Wind turbines and seismic hazard: a state-of-the-art review

Wind energy is a rapidly growing field of renewable energy, and as such, intensive scientific and societal interest has been already attracted. Research on wind turbine structures has been mostly focused on the structural analysis, design and/or assessment of wind turbines mainly against normal (environmental) exposures while, so far, only marginal attention has been spent on considering extreme natural hazards that threat the reliability of the lifetime-oriented wind turbine's performance. Especially, recent installations of numerous wind turbines in earthquake prone areas worldwide (e.g., China, USA, India, Southern Europe and East Asia) highlight the necessity for thorough consideration of the seismic implications on these energy harnessing systems. Along these lines, this state-of-the-art paper presents a comparative survey of the published research relevant to the seismic analysis, design and assessment of wind turbines. Based on numerical simulation, either deterministic or probabilistic approaches are reviewed, because they have been adopted to investigate the sensitivity of wind turbines' structural capacity and reliability in earthquake-induced loading. The relevance of seismic hazard for wind turbines is further enlightened by available experimental studies, being also comprehensively reported through this paper. The main contribution of the study presented herein is to identify the key factors for wind turbines' seismic performance, while important milestones for ongoing and future advancement are emphasized

Some resesarch on control of vibrations in civil engineering under covicocepad project

Some information is provided on the latest R&D within COVICOCEPAD project approved in the framework of Eurocores program. It addresses the use of TMD’s TLD’s, base isolation devices, MR dampers and a hybrid technique using both devices together. Some results are provided associated with calibration of a MR damper at FEUP, as well as its inclusion in a small scale laboratory set-up with proper equations of motion of the controlled smart structure. Applications of TMD’s devices to two civil engineering structures under dynamic and seismic actions are also outlined

Method to extract difficult-to-evacuate areas by using tsunami evacuation simulation and numerical analysis

Extracting the area where people have difficulty evacuating (hereafter difficult-to-evacuate areas, DEA) when tsunamis hit after an earthquake is important for effective disaster mitigation measures. The DEA was conven-tionally extracted by simply considering the walking speed, distance to the evacuation destination, and time needed for evacuation after considering the estimated tsunami inundation area. However, evaluating the DEA from such a simple scheme is insufficient because the behavior of residents and the road conditions to the evacuation destinations after an earthquake are not properly reflected in the scheme. In this study, agent-based tsunami evacuation simulations that can reflect the behavior of residents and real -time changes in the situation were conducted in Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, Mexico. It is a prime sightseeing destination under the high risk of megathrust events in the Guerrero Gap. First, by checking the simulation images at the tsunami arrival time, bottleneck locations were identified, and five additional models with different measures for the bottleneck locations were constructed and tested to find the best model with 195 casualties. Then, focusing on the best model, three indices for the casualties were proposed to extract the DEA effectively and quantitatively, and numerical analyses using the three indices was conducted. Finally, the subdistrict in the center of the target area (subdistrict 5) was quantitatively found to be the district that should be given the highest priority for measures. Moreover, an example model with a new measure in subdistrict 5 was validated to have 101 casualties. The key points for applying the proposed method for extraction of DEA in other areas are summarized

Testing cost-effective methodologies for flood and seismic vulnerability assessment in communities of developing countries (Dajç, northern Albania)

Nowadays many developing countries need effective measures to reduce the disaster related risks. Structural interventions are the most effective to achieve these aims. Nevertheless, in the absence of adequate financial resources different low-cost strategies can be used to minimize losses. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the disaster risk reduction can be gathered building a community coping capacity. In the case study, flood and seismic analyses have been carried out using relatively simple and low-cost technologies, fundamental for governments and research institutions of poorly developed countries. In fact, through the acquisition and dissemination of these basic information, a reduction of vulnerability and risk can be achieved. In detail, two methodologies for the evaluation of hydraulic and seismic vulnerability were tested in the Dajç municipality (Northern Albania), a high-seismicity region that is also severely affected by floods. Updated bathymetric, topographic and hydraulic data were processed with HEC-RAS software to identify sites potentially affected by dykes overflowing. Besides, the soil-structure interaction effects for three strategic buildings were studied using microtremors and the Horizontal to Vertical Spectral Ratio method. This flood and seismic vulnerability analysis was then evaluated in terms of costs and ease of accessibility in order to suggest the best use both of the employed devices and the obtained information for designing good civil protection plans and to inform the population about the right behaviour in case of threat

Geosciences Roadmap for Research Infrastructures 2025–2028 by the Swiss Geosciences Community

This community roadmap presents an integrative approach including the most urgent infrastructure requests for the future development of geosciences in Switzerland. It recommends to strengthen the multidisciplinary nature of the geosciences by putting all activities under the roof of the Integrated Swiss Geosciences supported by four specific research infrastructure pillars. The roadmap represents the view of the Swiss scientific community in the field of geosciences and is a formal element of the process to elaborate the Swiss Roadmap for Research Infrastructures 2023. This bottom-up contribution to the identification and selection of important national and international research infrastructures has been coordinated by the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT) on a mandate by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).ISSN:2297-1564ISSN:2297-157

Beyond visualization : designing interfaces to contextualize geospatial data

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2013.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-74).The growing sensor data collections about our environment have the potential to drastically change our perception of the fragile world we live in. To make sense of such data, we commonly use visualization techniques, enabling public discourse and analysis. This thesis describes the design and implementation of a series of interactive systems that integrate geospatial sensor data visualization and terrain models with various user interface modalities in an educational context to support data analysis and knowledge building using part-digital, part-physical rendering. The main contribution of this thesis is a concrete application scenario and initial prototype of a "Designed Environment" where we can explore the relationship between the surface of Japan's islands, the tension that originates in the fault lines along the seafloor beneath its east coast, and the resulting natural disasters. The system is able to import geospatial data from a multitude of sources on the "Spatial Web", bringing us one step closer to a tangible "dashboard of the Earth."Samuel Luescher.S.M

DARE: A Reflective Platform Designed to Enable Agile Data-Driven Research on the Cloud

The DARE platform has been designed to help research developers deliver user-facing applications and solutions over diverse underlying e-infrastructures, data and computational contexts. The platform is Cloud-ready, and relies on the exposure of APIs, which are suitable for raising the abstraction level and hiding complexity. At its core, the platform implements the cataloguing and execution of fine-grained and Python-based dispel4py workflows as services. Reflection is achieved via a logical knowledge base, comprising multiple internal catalogues, registries and semantics, while it supports persistent and pervasive data provenance. This paper presents design and implementation aspects of the DARE platform, as well as it provides directions for future development.PublishedSan Diego (CA, USA)3IT. Calcolo scientific

National Report for the IAG of the IUGG 2019-2022

Major results of researches conducted by Russian geodesists in 2019-2022 on the topics of the International Association of Geodesy (IAG) of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) are presented in this issue. This report is prepared by the Section of Geodesy of the National Geophysical Committee of Russia. In the report prepared for the XXVII General Assembly of IUGG (Germany, Berlin, 11-20 July 2023), the results of principal researches in geodesy, geodynamics, gravimetry, in the studies of geodetic reference frame creation and development, Earth's shape and gravity field, Earth's rotation, geodetic theory, its application and some other directions are briefly described. For some objective reasons not all results obtained by Russian scientists on the field of geodesy are included in the report.Comment: Misprint in the title of the arXiv record has been corrected. The submission content is not affecte

The Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Gulf Coast Libraries and Their Disaster Planning

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall along the Gulf Coast, becoming infamous for the destruction it wrought to communities from Louisiana to Alabama. Most notably, it caused massive flooding in New Orleans and surrounding parishes by breaching the levee system. The storm\u27s impact on the region\u27s population, buildings, and collective psyche is impossible to measure. As was the case with other Gulf Coast institutions in the path of Hurricane Katrina, the region\u27s libraries also suffered extensively. Through examination of the available literature and first-hand accounts of library professionals, this thesis examines the impact that Hurricane Katrina had on libraries in southeastern Louisiana, the New Orleans metropolitan area, and Southern Mississippi. It also considers the role disaster plans played in preserving select libraries\u27 collections as well as some of the problems occurring with their implementation during the disaster. It was discovered that library disaster plans are designed to mitigate small, localized disasters, not those on the scale of Hurricane Katrina. It was also found that large scale disasters, like a hurricane or earthquake, render such plans ineffective, though action taken by library staff before and immediately afterward can make some difference. The thesis concludes with a list of recommendations for library disaster planning in the future