River Styles and stream power analysis reveal the diversity of fluvial morphology in a Philippine tropical catchment

Availability of data and materials: Following review, all GIS datasets will be made available through the NERC data repository.Copyright © The Authors 2022. Characterisation of hydromorphological attributes is crucial for effective river management. Such information is often overlooked in tropical regions such as the Philippines where river management strategies mainly focus on issues around water quality and quantity. We address this knowledge gap using the River Styles Framework as a template to identify the diversity of river morphodynamics. We identify eight distinct River Styles (river types) in the Bislak catchment (586 km2) in the Philippines, showing considerable geomorphic diversity within a relatively small catchment area. Three River Styles in a Confined valley setting occupy 57% of the catchment area, another three in a partly confined valley setting occupy 37%, and two in the remaining 6% are found in a laterally unconfined valley setting. Five characteristic downstream patterns of River Styles were identified across the catchment. We observe that variation in channel slope for a given catchment area (i.e., total stream power) is insufficient to differentiate between river types. Hence, topographic analyses should be complemented with broader framed, catchment-specific approaches to river characterisation. The outputs and understandings from the geomorphic analysis of rivers undertaken in this study can support river management applications by explicitly incorporating understandings of river diversity and dynamics. This has the potential to reshape how river management is undertaken, to shift from reactive, engineering-based approaches that dominate in the Philippines, to more sustainable, ecosystem-based approaches to management.Department of Science and Technology—Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD)—NERC Newton Fund grant (NE/S003312); Global Challenges Research Fund (SFC-GCRF) grant (2019)

National-scale geodatabase of catchment characteristics in the Philippines for river management applications

Data Availability: The ArcGIS web-application for interactively displaying the national-scale geodatabase is available here: https://glasgow-uni.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=a88b9ca0919f4400881eab4a26370cee. Supporting datasets are available here: http://dx.doi.org/10.5525/gla.researchdata.1396. Supporting datasets include: (1) GIS shapefiles with river catchment properties; (2) GIS shapefiles with stream network properties; (3) spreadsheets containing the complete set of morphometric and topographic characteristics (n = 91); and, (4) example MATLAB code and topographic data to replicate the analysis for a selected catchment. The supporting datasets will also be uploaded to the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Environmental Information Data Centre.Copyright: © 2023 Boothroyd et al. Quantitative descriptions of stream network and river catchment characteristics provide valuable context for enabling geomorphologically-informed sustainable river management. For countries where high-quality topographic data are available, there are opportunities to enable open access availability of baseline products from systematic assessment of morphometric and topographic characteristics. In this study, we present a national-scale assessment of fundamental topographic characteristics of Philippine river systems. We applied a consistent workflow using TopoToolbox V2 to delineate stream networks and river catchments using a nationwide digital elevation model (DEM) acquired in 2013 and generated through airborne Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (IfSAR). We assessed morphometric and topographic characteristics for 128 medium- to large-sized catchments (catchment area > 250 km2) and organised the results in a national-scale geodatabase. The dataset realises the potential of topographic data as part of river management applications, by enabling variations in hydromorphology to be characterised and contextualised. The dataset is used to reveal the diversity of stream networks and river catchments in the Philippines. Catchments have a continuum of shapes (Gravelius compactness coefficient ranges from 1.05 to 3.29) with drainage densities that range from 0.65 to 1.23 km/km2. Average catchment slope ranges from 3.1 to 28.1° and average stream slope varies by more than an order of magnitude from 0.004 to 0.107 m/m. Inter-catchment analyses show the distinctive topographic signatures of adjacent river catchments; examples from NW Luzon highlight topographic similarity between catchments whereas examples from Panay Island shown marked topographic differences. These contrasts underline the importance of using place-based analyses for sustainable river management applications. By designing an interactive ArcGIS web-application to display the national-scale geodatabase, we improve data accessibility and enable users to freely access, explore and download the data (https://glasgow-uni.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=a88b9ca0919f4400881eab4a26370cee). The national-scale geodatabase provides a baseline understanding of fundamental topographic characteristics in support of varied geomorphological, hydrological and geohazard susceptibility applications.This research was undertaken as part of a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and Department of Science and Technology - Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD) – Newton Fund grant NE/S003312. RDW and TBH are also grateful to NERC grant NE/W006871/1

Livelihood and vulnerability in the wake of Typhoon Yolanda: lessons of community and resilience

Livelihood strategies that are crafted in ‘extra-ordinary’ post-disaster conditions should also be able to function once some semblance of normalcy has resumed. This article aims to show that the vulnerability experienced in relation to Typhoon Yolanda was, and continues to be, directly linked to inadequate livelihood assets and opportunities. We examine the extent to which various livelihood strategies lessened vulnerability post-Typhoon Yolanda and argue that creating conditions under which disaster survivors have the freedom to pursue sustainable livelihood is essential in order to foster resilience and reduce vulnerability against future disasters. We offer suggestions to improve future relief efforts, including suggestions made by the survivors themselves. We caution against rehabilitation strategies that knowingly or unknowingly, resurrect pre-disaster vulnerability. Strategies that foster dependency, fail to appreciate local political or ecological conditions or undermine cooperation and cohesion in already vulnerable communities will be bound to fail. Some of the livelihood strategies that we observed post-Typhoon Yolanda failed on some or all of these points. It is important for future policy that these failings are addressed

Medical Language For Modern Health Care

xxvii, 898 hlm, ilus.; 22x27c

A Web-Based Peer Evaluation Tool

Designing and implementing peer evaluation in a course requires the instructor consider many factors. A literature review notes these factors, along with a review of several web-based peer evaluation programs. Based on the authors' experiences, desirable features for a computer-based system are listed. A feature-rich web-based peer evaluation tool (PET) that was developed to simplify data collection and analysis in an undergraduate class is described. The PET has unique and customizable features, including the algorithm and rubric. For analysis, the results can be displayed in both graphical and tabular form