HSD SGER: The Role of Coastal Ecosystem Degradation in Tsunami Damage

这项研究包括一个跨学科的调查小组，他们将检查沿海生态系统的潜在海啸缓解效益。最近的海啸灾难造成的大规模破坏和生命损失为探索生态系统退化和破坏之间的联系提供了一个重要机会。虽然灾害领域对这些联系给予的关注令人惊讶地有限，但对沿海生态系统在减轻海啸影响方面的作用则更少给予关注。这项研究将围绕几项相互关联的任务进行：1)确定海啸影响区内3至6个匹配地点对(高环境退化与低环境退化)；2)检查每对匹配地点的遥感图像，以确定灾害损失与生态系统完整性之间的联系；3)对一对匹配地点进行实地调查，以核实和完善遥感数据，并评估灾害背景和环境规划机构对生态系统保护的影响；4)分析和综合多源数据，以确定环境退化对灾害损失的影响。这项研究将对生态系统退化的作用、作为研究工具的遥感以及作为缓解战略的环境保护提供见解。这些见解应该对面临海啸风险的美国和加拿大社区特别感兴趣。调查这些联系是非常适当的，因为许多实地数据都是短暂的，必须在灾难发生后立即收集。这项研究得到了人类与社会动力学(HSD)优先领域、国际科学与工程办公室(OISE)和地震工程模拟网络(NEES)计划的共同支持。

This study includes an interdisciplinary team of investigators that will examine the potential tsunami mitigation benefits of coastal ecosystems. The massive destruction and loss of life caused by the recent tsunami disaster offers a significant opportunity to explore the links between ecosystem degradation and damage. While the disaster field has given surprisingly limited attention to these links, even less attention has been given to the role of coastal ecosystems in mitigating tsunami impacts. The study will be carried out over several interrelated tasks: 1) identify 3 to 6 matched pairs of sites (high versus low environmental degradation) within the tsunami impact zone; 2) examine remote sensing images of each matched pair to determine links between losses ecosystem integrity; 3) conduct field investigation of one matched pair to verify and refine remote sensing data, and assess influence of the context of the disaster and environmental planning institutions in ecosystem protection; and 4) analyze and synthesize multiple sources of data to determine the influence of environmental degradation on disaster losses. The study will provide insights into role of ecosystem degradation, remote sensing as a research tool, and environmental conservation as a mitigation strategy. These insights should be of particular interest to U.S. and Canadian communities at risk to tsunamis. Investigation of these links is highly appropriate since much of the field data are ephemeral and must be gathered during the immediate disaster aftermath. This research is supported jointly by the Human and Social Dynamics (HSD) priority area, the Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE), and the Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) Program.