456 research outputs found
Flood loss models and risk analysis for private households in can Tho City, Vietnam
Vietnam has a long history and experience with floods. Flood risk is expected to increase further due to climatic, land use and other global changes. Can Tho City, the cultural and economic center of the Mekong delta in Vietnam, is at high risk of flooding. To improve flood risk analyses for Vietnam, this study presents novel multi-variable flood loss models for residential buildings and contents and demonstrates their application in a flood risk assessment for the inner city of Can Tho. Cross-validation reveals that decision tree based loss models using the three input variables water depth, flood duration and floor space of building are more appropriate for estimating building and contents loss in comparison with depth-damage functions. The flood risk assessment reveals a median expected annual flood damage to private households of US$3340 thousand for the inner city of Can Tho. This is approximately 2.5%of the total annual income of households in the study area. For damage reduction improved flood risk management is required for the Mekong Delta, based on reliable damage and risk analyses
Multi-variate analyses of flood loss in Can Tho city, Mekong delta
Floods in the Mekong delta are recurring events and cause substantial losses to the economy. Sea level rise and increasing precipitation during the wet season result in more frequent floods. For effective flood risk management, reliable losses and risk analyses are necessary. However, knowledge about damaging processes and robust assessments of flood losses in the Mekong delta are scarce. In order to fill this gap, we identify and quantify the effects of the most important variables determining flood losses in Can Tho city through multi-variate statistical analyses. Our analysis is limited to the losses of residential buildings and contents. Results reveal that under the specific flooding characteristics in the Mekong delta with relatively well-adapted households, long inundation durations and shallow water depths, inundation duration is more important than water depth for the resulting loss. However, also building and content values, floor space of buildings and building quality are important loss-determining variables. Human activities like undertaking precautionary measures also influence flood losses. The results are important for improving flood loss modelling and, consequently, flood risk assessments in the Mekong delta
Characterization of Smallholder Beef Cattle Production System in Central Vietnam –Revealing Performance, Trends, Constraints, and Future Development
The objective of this study is to evaluate the characteristics of smallholder beef cattle production in Central Vietnam. A total of 360 households were interviewed by using semi-structured questionnaire; a total of 606 beef cows were investigated for evaluating calving interval (CI). Thirty-two fattening cattle were monitored for the estimation of diet structure. Results showed that the cattle herd size was 4.32-4.45 cattle/household. In North Central (NC), 55% of surveyed farmers kept local cattle, 45% kept crossbreeds, and none of surveyed farmers keeping exotic breeds. In South Central (SC), 63% of surveyed farmers kept cross cattle, 32% kept local cattle, and 5% kept exotic breeds. In the breeding method, 70% of surveyed farmers used artificial insemination (AI), 20% used natural mating (NM), and only 10% used both AI and NM in SC, whereas in NC 40% of farmers used AI, 40% used NM, and 20% used both AI and NM. The variety of feedstuffs fed to cattle including roughages and concentrate. The concentrate in the diet for fattening cattle was 25%-35% and protein level was 11%-13%, and the average daily gain of cattle was 0.51-0.63 kg/day. The CI of cows was 12-13 months in SC, whereas in NC it was 13-14 months. There were numerous constraints to cattle production in surveyed households including diseases, lack of good quality feed sources, breeds, knowledge, and lack of capital. In conclusion, cattle production in Central Vietnam is small scale and still largely extensive. There are constraints that must be solved to improve livestock systems in the near future, especially when shifting towards semi-intensive and/or intensive cattle production systems.
Towards risk-based flood management in highly productive paddy rice cultivation – concept development and application to the Mekong Delta
Flooding is an imminent natural hazard threatening most river deltas, e.g. the Mekong Delta. An appropriate flood management is thus required for a
sustainable development of the often densely populated regions. Recently, the
traditional event-based hazard control shifted towards a risk management
approach in many regions, driven by intensive research leading to new legal
regulation on flood management. However, a large-scale flood risk assessment
does not exist for the Mekong Delta. Particularly, flood risk to paddy rice
cultivation, the most important economic activity in the delta, has not been
performed yet. Therefore, the present study was developed to provide the very
first insight into delta-scale flood damages and risks to rice cultivation.
The flood hazard was quantified by probabilistic flood hazard maps of the
whole delta using a bivariate extreme value statistics, synthetic flood
hydrographs, and a large-scale hydraulic model. The flood risk to paddy rice
was then quantified considering cropping calendars, rice phenology, and
harvest times based on a time series of enhanced vegetation index (EVI)
derived from MODIS satellite data, and a published rice flood damage
function. The proposed concept provided flood risk maps to paddy rice for the
Mekong Delta in terms of expected annual damage. The presented concept can be
used as a blueprint for regions facing similar problems due to its generic
approach. Furthermore, the changes in flood risk to paddy rice caused by
changes in land use currently under discussion in the Mekong Delta were
estimated. Two land-use scenarios either intensifying or reducing rice
cropping were considered, and the changes in risk were presented in spatially
explicit flood risk maps. The basic risk maps could serve as guidance for the
authorities to develop spatially explicit flood management and mitigation
plans for the delta. The land-use change risk maps could further be used for
adaptive risk management plans and as a basis for a cost–benefit of the
discussed land-use change scenarios. Additionally, the damage and risks maps
may support the recently initiated agricultural insurance programme in
Vietnam.</p
Petrographic Characteristics and Depositional Environment Evolution of Middle Miocene Sediments in the Thien Ung - Mang Cau Structure of Nam Con Son Basin
This paper introduces the petrographic characteristics and depositional environment of Middle Miocene rocks of the Thien Ung - Mang Cau structure in the central area of Nam Con Son Basin based on the results of analyzing thin sections and structural characteristics of core samples. Middle Miocene sedimentary rocks in the studied area can be divided into three groups: (1) Group of terrigenous rocks comprising greywacke sandstone, arkosic sandstone, lithic-quartz sandstone, greywacke-lithic sandstone, oligomictic siltstone, and bitumenous claystone; (2) Group of carbonate rocks comprising dolomitic limestone and bituminous limestone; (3) Mixed group comprising calcareous sandstone, calcarinate sandstone, arenaceous limestone, calcareous claystone, calcareous silty claystone, dolomitic limestone containing silt, and bitumen. The depositional environment is expressed through petrographic characteristics and structure of the sedimentary rocks in core samples. The greywacke and arkosic sandstones are of medium grain size, poor sorting and roundness, and siliceous cement characterizing the alluvial and estuarine fan environment expressed by massive structure of core samples. The mixed calcareous limestone, arenaceous dolomitic limestone, and calcareous and bituminous clayey siltstone in the core samples are of turbulent flow structure characterizing shallow bay environment with the action of bottom currents. The dolomitic limestones are of relatively homogeneous, of microgranular and fine-granular texture, precipitated in a weakly reducing, semi-closed, and relatively calm bay environment
Local Moments in an Interacting Environment
We discuss how local moment physics is modified by the presence of
interactions in the conduction sea. Interactions in the conduction sea are
shown to open up new symmetry channels for the exchange of spin with the
localized moment. We illustrate this conclusion in the strong-coupling limit by
carrying out a Schrieffer Wolff transformation for a local moment in an
interacting electron sea, and show that these corrections become very severe in
the approach to a Mott transition. As an example, we show how the Zhang Rice
reduction of a two-band model is modified by these new effects.Comment: Latex file with two postscript figures. Revised version, with more
fully detailed calculation
The Structure of a Vortex in the t-J Model
We study the single-vortex solution of the t-J model within
resonating-valence-bond (RVB) mean-field theory. We find two types of vortex
cores, insulating and metallic, depending on the parameters of the model. The
pairing order parameter near both cores have
symmetry. For some range of the calculated tunneling spectrum of the
metallic vortex core agrees qualitatively with the STM tunneling data for
BSCCO
- …