System robustness analysis in support of flood and drought risk management / Marjolein J. P. Mens.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mens, Marjolein J. P., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

System analysis.

Flood damage prevention.

Drought management.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (180 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam, Netherlands : IOS Press, 2015.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Floods and droughts have an increasing impact on societies worldwide. It is unlikely that the provision of flood protection infrastructure and reservoirs will eliminate this problem, especially as extreme events are expected to increase in probability and magnitude as a result of climate change. For this reason, the focus of water management has shifted to a risk-based approach in recent years; but this also has its limitations.This book examines system robustness as a new perspective on flood and drought risk management. The concept of robustness is familiar from other areas, such as engineering and biology. When a system is robust, it can remain functioning even when some components fail. Areas prone to flooding or drought can be understood as systems, and this book makes the concept of robustness operational by proposing quantifiable criteria. These criteria were tested in two case studies of flooding and two of drought, which demonstrate the applicability of the framework and provide insight into the system characteristics that influence system robustness. The book will contribute to decision-making in flood and drought risk management by providing additional decision criteria, and will be of interest to all those whose work involves the management of disastrous and uncertain flood and drought events.

Contents:

Title Page

Summary

Samenvatting

Contents

Introduction

Flood and drought risk

Risk-based decision making

Robust systems

Objective and research questions

Research approach

Outline of this thesis

Conceptual framework for analysing system robustness

Defining system robustness

...in general

...in this thesis

...of flood risk systems

...of drought risk systems

Analysing system robustness

Response curve

Characterising system robustness

Quantifying system robustness

Response curve in comparison to a risk curve

System robustness versus decision robustness

The added value of system robustness analysis for flood risk management

Flood risk analysis

Approach

Step 1: water level probability distribution per location

Step 2: fragility curve for each location

Step 3: potential damage at each breach location

Step 4: flood risk of the entire system

Results

System robustness analysis

Discussion of system robustness criteria

Conclusion

Enhancing flood risk system robustness in practice: insights from two river valleys

Method: Quantification of system robustness

System robustness criteria

Introduction to the cases

IJssel case

Meuse case

IJssel River valley

Meuse River valley

Discussion

What enhances system robustness?

How realistic are `unbreachable' embankments?

Developing system robustness analysis for drought risk management: an application to a water supply reservoir

Drought management under uncertainty

Application on a drought risk system

Methods and assumptions

Water balance model and input data

Characterising and selecting drought events

Water supply loss function.

Scoring the robustness criteria

Discussion, conclusions and recommendations

Discussion and conclusions

Recommendations

Analysing the robustness of an agricultural drought risk system: a case in a coastal polder area in the Netherlands

Drought risk management under climate change

Case study area

Outline

System robustness analysis framework and alternative system configurations

Alternative system configurations

Models

Data

Results: how robust is West-Netherlands for droughts?

Analysis with NHI

Analysis with RAM

How can system robustness be explained?

How can system robustness be increased?

The added value of robustness analysis for drought risk management

Thesis overview

Answering the research questions

Research question 1: How can robustness be defined for flood and drought risk systems?

Research question 2: Which criteria and indicators can be used to quantify robustness of flood and drought risk systems?

Research question 3: What is the added value of system robustness analysis for flood and drought risk management?

Research question 4: What characterizes a robust flood risk system?

Research question 5: What characterizes a robust drought risk system?

Reflection

Assumptions in a system robustness analysis

How to use the robustness criteria?

System robustness in comparison to other concepts

Implications and recommendations for flood risk management

Implications and recommendations for drought risk management

Recommendations for further research

Bibliography

Dankwoord

About the author.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed January 31, 2015).

ISBN:

1-61499-482-X

OCLC:

900193731