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Vulnerability
Kinds of Vulnerability Terms modified by Vulnerability Selected AbstractsRESEARCH VULNERABILITY: AN ILLUSTRATIVE CASE STUDY FROM THE SOUTH AFRICAN MINING INDUSTRYDEVELOPING WORLD BIOETHICS, Issue 3 2007LYN HORN ABSTRACT The concept of ,vulnerability' is well established within the realm of research ethics and most ethical guidelines include a section on ,vulnerable populations'. However, the term ,vulnerability', used within a human research context, has received a lot of negative publicity recently and has been described as being simultaneously ,too broad' and ,too narrow'.1 The aim of the paper is to explore the concept of research vulnerability by using a detailed case study , that of mineworkers in post-apartheid South Africa. In particular, the usefulness of Kipnis's taxonomy of research vulnerability will be examined.2 In recent years the volume of clinical research on human subjects in South Africa has increased significantly. The HIV and TB pandemics have contributed to this increase. These epidemics have impacted negatively on the mining industry; and mining companies have become increasingly interested in research initiatives that address these problems. This case study explores the potential research vulnerability of mineworkers in the context of the South African mining industry and examines measures that can reduce this vulnerability. [source] THE ENVIRONMENTAL VULNERABILITY OF CARIBBEAN ISLAND NATIONS,GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW, Issue 1 2007Bryan J. Boruff ABSTRACT. Within the hazards- and disaster-research community consensus exists as to factors that magnify or attenuate the effects of extreme natural events on local places. But less agreement and understanding exist concerning the methods or techniques for comparing hazard vulnerability within or between places, especially small-island developing states. Using two Caribbean nations, Saint Vincent and Barbados, as study sites, we asked which island has the greater level of hazard vulnerability, and why. Results indicate that, although neither island has a large portion of its population living in extremely hazardous locations, Barbados has many more residents in risk-prone areas. The methods used in this research provide valuable tools for local emergency managers in assessing vulnerability, especially through the delineation of highly vulnerable hot spots. They can also help donor organizations interested in vulnerability reduction on islands use their resources more efficiently. [source] INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE AND THE VALUE OF OPENNESS; TAKING THE VULNERABILITY OF RELIGIOUS ATTACHMENTS INTO ACCOUNTTHE HEYTHROP JOURNAL, Issue 5 2010MARIANNE MOYAERTArticle first published online: 17 MAR 2010 First page of article [source] LAVICHÈ: HAITI'S VULNERABILITY TO THE GLOBAL FOOD CRISISANNALS OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL PRACTICE, Issue 1 2009John Mazzeo In April 2008, the global rise in food prices reached a breaking point in Haiti where a series of food riots swept across the country. The majority of Haitians depend on the marketplace for food, especially imported rice. The dependence on the marketplace for food and the rise in prices has caused households to reduce purchases leading to growing hunger especially among the rural poor. Haiti's vulnerability to the food crisis is not a problem of supply; it's because of the high cost of living, lavichè in Haitian Creole. This article poses the question, why is Haiti, a country rooted in peasant agricultural production, vulnerable to the rise in global food prices. I propose that answers to the current crisis come from an understanding of rural livelihoods, strategies for accessing food, and global food policies. Rural households are not subsistence producers. Ironically, they have suffered most from the rise in prices because of their dependence on the marketplace. Changing consumption patterns relying on imported rather than domestic staples have increased vulnerability to rising prices. Additionally, economic policies surrounding the import and marketing of food have further increased Haiti's dependence on imports. Understanding the trends leading to Haiti's current food crisis will help to inform policies and programs aimed at providing temporary food assistance and hopefully lead to more effective development programs. This article is based on research conducted in rural Haiti during the summer of 2008, part of which was for World Vision International as it prepared to mitigate the crisis through food assistance programs. [source] VULNERABILITY IN RESEARCH AND HEALTH CARE; DESCRIBING THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM?BIOETHICS, Issue 4 2008SAMIA A. HURST ABSTRACT Despite broad agreement that the vulnerable have a claim to special protection, defining vulnerable persons or populations has proved more difficult than we would like. This is a theoretical as well as a practical problem, as it hinders both convincing justifications for this claim and the practical application of required protections. In this paper, I review consent-based, harm-based, and comprehensive definitions of vulnerability in healthcare and research with human subjects. Although current definitions are subject to critique, their underlying assumptions may be complementary. I propose that we should define vulnerability in research and healthcare as an identifiably increased likelihood of incurring additional or greater wrong. In order to identify the vulnerable, as well as the type of protection that they need, this definition requires that we start from the sorts of wrongs likely to occur and from identifiable increments in the likelihood, or to the likely degree, that these wrongs will occur. It is limited but appropriately so, as it only applies to special protection, not to any protection to which we have a valid claim. Using this definition would clarify that the normative force of claims for special protection does not rest with vulnerability itself, but with pre-existing claims when these are more likely to be denied. Such a clarification could help those who carry responsibility for the protection of vulnerable populations, such as Institutional Review Boards, to define the sort of protection required in a more targeted and effective manner. [source] Violence and the Vulnerabilities of GenderGENDER & HISTORY, Issue 3 2004Shani D'Cruze First page of article [source] Introduction: Sources of Strengths, Remaining Vulnerabilities and New Policy Challenges for AsiaIDS BULLETIN, Issue 4 2007Stephany Griffith-Jones First page of article [source] Insidious Environments: Creeping Dependencies and Urban VulnerabilitiesJOURNAL OF CONTINGENCIES AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2005Alice Hills [source] Mothers' Attachment Style, Their Mental Health, and Their Children's Emotional Vulnerabilities: A 7-Year Study of Children With Congenital Heart DiseaseJOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 1 2008Ety Berant ABSTRACT The long-term contribution of mothers' attachment insecurities to their own and their children's psychological functioning was examined in a 7-year prospective longitudinal study of children with Congenital Heart Disease (CHD). Sixty-three mothers of newborns with CHD participated in a three-wave study, beginning with the CHD diagnosis (T1), then 1 year later (T2), and again 7 years later (T3). At T1, the mothers reported on their attachment style and mental health. At T2, the mental health measure was administered again, along with a marital satisfaction scale. At T3, participants completed these two measures again, and their children reported on their self-concept and completed the Children's Apperception Test. Maternal avoidant attachment at T1 was the best predictor of deterioration in the mothers' mental health and marital satisfaction over the 7-year period, especially in a subgroup whose children had severe CHD. In addition, mothers' attachment insecurities (both anxiety and avoidance) at the beginning of the study were associated with their children's emotional problems and poor self-image 7 years later. [source] Economic Shocks and Democratic Vulnerabilities in Latin America and the CaribbeanLATIN AMERICAN POLITICS AND SOCIETY, Issue 2 2010Abby Córdova ABSTRACT Historical evidence suggests that bad economic times often mean bad times for democracy, but prior research has given us little guidance on how this process may work. What economic conditions are most threatening, and how might they weaken consolidating democracies? This article uses the AmericasBarometer conducted by the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) to answer these questions by focusing on core attitudes for the consolidation of democracy. We use survey data at the level of the individual and economic data at the country level to help detect democratic vulnerabilities in Latin America and the Caribbean. The study finds that conditions of low levels of economic development, low economic growth, and high levels of income inequality increase those vulnerabilities substantially, but the effects are not uniform across individuals. Some groups, especially the young and the poor, are particularly vulnerable to some antidemocratic appeals. [source] A Clash of Vulnerabilities: Citizenship, Labor, and Expatriacy in the Cayman IslandsAMERICAN ETHNOLOGIST, Issue 3 2001Vered Amit In this article, I examine the stalemates produced in the Cayman Islands, a major center for offshore finance and tourism, by globalizing processes that have encouraged the valorization of transnational mobility, commodification of labor, and exclusivity of citizenship. I argue that globalization takes form in the Cayman Islands through the channels carved out for it by local state interests and regulation that have defined citizenship as a terrain for competing entitlements between expatriate workers and enfranchised permanent residents. Caymanians struggling to retain local political control over their labor market only further its incorporation into the global economy while expatriates can find their exit from Cayman stymied by the localization of labor markets elsewhere, [citizenship, transnational, labor, offshore finance, tourism] [source] Assessing risks from threats to process plants: Threat and vulnerability analysisPROCESS SAFETY PROGRESS, Issue 4 2002Paul Baybutt Process security management addresses threats from terrorist and criminal acts against plants that may result in the release of hazardous materials. The risk of such threats must be assessed to determine if existing security measures and safeguards are adequate or need improvement. Risk assessment is the heart of a process security program. Process plants need straight forward and easily applied methods to assess security risks using techniques that can be employed in a variety of situations and at varying levels of detail. This paper describes an approach that accomplishes these objectives. Threat analysis is the first step. It is used to identify the sources and types of threats and their likelihood. The approach described in this paper involves the consideration of motivations and capabilities of adversaries and the rating of facility security factors to develop a threat profile. Once specific threats have been identified, process vulnerability analysis is used to identify threat scenarios, i.e., how threats could be realized. Plants and processes are divided into sectors, and each credible threat within each sector is considered. Vulnerabilities are identified by brainstorming the ways barriers can be penetrated and process containment breached. Checklists are used to guide the brainstorming, and scenario consequences are recorded. Existing security measures and safeguards are listed, and any recommendations for improvements to reduce the likelihood and severity of terrorist and criminal acts are made for consideration by management based on the nature of the threat, process vulnerabilities, possible consequences, and existing security measures and safeguards. Risk rankings are performed as part of the analyses. [source] The Next Catastrophe: Reducing Our Vulnerabilities to Natural, Industrial and Terrorist Disasters By CHARLES PERROWCANADIAN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION/ADMINISTRATION PUBLIQUE DU CANADA, Issue 2 2008Paul G. Thomas First page of article [source] Gender, Vulnerability, and the Experts: Responding to the Maldives TsunamiDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 5 2007Emma Fulu ABSTRACT This article examines the initial response by national and international agencies to gender issues during the aftermath of the Maldives tsunami, arguing that it was, in general, inadequate. Some agencies took a gender blind approach, ignoring different impacts on men and women, as well as the effects of complex gender relations on relief and recovery efforts. Other agencies paid greater attention to gender relations in their response but tended to focus exclusively on the universal category of the ,vulnerable woman' requiring special assistance, whilst at the same time ignoring men's vulnerabilities. This article argues that such language entrenched women as victims, excluding them from leadership and decision-making roles and as such served to reinforce and re-inscribe women's trauma. It is suggested that it is partly because of the nature of international bureaucracies and the fact that this disaster drew foreign ,experts' from around the world that the response neglected or over-simplified gender issues. [source] Resource Accessibility and Vulnerability in Andhra Pradesh: Caste and Non-Caste InfluencesDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 4 2007Lee Bosher ABSTRACT Coastal Andhra Pradesh in southern India is prone to tropical cyclones. Access to key resources can reduce the vulnerability of the local population to both large-scale disasters, such as cyclones, and to the sort of small-scale crises that affect their everyday lives. This article uses primary fieldwork to present a resource accessibility vulnerability index for over 300 respondents. The index indicates that caste is the key factor in determining who has assets, who can access public facilities, who has political connections and who has supportive social networks. The ,lower' castes (which tend to be the poorest) are marginalized to the extent that they lack access to assets, public facilities and opportunities to improve their plight. However, the research also indicates that the poor and powerless lower castes are able to utilize informal social networks to bolster their resilience, typically by women's participation with CBOs and NGOs. Nevertheless it is doubtful whether this extra social capital counterbalances the overall results which show that , despite decades of counteractions by government , caste remains a dominant variable affecting the vulnerability of the people of coastal Andhra Pradesh to the hazards that they face. [source] War, Livelihoods and Vulnerability in Sri LankaDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 2 2004Benedikt Korf As the number of de-stabilized regions of warfare or post-war conditions worldwide continues to grow, this article investigates how civilians survive in the context of a civil war. It analyses livelihood strategies of farmers in the war-torn areas of Sri Lanka, using an analytical framework based on a revised form of DFID's sustainable rural livelihoods approach, placing particular attention on the institutional reproduction of household capital assets in the war economy. The author delineates a three pillar model of household livelihood strategies focusing on how households (1) cope with the increased level of risk and uncertainty; (2) adjust their economic and social household assets for economic survival; and (3) use their social and political assets as livelihood strategies. Empirical evidence comes from four case study villages in the east of Sri Lanka. Although the four case studies were very close together geographically, their livelihood outcomes differed considerably depending on the very specific local political geography. The role of social and political assets is essential: while social assets (extended family networks) were important to absorb migrants, political assets (alliances with power holders) were instrumental in enabling individuals, households or economic actors to stabilize or even expand their livelihood options and opportunities. The author concludes that civilians in conflict situations are not all victims (some may also be culprits in the political economy of warfare), and that war can be both a threat and an opportunity, often at the same time. [source] Struggling to Save Cash: Seasonal Migration and Vulnerability in West Bengal, IndiaDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 4 2003Ben Rogaly This article concerns an important but overlooked means by which able-bodied poor people get hold of lump sums of cash in rural West Bengal: seasonal migration for agricultural wage work. Drawing on a regional study of four migration streams, our main focus here is on the struggle to secure this cash by landless households in just one of those streams, originating in Murshidabad District. Case studies are used to illustrate the importance for women in nuclear families of maintaining supportive networks of kin for periods when men are absent. A parallel analysis is made of the negotiations between male migrant workers and their employers, at labour markets, during the period of work, and afterwards. The article then briefly discusses some of the contrasting ways in which remittances are used by landless households and owners of very small plots of land, in the context of rapid ecological change, demographic pressure and growing inequality. [source] Vulnerability, Control and Oil Palm in Sarawak: Globalization and a New Era?DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 2 2002Fadzilah Majid Cooke In the post logging era, Sarawak is being restructured to make way for large-scale oil palm plantations. In this restructuring, the vulnerabilities of particular areas are being used in a wider battle to control production, particularly for export. Native customary lands, considered ,unproductive' or ,idle' by officials, are the target of oil palm plantation development under a new land development programme called Konsep Baru (New Concept). This article looks at the contradictions generated by the complex process of laying claims to ,idle' native customary land and focuses on Dayak organizing initiatives in northern Sarawak, Malaysia. [source] Safety Nets and Opportunity Ladders: Addressing Vulnerability and Enhancing Productivity in South AsiaDEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, Issue 5 2002Naila Kabeer As patterns of poverty and vulnerability in South Asia change, households have to balance immediate needs and long,term goals. For the poor, these choices, and the costs of precautionary measures, are particularly acute and call for suitable government policies. While policy,makers face a number of trade,offs between promotion, prevention and protection goals, careful design can maximise the potential to reconcile these objectives. A review of experience suggests a number of lessons regarding the relative benefits of targeted and universal programmes; the need to differentiate microfinance products for different groups amongst the poor; ways of basing the self,targeting of public works on rights rather than stigma; and the influence of political processes (such as decentralisation) for the overall effectiveness of social protection. [source] Vulnerability of preterm males to adverse obstetric factorsDEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE & CHILD NEUROLOGY, Issue 7 2009MICHAEL V JOHNSTON MD No abstract is available for this article. [source] Vulnerability of community businesses to environmental disastersDISASTERS, Issue 1 2009Yang Zhang Business plays important roles in community functioning., However, disaster research has been disproportionately focused on units of analysis such as families, households and government agencies. This paper synthesises the major findings within the business development research field and the disaster research field. It constructs a framework for evaluating business vulnerability to natural disasters. Our theoretical integration of the research conducted to date addresses five major issues. First, it defines the ways in which businesses are subject to the impacts of natural disasters. Second, it identifies the factors that determine the magnitude of business impacts after a disaster. Third, it identifies how and when businesses return to their pre-disaster level in the disaster stricken community. Fourth, it describes measures that can be taken by individual firms and community planners to reduce the impacts of environmental disasters. Fifth, it identifies needs for public policy and future research to reduce business vulnerability to environmental disasters. [source] Human Vulnerability, Dislocation and Resettlement: Adaptation Processes of River-bank Erosion-induced Displacees in BangladeshDISASTERS, Issue 1 2004David Mutton The purpose of this research was to identify and analyse patterns of economic and social adaptation among river-bank erosion-induced displacees in Bangladesh. It was hypothesised that the role of social demographic and socio-economic variables in determining the coping ability and recovery of the river-bank erosion-induced displacees is quite significant. The findings of the research reveal that displacees experience substantial socio-economic impoverishment and marginalisation as a consequence of involuntary migration. This in part is a socially constructed process, reflecting inequitable access to land and other resources. Vulnerability to disasters is further heightened by a number of identifiable social and demographic factors including gender, education and age, although extreme poverty and marginalisation create complexity to isolate the relative influence of these variables. The need to integrate hazard analysis and mitigation with the broader economic and social context is discussed. It is argued that the capacity of people to respond to environmental threats is a function of not only the physical forces which affect them, but also of underlying economic and social relationships which increase human vulnerability to risk. Hazard analysis and mitigation can be more effective when it takes into account such social and demographic and socio-economic dimensions of disasters. [source] Constructing Vulnerability: The Historical, Natural and Social Generation of Flooding in Metropolitan ManilaDISASTERS, Issue 3 2003Greg Bankoff Flooding is not a recent hazard in the Philippines but one that has occurred throughout the recorded history of the archipelago. On the one hand, it is related to a wider global ecological crisis to do with climatic change and rising sea levels but on the other hand, it is also the effect of more localised human activities. A whole range of socio-economic factors such as land use practices, living standards and policy responses are increasingly influencing the frequency of natural hazards such as floods and the corresponding occurrence of disasters. In particular, the reason why flooding has come to pose such a pervasive risk to the residents of metropolitan Manila has its basis in a complex mix of inter-relating factors that emphasise how the nature of vulnerability is constructed through the lack of mutuality between environment and human activity over time. This paper examines three aspects of this flooding: first, the importance of an historical approach in understanding how hazards are generated; second, the degree of interplay between environment and society in creating risk; and third, the manner in which vulnerability is a complex construction. [source] The Livelihoods Gap: Responding to the Economic Dynamics of Vulnerability in SomaliaDISASTERS, Issue 1 2002Andre Le Sage A ,livelihoods gap' has become evident in international aid delivery to Somalia. Existing aid interventions do not address the economic dynamics of vulnerability resulting from Somalia's long history of predatory development and asset stripping. To prevent poor households' regular return to sub-subsistence income levels after a brief period of plenty, this paper argues that aid agencies should reorient and expand existing interventions to assist poor households to capitalise on temporary improvements in environmental and security conditions. As a corollary to emergency relief and efforts to construct state institutions, it is necessary to devise country-wide interventions that will rebuild household asset bases by protecting savings during times of stress and ensuring that markets benefit poor producers. [source] Vulnerability of larvae of two species of aphidophagous ladybirds, Adalia bipunctata Linnaeus and Harmonia axyridis Pallas, to cannibalism and intraguild predationENTOMOLOGICAL SCIENCE, Issue 2 2009Satoru SATO Abstract Vulnerability of larvae of two species of aphidophagous ladybirds, Adalia bipunctata Linnaeus and Harmonia axyridis Pallas, to cannibalism and intraguild predation was assessed in the laboratory. In the first experiment, a first instar of one of the two above species was kept with a fourth instar of the other species in a Petri dish. The number of times each first instar larva was encountered by the fourth instar larva and the fate of the first instar was determined over a period of 10 min. The fourth instar larvae captured and killed all the first instar larvae of their own species at the first encounter. However, when presented with fourth instar larvae of the other species the first instar larvae of A. bipunctata and H. axyridis were encountered 6.4 ± 1.3 (n = 10) and 19.4 ± 2.1 (n = 10), respectively. In this experiment no first instar larvae of H. axyridis, whereas all those of A. bipunctata, were killed. [source] A Space of Vulnerability in Poverty and Health: Political-Ecology and Biocultural AnalysisETHOS, Issue 1 2005THOMAS LEATHERMAN In this article I present a political-ecological approach for biocultural analyses that attempts to synthesize perspectives from anthropological political economy and those from ecological anthropology and human adaptability approaches. The approach is used to examine contexts and consequences of vulnerability among Andean peoples in southern Peru, and specifically the ongoing and dialectical relationships between poverty, illness, and household production. Household demographic composition, class position, economic status, and interpersonal relations are all important in shaping their experience with illness, and coping capacity in dealing with the consequences of illness on household livelihood. I suggest that the contexts and consequences of vulnerability among rural producers in southern Peru contributed in part to the spread of the Sendero Luminoso revolutionary movement into the region in the late 1980s and early 1990s. [source] Vulnerability to neuroleptic side effects in frontotemporal dementiaEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY, Issue 2 2008C. J. Kerrsens No abstract is available for this article. [source] HIV and AIDS among fisherfolk: a threat to ,responsible fisheries'?FISH AND FISHERIES, Issue 3 2004Edward H. Allison Abstract Fishing communities are often among the highest-risk groups in countries with high overall rates of HIV/AIDS prevalence. Vulnerability to HIV/AIDS stems from complex, interacting causes that may include the mobility of many fisherfolk, the time fishermen spend away from home, their access to daily cash income in an overall context of poverty and vulnerability, their demographic profile, the ready availability of commercial sex in fishing ports and the subcultures of risk taking and hypermasculinity among some fishermen. The subordinate economic and social position of women in many fishing communities in low-income countries makes them even more vulnerable. HIV/AIDS in fishing communities was first dealt with as a public health issue, and most projects were conducted by health sector agencies and NGOs, focusing on education and health care provision. More recently, as the social and economic impacts of the epidemic have become evident, wider social service provision and economic support have been added. In the last 3 years, many major fishery development programmes in Africa, South/South-East Asia and the Asia-Pacific region have incorporated HIV/AIDS awareness in their planning. The HIV/AIDS pandemic threatens the sustainability of fisheries by eclipsing the futures of many fisherfolk. The burden of illness puts additional stresses on households, preventing them from accumulating assets derived from fishing income. Premature death robs fishing communities of the knowledge gained by experience and reduces incentives for longer-term and inter-generational stewardship of resources. Recent projects championing local knowledge and resource-user participation in management need to take these realities into account. If the fishing communities of developing countries that account for 95% of the world's fisherfolk and supply more than half the world's fish are adversely impacted by HIV/AIDS, then the global supply of fish, particularly to lower-income consumers, may be jeopardized. [source] Vulnerability of African mammals to anthropogenic climate change under conservative land transformation assumptionsGLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, Issue 3 2006WILFRIED THUILLER Abstract Recent observations show that human-induced climate change (CC) and land transformation (LT) are threatening wildlife globally. Thus, there is a need to assess the sensitivity of wildlife on large spatial scales and evaluate whether national parks (NPs), a key conservation tools used to protect species, will meet their mandate under future CC and LT conditions. Here, we assess the sensitivity of 277 mammals at African scale to CC at 10, resolution, using static LT assumptions in a ,first-cut' estimate, in the absence of credible future LT trends. We examine the relationship between species' current distribution and macroclimatic variables using generalized additive models, and include LT indirectly as a filter. Future projections are derived using two CC scenarios (for 2050 and 2080) to estimate the spatial patterns of loss and gain in species richness that might ultimately result. We then apply the IUCN Red List criteria A3(c) of potential range loss to evaluate species sensitivity. We finally estimate the sensitivity of 141 NPs in terms of both species richness and turnover. Assuming no spread of species, 10,15% of the species are projected to fall within the critically endangered or extinct categories by 2050 and between 25% and 40% by 2080. Assuming unlimited species spread, less extreme results show proportions dropping to approximately 10,20% by 2080. Spatial patterns of richness loss and gain show contrasting latitudinal patterns with a westward range shift of species around the species-rich equatorial zone in central Africa, and an eastward shift in southern Africa, mainly because of latitudinal aridity gradients across these ecological transition zones. Xeric shrubland NPs may face significant richness losses not compensated by species influxes. Other NPs might expect substantial losses and influxes of species. On balance, the NPs might ultimately realize a substantial shift in the mammalian species composition of a magnitude unprecedented in recent geological time. To conclude, the effects of global CC and LT on wildlife communities may be most noticeable not as a loss of species from their current ranges, but instead as a fundamental change in community composition. [source] Remote sensing and GIS-based flood vulnerability assessment of human settlements: a case study of Gangetic West Bengal, IndiaHYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 18 2005Joy Sanyal Abstract Flooding due to excessive rainfall in a short period of time is a frequent hazard in the flood plains of monsoon Asia. In late September 2000, a devastating flood stuck Gangetic West Bengal, India. This particular event has been selected for this study. Instead of following the conventional approach of flooded area delineation and overall damage estimation, this paper seeks to identify the rural settlements that are vulnerable to floods of a given magnitude. Vulnerability of a rural settlement is perceived as a function of two factors: the presence of deep flood water in and around the settlement and its proximity to an elevated area for temporary shelter during an extreme hydrological event. Landsat ETM+ images acquired on 30 September 2000 have been used to identify the non-flooded areas within the flooded zone. Particular effort has been made to differentiate land from water under cloud shadow. ASTER digital elevation data have been used to assess accuracy and rectify the classified image. The presence of large numbers of trees around rural settlements made it particularly difficult to extract the flooded areas from their spectral signatures in the visible and infrared bands. ERS-1 synthetic aperture radar data are found particularly useful for extracting the settlement areas surrounded by trees. Finally, all information extracted from satellite imageries are imported into ArcGIS, and spatial analysis is carried out to identify the settlements vulnerable to river inundation. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||