Progress 09/06/17 to 09/30/20
Outputs
Target Audience:This project targeted decision makers primarily at the state level. This included coastal managers and emergency managers in Rhode Island. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The project has resulted in several publications, as well as hazard visualizations that have been used in public workshops by the URI Coastal Resources Center and the RI Coastal Resources Management Council. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
This project fundeda PhD student with skills in graphic design and modeling to further our group's capacity to develop 3D disaster visualizations. It partneredour group with other researchers and labs at URI. This includedITMS (Information Technology Media Services) at URI, which provides URI faculty, staff and students with robust software support, learning management tools and academic-based video production projects. They provide guidance and training for a variety of learning technologies and visual production tools. The Media Lab hosts 20 computer stations with software such as Rhino Terrain, Geographic Imager, ArcGIS, Sketchup, and others used for the production of 3D Disaster Images. The student mentored and worked with a group of undergraduate students from computer science, ocean engineering, and marine affairs to refine the visualization methods and produce products for various efforts at URI and other institutions (including Rhode Island's Beach Special Area Management Plan process). The student completed his PhD at URI and is nowan associate professor at Penn State University. We continue to collaborate on projects focused on sea level change and natural hazards decision making in Rhode Island.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Stempel, P.*, Becker, A., (In Press). Is it scientific? Perceptions of semi-realistic 3D storm surge visualizations. Cartographica.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Becker, A., Hallisey, N.* (In Review). Toward Regional Hazard Risk Assessment: A Method to Geospatially Inventory Critical Coastal Infrastructure Applied to the Caribbean. Applied Geography.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Stempel, P., Becker, A. Rubinoff, P., Fultineer, S., (In Review). Beyond the Blue Blob: The Salience and Perceived Legitimacy of Alternative Sea Level Rise Visualizations. Journal of Digital Landscape Architecture
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Progress 10/01/18 to 09/30/19
Outputs
Target Audience: We worked with the emergency management community in Providence Rhode Island to identify potential consequences of storms impacting critical infrastructure. We assembled a steering committee made up of local, state, and federal government representatives. The steering committee identified key infrastructure facilities and managers to target for data collection. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Identified facility and emergency managers were invited to attend four focus group sessions held at the Providence Emergency Management Agency. In focus group session, participants were provided with a background on storm impacts models, impacts of historic storms in Providence, and results generated from a pilot study in Westerly, Rhode Island (Witkop et al., 2019). This information contextualized the goals of this study and the impacts of previous major historic storm events. Next, attendees were asked to identify hazard threshold and consequences for an asset at their facility. Using one of the assets identified, facilitators guided attendees through an example consequence threshold data input in Consequence Threshold Data Collection Sheet.Individual interviews were conducted for participants that were unable to participate in the focus group sessions. Researchers held semistructured interviews with participants at their respective facilities, where they could identify critical infrastructure of concern to researchers. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have not yet been disseminated, but a demonstration project is planned for Spring 2020. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?A demonstration project will be held in Spring 2020 for members of the emergency management community. We are pursuing additional funding to be able to scale and expand this work.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Building upon existing models, partnerships, and expertise, this project advances model capabilities and develops a real-time hazard and impact prediction system for hurricanes and nor'easters in Southern New England. The system includes an assessment of cascading consequences of extreme weather impacting critical infrastructure (e.g., waste water treatment facilities, sewer systems, airports, and seaports). Qualitative and quantitative concerns were collected directly from endusers of the models, making model outputs directly relevant. Data collection followed a methodology that allowedcritical facility managers expertise about impacts to be integrated in the same way that "damage functions" are traditionally utilized to model potential structural damages. The project engagedkey users of information in the development and dissemination of the tools to make them more relevant, and useable as a planning and response tool. At this stage, the project has collected 245unique consequence threshold datapoints from 36 facilities in Providence. The database of consequences will be integrated with existing web-based emergency operations center tools to produce real-time predictive models for storm impacts for the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency. A demonstration project is planned for Spring 2020.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Stempel, P.*, Becker, A., (2019). Visualizations out of context. Implications of using simulation-based 3d hazard visualizations. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information: Special issue on Natural Hazards and Geospatial Information. Vol 8, No 318; Doi:10.3390/ijgi8080318.
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Progress 10/01/17 to 09/30/18
Outputs
Target Audience:This period, the project outputs were used in public workshops in Bristol, Warren, and Barrington (RI). Changes/Problems:Funding during this reporting period supported one PhD student: Jose Menendez. Jose was brought on to work on this project with two years of Hatch funding and two years of RI Sea Grant funding. Unfortunately, Jose decided to not continue with his PhD studies and has switched to a masters track. He will be continuing to work on the project over the spring 2019 semester, but will not be using this work as the basis of a dissertation (as I'd hoped). I am now recruiting for a new PhD student to begin in Fall 2019. This does not present any changes to funding. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Visualizations have been used in public workshops with the Coastal Resources Management Council in Warren, Barrington, and Bristol (RI). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In the next period of funding, we plan to pilot projects that explore hazard impacts to wastewater treatment facilities in Rhode Island and to build collaborations with partners in the Caribbean. I am actively recruiting for a new PhD student to begin in Fall 2019 to continue this work, with a focus on developing consequence thresholds for use in hazard modeling efforts.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
This year, the project team: 1) Completed 3D storm visualizations as part of the Beach SAMP Coastal Environmental Risk Index project for the towns of Barrington, Warren, and Bristol. The visualizations depict a variety of storm scenarios with sea level rise projections and have been used in public workshops and processes in partnership with the RI Coastal Resources Management Council's Beach Special Area Management Plan. 2) Continued developing our training program with the Information Technology Services lab, including working with undergraduate students to develop their skillset for making the visualizations noted in 1 above. 3) We have shifted our focus from exploring climate risk perception among minority communities along the coast. We are now working to expand our efforts to focus on wastewater treatment facilities in Rhode Island and critical infrastructure in the US Virgin Islands.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
STEMPEL, P., GINIS, I., ULLMAN, D., BECKER, A. & WITKOP, R. 2018. Real-Time Chronological Hazard Impact Modeling. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 6.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
WITKOP, R., STEMPEL, P., BECKER, A. In Review. Incorporating critical facility managers knowledge into hazard impact models: A case study of Westerly, Rhode Island. . Frontiers in Citizen Science: Reducing Risk and Building Resilience to Natural Hazards.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
STEMPEL, P. & BECKER, A. 2018. Effects of localization on perceptions of storm surge risk depicted in model driven semi-realistic visualizations. International Conference on Sustainable Development, Sept. 26-28. New York, NY.
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
WITKOP, R. 2018. DEVELOPING CONSEQUENCE THRESHOLDS FOR STORM MODELS: CASE STUDY OF WESTERLY RHODE ISLAND. Master of Marine Affairs, University of Rhode Island.
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
STEMPEL, P. 2018. DEPICTING THE CONSEQUENCES OF STORM SURGE RISK COMMUNICATION OPPORTUNITIES AND ETHICS. PhD, University of Rhode Island.
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Progress 09/06/17 to 09/30/17
Outputs
Target Audience:
Nothing Reported
Changes/Problems:Bridging boundaries, as this project does, requires development of skills in multiple disciplines. This has meant that the research team has been spending extra time understanding the unique disciplinary approaches and constraints of physical, natural and social sciences to augment their established design skills. While many managerial and organizational skills are portable, learning the unique epistemological approaches of other disciplines has required additional time and dedication. These obstacles have largely been overcome, however, this kind of bridging will require constant learning and adaptation. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Work undertaken to date has focused on developing strategic partnerships and infrastructure to create, disseminate and test visualizations. These partnerships include: University of Rhode Island, Information Technology Services (ITS). A team of undergraduate students from the departments of computer science and ocean engineering is being trained in relevant visualization methods. This team will assist in creating 3d representations of communities engaged as part of the project and will form an ongoing resource for future work. The Beach Special Area Management Plan (Beach SAMP): the Beach SAMP is providing ongoing ocean modeling that underpins the visualizations, and is providing the primary means of engagement and outreach through community meetings conducted around the visualizations. The University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO) to develop ocean modeling and visualizations for vulnerable port facilities and other infrastructure. Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency (RIEMA): RIEMA has used visualizations provided by the project in Statewide exercises and trainings, and provides important input data regarding critical facilities. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Over the next year, we plan to: - Continue developing 3D representations for the Beach SAMP - Continue developing our training program with the ITS team to help undergrads build skills to develop 3D modeling techniques - Develop a new area of inquiry using our visualizations to explore perceptions of climate risks amongst minority communities along the coast
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
This project was approved fewerthan 30 days prior to the end of the fiscal year and has just begun. We look forward to describing our accomplishments at the next reporting deadline. However, prior to the reporting period,visualizations have been created for half a dozen Rhode Island Communities; this is being expanded by three more communities this spring. These visualizations have been employed in publications, outreach meetings conducted by the Beach Special Area Management Plan, and in trainings conducted by the RI Emergency Management Agency. These visualizations have played an important role in uncovering and communicating specific vulnerabilities. These visualizations have served as important touchstones to facilitate stakeholder discussions regarding adaptation (Becker, 2016). In addition to direct impacts of using these materials, a large scale survey (n=735) has been conducted, including both experts (e.g., coastal managers) and the lay public. The results of the survey are being used, among other things, to develop improved guidance for communication.
Publications
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