen zur Siedlungsstruktur. Die entwickelte Methodik ermöglicht ein breites Anwendungsspektrum in der Wissenschaft, Planung, Politik und Wirtschaft (u. a. Stadt- und Regionalplanung, Infrastrukturplanung, Risikomanagement, Energiebedarfsplanung oder dem Geomarketing).

Description / Table of Contents: Contents: 1. Risk and uncertainty assessment in natural hazards L. J. Hill, R. S. J. Sparks and J. C. Rougier; 2. Quantifying natural hazard risk J. C. Rougier; 3. Model limitations: the sources and implications of epistemic uncertainty J. C. Rougier and K. J. Beven; 4. Expert elicitation and judgment W. P. Aspinall and R. M. Cooke; 5. Risk and uncertainty in hydrometeorological hazards T. L. Edwards and P. G. Challenor; 6. Hydrometeorological hazards under future climate change T. L. Edwards and P. G. Challenor; 7. Hydrological flood uncertainty and risk research J. Freer, K. J. Beven, J. Neal, G. Schumann, J. Hall and P. Bates; 8. Uncertainties in probabilistic seismic hazard assessment W. P. Aspinall; 9. Landslide and avalanche hazards T. K. Hincks, W. P. Aspinall, R. S. J. Sparks, E. A. Holcombe and M. Kern; 10. Tsunami hazard and risk T. K. Hincks, R. S. J. Sparks and W. P. Aspinall; 11. Risk and uncertainty assessment of volcanic hazards R. S. J. Sparks, W. P. Aspinall, H. S. Crosweller and T. K. Hincks; 12. Risk assessment and management of wildfires T. K. Hincks, B. D. Malamud, R. S. J. Sparks, M. J. Wooster and T. J. Lynham; 13. Technological facilities, infrastructure and hazardous materials, including some notes on space weather R. S. J. Sparks, W. P. Aspinall, N. A. Chapman, B. E. Hill, D. J. Kerridge, J. Pooley and C. A. Taylor; 14. Statistical aspects of risk characterization in ecotoxicology G. L. Hickey and A. Hart; 15. Social science perspectives on natural hazards risk and uncertainty S. Cornell and M. Jackson; 16. Human responses to natural hazard risk: considerations for improving the effectiveness of risk management systems H. S. Crosweller and J. Wilmshurst; Index

Description / Table of Contents: Assessment of human casualties in earthquakes has become a topic of vital importance for national and urban authorities responsible for emergency provision, for the development of mitigation strategies and for the development of adequate insurance schemes. In the last few years important work has been carried out on a number of recent events (including earthquakes in Kocaeli, Turkey 1999, Niigata Japan, 2004, Sichuan, China 2008 and L'Aquila,Italy 2009). These events have created new and detailed casualty data, which has not until now been properly assembled and evaluated. This book draws the new evidence from recent events together with existing knowledge. It summarises current trends in the understanding of the factors influencing the numbers and types of casualties in earthquakes; it offers methods to incorporate this understanding into the estimation of losses in future events in different parts of the world; it discusses ways in which pre-event mitigation activity and post-event emergency management can reduce the toll of casualties in future events; and it identifies future research needs.

Description / Table of Contents: Contents: Preface 1. Introduction A Global Perspective 2. Earthquakes: an Epidemiological Perspective on Patterns and Trends 3. Earthquakes Casualty Research and Public Education 4. Disaster Casualties - Accounting for Economic Impacts and Diurnal Variation 5. A Global Earthquake Building Damage and Casualty Database Casualty Loss Modelling 6. Earthquake Casualty Models within the USGS Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) System 7. Loss Estimation Module in the Second Generation Software QLARM 8. Earthquake Casualties Estimation In Emergency Mode 9. Estimating Casualties for the Southern California Shakeout Lessons learnt from Regional Studies 10. Casualty Estimation due to Earthquakes: Injury Structure and Dynamics 11. Seismic Vulnerability and Collapse Probability Assessment of Buildings in Greece 12. Seismic Casualty Evaluation- the Italian Model an application to the L'Aquila 2009 Event 13. Mortality and Morbidity Risk in the L'Aquila, Italy Earthquake of 6 April 2009 and Lessons to be Learned 14. Major Factors controlling Earthquake Casualties as revealed via a Diversified Questionnaire Survey in Ojiya City for the Mid-Niigata Earthquake Exploring approaches to improving casualty modeling 15. Advances in Casualty Modelling facilitated by the USGS Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) System 16. Challenges in Collating Earthquake Casualty Field Data 17. Estimating Human Losses Earthquake Models: A Discussion 18. Trends in the Casualty Ratio of Injured to Fatalities in Earthquakes 19. Study of Damage to the Human Body caused by Earthquakes: Development of a Mannequin for the Thoracic Compression experiments and Cyber Dummy using Finite Element Method 20. A Different View on Human Vulnerability to Earthquakes: lessons from risk perception sudies Index

Description / Table of Contents: Early warning for geologic disasters is a subject of intensive research. Opening up the path for students and lecturers alike, this book presents innovative trends in geoscientific research in this subject. The book successfully fills a gap in this field. The past years have seen new technologies that could be utilized for early warning and real-time loss estimation. They include self-organizing sensor networks, new satellite imagery with high resolution, multi-sensor observational capacities, and crowd sourcing. From this and improved physical models, data processing and communication methodologies a significant step towards better early warning technologies has been achieved by research.At the same time, early warning systems became part of the disaster management practice for instance in Japan and Indonesia. This book marks the important point where:* Research activities continue to improve early warning * Experience with applications is expandingAt this critical point in development of early warning for geological disasters it is timely to provide a volume that documents the state-of-the-art, provides an overview on recent developments and serves as knowledge resource for researcher and practitioners.

Description / Table of Contents: Was uns wirklich bedroht und wie wir richtig damit umgehen. Nahezu täglich bringen uns die Medien neue Hiobsbotschaften: steigende Kriminalität, Vogelgrippe oder Elektrosmog. Wird unser Leben nicht immer gefährlicher, unsicherer, risikoreicher? Ortwin Renn, der international anerkannte Risikoforscher und renommierte Technik- und Umweltsoziologe, sagt: nein. Die durchschnittliche Lebenserwartung steigt beständig, in vielerlei Hinsicht geht es uns immer besser. Wie fürchten uns, so Renn, vor "falschen" Gefahren, verschließen aber die Augen vor Risiken, die uns und unsere Nachwelt erheblich bedrohen. Renn zeigt, welches diese sind, warum wir sie unterschätzen und wie wir im Sinne der Nachhaltigkeit verantwortungsvoll damit umgehen können.

Description / Table of Contents: Contents: Part I: Basic principles and theoretical basis ; Measuring vulnerability to promote disaster-resilient societies and to enhance adaptation: Conceptual frameworks and definitions ; Data, indicators and criteria for measuring vulnerability: Theoretical bases and requirements ; Part II: Vulnerability and environmental change ; Environmental components of vulnerability ; Crafting integrated early warning information systems: The case of drought ; Archetypical patterns of vulnerability to environmental change: An approach to bridging scales. Lessons learned from UNEP's Fourth Global Environment Outlook ; Part III: Global, national and sub-national assessment approaches ; Review of global risk index projects: conclusions for sub-national and local approaches ; The Global Risk Analysis for the 2009 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction ; Disaster risk hotspots: A project summary ; The WorldRiskIndex: A concept for the assessment of risk and vulnerability at global/national scales ; System of indicators of disaster risk and risk management for the Americas: Recent updating and application of the IDB-IDEA ; Multi-risk and vulnerability assessment of Europe's regions ; The evolution of the Social Vulnerability Index (SoVI) ; Disaster vulnerability assessment: The Tanzania experience ; Assessment of vulnerability to natural hazards and climate change in mountain environments ; Part IV: Local vulnerability assessment ; Community-based risk index: Pilot implementation in Indonesia ; Mapping vulnerability - Integration of GIScience and participatory approaches at the local and district levels ; Vulnerability assessment: The sector approach ; Self-assessment of coping capacity: Participatory, proactive and qualitative engagement of communities in their own risk management ; Part V: Institutional capacities, public sector vulnerability and dynamics of vulnerability ; Assessing institutionalized capacities and practices to reduce the risks of flood disaster ; Public sector fiscal vulnerability to disasters: The IIASA CATSIM model ; Dynamics of vulnerability: Relocation in the context of natural hazards and disasters ; Conclusion

Description / Table of Contents: This book provides the most current and comprehensive overview available today of the critical role of information systems in emergency response and preparedness. It includes contributions from leading scholars, practitioners, and industry researchers, and covers all phases of disaster management--mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery."Foundational" chapters provide a design framework and review ethical issues. "Context" chapters describe the characteristics of individuals and organizations in which EMIS are designed and studied. "Case Study" chapters include systems for distributed microbiology laboratory diagnostics to detect possible epidemics or bioterrorism, humantarian MIS, and response coordination systems. "Systems Design and Technology" chapters cover simulation, geocollaborative systems, global disaster impact analysis, and environmental risk analysis.Throughout the book, the editors and contributors give special emphasis to the importance of assessing the practical usefulness of new information systems for supporting emergency preparedness and response, rather than drawing conclusions from a theoretical understanding of the potential benefits of new technologies.

Description / Table of Contents: Technologien zur Abscheidung und Speicherung von CO2 (CCS) sind eine mögliche Option zur Reduzierung von Treibhausgasen. Ob das Potenzial von CCS als Klimaschutzoption in Deutschland zukünftig genutzt werden wird, hängt aber insbesondere davon ab, ob die Technologien in der Bevölkerung generell und vor Ort akzeptiert werden. Die vorliegende Veröffentlichung gibt einen Einblick in relevante Forschungsansätze und Ergebnisse wissenschaftlicher Untersuchungen zur Akzeptanz von CCS in Deutschland. Sie präsentiert zugleich die Ergebnisse eines Workshops am Wuppertal Institut und vermittelt einen Eindruck von den Herausforderungen bei der praktischen Umsetzung von Forschungsergebnissen und der Durchführung zukünftiger Forschung zur Technikakzeptanz.

Description / Table of Contents: Sozialwissenschaft

Description / Table of Contents: AA-LAVA.- Accelerometer.- Acid Rain.- Adaptation.- Airphoto and Satellite Imagery.- Albedo.- Antecedent Conditions.- Arsenic in Groundwater.- Asteroid.- Asteroid Impact.- Asteroid Impact Mitigation.- Asteroid Impact Predictions.- Automated Local Evaluation in Real Time (ALERT).- Avalanches.- Aviation (Hazards to).- Avulsion.- Base Surge.- Beach Nourishment (Replenishment).- Beaufort Wind Scale.- Biblical Events.- Body Wave.- Breakwaters.- Building Code.- Building Failure.- Buildings, Structures, and Public Safety.- Calderas.- Casualties Following Natural Hazards.- Challenges to Agriculture.- Civil Protection and Crisis Management.- Classification of Natural Disasters.- Climate Change.- Cloud Seeding.- Coal Fire (Underground).- Coastal Erosion.- Coastal Zone Risk Management.- Cognitive Dissonance.- Collapsing Soil Hazards.- Comet.- Communicating Emergency Information.- Community Management of Natural Hazards.- Complexity Theory.- Concrete Structures.- Convergence.- Coping Capacity.- Cost-Benefit Analysis of Natural Hazard Mitigation.- Costs (Economic) of Natural Hazards and Disasters.- Creep.- Critical Incident Stress Syndrome.- Critical Infrastructure.- Cryological Engineering.- Cultural Heritage and Natural Hazards.- Damage and the Built Environment.- Debris Avalanche.- Debris Flow.- Deep-seated Gravitational Slope Deformation.- Desertification.- Disaster Diplomacy.- Disaster Relief.- Disaster Research and Policy, History.- Disaster Risk Management.- Disaster Risk Reduction.- Disasters.- Dispersive Soil Hazards.- Doppler Weather Radar.- Dose Rate.- Drought.- Dust Bowl.- Dust Devil.- Dust Storm.- Dvorak Classification of Hurricanes.- Early Warning Systems.- Earthquake.- Earthquake Damage.- Earthquake Prediction and Forecasting.- Earthquake Resistant Design.- Economic Valuation of Life.- Economics of Disasters.- Education and Training for Emergency Preparedness.- Elastic Rebound Theory.- Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR).- El Niño/Southern Oscillation.- Emergency Management.- Emergency Mapping.- Emergency Planning.- Emergency Shelter.- Epicenter.- Epidemiology of Disease in Natural Disasters.- Erosion.- Erosivity.- Eruption Types (Volcanic Eruptions).- Evacuation.- Expansive Soils and Clays.- Expert (Knowledge-Based) Systems for Disaster Management.- Exposure to Natural Hazards.- Extensometers.- Extinction.- Extreme Value Theory.- Eyjafjallajökull Eruptions 2010.- Fault.- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).- Fetch.- Fire and Firestorms.- Flash Flood.- Flood Deposits.- Flood Hazard and Disaster.- Flood Protection.- Flood Stage.- Floodplain.- Floodway.- Fog Hazard Mitigation.- Fog Hazards.- Föhn.- Forest and Range Fires.- Frequency and Magnitude of Events.- Frost Hazard.- Fujita Tornado Scale.- Fumarole.- Galeras Volcano, Colombia.- Gas-Hydrates.- Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Natural Hazards.- Geographic Information Technology.- Geohazards.- Geological/Geophysical Disasters.- Glacier Hazards.- Global Change and its Implications for Natural Disasters.- Global Dust.- Global Network of Civil Society Organizations for Disaster Reduction.- Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Natural Hazards.- Global Seismograph Network (GSN).- Haiti Earthquake 2010: Psychosocial Impacts.- Harmonic Tremor.- Hazard.- Hazard and Risk Mapping.- Hazardousness of a Place.- Heat Waves.- High-Rise Buildings in Natural Disaster.- Historical Events.- Hospitals in Disaster.- Human Impacts of Hazards.- Humanity as an Agent of Natural Disasters.- Hurricane (Typhoon, Cyclone).- Hurricane Katrina.- Hydrocompaction Subsidence.- Hydrograph, Flood.- Hydrometeorological Hazards.- Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015.- Hypocenter.- Ice and Icebergs.- Ice Storms.- Impact Airblast.- Impact Ejecta.- Impact Fireball.- Impact Firestorms.- Impact Tsunamis.- Impact Winter.- Inclinometers.- Indian Ocean Tsunami, 2004.- Induced Seismicity.- Information and Communication Technology.- Insect Hazards.- Insurance.- Integrated Emergency Management System.- Intensity Scales.- International Strategies for Disaster Reduction (IDNDR and ISDR).- Internet, World Wide Web and Natural Hazards.- Isoseismal.- Jökulhlaups.- Karst Hazards.- Krakatoa (Krakatau).- Lahar.- Land Degradation.- Land Subsidence.- Land Use, Urbanization, and Natural Hazards.- Landsat Satellite.- Landslide.- Landslide Dam.- Landslide Impacts.- Landslide Inventory.- Landslide Triggered Tsunami, Displacement Wave.- Landslide Types.- Land-Use Planing.- Lateral Spreading.- Lava.- Levee.- Lightning.- Liquefaction.- Livelihoods and Disasters.- Loess.- Macroseismic Survey.- Magma.- Magnitude Measures.- Marginality.- Marine Hazards.- Mass Media and Natural Disasters.- Mass Movement.- Megacities and Natural Hazards.- Mega-Fires in Greece (2007).- Mercalli, Giuseppe (1850-1914).- Meteorite.- Methane Release from Hydrate.- Mining Subsidence Induced Fault Reactivation.- Misconceptions About Natural Disaster.- Mitigation.- Modified Mercalli (MM) Scale.- Monitoring Natural Hazards.- Monsoons.- Montserrat Eruptions.- Mortality and Injury in Natural Disasters.- Mt Pinatubo.- Mud Volcanoes.- Mudflow.- Myths and Misconceptions in Disasters.- Natural Hazard.- Natural Hazards in Developing Countries.- Natural Radioactivity.- Neotectonics.- Nevado del Ruiz Volcano, Colombia 1985.- North Anatolian Fault.- Nuée Ardente.- Overgrazing.- Ozone.- Ozone Loss.- Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (PTWS).- Pahoehoe Lava.- Paleoflood Hydrology.- Paleoseismology.- Paraglacial.- Perception of Natural Hazards and Disasters.- Permafrost.- Piezometer.- Piping Hazard.- Planning Measures and Political Aspects.- Plate Tectonics.- Pore-Water Pressure.- Post Disaster Mass Care Needs.- Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).- Primary Wave (P-Wave).- Probable Maximum Flood (PMF).- Probable Maximum Precipitation (PMP).- Psychological Impacts of Natural Disasters.- Pyroclastic Flow.- Queensland Floods (2010-2011) and Tweeting.- Quick Clay.- Quick Sand.- Radiation Hazards.- Radon Hazards.- Recovery and Reconstruction After Disaster.- Recurrence Interval.- Red Cross and Red Crescent.- Red Tides.- Reflections on Modeling Disaster.- Release Rates.- Religion and Hazards.- Remote Sensing of Natural Hazards and Disasters.- Reservoir, Dams, and Seismicity.- Resilience.- Richter, Charles Francis (1900-1985).- Rights and Obligations in International Humanitarian Assistance.- Rip Current.- Risk.- Risk Assessment.- Risk Governance.- Risk Perception and Communication.- Rock Avalanche (Sturzstrom).- Rockfall.- Rogue Wave.- Rotational Seismology.- Sackung.- Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Intensity Scale.- San Andreas Fault.- Santorini, Eruption.- Sea Level Change.- Secondary Wave (S-Wave).- Sedimentation of Reservoirs.- Seiche.- Seismic Gap.- Seismograph/Seismometer.- Seismology.- Shear.- Shield Volcano.- Sinkhole.- Slide and Slump.- Slope Stability.- Snowstorm and Blizzard.- Social-Ecological Systems.- Sociology of Disaster.- Solar Flares.- Solifluction.- Space Weather.- Storm Surges.- Storms.- Stratovolcanoes.- Structural Damage Caused by Earthquakes.- Structural Mitigation.- Subduction.- Subsidence Induced by Underground Extraction.- Sunspots.- Supernova.- Surge.- Susceptibility.- Tangshan, China (1976 Earthquake).- Tectonic and Tectono-Seismic Hazards.- Tectonic Tremor.- Thunderstorms.- Tidal Bores.- Tiltmeters.- Time and Space in Disaster.- Tohoku, Japan (2011 Earthquake and Tsunami).- Torino Scale.- Tornadoes.- Triggered Earthquakes.- Tsunami.- Tsunami Loads on Infrastructure.- Uncertainty.- United Nations Organizations and Natural Disasters.- Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE).- Unreinforced Masonry Buildings.- Urban Environments and Natural Hazards.- Usoi Landslide and Lake Sarez.- Vaiont Landslide, Italy.- Vesuvius.- Volcanic Ash.- Volcanic Gas.- Volcanoes and Volcanic Eruptions.- Vulnerability.- Warning Systems.- Waterspout.- Wenchuan, China (2008 Earthquake).- Wildfire.- World Economy, Impact of Disasters.- Worldwide Trends in Natural Disasters.- Zoning

Description / Table of Contents: This book describes analytical methods needed by all experts active in coastal area. It provides a theoretical understanding and practical experience in GIS, remote-sensing and modelling for specific coastal environment applications. This book introduces new environmental applications to geomatic techniques and methodology to use for environmental applications.

Description / Table of Contents: The devastating impacts of tsunamis have received increased focus since the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, the most destructive tsunami in over 400 years of recorded history. The tsunamis that occurred as a result of the earthquake in Japan in March 2011 further emphasized the need for detection, monitoring, and early-warning technologies. This professional reference is the first of its kind: it provides a globally inclusive review of the current state of tsunami detection technology and will be a much-needed resource for oceanographers and marine engineers working to upgrade and integrate their tsunami warning systems. It focuses on the two main tsunami warning systems (TWS): International and Regional. Featured are comparative assessments of detection, monitoring, and real-time reporting technologies. The challenges of detection through remote measuring stations are also addressed, as well as the historical and scientific aspects of tsunamis. It offers readers the only source of practical content on the technological details of the subject. It is written by a tsunami detection and monitoring expert who has 32 years of experience in the field.It provides a companion web site featuring multi-media components, timely updates on fast-paced technological developments, and an online forum where scientists can exchange ideas, discuss technological updates and provide the author with valuable feedback.The devastating impacts of tsunamis have received increased focus since the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, the most destructive tsunami in over 400 years of recorded history. This title provides a review of the current state of tsunami detection technology. It focuses on the two main tsunami warning systems (TWS): International and Regional.

Description / Table of Contents: Cartography and geographic information (GI) are remarkably appropriate for early warning (EW) and crises management (CM) needs. Use of geospatial technology has tremendously increased in the last several years. ICT has changed from just using maps created in advance to new approaches allowing individuals (decision-makers) to use cartography interactively, on the basis of individual users requirement. The new generation of cartographic visualizations based on standardisation, formal modelling, use of sensors, semantics and ontology, allows for better adaptation of information to the needs of the users. To design a new culture in pre-disaster and disaster management it is also needed to consider safety/security/privacy aspects of institutions and citizens. All this can be achieved only by demonstrating new research achievements, sharing best practices (e.g. in the health area) and working towards wider society acceptance of geospatial technology (e.g. with the help education and media).This book will outline research frontiers and applications of cartography and GI in EW and CM and document their roles and potentials in wider processes going on in information/knowledge-based societies.

Description / Table of Contents: An earthquake can strike without warning and wreak horrific destruction and death, whether it's the cataclysmic 2008 Sichuan quake in China that killed tens of thousands or a future great earthquake on the San Andreas Fault in California, which scientists know is inevitable. Yet despite rapid advances in earthquake science, seismologists still can't predict when the Big One will hit. 'Predicting the Unpredictable' is the first book to explain why, exploring the fact and fiction behind the science - and pseudoscience - of earthquake prediction. Susan Hough traces the continuing quest by seismologists to forecast the time, location, and magnitude of future quakes - a quest fraught with controversies, spectacular failures, and occasional apparent successes. She brings readers into the laboratory and out into the field with the pioneers who have sought to develop reliable methods based on observable phenomena such as small earthquake patterns and electromagnetic signals. Hough describes attempts that have raised hopes only to collapse under scrutiny, as well as approaches that seem to hold future promise.She recounts stories of strange occurrences preceding massive quakes, such as changes in well water levels and mysterious ground fogs. She also ventures to the fringes of pseudoscience to consider ideas outside the scientific mainstream, from the enduring belief that animals can sense impending earthquakes to amateur YouTube videos purporting to show earthquake lights prior to large quakes. This book is an entertaining and accessible foray into the world of earthquake prediction, one that illuminates the unique challenges of predicting the unpredictable.

Description / Table of Contents: Die Hochwasserereignisse der letzten Jahre haben gezeigt, wie anfällig unsere Gesellschaft gegenüber Naturgefahren ist. Wie lassen sich die entstandenen Schäden erfassen? Gibt es Möglichkeiten, sie in Zukunft zu vermeiden? Die Autor(inn)en des vorliegenden Buches haben Schäden und wichtige Einflussfaktoren von Hochwasser analysiert und daraus bundesweit einsetzbare Modelle für die Abschätzung von Schäden in Privathaushalten, Unternehmen und der Landwirtschaft entwickelt. Sie machen Vorschläge, wie Schäden und die Verletzbarkeit von Bauwerken standardisiert aufgenommen werden können. Aspekte der Schadensminderung fassen sie in einer web-basierten Broschüre zusammen und stellen sie Kommunen als Instrument zur Risikokommunikation zur Verfügung. Das Buch präsentiert Ergebnisse des interdisziplinären Projektes "Methoden zur Erfassung direkter und indirekter Hochwasserschäden" (MEDIS), das vom Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung gefördert wurde. Die Autor(inn)en kommen aus den Agrar- und Geowissenschaften, dem Bauingenieurwesen und der Ökonomie.

Description / Table of Contents: This book reports on developments in Proximal Soil Sensing (PSS) and high resolution digital soil mapping. PSS has become a multidisciplinary area of study that aims to develop field-based techniques for collecting information on the soil from close by, or within, the soil. Amongst others, PSS involves the use of optical, geophysical, electrochemical, mathematical and statistical methods. This volume, suitable for undergraduate course material and postgraduate research, brings together ideas and examples from those developing and using proximal sensors and high resolution digital soil maps for applications such as precision agriculture, soil contamination, archaeology, peri-urban design and high land-value applications, where there is a particular need for high spatial resolution information. The book in particular covers soil sensor sampling, proximal soil sensor development and use, sensor calibrations, prediction methods for large data sets, applications of proximal soil sensing, and high-resolution digital soil mapping. - Table of contens: Part 1. Introduction.- Part 2. Soil Sensing and Sampling.- Part 3. Soil Spectroscopy and Hyperspectral Remote Sensing.- Part 4. ElectroMagnetic Induction and Electrical Resistivity.- Part 5. Geophysical and Mechanical Data.- Part 6. Multisensor Systems and Other Sensors.- Part 7. Applications.

Description / Table of Contents: After more than 20 years of use, close-range photogrammetry, now for the most part entirely digital, has become an accepted, powerful and readily available technique for engineers, scientists and others who wish to utilise images to make accurate 3D measurements of complex objects. Here they will find the photogrammetric fundamentals, details of system hardware and software, and broad range of real-world applications in order to achieve this. Following the introduction, the book provides fundamental mathematics covering subjects such as image orientation, digital imaging processing and 3D reconstruction methods, as well as a discussion of imaging technology, including targeting and illumination, and its implementation in hardware and software. It concludes with an overview of photogrammetric solutions for typical applications in engineering, manufacturing, medical science, architecture, archaeology and other fields.

Description / Table of Contents: Seit langem wachsen Zahl und Auswirkungen von Naturgefahren an. Kenntnisse und Analysen beschränkten sich bislang weitgehend auf sektorale Betrachtungen. Angestoßen durch die Diskussionen zum Klimawandel, und hier vor allem durch die geforderte Bereitstellung von eindeutigen Langfristvorhersagen, hat sich im wissenschaftlichen Umfeld die Sichtweise auf die Minderung der Auswirkungen von Naturgefahren gewandelt. Vorsorge umfasst nunmehr in stärkerem Maße die Nutzung von Erfahrungen und Daten vergangener Ereignisse, aber ebenso die Verwendung der Kenntnisse über zukünftige, für die Katastrophenvorsorge relevante Bedingungen. Schließlich werden Anstrengungen unternommen, die von vorneherein die Erwartungen und Bedürfnisse der Bevölkerung in von Natur - gefahren exponierten Regionen in die Gestaltung der Vorsorge aufnehmen. Alle Themen werden in Deutschland in verschiedensten Bereichen, von der Grundlagenforschung bis zur lokalen praktischen Umsetzung von Anpassungsstrategien, bearbeitet. Das 11. Forum möchte den Erfahrungsaustausch zwischen den Beteiligten fördern und alle Interessenten einladen, aktiv mit zu wirken.

Description / Table of Contents: Hyperspectral narrow-band (or imaging spectroscopy) spectral data are fast emerging as practical solutions in modeling and mapping vegetation. Recent research has demonstrated the advances in and merit of hyperspectral data in a range of applications including quantifying agricultural crops, modeling forest canopy biochemical properties, detecting crop stress and disease, mapping leaf chlorophyll content as it influences crop production, identifying plants affected by contaminants such as arsenic, demonstrating sensitivity to plant nitrogen content, classifying vegetation species and type, characterizing wetlands, and mapping invasive species. The need for significant improvements in quantifying, modeling, and mapping plant chemical, physical, and water properties is more critical than ever before to reduce uncertainties in our understanding of the Earth and to better sustain it. There is also a need for a synthesis of the vast knowledge spread throughout the literature from more than 40 years of research.Hyperspectral Remote Sensing of Vegetation integrates this knowledge, guiding readers to harness the capabilities of the most recent advances in applying hyperspectral remote sensing technology to the study of terrestrial vegetation. Taking a practical approach to a complex subject, the book demonstrates the experience, utility, methods and models used in studying vegetation using hyperspectral data. Written by leading experts, including pioneers in the field, each chapter presents specific applications, reviews existing state-of-the-art knowledge, highlights the advances made, and provides guidance for the appropriate use of hyperspectral data in the study of vegetation as well as its numerous applications, such as crop yield modeling, crop and vegetation biophysical and biochemical property characterization, and crop moisture assessment.This comprehensive book brings together the best global expertise on hyperspectral remote sensing of agriculture, crop water use, plant species detection, vegetation classification, biophysical and biochemical modeling, crop productivity and water productivity mapping, and modeling. It provides the pertinent facts, synthesizing findings so that readers can get the correct picture on issues such as the best wavebands for their practical applications, methods of analysis using whole spectra, hyperspectral vegetation indices targeted to study specific biophysical and biochemical quantities, and methods for detecting parameters such as crop moisture variability, chlorophyll content, and stress levels. A collective "knowledge bank," it guides professionals to adopt the best practices for their own work.

Description / Table of Contents: Contents: 1. Introduction; 2. Iceland as a natural laboratory for earthquake prediction research; 3. The June 2003 earthquakes; 4. Emerging, new understanding on the release of earthquakes and the earthquake cycle; 5. Warnings ahead of earthquakes to governments and the public; 6. Application to other regions vulnerable to seismic hazards.