Impacts of climate change on transport: A focus on airports, seaports and inland waterways

The report assesses the impacts of climate change on transport for Europe using projections of climate data, coastal inundation, river flooding and river discharge data. Impacts considered include those of sea level rise, storm surges, extreme weather events and floods on airports and seaports, as well as floods and droughts on inland waterways. Main outputs include the identification of transport infrastructure at risk in future time periods and the estimation of economic impacts.JRC.C.6-Economics of Climate Change, Energy and Transpor

Impacts of Climate Change on transport: a focus on road and rail transport infrastructures

This report provides a general EU-wide outlook about the future vulnerability of transport to climate change with a focus on the road and rail transport and their infrastructures. It also analyses some specific adaptations measures, illustrating key issues to be considered for policy making. It represents a first JRC/IPTS scientific contribution to the analysis of future impacts of climate change on the transport system in Europe, and has been conducted in the framework of the JRC PESETAII project. Depending on future global warming and the region in Europe, transport modes and system components could be affected by one or several simultaneous changes in the climate conditions, including hotter summer conditions, extreme precipitation events, increased storminess and sea level rise. If such impacts are not anticipated in future transport infrastructure design and maintenance, those changing weather conditions could, in some regions, accelerate their deterioration, increase severe damages risks, traffic interruption and accidents which could, on their turn, affect economic activities. This research project has drawn some future trends regarding changing exposure of road and rail infrastructures to weather-induced risk under climate change, considering two future time intervals (2040-2070 and 2070-2100), future infrastructure deterioration and damage costs and costs associated with some selected adaptation cases.JRC.J.1-Economics of Climate Change, Energy and Transpor

An integrated approach to the conceptual data modeling of an entire highway agency geographic information system (GIS)

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Integrierter Ansatz zur konzeptionellen Datenmodellierung eines geographischen Informationssystems (GIS) für Daten der Straßenverwaltung

Um ihre Aufgaben zu verwirklichen, sind Straßenverwaltungen in aller Welt dazu aufgefordert, neue Technologien einzuführen. Grund dafür ist die große Menge an anfallenden Informationen des Straßennetzes und die Notwendigkeit Datenquellen effizient zu nutzen. Geoinformationssysteme für das Transportwesen (GIS-T), welche speziell für Straßenverwaltungen entwickelt wurden, bewirken eine erhebliche Effizienzsteigerung, da sie am besten in der Lage sind, dem räumlichen Charakter der Daten Rechnung zu tragen. Häufig wurde dieser räumliche Charakter der Informationen bei der Systementwicklung ungenügend beachtet, was dazu führte, dass die Möglichkeiten solcher Systeme nicht voll ausgeschöpft wurden. Die Implementierung eines Systems kann nur dann zu vollem Erfolg führen, wenn eine detaillierte Informationsstrukturanalyse durchgeführt wird und wenn die Datenmodellierung formalisierten Entwurfsmethoden folgt. Im Verlauf der Untersuchungen wurde festgestellt, dass gebräuchliche Systeme verschiedene Anforderungen von Straßenverwaltungen nicht erfüllen. Die Probleme können wie folgt zusammengefasst werden:Die Beziehungen zwischen geometrischen, topologischen und Sachinformationen wurden nicht strukturiert. Die Abbildung von geometrischen Informationen in unterschiedlichen Referenzsystemen war nicht redundanzfrei möglich. Die Verwaltung topologischer Informationen in unterschiedlichen Abstraktionsebenen wurde nicht realisiert. Spezifische Funktionen der Straßenverwaltung wurden nicht in ihrer Gesamtheit abgebildet. Nicht alle existierenden Informationen und Methoden konnten in die Systeme integriert werden. Es ist erforderlich, Metadaten wie Konsistenzbedingungen, Qualitätsangaben und Historisierung im System zu berücksichtigen. Speziell für die Definition von systemübergreifend eindeutigen Objektidentifikatoren sind neue Ansätze erforderlich.Um die Effizienz von GIS-T zu verbessern und die beschriebenen Anforderungen zu erfüllen, wird in der vorliegenden Arbeit schrittweise ein Ansatz für eine konzeptionelle Datenmodellierung vorgestellt, welche den Bedürfnissen einer Straßenverwaltung Rechnung trägt. Der Grundgedanke des vorgeschlagenen Modells besteht in der Abstraktion und der strengen Unterscheidung von geometrischen, topologischen und Sachdaten. Um die Integration aller Daten, die Kontrolle von Redundanz und eine Optimierung der Datenpflege zu erreichen, wurden Trassierungselemente durch datumsinvariante Parameter abgebildet. Das vorgeschlagene konzeptionelle Datenmodell wurde erfolgreich implementiert. Dabei kam ein objektrelationales Datenbanksystem zum Einsatz.World-wide highway administrations are stressed to implementnew technologies, due to the large amount of information associated with highway networks and the necessity of using sources efficiently in order to realize their tasks. Geographic Information Systems-Transportation (GIS-T), which are specifically tailored for highway administrations, are identified having the highest information technology payoff potential by the highway administrations due to road information spatial character. Contrarily, road information spatial character is not adequately considered during system design, as a result, many of the benefits of GIS-T are not fully realized and efficiency of this technology is mainly under estimated. The relative success of implemented system is not clear without a detailed information analysis and a data model, which rely on formal data model design methodologies.It was determined during this study that several demands of highway administrations were not responded by means of current systems. These topics can be summarized as follows; relationships among geometry, topology and thematic information were not structured. The geometry information can notbe mapped in various reference systems without redundancy. The non-planar multi- abstraction topological information was not exist. The entire highway administrations business rules can not be performed in the current systems. The existing information and methods were not integrated into the system. The metadata including consistency rules, quality specifications and history information needed to be incorporated into the system. Especially in order to determine permanent, non-spatial and a unique object identifier,regulations and new approaches are required. In order to increase the efficiency of GIS-T and fulfill these requirements, this study considered a progressive approach appropriate to the conceptual data modeling requirements of an entire highway agency. The main approach of the proposed data model was abstraction and decomposition of geometry,topology and non-spatial data. In order to achieve data integration, control of redundancy and optimization of data maintenance, linear elements were mapped by means of datum invariant parameters. The proposed conceptual data model was successfully implemented using the integrated approach in one object-relational system

Quantifying the Effects of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans

This technical note uses the expert scoring information available in current scientific literature in order to explore the impacts and effects that different urban measures may have in planning for sustainability on a European wide level.JRC.J.1-Economics of Climate Change, Energy and Transpor

Seismic stratigraphy of the north-western Sea of Marmara shelf along the North Anatolian Fault system

The Ganos Fault, a part of the Northern strand of the North Anatolian Fault system, is an active- strike slip fault and divides the narrow NW shelf of the Sea of Marmara into two parts near the town of Gaziköy. This paper presents recently collected shallow high-resolution seismic data to discriminate the sedimentary successions, each characterized by distinctive stratigraphic patterns on both sides of the Ganos Fault. Two main units, namely U1 and U2, and three para-sequences (U1a, U1b and U1c) were identified, depending on their internal reflection patterns, accommodation depths as well as the presence of conformity and the unconformity surfaces. The thickness of Unit U1 reaches its maximum at the northern side of the Ganos Fault; it is much thinner to the south. The para-sequences of U1b and U1c have “progradation” and “aggradation to progradation” depositional characters, respectively. This probably implies fluvial deposition controlled by sea- level fluctuations. Unit U1b can only be observed at the northern side of the Ganos Fault, while Unit U1c at the southern side. Units U1a and U1b were deposited during the transgressive system tract, while Unit U1c was deposited during a sea-level fall and/or a lowstand phase marked by an erosional surface. The marine terraces in the study area are shallower than those along the northern shelf of the Sea of Marmara, possibly due to successive tectonic displacements along the Ganos Fault, which also controls the distribution and thickness of the parasequences identified in this study

The impact of measuring internal travel distances on selfpotentials and accessibility

Internal travel distances are fundamental in accessibility measurement, as they affect the weight of the intra-regional interactions, especially when using a gravity formulation. The contribution of the internal accessibility of each zone to its overall accessibility is known as self-potential. Several studies demonstrate its importance in accessibility analyses, especially in the most urbanized regions. It is precisely in urban regions where internal travel distances are more difficult to estimate due to congestion, which in turn may be influenced by factors such as urban density, urban morphology, network infrastructure, etc. Accessibility analyses usually use coarse estimates of internal distances, generally based on the regions' area and in some cases considering its level of urbanization. In this study we explore different forms of estimating internal travel distances in accessibility analysis and reflect on their advantages and drawbacks. One of the main difficulties that arise when measuring internal travel distances is the lack of data. However, the growing potential of ICTs in providing new sources of data can be used to improve representativeness of data. In this study we used speed profiles data from TeleAtlas/TomTom to calculate internal travel distances for European NUTS-3 regions and we compare this measure with three other metrics traditionally used in the literature. Following this exercise, we discuss the conditions under which it is advantageous to use more complex measures of internal travel distance. Finally, we test the sensitivity of potential accessibility indicators to the combined effect of different internal distance metrics and distance decay factors

The impact of measuring internal travel distances on self-potentials and accessibility

Internal travel distances are fundamental in accessibility measurement, as they affect the weight of the intra-regional interactions, especially when using a gravity formulation. The contribution of the internal accessibility of each zone to its overall accessibility is known as self-potential. Several studies demonstrate its importance in accessibility analyses, especially in the most urbanized regions. It is precisely in urban regions where internal travel distances (measured as travel length, time or cost) are more difficult to estimate due to congestion, which in turn may be influenced by factors such as urban density, urban morphology, network infrastructure, etc. Accessibility analyses usually use coarse estimates of internal distances, generally based on the regions' area and in some cases considering its level of urbanization. In this study we explore different forms of estimating internal travel distances in accessibility analysis and reflect on their advantages and drawbacks. One of the main difficulties that arise when measuring internal travel distances is the lack of data. However, the growing potential of ICTs (Information and communication technologies) in providing new sources of data can be used to improve representativeness of data. In this study we used speed profiles data from TeleAtlas/TomTom to calculate internal travel distances for European NUTS-3 regions and we compare this measure with three other metrics traditionally used in the literature. Following this exercise, we discuss the conditions under which it is advantageous to use more complex measures of internal travel distance. Finally we test the sensitivity of potential accessibility indicators to the combined effect of different internal distance metrics and distance decay factors.JRC.J.1-Economics of Climate Change, Energy and Transpor

Climate Impacts in Europe - The JRC PESETA II Project

The objective of the JRC PESETA II project is to gain insights into the sectoral and regional patterns of climate change impacts in Europe by the end of this century. The study uses a large set of climate model runs and impact categories (ten impacts: agriculture, energy, river floods, droughts, forest fires, transport infrastructure, coasts, tourism, habitat suitability of forest tree species and human health). The project integrates biophysical direct climate impacts into a macroeconomic economic model, which enables the comparison of the different impacts based on common metrics (household welfare and economic activity). Under the reference simulation the annual total damages would be around €190 billion/year, almost 2% of EU GDP. The geographical distribution of the climate damages is very asymmetric with a clear bias towards the southern European regions. More than half of the overall annual EU damages are estimated to be due to the additional premature mortality (€120 billion). Moving to a 2°C world would reduce annual climate damages by €60 billion, to €120 billion (1.2% of GDP)