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The present study investigates the public health impact of flooding on leptospirosis incidence after Storm Daniel in Thessaly, Greece, in September 2023. A notable increase in cases was observed, with seven cases of female patients and a mean age of 40.2 years, indicating a significant risk among working-age adults. From the end of September to the beginning of November 2023, a total of 35 patients from flood-prone areas presented to the Emergency Department of the Tertiary University Hospital of Larissa. Diagnosis of leptospirosis was established by meeting the criteria suggested by the national public health organisation (EODY)-compatible clinical course, epidemiological exposure, molecular and serologic confirmation by the detection of immunoglobulin M antibodies to leptospira spp. using a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and real-time quantitative PCR for the molecular detection of leptospira. The larger part (84.6%) of leptospirosis cases were associated with contact with floodwater. The majority of these patients (71.4%) were from the prefecture of Larissa, followed by 14.3% from the prefecture of Karditsa, 8.6% from the prefecture of Trikala, and 5.7% from the prefecture of Magnesia. Occupational exposure and urbanisation were key risk factors. The most prevalent clinical feature was rash (69.2%), followed by fever (61.5%) and myalgia (30.7%). The findings emphasise the need for robust public health strategies, improved sanitation, rodent control, and protective measures for sanitation workers. The data highlight the broader implications of climate change on public health and the necessity for ongoing surveillance and community education to mitigate future outbreaks.

The planned closure of potash mines achieved through the injection of highly mineralized brines into the worked-out area is a complex process. A critical concern arises when brines obstruct the aerodynamic connections between the flooded mine’s airspace and the atmosphere, potentially leading to the formation of closed cavities where explosive gases can accumulate. To address this hazard, it is imperative to develop systems capable of extracting the gas–air mixture from the unflooded part of the worked-out area. Two distinct scenarios are examined: the first involves controlled flooding with saturated brines, while the second contemplates flooding resulting from a hypothetical breakthrough of supra-salt strata, leading to the ingress of groundwater into the worked-out area. A novel mathematical model is introduced to predict the evolution of gas–air mixture parameters in the unflooded part of the worked-out area. Utilizing this model, we assess the effectiveness of proposed measures designed to eliminate explosive gases from the worked-out area. Specifically, a pipeline system is proposed for the removal of gases. The findings from this study contribute valuable insights into ensuring the safe and efficient closure of potash mines, shedding light on potential risks and effective mitigation strategies for gas-related hazards during planned flooding.

The catastrophic failure of two dams in Libya on 10 and 11 September 2023 resulted in the devastating flooding of the city of Derna, which is located downstream of the dams, causing more than 6000 fatalities and displacing thousands of residents. The failure was attributed to heavy rainfall from Storm Daniel, leading to the dams reaching full capacity and subsequently overflowing and failing. This paper presents an analysis of the dam break, including the modelling of flow discharge and the resulting flooding of Derna. For validation purposes, this study compares the modelled quantities with post-event satellite imagery from UNOSAT and Copernicus, local reports, and data collected from social media using AI detection. The findings provide valuable insights into the dynamics of the dam break and its initial parameters, as well as an assessment of the accuracy of the results. The analysis is performed using a rapid estimation technique developed by JRC to provide the international emergency community with a swift overview of the impact and damage assessment of potential or actual dam break events. The use of all available data shows a satisfactory comparison with the calculated quantities. The rapid modelling of dam break events and combined analysis of multiple data types are proven suitable for promptly assessing the expected dynamic of the event, as well as reconstructing the unknown initial conditions before the break. Incorporating sensitivity analyses provides an estimate of the uncertainties associated with the deduced values of the unknown parameters and their relative importance in the analysis.

Water-resource challenges, encompassing both quality and quantity, pose significant threats to Florida’s ecosystems, especially in the face of climate change, rising sea levels, and rapid urbanization. This paper explores the innovative stormwater-management system implemented at Naples Botanical Garden as a model for addressing these challenges. The Garden’s approach, treating stormwater as a valuable resource, involves dry and wet retention areas, created lakes, and a unique River of Grass, mimicking natural ecosystems. This system not only mitigates flooding, but also effectively removes pollutants, recharges the aquifer, and provides a habitat for diverse wildlife. The paper emphasizes the economic, environmental, and social impacts of traditional stormwater-management practices in Florida. Naples Botanical Garden’s case serves as a guide for botanical gardens and zoos globally, showcasing the pivotal role these institutions can play in sustainable water-resource management. The collaborative design process involving landscape architects, engineers, and horticulturists ensures a holistic and aesthetically pleasing approach to stormwater management. The paper underscores the role of botanical gardens in promoting nature-based solutions, educating the public, and offering tangible steps for implementing similar systems worldwide. It can help guide regional adaptation strategies to manage stormwater as a resource.

The present paper aims to study the Wachau Valley in Austria as a representative Cultural Landscape under threat from extreme hydrometeorological hazards linked to climate change. The primary objective is to investigate the impacts and assess the vulnerability associated with the events of heavy rain and flooding. The methodology employed consists of an investigation of recorded past events impacting the Wachau; a vulnerability ranking system; a climate time series analysis based on earth observation products; and future hazard maps at territorial level, developed with outputs from regional and global climate models. The investigation we carried out provides a vulnerability assessment of two terraced areas with a surface of about 10,000 m2 in total, characterized by the presence of dry stone walls, with different state of conservation in the Municipality of Krems (Wachau). In addition, climate projections at territorial level for the extreme climate indices R20mm, R95pTOT, and R×5day—selected for investigating the likelihood of increases/decreases in events of heavy rain and large basin flooding—are provided, with a spatial resolution of ~12 km for the near and far future (2021–2050; 2071–2100) under stabilizing (RCP 4.5) and pessimistic (RCP 8.5) scenarios. The results indicate a general increase for the three indices in the studied areas during the far future under the pessimistic scenario, suggesting a heightened risk of heavy rain and flooding. These findings aim to inform policymakers and decision-makers in their development of strategies for safeguarding cultural heritage. Furthermore, they serve to assist local stakeholders in enhancing their understanding of prioritizing interventions related to preparedness, emergency response, and recovery.

In the last few years, the world has experienced the impacts of climate change, such as elevated mean annual temperature, extreme weather events, drought, etc. Among living organisms, perennial plant species are the ones mostly exposed to climate change impacts, as they may experience different extreme events within the same year, such as flooding during some periods and drought in summer months, extremely low temperatures in winter but excessively high temperatures in summer, etc. Climate change affects a range of physiological functions of temperate fruit and nut tree species, such as their phenophases, bud dormancy release and vernalization, pollination and fruit set, fruit growth and quality, as well as bud sprouting and growth initiation. Besides these, the impact of climate change on pests, diseases, and weeds may generate significant negative interactions with tree physiology, threatening food production, food safety, and human welfare. In the present manuscript, a general aspect of climate change impacts on fruits’ and nut trees’ physiological functions is described and commented on.

The geographic ranges of slimy (Uranidea cognata) and mottled (Uranidea bairdii) sculpin overlap broadly across cool and coldwater streams and rivers in North America, where they can serve very important roles in fish community dynamics. The diet diversities of slimy and mottled sculpin were examined in early March (late winter) during eight out of nine years after the August 2007 catastrophic flooding in four streams to assess potential diet shifts as benthic invertebrate prey communities recovered post-flood. In total, 10,823 prey items, representing 39 invertebrate taxa and three fish taxa were identified from the stomachs of 532 slimy sculpins (present in Garvin Brook, Gilmore Creek, and Trout Run) and 179 mottled sculpins (present in Middle Fork Whitewater River). Only four prey taxa were consumed by sculpin in all streams: midge larvae and pupae (Diptera: Chironomidae), blackfly larvae and pupae (Diptera: Simuliidae), Hydropsyche caddisfly larvae (Trichoptera: Hydropsychidae), and Baetis mayfly nymphs (Ephemeroptera: Baetidae). Midges dominated diets of both slimy (61% of prey by number) and mottled (76%) sculpin across all years. Consequently, Shannon diversities of diets were typically low across all years and streams for slimy sculpin (annual site range 0.07–0.83) and across years for mottled sculpin (annual range 0.11–0.46). Diversities and taxa richness of slimy sculpin diets increased in Garvin Brook and Trout Run across the study years (driven by significant declines in midge dominance) but remained relatively unchanged for slimy sculpin in Gilmore Creek and mottled sculpin in the Middle Fork. Individual slimy and mottled sculpin differed significantly both in the numbers of taxa consumed per fish (

Watercress (Nasturtium officinale R.Br.) is a cruciferous aquatic vegetable that possesses significant nutritional value. The NAC family is a transcription factor family specific to plants that play an important role in regulating plant responses to abiotic stress. In order to investigate the response of NAC genes to flooding stress in watercress, we conducted a study on the NoNAC family. In this study, a total of 119 NoNAC genes were obtained through genome-wide identification. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the NoNAC family members can be categorized into ten subgroups. The results of gene structure analysis revealed that each branch within the subgroups exhibited similar motif composition and gene structure. The heatmap analysis showed that several NoNAC genes demonstrated tissue-specific expression patterns, suggesting their potential as regulators of associated tissue development. As an aquatic plant, watercress serves as a valuable material for investigating plant resistance to flooding stress. This study found that flooding can significantly increase the watercress plant height, which is a typical escape strategy under flooding. The analysis of the expression of NoNAC genes in the stem transcriptome after flooding indicated that only NoNAC36a consistently exhibited significant differential changes and down-regulated expression at the three time points of flooding treatment. This suggests that NoNAC36a may be involved in regulating watercress plant height increases under flooding stress. The utilization of a virus-induced gene silencing assay to investigate the biological function of NoNAC36a revealed that NoNAC36a silencing caused cell elongation and expansion, thus increasing watercress plant height. The yeast one-hybrid and dual luciferase assays demonstrated that NoNAC36a binds the promoter of NoXTH33 and inhibits its expression. Subsequently, the results of yeast two-hybrid, luciferase complementary, and pull-down assays revealed the interaction between NoMOB1A and NoNAC36a in vivo and in vitro. Sequence alignment indicated that NoMOB1A and AtMOB1A share an identical amino acid sequence. RT-qPCR analysis indicated that flooding prompted the expression of NoMOB1A in stems. Thus, it is speculated that NoMOB1A may exhibit functions similar to AtMOB1A and that the up-regulation of NoMOB1A expression in stems may facilitate an increase in plant height under flooding. In summary, the NoNAC family was analyzed, and revealed a regulatory network centered on NoNAC36a that facilitates watercress resistance to flooding stress. This study enhanced the understanding of the NoNAC genes and established a theoretical foundation for investigating plant flooding tolerance.

Climate change is causing the alteration of atmospheric dynamics, leading to extreme precipitation events and floods. On the other hand, landscape modification and increased imperviousness due to urbanization exacerbate the impacts of flooding. In order to become more permeable, cities are increasingly embracing aquatic Nature-based Solutions which, using natural processes, allow for the mitigation of water-related hazards. One of these solutions is floodable parks, where pluvial runoff is conveyed for its temporal storage into, firstly, permanent retention ponds and, eventually, the partial or totality of their surface. Floodable parks are still a novel aquatic Nature-based Solution and have not yet been investigated. In this paper, a systematic review on current floodable parks was performed in order to study (1) the conditions needed for their implementation, (2) their design, and (3) the connection between design and ecosystem services. A subsequent systematic review was performed to understand (4) the processes occurring within the park. With the obtained information, a conceptual model of floodable parks was developed. The results indicate that both the vegetation surrounding the permanent pond of the floodable park and the biodiversity within the pond enhance the performance of this solution and allow potential water reuse. The implementation of floodable parks will therefore facilitate the transformation of urban areas to create sustainable, climate-resilient, and circular cities.

The study delves into the primary large-scale atmospheric features contributing to extreme weather events across Europe during early September 2023. The period was examined using a dataset composed by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) analysis and satellite imagery. In early September 2023, an omega blocking pattern led to the development of a low-pressure system over the Iberian Peninsula producing heavy precipitation and flooding over Spain and acting as a mechanism for a mineral dust outbreak. A second low-pressure system developed over Greece. Extreme precipitation was recorded across Greece, Turkey, and Bulgaria as the system gradually shifted southward over the Mediterranean. The system earned the name “Storm Daniel” as it acquired subtropical characteristics. It caused floods over Libya and its associated circulation favoured the transport of mineral dust over Northern Egypt as it moved eastward. Meanwhile, the high-pressure blocking system associated with the omega pattern induced heatwave temperatures in countries further north. This period was compared with the large-scale circulation observed in mid-September 2020, when severe weather also affected the Mediterranean region. However, the weather systems were not directly connected by the large-scale circulation, as shown in September 2023. Although mesoscale conditions are relevant to formation and intensification of some atmospheric phenomena, the establishment of an omega blocking pattern in early September 2023 showed how large-scale atmospheric dynamics can produce abnormal weather conditions on a continental scale over several days.

Accurately evaluating the buoyancy and stability of damaged ships, particularly the flow rate of the water inflow through damaged openings, is of great significance for ship rescue and emergency repair. A three-dimensional simplified model of inflow for a ship’s damaged side bulkheads is established using the shear stress transport k-epsilon and volume of fluid (VOF) models by STAR-CCM+. Moreover, the flow rates of water inflow through damaged openings with different shapes, characteristic sizes, and central depths are calculated. Furthermore, the corresponding discharge coefficients are obtained, and the relevant rules are summarized. It was found that the influence of water depth on the coefficient is minimal in these work conditions, but from the perspective of the damaged opening’s characteristic dimensions and shape, the variation in the coefficient is more pronounced. Overall, the triangular opening has a higher coefficient than the circular opening, which in turn is higher than that of the square-damaged opening, and the coefficient decreases as the size of the opening increases. Lastly, empirical formulas for two different methods are provided. The research provides a reference for the rescue repair and buoyancy stability assessment of damaged ships.

The Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) is one of the most flood-prone regions in the world, yet heavy cloud cover and limited in situ observations have hampered efforts to monitor the impact of heavy rainfall, flooding, and inundation during severe weather events. This paper introduces HydroSAR, a Sentinel-1 SAR-based hazard monitoring service which was co-developed with in-region partners to provide year-round, low-latency weather hazard information across the HKH. This paper describes the end user-focused concept and overall design of the HydroSAR service. It introduces the main processing algorithms behind HydroSAR’s broad product portfolio, which includes qualitative visual layers as well as quantitative products measuring the surface water extent and water depth. We summarize the cloud-based implementation of the developed service, which provides the capability to scale automatically with the event size. A performance assessment of our quantitative algorithms is described, demonstrating the capabilities to map the flood extent and water depth with an accuracy of >90% and

Improving our skills to monitor flooding events is crucial for protecting populations and infrastructures and for planning mitigation and adaptation strategies. Despite recent advancements, hydrological models and remote sensing tools are not always useful for mapping flooding at the required spatial and temporal resolutions because of intrinsic model limitations and remote sensing data. In this regard, images collected by web cameras can be used to provide estimates of water levels during flooding or the presence/absence of water within a scene. Here, we report the results of an assessment of an algorithm which uses web camera images to estimate water levels and detect the presence of water during flooding events. The core of the algorithm is based on a combination of deep convolutional neural networks (D-CNNs) and image segmentation. We assessed the outputs of the algorithm in two ways: first, we compared estimates of time series of water levels obtained from the algorithm with those measured by collocated tide gauges and second, we performed a qualitative assessment of the algorithm to detect the presence of flooding from images obtained from the web under different illumination and weather conditions and with low spatial or spectral resolutions. The comparison between measured and camera-estimated water levels pointed to a coefficient of determination R2 of 0.84–0.87, a maximum absolute bias of 2.44–3.04 cm and a slope ranging between 1.089 and 1.103 in the two cases here considered. Our analysis of the histogram of the differences between gauge-measured and camera-estimated water levels indicated mean differences of −1.18 cm and 5.35 cm for the two gauges, respectively, with standard deviations ranging between 4.94 and 12.03 cm. Our analysis of the performances of the algorithm to detect water from images obtained from the web and containing scenes of areas before and after a flooding event shows that the accuracy of the algorithm exceeded ~90%, with the Intersection over Union (IoU) and the boundary F1 score (both used to assess the output of segmentation analysis) exceeding ~80% (IoU) and 70% (BF1).

This study aims to create virtual reality (VR) geovisualizations using 3D point clouds obtained from airborne LiDAR technology. These visualizations were used to map the current state of river channels and tributaries in the Thessalian Plain, Greece, following severe flooding in the summer of 2023. The study area examined in this paper is the embankments enclosing the tributaries of the Pineios River in the Thessalian Plain region, specifically between the cities of Karditsa and Trikala in mainland Greece. This area was significantly affected in the summer of 2023 when flooding the region’s rivers destroyed urban elements and crops. The extent of the impact across the entire Thessalian Plain made managing the event highly challenging to the authorities. High-resolution 3D mapping and VR geovisualization of the embarkments encasing the main rivers and the tributaries of the Thessalian Plain essentially provides information for planning the area’s restoration processes and designing prevention and mitigation measures for similar disasters. The proposed methodology consists of four stages. The first and second stages of the methodology present the design of the data acquisition process with airborne LiDAR, aiming at the high-resolution 3D mapping of the sites. The third stage focuses on data processing, cloud point classification, and thematic information creation. The fourth stage is focused on developing the VR application. The VR application will allow users to immerse themselves in the study area, observe, and interact with the existing state of the embankments in high resolution. Additionally, users can interact with the 3D point cloud, where thematic information is displayed describing the classification of the 3D cloud, the altitude, and the RGB color. Additional thematic information in vector form, providing qualitative characteristics, is also illustrated in the virtual space. Furthermore, six different scenarios were visualized in the 3D space using a VR app. Visualizing these 3D scenarios using digital twins of the current antiflood infrastructure provides scenarios of floods at varying water levels. This study aims to explore the efficient visualization of thematic information in 3D virtual space. The goal is to provide an innovative VR tool for managing the impact on anthropogenic infrastructures, livestock, and the ecological capital of various scenarios of a catastrophic flood.

The impact of global climate change has highlighted the need for a better understanding of how plants respond to multiple simultaneous or sequential stresses, not only to gain fundamental knowledge of how plants integrate signals and mount a coordinated response to stresses but also for applications to improve crop resilience to environmental stresses. In recent years, there has been a stronger emphasis on understanding how plants integrate stresses and the molecular mechanisms underlying the crosstalk between the signaling pathways and transcriptional programs that underpin plant responses to multiple stresses. The combination of flooding (or resulting hypoxic stress) with pathogen infection is particularly relevant due to the frequent co-occurrence of both stresses in nature. This review focuses on (i) experimental approaches and challenges associated with the study of combined and sequential flooding/hypoxia and pathogen infection, (ii) how flooding (or resulting hypoxic stress) influences plant immunity and defense responses to pathogens, and (iii) how flooding contributes to shaping the soil microbiome and is linked to plants’ ability to fight pathogen infection.

The practice of stormwater management has evolved from a singular focus on drainage to a multifaceted approach to support the integrated urban development of healthy, livable, ecological, and water sensitive cities from neighborhood to metropolitan scales. A review of the knowledge base and practice by the professional stormwater management community shows attributes that favor an integrative approach to achieve co-benefits across sectors. Research into stormwater management addresses its functional areas of drainage, flood control, flood plain management, water quality control, urban ecology, recreation, and city beautification. Legacy path dependance affects the potential to reform land use practices, while stormwater management practice is affected by climate change, sea level rise, urbanization, inequality, and poor governance. This review shows a status where technical methods are well advanced but integrative frameworks to address social, ecological and infrastructure needs are more challenging. The sensitivity of ecological issues is most evident in cities in coastal zones. Organizational initiatives are needed to counter the neglect of essential maintenance and sustain flood risk reduction in cities. Stormwater management is related to other integrative tools, including IWRM, One Water, One Health, and Integrated Flood Management, as well as the broader concept of urban planning. This research review demonstrates the opportunities and needs for the advancement of an integrated approach to stormwater management to support urban development. Stormwater capture and rainfall harvesting offer major opportunities to augment scarce water supplies. Nature-based solutions like low-impact development and the sponge city concept show promise to transform cities. Major cities face challenges to sustain conveyance corridors for major flows and to store and treat combined sewer runoff. The neighborhood focus of stormwater management elevates the importance of participation and inclusion to advance environmental justice and strengthen social capital. Integrating organizational initiatives from local to city scales and funding improvements to stormwater systems are major challenges that require leadership from higher governance levels, although governments face resistance to change toward integration, especially in countries with poor land use and public works management systems. Finding solutions to neighborhood issues and the connectivity of water systems at larger scales requires complex approaches to urban planning and represent an important agenda for urban and water governance going forward.

Lake Champlain, the sixth largest freshwater lake in the U.S., is a deep thermally stratified temperate zone lake system. Recently, flood events have impacted the Northeastern U.S. more frequently than in past decades, resulting in increased turbidity and other impacts in northern temperate lakes. This study represents an unprecedented analysis of the impacts of major spring and summer flooding in 2011 on Lake Champlain zooplankton communities. Few studies exist on flood impacts on lake systems, especially in natural un-impounded lakes. Our results illustrate the impacts of large-scale flooding on planktonic communities in deep stratified temperate lakes and the differential responses among species based on autecological traits. Community responses include flood-adapted increase during the flood event (Ceriodaphnia reticulata and Eubosmina coregoni), a flood-intolerant decline (Asplanchna spp. and Keratella cochlearis) or a delayed flood intolerance (Daphnia retrocurva, Mesocyclops edax, and Polyarthra spp.). Our results suggest that large, temperate lakes such as Lake Champlain will experience community shifts in zooplankton composition during future extreme flood events associated with climate change-related weather patterns in the Northeastern U.S.

Predation is an important factor limiting bird populations and is usually the main factor influencing nest survival. In riverine habitats, flooding poses an additional significant challenge. Our study aimed to elucidate the influence of nest location and incubation timing on the survival of common sandpiper nests in a large, semi-natural, lowland river. The survey was carried out in central Poland on the Vistula River, in 2014–2015, 2021, and 2023, along two river sections 2 km and 10 km in length. The nest survival rate was 27%, which is twice as low as that reported on small upland rivers, with flooding being an additional factor causing losses on the Vistula River. Our research showed that mammalian and avian predation accounted for 51% of losses and flooding for 49% of losses. The negative impact of floods on nest survival decreased as the breeding season progressed between May and July, while the chances of being depredated increased during the same period. Nests placed under shrubs were less likely predated than nests located in grass. Moreover, locating the nest in proximity to water increased nesting survival and in fact, more nests found in our study were situated close to the water’s edge.

Τhe production of fresh fruit as well as olive orchards is increasing around the world, in order to meet the global demand for both fruits and olive products. This results in the spread and establishment of fruit and olive tree cultivation in areas where they were not found before, for example, plains and lowlands prone to waterlogging. Climate change is having a significant impact on the natural environment. Agricultural open-field crops have less growth and yield under these harsh weather conditions. Nowadays, unpredictable rainfall more often exposes field crops to waterlogging on a regular basis. This is a very stressful factor which can cause a reduction in yield and even total crop elimination. In this review, the morphological and physiological parameters affected by waterlogging are developed in order to understand better how olive and other fruit crops respond to waterlogging conditions and how this affects their development and productivity. Having a better understanding of these mechanisms can help us design strategies and approaches to increase fruit crop resistance to waterlogging stress.

As several researches indicate, since the 1950s one observed unprecedented warming of the atmosphere and oceans, resulting from greenhouse gas emissions and changes in land use and occupation, leading to sea level rise and impacts on coastal areas. In the municipality of Niterói—Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where a large urban concentration in coastal areas is observed, a Climate Change Adaptation System was developed, through which mitigation and adaptation strategies are combined, in order to: reduce vulnerabilities; avoid losses and damages; build instruments to allow adaptation of natural, human, productive and infrastructure systems. In this context, this paper aims to measure possible impacts, in the biophysical and socioeconomic spheres, resulting from an eventual 0.50 m rise in mean sea level, which represents an optimistic scenario according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In contrast to similar studies, this work also considered daily and occasional water level variations, represented by the highest astronomical tide and the highest storm surge observed in the studied region. The following data were applied: digital elevation model, 2010 population census data, and real estate information. With the altimetry data, by means of GIS, the census sectors inserted in the affected areas were selected, to obtain data regarding population, number of households, and income. Specialized websites were applied to collect average property values. The simulations revealed that approximately 2950 households and more than 9000 residents could be directly affected, with losses that could exceed R$ 3.60 billion. The Oceanic Region is configured as the most exposed region, susceptible to losses of several ecosystems, economic losses in residential areas and possible destruction of urban infrastructure.

Colonia communities, which host forgotten Americans, lack essential services such as portable water, adequate wastewater and solid waste disposal, adequate drainage, and adequate paved roads. The aim of this study is to investigate five key aspects of the colonias in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV), which include the total count of colonias in the valley, their susceptibility to public health hazards, flooding occurrences, the transformations that have occurred over the past two decades, and community resilience. This research utilizes two datasets, namely the Colonia Database from the Texas Secretary of State and the community resiliency estimates from the Census Bureau. Geographical information systems (GIS) methods are employed to analyze the spatial and temporal distribution of colonia communities. The principal results reveal that colonia communities host 14% of the RGV’s total 1.37 million population. About half of the total colonia population resides in Hidalgo County, followed by Starr, Cameron, and Willacy counties. About 87% of the total colonia communities exist in census tracts characterized by low or very low community resiliency. Furthermore, 26% of the total colonia communities experiencing flooding after rainfall are in tracts with low or very low community resiliency. This study provides the major conclusion that while there have been slight improvements in the colonias’ susceptibility to public health risks within the past two decades, there still remains significant developmental work. Without tackling these challenges, achieving meaningful progress in community resilience becomes a daunting task. Applying an environmental justice lens to the issues faced by colonia communities helps shed light on the systemic inequalities and injustices they experience.

Estimation of the potential consequences from events occurring downstream of a dam is part of the risk assessment needed during the installation phase of a new dam. In the case of specific natural or man-made ongoing or prospected events, it may also be important to carry out fast computations that can provide information on the areas at risk either because the original design analyses are not available or because the parameters needed are different. This study aimed to develop a procedure that strongly facilitates the preparation of the input deck and the derivation of the output quantities to allow a fast analysis of a dam break event using a shallow water model, NAMI DANCE, as the analysis tool. The analysis shows that in a few minutes, it is possible to obtain the input deck for a new case. This makes it possible to include the prospected methods into automatic routines in analytical tools such as the Global Disasters Alerts and Coordination System (GDACS) to have a quick overview of the expected flood due to a dam break event.

Slimy sculpin (Uranidea cognata) inhabit coldwater streams in southeastern Minnesota, USA, many of which were subjected to probable 2000-year flood events in August 2007. Floods scoured streambeds, created new stream channels, and greatly reduced benthic invertebrate communities that serve as the primary food resource for sculpin. Diets and Fulton condition of sculpin in Gilmore Creek (with moderate flooding) and Garvin Brook (with very severe flooding) had been examined just prior to flooding and were re-examined 2 weeks after flooding to assess possible diet and condition changes. Diets, body condition, and reproductive fitness of sculpin were examined 7 months post-flood in these same two streams, plus nearby Trout Run (which also experienced very severe flooding). Sculpin condition declined slightly post-flood in Garvin Brook but improved in Gilmore Creek. Prior to spring spawning, the condition of Garvin Brook sculpin had improved, but Gilmore Creek fish condition had worsened. Sculpin diets were more diverse before and after flooding in Gilmore Creek than in Garvin Brook, although the diets of fish from both streams were dominated (>55%) by midge (Diptera: Chironomidae) larvae. Diets remained largely unchanged before versus after flooding in the more severely flooded Garvin Brook, but they changed in Gilmore Creek, becoming more midge-dominated. Prey number per sculpin stomach declined post-flood in Gilmore Creek but not in Garvin Brook, although the dry mass of prey/fish wet mass declined post-flood in both streams. Pre-spawn sculpin displayed no patterns in reproductive fitness (gonadosomatic index, hepatosomatic index, oocyte number) among the three streams that may have been related to flooding severity the previous summer. Sculpin diets and condition were not altered as expected by flooding, and food resource recovery apparently was rapid enough to prevent longer-term impacts on sculpin condition and reproductive fitness in the streams examined.

Flooding, exacerbated by climate change, poses a significant threat to certain areas, increasing in frequency and severity. In response, the construction of supplementary dams has emerged as a reliable solution for flood management. This study employs a geospatial approach to assess the feasibility of constructing a supplementary dam near Linville, Brisbane, Australia, with the aim of mitigating floods and preventing overtopping failure at Wivenhoe Dam. Using QGIS software and a 25 m resolution DEM from the Queensland Spatial Catalogue ‘QSpatial’ website, four potential dam sites were analysed, considering cross-sections, watershed characteristics, and water volume calculations. Systematic selection criteria were applied on several dam wall options to identify the cost-effective and optimal one based on the dam wall dimensions, volume-to-area, and volume-to-cost ratios. The selected option was further assessed against predefined criteria yielding the optimal choice. The study provides insights into the feasibility and effectiveness of supplementary dam construction for flood mitigation in the region, with recommendations for future research and implementation plans for the asset owners.

Mycorrhizal symbiosis enhances host plant resistance to various unfavorable environmental stresses, but whether and how it also enhances waterlogging tolerance in cucumber plants is not known. The objective of this study was to analyze the effect of Paraglomus occultum inoculation on biomass production, osmolyte levels, and the expression of 12 heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) genes and 14 plasma membrane intrinsic protein (PIP) genes in the roots of cucumber plants under a short-term waterlogging stress (WS) (5 days) condition. Although the short-term WS treatment significantly inhibited the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal colonization of roots, the inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMFs) significantly increased leaf, stem, and root biomass under WS. AMF inoculation also significantly increased root glucose, sucrose, betaine, and proline contents, along with decreased fructose levels, compared with the uninoculated control. More CsHsp70 and CsPIP genes were up-regulated in AMF-inoculated plants than in AMF-uninoculated plants in response to WS. AMF inoculation showed no significant effect on the expression of any of the examined CsHsp70 genes under no-waterlogging stress, but it did raise the expression of 11 of 12 CsHsp70 genes under WS. AMF colonization also down-regulated or had no effect on CsPIP expression under no-waterlogging stress, whereas it up-regulated the expression of 12 of the 14 CsPIP genes under WS. It is concluded that AMF inoculation enhances waterlogging tolerance in cucumber plants by increasing osmolyte levels and stress-responsive gene (CsPIP and CsHsp70) expression.

Against the backdrop of global warming and rising sea levels coupled with increasing urbanization, flood risks for plain cities have intensified. This study takes Liaocheng City as its research object and constructs a regional flood risk assessment model based on a combination of subjective and objective multi-weight methods. The model sets weights according to different return periods from three perspectives: the severity of disaster-causing factors, the exposure of disaster-prone environments, and the vulnerability of disaster-bearing bodies. It also uses a subjective–objective combination of weights for the severity of disaster-causing factors, adopts CRITIC-entropy weights for the exposure of disaster-prone environments and vulnerability of disaster-bearing bodies, and adopts AHP subjective weights for the criterion layer. Based on GIS spatial analysis technology, the examination and zoning of flood disasters at a county scale were carried out. The results show that, unlike the existing weighting methods and machine learning methods, this multi-weight combination method can simultaneously avoid the subjectivity of the results and the uncertainty of parameters, thus enabling more accurate decision-making results to be obtained. The spatial distribution of the comprehensive risk is high in the central and western parts and relatively low in the south and north, while the area characterized by very high risk is concentrated in Dongchangfu District and Guanxian County. With the gradual increase in return periods, the overall spatial distribution of medium-to-very-high-risk areas in risk zoning gradually shrinks, and the spatial distribution of very-high-risk areas gradually moves south but maintains a stable distribution rule. Flood risk assessment is an important basic process for disaster prevention and mitigation in plain cities, and the results of this study can provide a reference for similar plain cities.

Rice is a major food crop for more than half of the world’s population, while its production is seriously threatened by flooding, a common environmental stress worldwide. Flooding leads to oxygen deficiency, which is a major problem for submerged plants. Over the past three decades, significant progress has been made in understanding rice adaptation and molecular regulatory mechanisms in response to flooding. At the seed germination and seedling establishment stages, the CIPK15-SnRK1A-MYBS1 signaling cascade plays a central role in determining rice submergence tolerance. However, from seedlings to mature plants for harvesting, SUB1A- and SK1/SK2-regulated pathways represent two principal and opposite regulatory mechanisms in rice. In addition, phytohormones, especially gibberellins, induce adaptive responses to flooding throughout the rice growth period. This review summarizes the significant adaptive traits observed in flooded rice varieties and updates the molecular genetics and mechanisms of submergence tolerance in rice.

Floods are among the most serious natural disasters worldwide; they cause enormous crop losses every year and threaten world food security. Many studies have focused on flood impact assessments for administrative districts, but fewer have focused on postdisaster impact assessments for specific crops. Therefore, this study used remote sensing data, including the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), elevation data, slope data, and precipitation data, combined with crop growth period data to construct a crop flood damage assessment index (CFAI). First, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was used to assign weights to the impact parameters; then, the Weighted Composite Score Method was used to calculate the CFAI; and finally, the impact was classified as sub-slight, slight, moderate, sub-severe, or severe based on the magnitude of the CFAI. This method was used for the Missouri River floods of 2019 in the United States and the Henan flood of 2021 in China. Due to the lack of measured data, the disaster vegetation damage index (DVDI) was used to compare the results. Compared with the DVDI, the CFAI underestimated the evaluation results. The CFAI can respond well to the degree of crop impact after flooding, providing new ideas and reference standards for agriculture-related departments.

Climate change requires the introduction of alternative crops in certain temperate areas due to the warmer and drier growing seasons. Maize, one of the most important crops, is projected to become less tolerant of a drier climate. Therefore, it is necessary to find an alternative species that is less susceptible to environmental stressors. This study compared the germination, growth vigour, and stress tolerance of maize and sorghum grow in six types of soil under three water regimes. The results indicate that sorghum germination is faster and more uniform. The most significant differences in germination rates were found in chernozem (88.9% and 72.2% for sorghum and maize, respectively) and saline solonetz (74.4% and 63.3% for sorghum and maize, respectively). Maize exhibited higher growth vigour only in three cases, i.e., under solonetz–flooding, shifting sand–drought, and brown forest floor–flooding conditions. An ANOVA showed a significant difference between sorghum and maize stress conditions due to soil conditions and water availability (p < 0.0001). Sorghum can be a suitable alternative to maize, but only in areas with hot, dry periods and in areas where the soil is not too prone to waterlogging, regardless of its quality.

Climate change seriously threatens human systems, properties and livelihoods. Global projections suggest a continuous increase in the frequency and severity of weather events, with severe outcomes. Although the trends and impacts are highly variable depending on location, most studies tend to concentrate on either the urban or rural areas, with little focus on peri-urban areas. Yet, in Sub-Saharan Africa, peri-urban areas display unique characteristics: inadequate infrastructure, unplanned development, weak governance, and environmental degradation, all of which exacerbate flood impact and thus need academic attention. This study contributes to filling this gap by assessing the flood vulnerability of roads in peri-urban Accra and its implications for mobility. Based on the fieldwork, the study delineated and analysed potential zones within the research locations. The researchers calculated roads’ absolute and relative lengths, using a spatial overlay (intersection) of potentially flooded roads with the total road network within the grid cells of 500 m by 500 m. These measures were adopted and used as exposure measures. The findings revealed that over 80% of roads with lengths between 100 m and 500 m were exposed to floods. Some areas had higher exposure indices, with absolute road lengths ranging from 1.5 km to 3.2 km and relative road lengths between 0.8 and 1.0. There were significant variations in road exposure between and within neighbourhoods. Depending on the depth and duration of the floodwater, residents may be unable to access their homes or carry out their daily activities. In conclusion, this study highlights the differential vulnerability of peri-urban areas to road flooding and recommends targeted provision of flood-resilient infrastructure to promote sustainable development.

Annona emarginata produces alkaloids of ecological and pharmacological interest and is tolerant to water and biotic stress, so it is used as rootstock for other Annonaceae fruits. There are few reports in the literature on how contrasting water stress impacts the production of specialized metabolites in Annonaceae and how primary metabolism adjusts to support such production. The objective of this investigation was to evaluate how drought and flooding stress affect alkaloid concentration and the primary metabolism of young A. emarginata plants. Three water levels (flooding, field capacity, and drought) were studied at two moments (stress and recovery). Variables analyzed were gas exchange levels, chlorophyll a fluorescence, leaf sugars, total alkaloid content, alkaloid profile, and Liriodenine concentration. The photosynthetic metabolism of A. emarginata was affected by water stress, with plants having a greater ability to adapt to drought conditions than to flooding. During the drought, a reduction in photosynthetic efficiency with subsequent recovery, higher starch and trehalose concentrations in leaves, and total alkaloids in roots (480 µg.g−1) were observed. Under flooding, there was a reduction in photochemical efficiency during stress, indicating damage to the photosynthetic apparatus, without reversal during the recovery period, as well as a higher concentration of total sugars, reducing sugars, sucrose, glucose, and fructose in leaves, and Liriodenine in roots (100 µg.g−1), with a lower concentration of total alkaloids (90 µg.g−1). It could be concluded that there is differential tolerance of A. emarginata to water stress, inducing the modulation of alkaloid production, while drought promotes a higher concentration of total alkaloids and flooding leads to an increase in the Liriodenine concentration.

Floods are among the most severe and impacting natural disasters. Their occurrence rate and intensity have been significantly increasing worldwide in the last years due to climate change and urbanization, bringing unprecedented effects on human lives and activities. Hence, providing a prompt response to flooding events is of crucial relevance for humanitarian, social and economic reasons. Satellite remote sensing using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) offers a great deal of support in facing flood events and mitigating their effects on a global scale. As opposed to multi-spectral sensors, SAR offers important advantages, as it enables Earth’s surface imaging regardless of weather and sunlight illumination conditions. In the last decade, the increasing availability of SAR data, even at no cost, thanks to the efforts of international and national space agencies, has been deeply stimulating research activities in every Earth observation field, including flood mapping and monitoring, where advanced processing paradigms, e.g., fuzzy logic, machine learning, data fusion, have been applied, demonstrating their superiority with respect to traditional classification strategies. However, a fair assessment of the performance and reliability of flood mapping techniques is of key importance for an efficient disasters response and, hence, should be addressed carefully and on a quantitative basis trough synthetic quality metrics and high-quality reference data. To this end, the recent development of open SAR datasets specifically covering flood events with related ground-truth reference data can support thorough and objective validation as well as reproducibility of results. Notwithstanding, SAR-based flood monitoring still suffers from severe limitations, especially in vegetated and urban areas, where complex scattering mechanisms can impair an accurate extraction of water regions. All such aspects, including classification methodologies, SAR datasets, validation strategies, challenges and future perspectives for SAR-based flood mapping are described and discussed.

The Internet of Things (IoT) and wireless sensor networks (WSNs) utilize their connectivity to enable solutions supporting a spectrum of industries in different and volatile environments. To effectively enhance the security and quality of the service of networks, empirical research should consider a variety of factors and be reproducible. This will not only ensure scalability but also enable the verification of conclusions, leading to more reliable solutions. Cooja offers limited performance analysis capabilities of simulations, which are often extracted and calculated manually. In this paper, we introduce the Build–Launch–Consolidate (BLC) framework and a toolkit that enable researchers to conduct structured and conclusive experiments considering different factors and metrics, experiment design, and results analysis. Furthermore, the toolkit analyzes diverse network metrics across various scenarios. As a proof of concept, this paper studies the flooding attacks on the IoT and illustrates their impact on the network, utilizing the BLC framework and toolkit.

Due to unsustainable land management and climate change, floods have become more frequent and severe over the past few decades and the problem is exacerbated in urban environments. In the context of climate-proofing cities, the importance of nature-based solutions (NBSs), obtaining relevant outcomes in the form of ecosystem services, has been highlighted. Although the role of ecosystem services in building resilience against negative climate change effects is widely recognized and there is an identified need to better integrate ecosystem services into urban planning and design, this has proven difficult to operationalize. A critical limitation is that modeling is a time-consuming and costly exercise. The purpose is to roughly estimate the ecosystem service of water run-off mitigation through simplified, cost-effective, and user-friendly modelling at three nested biophysical scales, under four climate change scenarios. Using the Swedish city of Gothenburg as an example, we propose an approach for navigating NBS-oriented flooding adaptation strategies, by quantifying the ecosystem service of water run-off mitigation at three nested biophysical scales, under four climate change scenarios, hence, proposing an approach for how to navigate nature-based solutions in a multi-scale, social–ecological urban planning context against present and future flooding events. Our findings validate the effectiveness of employing an ecosystem service approach to better comprehend the significant climate change issue of flooding through user-friendly and cost-efficient modeling.

Globally, floods are becoming more severe, lasting longer, and occurring more frequently because of changes in climate, rapid urbanization, and changing human demographics. Although traditional structural flood mitigation infrastructures (e.g., drainage systems, levees) are effective in urban areas, their functionalities in the face of extreme rainfall events and increased development largely depend on the capacity and location of such systems, making complementary solutions such as nature-based solutions (NBS) important. The concept of NBS within the context of flood mitigation has gained traction in the last decade; however, the success of NBS depends on their effectiveness and distribution over urban regions. This article seeks to examine the potential of NBS as a flood loss mitigation tool in one of the fastest-growing and flood-prone counties of Pennsylvania, Montgomery County, using Generalized Linear Model (GLR) and Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) techniques. The analysis integrates the National Risk Index dataset for river flooding, a 100-year flood zone layer from National Flood Hazard Layer (NFHL) provided by FEMA, with land use and impervious surface percent data derived from National Land Cover Database (NLCD) for 2019 and socioeconomic data at the U.S. census tract level from the 2019 U.S. Census. This study’s findings partially contradict previous research by revealing an unexpected relationship between NBS quantity in floodplains and expected annual loss. Findings also suggest that small size and disconnected patches of NBS in floodplains in some dense urban areas effectively reduce total losses from flood events.

Extreme events are increasing in frequency and severity due to climate change, making the littoral zone even more vulnerable and requiring continuous monitoring for its optimized management. The low-lying Ebro Delta ecosystem, located in the NW Mediterranean, was subject to Storm Gloria in the winter of 2020, the most severe coastal storm registered in the area in decades and one of the most intense ever recorded in the Mediterranean. This event caused intense rainfall, severe flooding, the erosion of beaches, and the destruction of coastal infrastructures. In this study, the Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 satellites were used to monitor the flooding impact and water quality status, including chlorophyll-a, suspended particulate matter, and turbidity, to evaluate the pre-, syn-, and post-storm scenarios. Image processing was carried out using the ACOLITE software and the on-the-cloud Google Earth Engine platform for the water quality and flood mapping, respectively, showing a consistent performance for both satellites. This cost-effective methodology allowed us to characterize the main water quality variation in the coastal environment during the storm and detect a higher flooding impact compared to the one registered three days later by the Copernicus Emergency Service for the same area. Moreover, the time series revealed how the detrimental impact on the water quality and turbidity conditions was restored two weeks after the extreme weather event. While transitional plumes of sediment discharge were formed, no phytoplankton blooms appeared during the study period in the delta. These results demonstrate that the workflow implemented is suitable for monitoring extreme coastal events using open satellite imagery at 10–30 m spatial resolution, thus providing valuable information for early warning to facilitate timely assistance and hazard impact evaluation. The integration of these tools into ecological disaster management can significantly improve current monitoring strategies, supporting decision-makers from the local to the national level in prevention, adaptation measures, and damage compensation.

The mobility of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites causes the LEO satellite network to experience topology changes. Topology change includes periodic topology change that occurs naturally and unpredictable topology change that occurs due to instability of the inter-satellite link between satellites. Periodic and unpredictable topology change causes frequent topology change, requiring massive communications throughout the network due to frequent route convergence. LEO satellites have limited onboard power because they operate on batteries. The waste of limited satellite onboard resources shortens the lifespan of the satellite, and achieving stable end-to-end transmission is challenging for the network. In this regard, minimizing communication overhead is a fundamental consideration when designing a routing scheme. In this paper, we propose a distributed detour routing scheme with minimal communication overhead. This routing scheme consists of a rapid detour, selective flooding, and link recovery procedures. When a link failure occurs in the network, a rapid detour can detect link failure using only a precalculated routing table. Subsequently, selective flooding searches for the optimal detour point within the minimum hop region and flood to detour point. After link recovery, a procedure is defined to traverse the pre-detour path and switch it back to the original path. The simulation results show that the proposed routing scheme achieves a reduction of communication overhead by 97.6% compared with the n-hop flooding approach.

Climate-change-induced variations in temperature and rainfall patterns are a serious threat across the globe. Flooding is the foremost challenge to agricultural productivity, and it is believed to become more intense under a changing climate. Flooding is a serious form of stress that significantly reduces crop yields, and future climatic anomalies are predicted to make the problem even worse in many areas of the world. To cope with the prevailing flooding stress, plants have developed different morphological and anatomical adaptations in their roots, aerenchyma cells, and leaves. Therefore, researchers are paying more attention to identifying developed and adopted molecular-based plant mechanisms with the objective of obtaining flooding-resistant cultivars. In this review, we discuss the various physiological, anatomical, and morphological adaptations (aerenchyma cells, ROL barriers (redial O2 loss), and adventitious roots) and the phytohormonal regulation in plants under flooding stress. This review comprises ongoing innovations and strategies to mitigate flooding stress, and it also provides new insights into how this knowledge can be used to improve productivity in the scenario of a rapidly changing climate and increasing flood intensity.

Plantain (Plantago lanceolata L.) has been identified by the New Zealand dairy sector as an option for reducing nitrogen losses from grazed pastures. However, there is growing concern over its poor persistence. Reports have suggested that plantain does not tolerate waterlogged soils; however, there is little scientific evidence to support those claims. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the impact of waterlogging on plantain growth and survival. In a glasshouse, three water treatments were applied to plantain plants in pots: control (soil water below field capacity but not limited), wet (soil water marginally above field capacity), and waterlogged (water table 5 cm below the surface) for 39 days, followed by 27 days under the control watering treatment. Leaf elongation and photosynthesis were measured during the experiment. The mean leaf elongation rate of waterlogged plants was 37% lower than control plants during the stress period, but not significantly different than control plants during the recovery period. Waterlogging reduced the rate of photosynthesis in plantain leaves by 15% on average in comparison with control watering during the stress period; however, waterlogged and control plants had a similar mean photosynthesis rate during the recovery period. The results show that plantain growth and photosynthesis were significantly limited under waterlogging; however, the rapid recovery of both processes following the removal of stress suggests that important physiological functions remained intact under waterlogging, possibly due to tolerance mechanisms. These findings suggest that while waterlogging may cause limitations for plantain growth, there is no evidence to suggest that it alone could cause irreversible damage to plants and thus prevent their recovery. Rather, waterlogging stress could undermine the ability of plantain to compete with species that are tolerant of waterlogging within mixed pastures.

Tropical cyclones affecting Shenzhen city have shown a remarkable tendency to increase in both intensity and quantity, highlighting the urgency of accurate forecasts of storm surges and flooding for effective planning and mitigation. Utilizing satellite and field observations together with the advanced high-resolution baroclinic wave–current model (SCHISM), a comprehensive investigation aimed at storm surge and flooding in Shenzhen was conducted. Statistical work of historical tropical cyclones revealed that Shenzhen was most vulnerable to cyclones propagating from the southeast toward the northwest and passing Shenzhen down the Pearl River Estuary. Thus, a representative, i.e., super typhoon Hato (2017), was selected for further study. Validations of numerical results suggested satisfactory model performance in mapping the wave, tide, and surge processes. Remarkable differences in spatiotemporal distribution and intensity of storm surge and flooding were found along the Shenzhen coast, which was dominated by the propagation of far-field surge and tidal waves, cooperation between wind direction and coastline orientation, estuary morphology, and the land terrain. Intervention of wave–current interaction improved the simulation of the surge and flooding and triggered an earlier occurrence time of the maximum surge in specific areas. The Pearl River discharge significantly elevated the sea level height inside the estuary and contributed to a more severe surge. Given the extremely complicated river networks and huge freshwater flux of Pearl River and the increasing trend of concurrent heavy precipitation of tropical cyclones, future investigations on compound flooding were suggested.

Climate change has intensified the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, necessitating a nuanced understanding of flood patterns for effective risk management. This study examines flood risk in the Chi watershed, Thailand, using Weekly Moving Cumulative Rainfall (WMCR) data from 1990 to 2021. We employ extreme value copula analysis to assess spatial dependence between meteorological stations in the watershed. Nine bivariate generalized extreme value (BGEV) models were evaluated using the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) and the Likelihood Ratio test (LRT) to ensure model robustness. The BGEV model revealed higher tail dependence among stations near the bay of the watershed. We also calculated the flood recurrence period to estimate flood events’ frequency and potential severity. Stations ST5 (Khon Kaen), ST6 (Tha Phra Khon Kaen), and ST8 (Maha Sarakham) were identified as potential hotspots, with higher probabilities of experiencing extreme rainfall of approximately 200 (mm.) during the rainy season. These findings provide valuable insights for flood management and mitigation strategies in the Chi watershed and offer a methodological framework adaptable to other regions facing similar challenges.

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) F1 hybrids are grown commercially in open-field or greenhouse conditions. Hybrids are well adapted to these settings due to directed breeding. In protected cultivation systems, a small rhizosphere volume and intensive, continuous fertigation predispose the roots to waterlogging (WL) conditions and potentially to hypoxia. However, high productivity is expected and achieved under these conditions. The aim of this study was to identify traits that play a role in this surprising behavior. Initial observations revealed the presence of a significantly higher number of adventitious roots (ARs) in three greenhouse (7–14) vs. three open-field cultivars (less than two) grown under normal conditions. Further on, two contrasting representative hybrids typically grown in open-field and in greenhouse conditions were subjected to WL stress. Declining oxygen levels in the media and increased alcohol dehydrogenase activity (ADH) in the roots were experienced during the WL treatment in both hybrids, with anaerobic metabolism triggered less intensively (~4-fold less ADH activity) in the greenhouse-type ‘Oitol’. The induction characteristics of cysteine oxidase (CysOx) genes, key components of the hypoxia sensing pathway, were used to confirm the hypoxic stress experienced by the roots. The lower extent of upregulation in CysOx genes expression agreed with the milder level of hypoxic stress in the roots of ‘Oitol’ than in ‘Joker’. The more efficient induction of AR formation with a ~50% increase upon waterlogging stress was found to be a prominent trait in ‘Oitol’, apparently helping root internal aeration and mitigating hypoxia. The shoot growth of neither hybrid was set back by hypoxic root conditions. ‘Joker’ plants maintained the same growth rate as that of the control, while the growth of ‘Oitol’ accelerated when its root system was flooded with nutrient solution. Acclimation processes to hypoxia were proposed to explain the lack of growth retardation in both varieties. This corresponded well with a general abundance of AR development in greenhouse-type (slicing) cucumbers that are typically cultivated in soilless systems.

With flooding and other weather events intensifying, more cost-effective erosion and flood control systems are needed. Vetiver (Chrysopogon zizanioides (L.) Roberty), is part of an arsenal of sustainable, low cost, and green infrastructure tools to reduce the risks of erosion, landslides, and flooding. This study investigates vetiver and its broader application to transportation planning. Based on a literature review and interviews with experts, vetiver as a green infrastructure tool is summarized. An evaluation framework was devised in which the plant’s effectiveness to stabilize hillsides and manage stormwater is investigated. This framework is applied to a recent highway flooding case where vetiver could have been used. While site-specific conditions and roadway requirements are critical to its effectiveness as a mitigation tool, additional pathways to understanding, acceptance, and use of vetiver to support transportation resilience requires convergence in engineering, design, and planning disciplines. Understanding barriers to the adoption of vetiver will also support efforts to increase other green infrastructure tools in transportation planning. Improvements in policies, standards, guidance and training and education on vetiver and green infrastructure will support the mitigation of transportation disruptions and community resilience.

One of the impacts of climate change is an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall events. This has very significant social and economic consequences for the affected areas (flooding, loss of life, destruction of infrastructure, etc.). Future trends indicate a further increase in extreme rainfall in the second half of the century, making the need for the timely and accurate forecasting of these phenomena more urgent than ever. However, despite the technological development of weather and climate models in recent years, there are still limitations in detecting the extremes, especially regarding the precipitation parameter. Extreme precipitation events show a link with temperature. The Clausius–Clapeyron (CC) equation, which relates temperature to saturation vapor pressure (es), is used to study the sensitivity of precipitation to temperature increase because it can estimate the increase in the available atmospheric water vapor with respect to temperature. Focusing on the Thessaloniki region in Greece, the aim of this paper is to investigate the applicability of the Clausius–Clapeyron relation to the scaling relationship between extreme precipitation intensity and surface air temperature. An additional attempt is also made to test the possibility of improving the underestimation that the reanalysis models exhibit in recording the extremes and in particular the ERA5 Land dataset.

High water levels near railway tracks can be a major factor affecting the safety of train passage. Water conditions near the tracks are normally monitored through visual inspections. However, this method is limited in spatial coverage and may not provide comparable information over time. We evaluated the utility of satellite imagery (Planet Dove constellation at 3 m pixel size) at the landscape level to assess overall water surface area along railway tracks. Comparatively, we evaluated the use of Structure- from-Motion 3D point clouds and high spatial detail orthomosaics (3 cm) generated from a commercial off-the-shelf Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) (DJI M300 RTK) for measuring vertical water level changes and extent of surface water, respectively, within the right-of-way of a railway line in Ontario, Canada, in areas prone to high water level and flooding. Test sites of varied lengths (~180 m to 500 m), were assessed four times between June and October 2021. Our results indicate that the satellite imagery provides a large-scale overview regarding the extent of open water in wetlands at long distances from the railway tracks. Analysis of the UAS derived 3D point cloud indicates that changes in water level can be determined at the centimeter scale. Furthermore, the spatial error (horizontal and vertical alignments) between the multi-temporal UAS data collections between sites was less than 3 cm. Our research highlights the importance of using consistent UAS data collection protocols, and the significant potential of commercial off-the-shelf UAS systems for water level monitoring along railway tracks.

The El Niño episode between September 2015 and February 2016 caused abundant rainfall in the state of Paraná in southern Brazil. In this study, we map the greatest magnitude of this climatic event and the respective geosystem responses in the landscape. For this purpose, 32 precipitation series were analyzed (1981–2016). The parameter most indicative of extreme rainfall events during the El Niño period was the six-month accumulated precipitation. The return period (RP) of this parameter was calculated and spatialized using kriging. The results show that a longitudinal strip of 450 km by 140 km had rainfall with RP > 30 years, reaching maximums greater than 150 years. Surveys performed in the field, with aerial images, official sources and media news show a great diversity of effects caused by rainfall, such as road blockages, interruption of water and power supply, and erosion in urban and rural areas. It is concluded that the stability of regional geosystems was disrupted because of extreme rainfall values, so that the northwest region of Paraná had less resilience compared to the north-central and Pioneer North regions, due to the differences between the lithologies and soils of these regions.

Plants with high biomass adapted to conditions of increased moisture and with significant salt tolerance appear to be particularly attractive candidates for phytoremediation studies. The aim of the present study was to examine the tolerance of Rumex hydrolapathum plants to freshwater, saltwater inundation, and soil contaminated with heavy metals, as well as its metal accumulation potential in controlled conditions. Six separate vegetation container experiments in controlled conditions were performed with R. hydrolapathum plants to study the effects of soil moisture, waterlogging with NaCl, soil Cd, soil Cr, soil Ni, and soil Pb in the form of a nitrate or acetate. Optimum plant growth occurred in waterlogged soil conditions. As the concentration of NaCl used for waterlogging increased, the mass of living leaves decreased, but that of dry leaves increased. As a result, the total biomass of leaves did not significantly change. R. hydrolapathum plants were extremely tolerant to Cd and Pb, moderately tolerant to Ni, and relatively sensitive to Cr. The plants had high capacity for metal accumulation in older and senescent leaves, especially for Na+, K+, Cd, and Ni. R. hydrolapathum plants can tolerate soil waterlogging with seawater-level salinity, which, together with the metal tolerance and potential for metal accumulation in leaves, make them excellently suited for use in a variety of wastewater treatment systems, including constructed wetlands.

Extreme weather events, such as flooding, are expected to increase in frequency and intensity. Therefore, the prediction of extreme weather events, assessment of their local impacts in urban environments, and implementation of adaptation measures are becoming high-priority challenges for local, regional, and national agencies and authorities. To manage these challenges, access to accurate weather warnings and information about the occurrence, extent, and impacts of extreme weather events are crucial. As a result, in addition to official sources of information for prediction and monitoring, citizen volunteered geographic information (VGI) has emerged as a complementary source of valuable information. In this work, we propose the formulation of an approach to complement the impact-based weather warning system that has been introduced in Sweden in 2021 by making use of such alternative sources of data. We present and discuss design considerations and opportunities towards the creation of a visual analytics (VA) pipeline for the identification and exploration of extreme weather events and their impacts from VGI texts and images retrieved from social media. The envisioned VA pipeline incorporates three main steps: (1) data collection, (2) image/text classification and analysis, and (3) visualization and exploration through an interactive visual interface. We envision that our work has the potential to support three processes that involve multiple stakeholders of the weather warning system: (1) the validation of previously issued warnings, (2) local and regional assessment-support documentation, and (3) the monitoring of ongoing events. The results of this work could thus generate information that is relevant to climate adaptation decision making and provide potential support for the future development of national weather warning systems.

The ground can become saturated during prolonged downpours. If sewers and drains are unable to cope, overflows will be inevitable. This situation could affect properties that are not designed to cope with flood hazards. It is pertinent that property investors should consider flooding and the likelihood of its occurrence when making investment decisions. The question is, “do they?” This study investigates the factors that influence residential property investment decisions in flood-risk areas of the Lagos metropolis. This is achieved by evaluating a range of locational, neighbourhood, structural, market/economic, behavioural, and risk characteristics in the determination of residential property investment choices in areas that are susceptible to flood risk. The data were sourced from private investors and registered real estate agents in the risk areas of Lagos State, Nigeria. Structured questionnaires were used for data collection purposes, and only valid responses were used for the data analysis. The results show that the availability of infrastructural supply, the crime rate in the neighbourhood, and the property location could significantly motivate investors’ decisions with respect to property investment in flood-risk areas. The perception plot shows that behavioural factors have the highest bearing on the investment decisions for private investors, at 4.4, followed by economic factors at 4.0 and locational factors at 3.6. The plot also shows that neighbourhood factors have the highest bearing on the investment decisions for estate agents, at 4.6, followed by economic factors at 4.0 and locational factors at 3.6. This implies that there are various degrees of correlation between the factors examined in this study. It is important to highlight the relevance of the findings for the field and pave the way for future scientific development in flood-risk management.

The South Pacific region is characterised by steep shelves and fringing coral reef islands. The lack of wide continental shelves that can dissipate waves makes Pacific Island countries vulnerable to large waves that can enhance extreme total water levels triggered by tropical cyclones (TCs). In this study, hindcasts of the waves and storm surge induced by severe TC Harold in 2020 on Tongatapu, Tonga’s capital island, were examined using the state-of-the-art hydrodynamic and wave models ADCIRC and SWAN. The contributions of winds, atmospheric pressure, waves, and wave-radiation-stress-induced setup to extreme total water levels were analysed by running the models separately and two-way coupled. The atmospheric pressure deficit contributed uniformly to the total water levels (~25%), while the wind surge was prominent over the shallow shelf (more than 75%). Wave setup became significant at locations with narrow fringing reefs on the western side (more than 75%). Tides were dominant on the leeward coasts of the island (50–75%). Storm surge obtained from the coupled run without tide was comparable with the observation. The wave contribution to extreme total water levels and inundation was analysed using XBEACH in non-hydrostatic mode. The model (XBEACH) was able to reproduce coastal inundation when compared to the observed satellite imagery after the event on a particular coastal segment severely impacted by coastal flooding induced by TC Harold. The coupled ADCIRC+SWAN underestimated total water levels nearshore on the reef flat and consequently inundation extent as infragravity waves and swash motion are not resolved by these models. The suite of models (ADCIRC+SWAN+XBEACH) used in this study can be used to support the Tonga Meteorological Service Tropical Cyclone Early Warning System.