A new web-based system to improve the monitoring of snow avalanche hazard in France

International audienceSnow avalanche data in the French Alps and Pyrenees have been recorded for more than 100 years in several databases. The increasing amount of observed data required a more integrative and automated service. Here we report the comprehensive web-based Snow Avalanche Information System newly developed to this end for three important data sets: an avalanche chronicle (Enquete Permanente sur les Avalanches, EPA), an avalanche map (Carte de Localisation des Phenomenes d'Avalanche, CLPA) and a compilation of hazard and vulnerability data recorded on selected paths endangering human settlements (Sites Habites Sensibles aux Avalanches, SSA). These data sets are now integrated into a common database, enabling full interoperability between all different types of snow avalanche records: digitized geographic data, avalanche descriptive parameters, eyewitness reports, photographs, hazard and risk levels, etc. The new information system is implemented through modular components using Java-based web technologies with Spring and Hibernate frameworks. It automates the manual data entry and improves the process of information collection and sharing, enhancing user experience and data quality, and offering new outlooks to explore and exploit the huge amount of snow avalanche data available for fundamental research and more applied risk assessment

Upper mantle structure of marginal seas and subduction zones in northeastern Eurasia from Rayleigh wave tomography

The upper mantle structure of marginal seas (the Seas of Japan and Okhotsk) and subduction zones in northeastern Eurasia is investigated, using the three-stage multimode surface wave tomography incorporating finite-frequency effects. Broadband waveform data from 305 events with magnitude greater than 5.5 from 1990 to 2005 recorded at 25 stations of the IRIS network in northeastern Eurasia and Japan and at 8 stations of the broadband seismic network in Far-Eastern Russia from 2005 to 2008 are employed in our analysis. The dispersion curves of the fundamental mode and first two higher modes of Rayleigh waves are simultaneously inverted for the shear-wave velocity structure of the region. The off-great circle propagation due to strong heterogeneities in the region is also taken into account in the construction of intermediary phase velocity models for each mode as a function of frequency. The obtained 3D S-wave velocity model is well resolved down to 200 km depth. Checkerboard tests show the average horizontal resolution of 5 in the study region. The subducting Pacific plate is clearly imaged as a high velocity anomaly up to 6 percents. The mantle wedge above the Pacific plate is associated with low velocity anomalies. The absolute minimum S-wave velocity in the mantle wedge is 4 km/s in the Sea of Okhotsk in the depth range from 80 to 160 km, probably indicating the presence of partial melt. The anomalous spot with conspicuous low velocity in the southern end of the Sea of Okhotsk may indicate the existence of hot upwelling flow in the mantle. A high velocity anomaly subparallel to the present subduction zone is found in the northwestern Sea of Okhotsk in the depth range from 100 to 200 km. The position of this anomaly correlates well with the high velocity anomaly found in the P-wave tomography of Gorbatov et al. (2000), which may be interpreted as a relict of the Okhotsk plate subducted in the past. We also attempted a mapping of azimuthal anisotropy in this region. The fast phase velocity directions near the Pacific plate are observed subparallel to the Kuril and Japan Trenches at all the periods, indicating a strong effect of the subducting Pacific plate on the mantle flow, while the anisotropy appears to be weak in tectonically inactive marginal seas

The Statutory Right to Seek a Credit Contract Variation on the Grounds of Hardship: A History and Analysis

In this article, we focus on one of the most important statutory protections for Australian consumers in financial hardship: the right to seek a variation of a credit contract contained in s 72 of the National Credit Code. We provide a comprehensive history of this right, which has been part of Australian consumer credit law since the 1970s. Over the years, it has evolved from a very limited right to seek an extension of time to pay a debt on grounds of illness and unemployment, to a broader provision that requires credit providers to comply with a prescribed process before they can commence enforcement action against a consumer who has sought a variation to their payment arrangements. We also undertake an analysis of the evolution of this right to demonstrate that despite improved understandings of the causes of financial hardship, it continues to envisage a middle-class subject with a strong awareness of their rights, and excludes some particularly vulnerable consumers. This right is also representative of a regulatory approach that envisages a limited role for consumer credit law, and does not sufficiently address the imbalance of bargaining power between the consumer and the credit provider. We argue for the imposition of an obligation to provide a minimum range of hardship assistance directly upon credit providers, as a means of addressing this imbalance and ensuring more meaningful protection for consumers in financial hardship

Impacts of Financial Literacy and Confidence on the Severity of Financial Hardship in Australia

Consumers in Australia and other developed countries are increasingly required to interact with providers of complex financial products and services, and to estimate, mitigate or absorb the risks that flow from their financial decisions. A range of debt-related problems in Australia have been attributed to low levels of financial literacy in the population. However, there has been limited research exploring the relationship between low financial literacy and the problem of financial hardship, where a consumer takes on payment obligations under a contract, but then becomes unable to meet them when they fall due. Drawing on a survey of Australians who recently experienced debt problems, this article examines the impact of financial literacy levels and levels of confidence in managing day-to-day spending on severity of financial hardship. The article also examines the impacts of financial literacy and confidence levels on the strategies employed to get by financially while in debt. The article shows that while there is no straightforward relationship between low financial literacy and severity of financial hardship, lower levels of financial literacy may reduce consumers’ ability to avoid some of the more serious consequences of default, particularly if coupled with overconfidence about their ability to manage spending

Upper mantle structure of the Aegean derived from two-station phase velocities of fundamental mode Rayleigh waves

The tectonic- geodynamic setting and the present upper mantle structure of the Aegean area are discussed. It includes an interesting interpretation of data on the spatial distribution of intermediate focal depth earthquakes, fault plane solutions and deep velocity structures, to further investigate active tectonics related to the deep structure of the southern Aegean volcanic arc