The five major mass extinctions identified in 1982 by Raup and Sepkoski have expanded to six, with the suggestion that the Permian-Triassic extinction was a double event. Is there a general explanation for great mass extinctions, or can they result from different triggers, or even from internal system instabilities? The two most-discussed candidates for a general extinction mechanism are impact...

With the publication of eight original research articles, four types of advances in the remote sensing of floods are achieved. The uncertainty of modeled outputs using precipitation datasets derived from in situ observations and remote sensors is further understood. With the terrestrial laser scanner and airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) coupled with high resolution optical and radar...

The objective of this study is to generate a flood hazard map based on geomorphologic approach employing Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) DEM and satellite image data (ASTER and LANDSAT). Supervised classification of satellite images is implemented to characterize land cover types. Moreover, the Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI) is undertaken to identify moist surface o...

With the increasing climatic extremes, the frequency and severity of urban flood events have intensified worldwide. In this study, image-based automated monitoring of flood formation and analyses of water level fluctuation were proposed as value-added intelligent sensing applications to turn a passive monitoring camera into a visual sensor. Combined with the proposed visual sensing method, trad...

Due to a number of recent high-profile flood events and the apparent threat from global warming, governments and their agencies are under pressure to make proactive investments to protect people living in floodplains. However, adopting a proactive approach as a universal strategy is not affordable. It has been argued that delaying expensive and essentially irreversible capital decisions could b...

The City of Houston has been facing flood problems of a serious nature, some of which occurred in 1989, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2001, and 2003. Tropical Storm Allison in June 2001 created the most extensive urban flood damage in U.S. history ($5 billion). Urban flood problems have repeatedly brought attention to the need for improved urban drainage design and flood prediction, as in the case of the T...

Early flood warning systems protect both infrastructure and human life by issuing accurate flood warnings to public and private entities, enabling emergency personnel to employ strategic procedures. One such system, the RiceU/TMC Flood Alert System (FAS) has proved effective at predicting flood levels along Brays Bayou for 30 major storm events since 1997, including T.S. Allison in 2001. The cu...