Disaster Advances

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Disaster Advances





Desertification Assessment and Mapping in Northern Shaanxi Province: A GIS-based and Remote Sensing Approach

Eltahir Mohamed Abdalla Elhadi and Umar Lawal Dano

Page No. 1-10

The purpose of this study is to assess and map desertification in the Northern Shaanxi Province. Desertification is a worldwide ecological problem of increasing concern, especially in arid and semi-arid areas that account for about one-third of the world’s total landmass. In China, although desertification is particularly severe in the southeastern region, few studies have investigated its extent in the region. In the present study, Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) were utilized in assessing and mapping land degradation in Shaanxi Province using three indicators: drifting sand coverage, desertification and vegetation cover.

The findings show that in 1987, about 12.21% of the total study area (3592.59km2) was affected by sandy desertification which increased to 17.73% (5216.78km2) in 1999 and decreased to 10.33% (3039.14km2) and 5.3% (1561.67 km2) in 2007 and 2017 respectively. This suggests the effectiveness of the decision-makers’ efforts in controlling desertification at the turn of the millennium. This research shows the efficacy of RS and GIS in detecting and mapping land degradation in the study area.

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Experimental study of boundary effects in light weight rigid container with absorbing boundaries

Upanjay Brahma, Khalid Bashir and Rajib Saha

Page No. 11-22

The determination of effects induced by rigid boundaries of soil container on the dynamic response of soil deposit has become one of the major challenges in earthquake geotechnical engineering experiments. The use of absorbing material such as foam or sponge for minimizing boundary effects in rigid containers has become an increasing alternative solution. Further, the self-weight of rigid container is another concern for carrying out earthquake experiments. This study highlights about proposal of using soil container made of thermocol (EPS) as an alternative to many expensive solutions which may be used to carry out earthquake geotechnical experiments in the laboratory with reasonable accuracy. Thermocol boxes exhibit absorbing characteristics, water-resistant, light weight, low-cost and easily available. The thermocol containers are industrial wastes which are non-biodegradable in nature and available in different sizes. The use of thermocol containers in civil engineering experiment may help to reduce environmental pollution to some extent.

The present study is primarily motivated in this direction to give a simplistic and low-cost solution in comparison to advanced geotechnical containers used in earthquake geotechnical experiments. Dynamic response of soil is recorded from 1g shake table test by placing accelerometers in different positions of container to realize the boundary effect. It is observed that using foam as an absorbing boundary in thermocol container showed a significant drop in transmissibility magnitudes which confirms the efficiency of the use of foam. Further, it was also observed that the peak amplitude is found at 5 to 6 Hz in all accelerometers positioned at different location of the container. However, results indicate that thermocol container gives promising observation and could be a better alternative low-cost solution in carrying out earthquake geotechnical experiments.

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Damage Assessment for Kelantan Flooding: Does the Early Warning Instrument mitigates the Risk? A Case of Kuala Krai, Kelantan

Padli Jaharudin, Kamarul M.S., Musa Haslina, Abu Talib Jasmi, Jusuh Ahmad, Habibullah Muzafar Shah and Abdul Hamid Baharom

Page No. 23-31

This study will focus on assessing the total amount of damage and losses that has occurred during the 2014 flood disaster in Kelantan. The phenomenon of heavy rainfall during monsoon season is normal in Malaysia especially for the east coastal state areas between November to March every year. With the rainfall rate of 794mm which is 1.6 times higher than the average rainfall from the previous year, it has destroyed dwelling houses, animals, crops and also agricultural land.

By using cross-sectional data analysis with Ordinary Least Square (OLS) method on 686 respondents in Kuala Krai, Kelantan, the results showed that early warning indicators such as Short Message Services (SMS) and other flood indicator instruments can reduce the risk of losses due to flood. Meanwhile, the ownership of insurance and an increase in household income is expected to reduce the burden of flood victims in the area.

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Identifying the parameters responsible for Landslides on NH-44 Jammu Srinagar National Highway for Early Warning System

Fayaz Mohsin and Sheik Abdul Khader P.

Page No. 32-42

The 270 km long National Highway (NH-44) is the only way that connects the Kashmir valley to the rest of India. Stretches of the expressway go through extremely dubious terrains and mountains. Consequently, blockage of NH-44 has turned into a repetitive wonder for past numerous years which affects the state economy and trade. The NH-44 national highway is highly prone to landslides because of high terrains and steep slopes along the roadside. There are several parameters that impact landslides on NH-44 National highway. Those parameters were evaluated by testing the soil samples at three different sites on NH-44 National Highway. One sample was taken from the site where landslide has already occurred and has active landslide, second from the landslide-prone site where there are high chances of landslide and third one from the minimal or less prone site. The impact of parameters: direct share (c, phi), Atterberg Limits (liquid limit, plastic limit, plasticity index), natural density, specific gravity and moisture content on landslides were analyzed and warning levels are made based on different soil moisture levels for early warning system.

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Trend Analysis of Climate Change Indicators in Puri District of Odisha, India

Dibiat Nibal and Jena Damodar

Page No. 43-50

The impact of climate change on agriculture has been increasingly realized during last few decades. The important climatic factors such as temperature, rainfall and humidity have been found to be significantly changed over the last three decades particularly in Puri district of Odisha, India. This becomes an area of concern to the farmers in agriculture. Quantification of climate change in terms of scientific trend analysis is necessary to ascertain the change that has already occurred with its pattern and to forecast its behavior which may useful in better crop planning. Mann-Kendall test and Theil-Sen’s Slope analysis were used at 5 per cent significance level on time series data.

The study revealed a significant declining rainfall trend particularly in the month of June with a Z-test value -2.04, an increasing trend of temperature with Z-test value 2.64, and a negative slope and trend of relative humidity during the same period. Estimation of magnitude of trends for all weather parameters was also calculated by Sen’sSlope estimator. Given the trend pattern of climatic change in the district, the study attempts to anticipate the water shortage for agriculture especially during the month of June.

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The post-disaster psychological impact after a seismic threat in the urban area of the canton Jama in the province of Manabi, Ecuador

Melanie Verdezoto Gavilánez, William Pozo Bonilla, Anita Serrano Castro, Martha González Rivera, Carlos Gruezo González, Franz Verdezoto Mendoza and Favian Bayas-Morejón

Page No. 51-54

This investigation looks at the psychological impact caused by the earthquake that took place on the 16th of April, 2016 in Ecuador. The earthquake reached a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale. The epicenter was between the parishes of Perdernales and Cojimies in the canton (district) of Pedernales in the province of Manabí. The earthquake was also felt strongly in five other provinces on the Ecuadorian coast (Guayas, Santa Elena, Los Rios, Santo Domingo and El Oro). The Post-Disaster Psychological Impact after a Seismic Threat research was carried out in a neighborhood called “El Matal” in the canton of Jama in the province of Manabí. El Matal was almost completely destroyed by the earthquake, 95% of the neighborhood suffered the effects, and there were deaths, serious injuries and damages to infrastructure which greatly impacted the local population. In addition to physical injuries, the population was also left with psychological scars.

Directly after the earthquake, the priorities were to search for victims, establish shelters and re-establish essential services. As mental health was not a priority, people were not given psychological treatment at the time. Post-traumatic stress usually occurs within the first six months after experiencing a catastrophic event, it can manifest itself through anxiety, shivering, tremors, insomnia and flashbacks.

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Investigating uncertainties in the source-site and the model-input within reliability-based deterministic and probabilistic liquefaction initiation analyses

Babak Jamhiri, Alireza Ebrahimi Fahadani and Yongfu Xu

Page No. 55-62

This research investigates the source-site and the model-input inherent uncertainties in the prediction of liquefaction initiation in both probabilistic and deterministic analyses. A region-specific seismic hazard analysis was performed to grasp the ground acceleration in determination of seismic source uncertainties. Further numerical and statistical computations were solved for the cyclic stress ratio (CSR) and cyclic resistant ratio (CRR) as model components to affirm the role of variation of soil density, ground water level and thickness of liquefiable layers as uncertain input parameters.

Then, labeled site uncertainties were incorporated into a joint reliability-based context of probabilistic liquefaction analysis with the limit state function to measure the degree of their practicality in reducing the model uncertainty. Results showed a sound application of the proposed joint procedure in the performance of reliability analysis and defining the reliability index.

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