14,785 research outputs found
FLIAT, an object-relational GIS tool for flood impact assessment in Flanders, Belgium
Floods can cause damage to transportation and energy infrastructure, disrupt the delivery of services, and take a toll on public health, sometimes even causing significant loss of life. Although scientists widely stress the compelling need for resilience against extreme events under a changing climate, tools for dealing with expected hazards lag behind. Not only does the socio-economic, ecologic and cultural impact of floods need to be considered, but the potential disruption of a society with regard to priority adaptation guidelines, measures, and policy recommendations need to be considered as well. The main downfall of current impact assessment tools is the raster approach that cannot effectively handle multiple metadata of vital infrastructures, crucial buildings, and vulnerable land use (among other challenges). We have developed a powerful cross-platform flood impact assessment tool (FLIAT) that uses a vector approach linked to a relational database using open source program languages, which can perform parallel computation. As a result, FLIAT can manage multiple detailed datasets, whereby there is no loss of geometrical information. This paper describes the development of FLIAT and the performance of this tool
Accounting for multivariate probabilities of failure in vertical seawall reliability assessments
The aim of this paper is to appraise the current knowledge on seawall performance and reliability, and to make the case for improved reliability assessments of vertical seawalls, which are used here as a representative for coastal flood defences. In order to achieve this aim, a brief introduction to flood risk management is first given. Then, vertical seawalls are introduced, and their most prominent failure modes are discussed. Reliability analysis is introduced within the context of flood risk management. More specifically, the fragility curve approach that is currently in use in industry is described, and its limitations are discussed. Finally, it is argued that recent advances in multivariate extreme value models would enable improvements to the approaches currently applied in practice. It is stressed that future risk assessment models of coastal flood defences ought to include multiple failure modes and their interactions, a thorough analysis of the model uncertainties, and potential computational costs, in view of providing practitioners with an improved and functional risk assessment tool. Carter, Magar, Simm, Gouldby & Walli
Estudi comparatiu de la publicaciĂł cientĂfica de la UPC i l’Escola de Camins vs.altres universitats d’à mbit internacional (2009-2018)
L'informe se centra en la publicaciĂł cientĂfica especialitzada en l'Ă mbit temĂ tic propi de l'Escola de Camins: l'enginyeria civil. Es comparen indicadors bibliomètrics de la UPC i l'Escola de Camins amb els d'altres universitats internacionals amb activitat de recerca notable en l'Ă mbit de l'enginyeria civilPostprint (published version
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Three decades of the Shuffled Complex Evolution (SCE-UA) optimization algorithm: Review and applications
Dynamic p-enrichment schemes for multicomponent reactive flows
We present a family of p-enrichment schemes. These schemes may be separated
into two basic classes: the first, called \emph{fixed tolerance schemes}, rely
on setting global scalar tolerances on the local regularity of the solution,
and the second, called \emph{dioristic schemes}, rely on time-evolving bounds
on the local variation in the solution. Each class of -enrichment scheme is
further divided into two basic types. The first type (the Type I schemes)
enrich along lines of maximal variation, striving to enhance stable solutions
in "areas of highest interest." The second type (the Type II schemes) enrich
along lines of maximal regularity in order to maximize the stability of the
enrichment process. Each of these schemes are tested over a pair of model
problems arising in coastal hydrology. The first is a contaminant transport
model, which addresses a declinature problem for a contaminant plume with
respect to a bay inlet setting. The second is a multicomponent chemically
reactive flow model of estuary eutrophication arising in the Gulf of Mexico.Comment: 29 pages, 7 figures, 3 table
Scientific basis for safely shutting in the Macondo Well after the April 20, 2010 Deepwater Horizon blowout
As part of the government response to the Deepwater Horizon blowout, a Well Integrity Team evaluated the geologic hazards of shutting in the Macondo Well at the seafloor and determined the conditions under which it could safely be undertaken. Of particular concern was the possibility that, under the anticipated high shut-in pressures, oil could leak out of the well casing below the seafloor. Such a leak could lead to new geologic pathways for hydrocarbon release to the Gulf of Mexico. Evaluating this hazard required analyses of 2D and 3D seismic surveys, seafloor bathymetry, sediment properties, geophysical well logs, and drilling data to assess the geological, hydrological, and geomechanical conditions around the Macondo Well. After the well was successfully capped and shut in on July 15, 2010, a variety of monitoring activities were used to assess subsurface well integrity. These activities included acquisition of wellhead pressure data, marine multichannel seismic pro- files, seafloor and water-column sonar surveys, and wellhead visual/acoustic monitoring. These data showed that the Macondo Well was not leaking after shut in, and therefore, it could remain safely shut until reservoir pressures were suppressed (killed) with heavy drilling mud and the well was sealed with cement
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