EAPSI: Evaluating Beachgoer Vulnerability to the Rip Current Hazard

激流是发源于许多全球海滩冲浪区的强大而狭窄的海水流动。它们与每年数百起国际溺水事件有关，但由于难以获得准确的事件报告，很难计算出确切的数字。据估计，美国、哥斯达黎加和澳大利亚的年平均死亡人数分别为100人、53人和21人。虽然物理撕裂电流行为相对较好地理解，但我们对撕裂电流危害的社会方面知之甚少。最近的研究表明，海滩游客溺水是身体因素和社会因素共同作用的结果，后者与海滩游客的年龄、游泳能力、知识和识别裂缝的能力有关。三个群体之间的信息脱节加剧了激流危险：海滩科学家、海滩安全从业者和普通公众。该项目将使用一种混合方法来解决这些脱节问题，方法是将测量RIP电流通道形态的新方法与测量的海滩游客知识相结合，以确定从受试者接近到RIP电流通道的行为。结果将有助于改进澳大利亚、美国和全球RIP当前教育干预措施的设计。该项目将由新南威尔士大学副教授、著名的RIP Current专家Rob Brander博士监督。采访将分析撕裂危险位置的空间关系，这是根据数字地球-S 2号卫星捕获的多光谱图像创建的水深地图确定的。这颗卫星捕获的电磁频谱的不同波段的穿透深度可以用来进行水深测量。因为在水深测量中，裂谷是在地形低点形成的，所以它们的位置可以从冲浪区的水道中得到解释。这种方法在悉尼周围的清澈水域中具有最高的准确性。RIP地点，结合采访结果和地点，将决定受试者是否？观察到的行为(在海滩内的位置选择)反映了他们对海滩动态的了解。这项研究的结果将阐明如何弥合沿海地貌学家、政策制定者和海滩游客之间的差距，以降低澳大利亚和美国(美国)与激流相关的伤亡。该NSF EAPSI奖是与澳大利亚科学院合作资助的。

Rip currents are strong, narrow seaward flows of water that originate in the surf zones of many global beaches. They are related to hundreds of international drownings each year, but exact numbers are difficult to calculate due to logistical difficulties in obtaining accurate incident reports. Annual average rip current fatalities are estimated to be ~100, 53 and 21in the United States (US), Costa Rica, and Australia respectively. While physical rip current behavior is relatively well understood, we know little about the social aspect of rip current hazards. Recent research shows that beachgoers drown from a combination of physical and social factors, with the latter related to beachgoer age, swimming ability, knowledge, and ability to spot a rip. The rip current hazard has been exacerbated by information disconnects between three groups: beach scientists, beach safety practitioners, and the general public. This project will use a mixed-methods approach to address these disconnects by combining novel methods of measuring rip current channel morphology and measured beachgoer knowledge to determine behavior from subject proximity to rip current channels. Results will help improve design of rip current education interventions in Australia, the United States and globally. The project will be overseen by Dr. Rob Brander, Associate Professor at the University of New South Wales and noted rip current expert. Interviews will be analyzed for spatial relationships to rip hazard locations, as determined from bathymetric maps that will be created from multispectral imagery captured by Digital Globe?s WorldView2 (WV2) satellite. The depth of penetration for different bands of the electromagnetic spectrum captured by this satellite can be used to derive bathymetry. Because rips form in topographic lows in bathymetry, their location can be interpreted from channels in the surf zone. This method has the highest accuracy in clear waters like those around Sydney. Rip locations, combined with interview results and locations, will determine if subjects? observed behavior (choice in location within a beach) reflects their knowledge of beach dynamics. Results of this study will clarify how gaps between coastal geomorphologists, policy makers, and beachgoers can be bridged to lower rip-current related fatalities and injuries in Australia and the United States (US). This NSF EAPSI award is funded in collaboration with the Australian Academy of Science.