732 research outputs found
Comparative analysis between different flood assessment technologies in HAZUS-MH
Get PDFNatural disasters devastate the United States through both economic loss and loss of life. The world wide economic damage that results from natural disasters has more than tripled in the last thirty years. Of these natural disasters, floods are the most chronic and costly disasters, comprising an average $5 billion dollars of damage each year. FEMA has released a new software program called HAZUS-MH, which attempts to capture economic losses caused by flooding before losses occur and predict losses from real-time events. This estimate is accomplished through the coupling of flood hazard modeling with local data. FEMA’s goal is that the information constructed within the program will help planners to mitigate and capture flood related losses. This study provides a methodology for assessing the accuracy of HAZUS level one flood loss estimates by examining the extent to which HAZUS default building stock inventory data represents the built local environment. The study area is concentrated in the northwest corner of Livingston Parish, Louisiana. The area is comprised of 200 census blocks that were chosen due to their proximity to the Amite River. Thus it is an area prone to floods. Livingston Parish is located in the Mississippi River and Lake Maurepas Basin, which collectively cover approximately 236,000 acres. 70% of the Parish’s land is located within FEMA’s 100-year flood plain. Building count for structures was obtained using remote sensing technology, processed and used to populate HAZUS ® MH default databases. Flood loss estimations were run for all of the data sets and results were compared for a significant difference. Differences in flood loss between the two analyses were found in isolated areas. This demonstrated the need to incorporate growth and development information into flood loss estimation methodologies
End User Tools for Evaluating Scholarly Content
Get PDFThe existence of multiple versions of scholarly content (from author websites, institutional repositories, government archives, subject-specific digital libraries, aggregator collections and publisher websites) make it difficult for users to locate the most recent version of a document or to ascertain if the document has had any updates or even been retracted. This session describes tools for end users to evaluate the content they come across to make sure they are citing the most authoritative version of the content available. The reader will learn about the CrossMark version of record service and the importance of educating users about how to locate current information
RC-MAPS: Bridging the Comprehension Gap in EAP Reading
Get PDFIn academic environments, reading is assigned not simply to transmit information; students are required to take the information, and based on the task set by the instructor, assess, analyze, and critique it on the basis of personal experiences, prior knowledge, and other readings (Grabe, 2009). Thus text-based comprehension (Kintsch, 1998) alone is not sufficient for academic success. Top-down processing is also required; this involves applying prior knowledge to define purpose(s), to make and verify hypotheses, and to infer and question content (Macaro & Erler, 2008; Urquhart & Weir, 1991). Although research has given teachers direction regarding the approach to use when providing strategy instruction in their classrooms, it has been left to teachers to develop the specific teaching tools required. In this article, I propose Reading Comprehension MAP for Situation-based comprehension (RC-MAPS): an instructional technique that provides teachers with an easily modified tool to assist in developing interpretative comprehension skills among second-language readers in academic environments through the strategy of questioning
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