A methodology for the design, implementation and evaluation of community and impact-based flood warnings
(English) The present thesis focuses on developing, implementing, and evaluating a comprehensive community and impact-based early warning system (EWS) framework to support the protection actions of authorities and citizens at specific vulnerable locations during flood emergencies. For this purpose,...
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| Tipo de recurso: | tesis doctoral |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2023 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) |
| Repositorio: | UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/404660 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/2117/404660 https://dx.doi.org/10.5821/dissertation-2117-404660 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Impact-based early warning systems Emergency communication Forecasting and warning Floods Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Enginyeria civil Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Informàtica |
| Sumario: | (English) The present thesis focuses on developing, implementing, and evaluating a comprehensive community and impact-based early warning system (EWS) framework to support the protection actions of authorities and citizens at specific vulnerable locations during flood emergencies. For this purpose, this research delves into various aspects of people-centred impact-based early warning systems, such as meteorological monitoring and forecasting, hazard assessment, impact analysis, warning dissemination tools, mobile crisis apps and the crucial role of community engagement. By integrating these components, the “Site-Specific EWS” (SS-EWS) framework aims to provide locally relevant emergency information to empower individuals and communities to take appropriate self-protection actions based on their response capabilities and local impacts. A significant portion of the thesis is devoted to evaluating the framework, its components and the mobile app developed for warning dissemination (A4alerts) by employing a wide range of strategies. From analyzing the impact-based warnings triggered vs the impacts observed, the usefulness of the A4alerts and its functionalities, the content of the warning messages and their influence on risk perception, these strategies aimed to provide an all-encompassing understanding of the local effectiveness and utility of the SS-EWS. Furthermore, to identify the difficulties, success areas and future improvements, this research presents the social and technical experiences from implementing the community and impact-based driven SS-EWS framework within the selected case-study areas in Catalonia, Spain. The findings of this thesis contribute to the existing knowledge on impact-based EWS by providing innovative methodologies and practical recommendations for their development and implementation within a community context. Ultimately, the work presented in this study and its outcomes can pave the way for expanding the SS-EWS and impact-based driven strategies to vulnerable communities needing guidance and support to enhance their response capacity to mitigate the impacts caused by flood emergencies. |
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