Simon Jude

Dynamic simulation and visualisation of coastal erosion

A key requirement for effective coastal zone management is good knowledge and prediction of land erosion rates due to encroachment of the sea. However, in addition to demarcation of the hazard through modelling and mapping, a policy of risk mitigation necessitates significant attention should also be addressed to communicating the transient behaviour of the predictions and associated uncertainty. With climate change and sea level rise implying that historical rates of change may not be a reliable guide for the future, enhanced visualisation of the evolving coastline has the potential to improve awareness of this changing risk. This visual content is developed by linking scientific modelling with the transformation of digital elevation models, and then using GIS to integrate other spatiotemporal content. The resulting high-resolution visualisations may meet demands from decision-makers for tools to communicate scientific results more effectively, due to their realism and apparent authenticity. Nevertheless they can also produces a tension with the underlying scientific content because of the necessary extrapolation of extra detail, and the lack of established procedures to communicate the resulting uncertainty in the visualisation. Coastal managers also have concerns about releasing the visualisations to the general public. These issues are explored through analysis of future cliff erosion in Norfolk on the eastern coast of Great Britain.

Visualisation for participatory coastal zone management: A case study of the Norfolk coast, England

Abstract It is widely recognised that organisations involved in coastal management must take steps to improve the ways in which stakeholders and the public are involved in coastal decision-making. In particular, there needs to be more emphasis on improving participation, consultation, and information provision throughout the process. In recognition of this, there is a need to develop new techniques that could aid the communication of coastal information to the public. It has been suggested that some of these techniques might involve the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Whilst GIS are widely used by coastal managers, their application is hampered by the highly technical output that they often produce. However, the advent of a new type of system known as virtual reality GIS enables the likely effects of coastal management decisions to be presented in a format that is suitable for widespread consultation and dissemination. A proposed managed realignment scheme on the north Norfolk coast, England, is used to describe an integrated GIS methodology allowing the production of virtual reality representations of the current site environment and simulations of what might be present after the intervention. Both static and user-navigable visualisations have been produced because these lend themselves to both paper and electronic publication. Comparisons between the alternative methods are presented along with a discussion of the technical, user, and institutional issues surrounding the potential application of the methodology. It is argued that the techniques presented have the potential to stimulate meaningful discussion during the consultation process, although further research is still required to determine the exact form this might take.

Investigating the Potential Role of Visualization Techniques in Participatory Coastal Management

The current shift toward “soft” forms of coastal defense as means of adapting to future sea level rise requires careful communication and consultation if they are to gain widespread public acceptance. For this to be achieved then coastal managers must improve the manner in which they communicate with stakeholders and members of the public. One possible solution may be through the application of landscape visualization techniques to illustrate how new policies or management interventions may shape the coast. This article investigates the potential role of such methods in participatory coastal management. Using interviews with coastal managers, the potential application of visualization techniques in coastal management processes are explored in detail. The findings suggest that while a number of possible roles for visualization techniques exist, there is an urgent need for practical testing and evaluation of the technology in participatory decision-making processes.

The Development of a Visualization Methodology for Integrated Coastal Management

Coastal management information is frequently communicated to stakeholders and the public through complicated management documents and engineering plans. With the recognition that public involvement in coastal decision-making processes should be widened have come calls to develop new techniques to communicate complicated coastal information. Using Virtual Reality Geographical Information Systems and visualization packages, such information may be presented using formats more suitable for public consultation and information dissemination exercises than those currently employed. Using a site on the north Norfolk coast of England, an integrated Geographical Information Systems based methodology is presented that allows the visualization of proposed coastal management interventions. Visualizations have been produced that can be published in traditional paper-based management documents, or electronically. The different visualizations are compared and the technical issues surrounding their use discussed. It is argued that the methodology has clear advantages over traditional communication methods, although further research is necessary to determine how it may be practically employed by coastal managers.

Assessing the cumulative environmental effects of marine renewable energy developments: establishing common ground

Assessing and managing the cumulative impacts of human activities on the environment remains a major challenge to sustainable development. This challenge is highlighted by the worldwide expansion of marine renewable energy developments (MREDs) in areas already subject to multiple activities and climate change. Cumulative effects assessments in theory provide decision makers with adequate information about how the environment will respond to the incremental effects of licensed activities and are a legal requirement in many nations. In practise, however, such assessments are beset by uncertainties resulting in substantial delays during the licensing process that reduce MRED investor confidence and limit progress towards meeting climate change targets. In light of these targets and ambitions to manage the marine environment sustainably, reducing the uncertainty surrounding MRED effects and cumulative effects assessment are timely and vital. This review investigates the origins and evolution of cumulative effects assessment to identify why the multitude of approaches and pertinent research have emerged, and discusses key considerations and challenges relevant to assessing the cumulative effects of MREDs and other activities on ecosystems. The review recommends a shift away from the current reliance on disparate environmental impact assessments and limited strategic environmental assessments, and a move towards establishing a common system of coordinated data and research relative to ecologically meaningful areas, focussed on the needs of decision makers tasked with protecting and conserving marine ecosystems and services.

The Tyndall coastal simulator and interface

Coastal zones attract settlements, are ideal for a range of economic activities and accommodate important natural habitats that provide ecosystem services. All these coastal activities are vulnerable to climate and other changes unless appropriate management policies are implemented. Sea-level rise and intensified storms could increase the incidence of flooding and erosion, as well as degrade coastal ecosystems. Importantly, the coast is a linked system, and management responses for one area or sector may influence the impacts for other areas or sectors. Understanding coastal processes and taking account of climate and socio-economic futures helps to illustrate/reveal impending choices,and in developing responsive informed long-term coastal management policies. This paper describes research being carried out by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research on their Coastal Simulator. The research includes the linkage of a range of modelling procedures to represent coastal management and climate and coastal processes, as well as the design of a GIS-based interface to make the intergrated results accessible. The prototype simulator provides regional impact assessments of climate and socio-economic futures under various management options in the coastal zones of Norfolk, Fast Anglia and shows that erosion and flood risk are strongly linked.

Contextual and interdependent causes of climate change adaptation barriers: Insights from water management institutions in Himachal Pradesh, India

Research on adaptation barriers is increasing as the need for climate change adaptation becomes evident. However, empirical studies regarding the emergence, causes and sustenance of adaptation barriers remain limited. This research identifies key contextual causes of adaptation barriers in water institutions in the mountainous Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh in northern India. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with representatives from twenty-six key governmental, non-governmental, academic and research institutions in the State with responsibilities spanning domestic water supply, irrigation and hydropower generation, environmental monitoring and research. It identified low knowledge capacity and resources, policy implementation gaps, normative attitudes, and unavailability and inaccessibility of data and information compounded with weak interinstitutional networks as key adaptation barriers. Although these barriers are similar to those reported elsewhere, they have important locally-contextual root causes. For instance, inadequate resources result from fragmented resources allocation due to competing developmental priorities and the desire of the political leadership to please diverse electors, rather than climate scepticism. The identified individual barriers are found to be highly inter-dependent and closely intertwined which enables the identification of leverage points for interventions to maximise barrier removal. For instance, breaking down key barriers hindering accessibility to data and information, which are shaped by systemic bureaucracies and cultural attitudes, will involve attitudinal change through sensitisation to the importance of accurate and accessible data and information and the building trust between different actors, in addition to institutional structural changes through legislation and inter-institutional agreements. Approaching barriers as a system of contextually interconnected cultural, systemic, geographical and political underlying factors enriches the understanding of adaptation enablers, thereby contributing to achieving a better adapted society.

Visualising Potential Coastal Change: Communicating Results Using Visualisation Techniques

A key challenge facing coastal management organisations is the need to effectively communicate the potential risks posed by coastal change and associated adaptation options, particularly if the potential for misunderstanding and conflict is to be avoided (e.g. in cases which are scientifically complex and involve many interested parties). GIS technology is appropriate and widely used by coastal planners and managers; however, its application in decision-making processes is often hampered by the highly technical output that they tend to produce. This can prove particularly difficult for members of the public to interpret. The dynamic, multidimensional and uncertain nature of the coastal zone presents particular challenges to those wishing to communicate possible future coastal change and management options.

GIS Platforms for Managing, Accessing and Integrating Model Results: The Tyndall Coastal Simulator Experience

The Tyndall Coastal Simulator comprised a wide range of modelling activities across disciplines and institutions. This activity generated diverse results, described in the preceding chapters. Organising this body of knowledge into a coherent and accessible form for use by stakeholders and for additional ad hoc analyses emerged as a substantial task in its own right.

The Risk Assessment of Hazardous Materials Transportation Using GIS

The transportation of hazardous materials (such as flammable gases, corrosive liquids or toxic wastes) is a common occurrence in most industrialised societies. Research in the USA during the early 1990s calculated that there were some 500,000 shipments of hazardous materials every day (Turnquist and List 1993), while in the UK it is currently estimated that each year approximately 80,000 different organisations are involved in carrying around 100,000 tonnes of dangerous goods by road and rail (Health and Safety Executive 2001). Legislation typically requires that such substances are transported using specialist vehicles or containers, with appropriate labelling, and sometimes on designated routes (Kramer 1992), but accidental releases of hazardous materials do occur despite these types of mitigation measures. These releases have led to incidents such as explosions, the dispersion of toxic gas plumes, and pollution of soil or groundwater, with human fatalities in some of the most severe cases (Erkut and Verter 1995). One UK evaluation of accidents involving hazardous substances that required the fire service concluded that more than 25% of the incidents could be classed as ’in transit’ rather than ’static’ (Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution 1994), and a growing awareness of the enhanced risks during transportation has led to a number of government reviews or academic studies (e.g. Advisory Committee on Dangerous Substances 1991, Moses and Lindstrom 1993).