A support system for assessing local vulnerability to weather and climate

Natural Hazards
By: , and 

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Abstract

The changing number and nature of weather- and climate-related natural hazards is causing more communities to need to assess their vulnerabilities. Vulnerability assessments, however, often require considerable expertise and resources that are not available or too expensive for many communities. To meet the need for an easy-to-use, cost-effective vulnerability assessment tool for communities, a prototype online vulnerability assessment support system was built and tested. This prototype tool guides users through a stakeholder-based vulnerability assessment that breaks the process into four easy-to-implement steps. Data sources are integrated in the online environment so that perceived risks—defined and prioritized qualitatively by users—can be compared and discussed against the impacts that past events have had on the community. The support system is limited in scope, and the locations of the case studies do not provide a sufficiently broad range of sample cases. The addition of more publicly available hazard databases combined with future improvements in the support system architecture and software will expand opportunities for testing and fully implementing the support system.

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title A support system for assessing local vulnerability to weather and climate
Series title Natural Hazards
DOI 10.1007/s11069-012-0366-3
Volume 65
Issue 1
Year Published 2013
Language English
Publisher Springer
Contributing office(s) Western Geographic Science Center
Description 10 p.
First page 999
Last page 1008
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