The RISC-KIT storm impact database: A new tool in support of DRR

This paper presents a new storm impact database for European coastlines that facilitates the upload, browsing and download of a broad range of physical and impact information related to historical and recent marine storm events. The database is transparent in terms of open access to raw data and metadata, makes use of version control systems through the OpenEarth repository and promotes the use of international standards. A total of 298 storm events are currently stored in the database from the ten RISC-KIT case study sites, including historical events dating back to the sixteenth century. To demonstrate the application of the tool, examples of typical event data contained within the database as well as the ability of the database to identify impacts of events across regions are presented. It is envisaged that this database will expand beyond the ten case study sites, with the aim of promoting and greatly improving the collection and reporting of extreme hydro-meteorological events across Europe into the future

Sedimentation Processes on Intertidal Areas of the Lagoon of Venice: Identification of Exceptional Flood Events (Acqua Alta) Using Radionuclides

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Measurements of suspended sediment transport on a reflective mesotidal beach in southern Portugal

The present paper reports the results obtained in a field experiment carried out on a medium- energy, mesotidal, reflective beach on Culatra Island (southern Portugal). Simultaneous time-series measurements of waves, currents and sediment concentration were taken during 1.5 tidal cycles using a pressure transducer, two bidirectional electromagnetic current-meters and three optical backscatter sensors. Measurements of suspended sediment transport were compared with fluorescent sand tracers. Total longshore sediment fluxes measured with optical techniques and sand tracers were found to give similar results, if their major limitations are considered. The present experiment confirms the different sedimentary behaviours of steep reflective beaches with plunging breakers, as opposed to the low-gradient beaches with spilling breakers where most previous studies have been performed, and supports the idea that one of the major limitations of longshore sediment transport models is their lack of dependency on breaker/beach type.Se presentan los resultados de un experimento realizado en una playa reflectiva, mesotidal y de media energía, en la isla de Culatra (sur de Portugal). Se llevaron a cabo mediciones de series temporales de olas, de corrientes y de concentración de sedimento en suspensión durante un ciclo tidal y medio, utilizando un transductor de presión, dos correntímetros bidireccionales electromagnéticos y tres sensores ópticos. Se constató que los resultados de medir los flujos sedimentarios con las técnicas ópticas y con arenas marcadas eran semejantes, teniendo en cuenta las respectivas limitaciones. El presente experimento ha confirmado el desigual comportamiento sedimentario de playas reflectivas con fuerte inclinación y rompiente en voluta, en oposición a las playas con pequeña inclinación y rompiente en derrame, apoyando, pues, la idea de que una de las mayores limitaciones de los modelos de deriva litoral es la ausencia de dependencia en relación al tipo de playa/ rompiente.Instituto Español de Oceanografí

Can an early-warning system help minimize the impacts of coastal storms? A case study of the 2012 Halloween storm, northern Italy

Abstract. The Emilia-Romagna early-warning system (ER-EWS) is a state-of-the-art coastal forecasting system that comprises a series of numerical models (COSMO, ROMS, SWAN and XBeach) to obtain a daily 3-day forecast of coastal storm hazard at eight key sites along the Emilia-Romagna coastline (northern Italy). On the night of 31 October 2012, a major storm event occurred that resulted in elevated water levels (equivalent to a 1-in-20- to 1-in-50-year event) and widespread erosion and flooding. Since this storm happened just 1 month prior to the roll-out of the ER-EWS, the forecast performance related to this event is unknown. The aim of this study was to therefore reanalyse the ER-EWS as if it had been operating a day before the event and determine to what extent the forecasts may have helped reduce storm impacts. Three different reanalysis modes were undertaken: (1) a default forecast (DF) mode based on 3-day wave and water-level forecasts and default XBeach parameters; (2) a measured offshore (MO) forecast mode using wave and water-level measurements and default XBeach parameters; and (3) a calibrated XBeach (CX) mode using measured boundary conditions and an optimized parameter set obtained through an extensive calibration process. The results indicate that, while a "code-red" alert would have been issued for the DF mode, an underprediction of the extreme water levels of this event limited high-hazard forecasts to only two of the eight ER-EWS sites. Forecasts based on measured offshore conditions (the MO mode) more-accurately indicate high-hazard conditions for all eight sites. Further considerable improvements are observed using an optimized XBeach parameter set (the CX mode) compared to default parameters. A series of what-if scenarios at one of the sites show that artificial dunes, which are a common management strategy along this coastline, could have hypothetically been constructed as an emergency procedure to potentially reduce storm impacts

Introduction to RISC-KIT: Resilience-increasing strategies for coasts

Recent and historic low-frequency, high-impact events have demonstrated the flood risks faced by exposed coastal areas in Europe and beyond. These coastal zone risks are likely to increase in the future which requires a re-evaluation of coastal disaster risk reduction (DRR) strategies and a new mix of PMP (prevention, e.g., dike protection; mitigation, e.g., limiting construction in flood-prone areas and eco-system based solutions; and preparedness, e.g., Early Warning Systems, EWS) measures. In response to these challenges, the RISC-KIT project has delivered a set of open-source and openaccess methods, tools and management approaches to reduce risk and increase resilience to lowfrequency, high-impact hydro-meteorological events in the coastal zone (the “RISC-toolKIT”). These products enhance forecasting, prediction and early warning capabilities, improve the assessment of long-term coastal risk and optimise the mix of PMP-measures. In this paper an introduction is provided to the objectives, products, applications and lessonslearned of the RISC-KIT project, which are the subjects of this Special Issue. Subsequent papers provide details on the tools and their application on 10 case study sites in Europe

RISC-KIT: resilience-increasing strategies for coasts

High-impact storm events have demonstrated the vulnerability of coastal zones in Europe and beyond. These impacts are likely to increase due to predicted climate change and ongoing coastal development. In order to reduce impacts, disaster risk reduction (DRR) measures need to be taken, which prevent or mitigate the effects of storm events. To drive the DRR agenda, the UNISDR formulated the Sendai Framework for Action, and the EU has issued the Floods Directive. However, neither is specific about the methods to be used to develop actionable DRR measures in the coastal zone. Therefore, there is a need to develop methods, tools and approaches which make it possible to: identify and prioritize the coastal zones which are most at risk through a Coastal Risk Assessment Framework, and to evaluate the effectiveness of DRR options for these coastal areas, using an Early Warning/Decision Support System, which can be used both in the planning and event-phase. This paper gives an overview of the products and results obtained in the FP7-funded project RISC-KIT, which aims to develop and apply a set of tools with which highly-vulnerable coastal areas (so-called “hotspots”) can be identified

Installation of ECR2 at LNS and Preliminary tests

The source ECR2 has been built in 1998 by Pantechnik, according to the design suggested by LNS Ion Source Group. This design entails some improvements with respect to a standard CAPRICE-type source: a) the magnetic field (up to 1.6 T axial, 1.1 T radial) allows to operate the source at 14 GHz in High B mode and at 18 GHz; b) two frequency heating can be used; c) an aluminum made plasma chamber is used in place of the stainless steel one. The main features of ECR2 along with a review of the preliminary tests will be outlined. Typical currents for fully stripped nitrogen are about 25 emA; for the heaviest ions, 1 emA of Kr28+ and 10 emA of Ta27+ have been measured. The installation at LNS has been completed recently and the details will be given

Production of intense highly charged ion beams with SERSE

The source SERSE is operational at LNS since June 1998 and many improvements have been carried out in this period. The frequency has been increased from 14.5 GHz to 18 GHz and the use of two frequency heating has given positive results. Metallic ion production has been tested by means of a high temperature oven and the preliminary results are described. Tests of magnetic field scaling and frequency scaling have confirmed the results of previous tests with SC-ECRIS at lower frequency and seems to suggest that the upgrading of the source to higher frequency may be considered