Case Studies

Hazards Case Studies
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Hazards Watch: Reducing the Impacts of Disasters Through Improved Earth Observations
How can we use our ability to observe the Earth’s natural systems to create a disaster-resilient society and what challenges and limits remain in earth observation efforts? This question was explored by a variety of speakers and participants at the 9th Disasters Roundtable workshop - Hazards Watch: Reducing Disaster Losses through Improved Earth Observations on October 22, 2003. Participants at the workshop discussed opportunities for reducing disaster losses by making the most of the technologies available through Earth observing systems, which produce highly-valuable information for policy makers and emergency managers. Read more

North Carolina: Floodplain Mapping with a Purpose
North Carolina is subject to periodic hurricane damage that causes severe physical damage to the state and often has economic repercussions. Though many places on the East Coast suffered from Hurricane Floyd in 1999, in North Carolina Floyd was preceded by Hurricane Dennis and followed by Hurricane Irene, a combination that exacerbated the damage to property caused by Hurricane Floyd. Read more

Red River Valley Flood: Remote Sensing and Disaster Response
In the spring of 1997, as the record snowfall of the winter of 1996-1997 began to melt and the waters ran north toward areas where the ice and snow were just beginning to melt, the Red River flooded its basin along the North Dakota-Minnesota boundary. The floods were the worst on record, inundating farms and communities in the Red River Valley and forcing over 100,000 people to evacuate their homes. The flood blocked regional transportation routes, disabled power systems, and disrupted water and sewage systems. Read more

A Regional Network Application - Fire Detection and Response in the Miombo Woodlands
The Miombo Network was formed to create a regional network for environmental research on the dominant biome2 of southern Africa, the Miombo Woodlands (Chapter 3). It is an informal network of scientists funded through grants and contracts from donor and science agencies. Read more