High resolution fire hazard index based on satellite images

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)

Using a coastal storm hazard index to assess storm impacts in Lisbon

Coastal areas are among the most dynamic earth systems as they are exposed to powerful agents. Near-shore wave energy is one of the most important triggering factors for erosion and flooding and is often neglected for severe infrastructure damaging, property losses and loss of life. These consequences are amplified with high population density and heavy infrastructure implantation as it happens in Lisbon (Portugal). In this context, it is of great importance for coastal stakeholders, decision-makers and civil protection entities to estimate precisely the spatial distribution of storm hazard for prevention and mitigation purposes, as well as to design adjusted answers for calamity responses. We apply a coastal storm hazard index (CSHI) considering triggering and conditioning variables involved in the effects of an extreme storm, namely: 100-year return period of SWAN modelled Hs, and its spatial distribution across the study area, land use, number of buildings, height, slope, geology, geomorphology, erosion/ accretion rates, width of the systems, exposure of the coastline, bathymetry and legally protected areas. The variables were weighted according to a hierarchical analysis process and classified into five classes of exposure. A validation process was then implemented by comparing the occurrences identified in the last two decades newspapers and the storm hazard classification, showing a satisfactory validation results. The results show a classified storm hazard map that identifies the most and the less exposed areas. High values of CSHI occur in areas with excessive human pressure, low heights sandy systems with significant costal erosion rates. The main type of consequences identified are associated with inland flooding and erosion, resulting in the destruction of coastal protection infrastructures, and population displacement leading to great economic and social impacts and loss of life.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A Landslide Climate Indicator from Machine Learning

In order to create a Landslide Hazard Index, we accessed rain, snow, and a dozen other variables from the National Climate Assessment Land Data Assimilation System. These predictors were converted to probabilities of landslide occurrence with XGBoost, a major machine-learning tool. The model was fitted with thousands of historical landslides from the Pacific Northwest Landslide Inventory (PNLI)

Can short-term foreign exchange volatility be predicted by the Global Hazard Index?

This paper examines the predictive properties of risk indicators for the foreign exchange markets. In particular it considers the predictive properties of historical volatilities and implied volatilities for movements in various bilateral exchange rates and compares them with the analogous properties of a composite indicator of risk, the Global Hazard Index (GHI). The GHI is a function of the implied volatility derived from currency options on the three major exchange rates, i.e. the euro-US dollar, the US dollar-yen and the euro-yen. For the empirical analysis this paper employs the concept of kernel volatility, which, loosely speaking, expresses the volatility of one variable conditional on the level of another. Simple regressions show that the levels of all the indicators on a particular day have a strong link to the variance of the nominal bilateral exchange rate on the next day. A strong overall influence is displayed by the GHI, especially for the currencies of small open economies. JEL Classification: F01, F31

Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Management in Local Governments

The Philippines` geographical location makes it a disaster-prone country. In the Southeast Asian region, it ranks the highest in terms of the multiple climate hazard index measure. Given that the country`s local communities take the brunt of the effects of disasters, this Policy Note offers suggestions for local governments in building their local capacity in disaster risk reduction and management.Philippines, natural disasters, survey, Rosario, Batangas, disaster risk reduction, disaster risk management, local governments

Scientific substantination of maximum allowable concentration of fluopicolide in water.

In order to substantiate fluopicolide maximum allowable concentration in the water of water reservoirs the research was carried out. Methods of study: laboratory hygienic experiment using organoleptic and sanitary-chemical, sanitary-toxicological, sanitary-microbiological and mathematical methods. The results of fluopicolide influence on organoleptic properties of water, sanitary regimen of reservoirs for household purposes were given and its subthreshold concentration in water by sanitary and toxicological hazard index was calculated. The threshold concentration of the substance by the main hazard criteria was established, the maximum allowable concentration in water was substantiated. The studies led to the following conclusions: fluopicolide threshold concentration in water by organoleptic hazard index (limiting criterion – the smell) – 0.15 mg/dm3, general sanitary hazard index (limiting criteria – impact on the number of saprophytic microflora, biochemical oxygen demand and nitrification) – 0.015 mg/dm3, the maximum noneffective  concentration – 0.14 mg/dm3, the maximum allowable concentration - 0.015 mg/dm3

Applying tools of geoinformation modeling for fire hazard data mining

Розглянуто методологічні підходи до використання індексних показників стану вегетації на основі даних дистанційного зондування програми Copernicus в якості підґрунтя для формування індексу пожежної небезпеки на територію України. Розроблено модель обробки даних глобальних земельних сервісів Copernicus з метою отримання значень індексу пожежної небезпеки. Отримані результати моделювання було верифіковано за допомогою даних про природні пожежі з використанням методів розрахунку географічно-зваженої регресії та кореляції між геопростовими даними.The methodological approaches to the use of index indicators of vegetation based on Copernicus program remote sensing data as a basis for forming anfire hazard index on the territory of Ukraine were considered. The purpose of this study is to develop indicative model based on the basic vegetation parameters of Copernicus program and its verification using available data about the monitoring of natural fires. As input parameters were chosen Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), which is an indicator of the greenness of the biomes;Dry Matter Productivity (DMP), represents the overall growth rate or dry biomass increase of the vegetation, expressed in kilograms of dry matter per hectare per day; the Soil Water Index quantifies the moisture condition at various depths in the soil. Based on methods of combining data of different nature and mechanisms of normalization of geospatial data was obtained integral fire hazard index. The model of data processing of global land services Copernicus was developed for obtain fire hazard index values, which is implemented in the environment of ArcGIS 10.3. The results were verified by simulation using data on natural fires product Burnt Area using calculation methods geographically weighted regression and correlation of geospatial data. This was found closeness link between raster model fire hazard index and raster model of the density distribution of fires that have already appeared, which was calculated using optimization methods by establishing a standard distance. The close link between high values of the fire hazardindex and high density of recorded fires was established. In the area of low values of indicators tightness of links is significantly reduced. This suggests the possibility of using ranges of high values of the fire hazard index for predicting natural fires with high probability and extends the scope of products processing usingof program Copernicus

Analisis Risiko Kesehatan Siswa dan Guru Sekolah Dasar Akibat Cemaran Logam Berat (Zn dan Ni) dalam TSP (Studi Kasus : SDN Pandeanlamper 01 dan SDN Srondol Wetan 03, Semarang)

ABSTRAK Analisis Risiko Kesehatan Siswa dan Guru Sekolah Dasar Akibat Cemaran Logam Berat (Zn dan Ni) dalam TSP (Studi Kasus : SDN Pandeanlamper 01 dan SDN Srondol Wetan 03, Semarang) *)Noor Aini Sholihah, **)Pertiwi Andarani, **)Irawan Wisnu Wardhana Peningkatan kebutuhan transportasi menimbulkan dampak negatif berupa pencemaran udara. Logam berat (Zn dan Ni) merupakan salah satu unsur pencemar udara yang ikut bersama Total Suspended Particulate (TSP). Lokasi sekolah yang berdekatan dengan sumber pencemaran udara seperti jalan raya dapat menimbulkan risiko terhadap kesehatan siswa dan gurunya akibat cemaran tersebut. Penelitian ini dilakukan untuk dapat mengetahui besarnya konsentrasi unsur pencemar TSP, Zn dan Ni; menghitung tingkat risiko cemaran; serta menganalisis tingkat risikonya terhadap kesehatan siswa dan guru SDN Pandeanlamper 01 dan SDN Srondol Wetan 03. Alat yang digunakan dalam pengambilan TSP adalah High Volume Air Sampler (HVAS), sedangkan pengujian konsentrasi Zn dan Ni dilakukan menggunakan Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES). Konsentrasi TSP serta logam berat (Zn dan Ni) di udara ambien pada SDN Pandeanlamper 01 lebih besar dibandingkan dengan SDN Srondol Wetan 03. Nilai hazard index logam Ni dan Zn untuk seluruh responden di kedua sekolah menunjukkan angka di bawah 1, yang berarti bahwa kemungkinan efek non karsinogenik akibat paparan logam Ni dan Zn tidak terjadi. Nilai Cancer Risk Inhalation logam Ni untuk responden guru baik SDN Pandeanlamper 01 maupun SDN Srondol Wetan 03 menunjukkan angka di bawah 10-6, yang berarti bahwa kemungkinan efek karsinogenik akibat paparan logam Ni tidak terjadi atau dapat dikatakan aman. Perbandingan tingkat risiko antara kedua sekolah untuk efek non karsinogen menunjukkan nilai hazard index logam Zn dan Ni untuk siswa kelas satu, siswa kelas enam dan guru yang berbeda signifikan, kecuali untuk logam Zn pada responden guru yang tidak berbeda signifikan. Sedangkan untuk efek karsinogen menunjukkan nilai cancer risk logam Ni pada responden guru tidak berbeda signifikan untuk kedua sekolah. Kata Kunci : Pencemaran Udara, TSP, Zn, Ni, Analisis Risiko ABSTRACT Health Risk Analysis of Primary School Students and Teachers Due to Heavy Metals Contamination (Zn and Ni) in TSP (Case Study: SDN Pandeanlamper 01 and SDN Srondol Wetan 03, Semarang) *)Noor Aini Sholihah, **)Pertiwi Andarani, **)Irawan Wisnu Wardhana The increasing need of transportation means causing negative impacts of air pollution. Heavy metals (Zn and Ni) are among the elements of air pollutants in Total Suspended Particulate (TSP). School locations close to air pollution sources such as roads can cause health risks to students and teachers due to the contamination. This study aims to be able to know the concentration of pollutant elements TSP, Zn and Ni; Calculate the level of risk of contamination; And analyzed the level of risk to the health of the students and teachers of SDN Pandeanlamper 01 and SDN Srondol Wetan 03. The tools used in TSP are High Volume Air Sampler (HVAS), while the Zn and Ni concentration testing is done using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP -OES). The concentrations of TSP and heavy metals (Zn and Ni) in ambient air at SDN Pandeanlamper 01 were higher than that of SDN Srondol Wetan 03. The hazard index values for Ni and Zn metals for all respondents in both schools showed a number below 1, Non-carcinogenic effects due to exposure to Ni and Zn metals do not occur. The value of Cancer Risk Inhalation of Ni metal for teacher respondents both SDN Pandeanlamper 01 and SDN Srondol Wetan 03 shows a number below 10-6, which means that the possible carcinogenic effects due to exposure to Ni metals do not occur or can be said to be safe. The comparison of risk levels between the two schools for non-carcinogenic effects indicates that the value of hazard index for Zn and Ni metals for first grade students, sixth grade students and teachers is significantly different, except for Zn metal in teacher respondents which is not significantly different. As for the carcinogen effect showed that the risk of Ni metal risk on teacher respondents did not differ significantly for both schools. Keywords: Air Pollution, TSP, Zn, Ni, Risk Analysi