Possibilities of Archaeological Prospection by High-resolution X-band Satellite Radar – a Case Study from Syria

The launch of the first German radar satellite TerraSAR-X in 2007 opened a new era in spaceborne radar remote sensing. So far the applicability for the high-resolution prospection of upstanding and, especially, buried monuments was limited because of the low resolution of the former sensors. TerraSAR-X, however, provides us with images with a spatial resolution of up to 1m. The satellite operates in the so-called X-band with a frequency of 9.65 GHz. Therefore it is supposed that there is no possibility to penetrate the soil with this sensor. To testify and analyse the benefit of TerraSAR-X in archaeological geophysics, we chose as a test site a Roman fortress in Syria. The site was chosen as we already have GPR data of the same area for a comparison and for the verification of the actual penetration depth. Our results revealed that it is possible to resolve superficial and even buried structures in the data set, which provides evidence that the X-band waves can penetrate the soil. This paper shows our results of the survey and an estimation of the possible penetration depth of TerraSAR-X. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Can reanalyses represent extreme precipitation over England and Wales?

A new generation of reanalysis products is currently being produced that provides global gridded atmospheric data spanning more than a century. Such data may be useful for characterising the observed long-term variability of extreme precipitation events, particularly in regions where spatial coverage of surface observations is limited, and in the pre-satellite era. An analysis of extreme precipitation events is performed over England and Wales, investigating the ability of Twentieth Century Reanalysis and ERA-Interim to represent extreme precipitation accumulations as recorded in the England and Wales Precipitation dataset on accumulation time-scales from 1 to 7 days. Significant correlations are found between daily precipitation accumulation observations and both reanalysis products. A hit-rate analysis indicates that the reanalyses have hit rates (as defined by an event above the 98th percentile) of approximately 40–65% for extreme events in both summer (JJA) and winter (DJF). This suggests that both ERA-Interim and Twentieth Century Reanalysis are difficult to use for representing individual extreme precipitation events over England and Wales

Wilma and Sandy: Lessons Learned from Public Servants

Global Cases in Best and Worst Practice in Crisis and Emergency Management is the first book to focus on select global cases from the perspective of best and worst practices in the context of crisis and emergency management. Bringing together the most established scholars and experts in the field, it offers theories along with an empirical, success-and-failure analysis. It presents the cases using a lessons learned approach, highlighting the good, the bad, and the ugly for the benefit of future crisis and emergency management. The book is divided into three sections with chapters that focus on Macro-level emergency policy cases addressing policy design and decisions with long- and short-term impact Cases giving instructive examples of prevention, leadership, coordination, mitigation, organization, planning, and supplies Cases and discussions of chaos and transformation theories, surprise management theory, and applying theories to building capacity and resilience in governance The book also includes chapter objectives, analysis points, questions, key terms, presentation and lesson exercises, references, and additional reading lists. Policy experts, researchers, practitioners, instructors, and students will find the case studies in this book illuminating. With its combination of theory and practice and coverage of a wide range of disciplines, it provides an ideal primary or companion text for courses in emergency and disaster management, public administration, political science, and global crisis studies.https://nsuworks.nova.edu/hcbe_facbooks/1114/thumbnail.jp