@article {bnh-6822, title = {Effect of relative humidity on grassfire propagation}, number = {561}, year = {2020}, month = {04/2020}, institution = {Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC}, address = {Melbourne}, abstract = {

The relative humidity of air is directly related to fuel moisture. Fuel moisture is often considered as the index of flammability in the context of bushfires. Variation of relative humidity and fuel moisture is considered to have a significant effect on the rate of spread of grassfire propagation and fire intensity. In this study, two sets of grassfire simulations have been conducted: one set with 0.21m grass and another set with 0.175m grass. For both sets the ambient temperature was kept constant while the relative humidity and fuel moisture were varied, with fuel moisture deduced from the McArthur MKIII-V GFDI model. A lower relative humidity was observed to lead to higher fire intensity and a faster rate of spread, which are intuitively expected. Froude number analysis showed that relative humidity can lead to change in the fire propagation mode (wind driven vs buoyancy driven), but the greater factor appears to be grass height (fuel load).

}, keywords = {grassfire, modelling, propagation, relative humidity}, issn = {561}, author = {Khalid Moinuddin and Tehmina Khan and Duncan Sutherland} } @article {bnh-6224, title = {Post-disaster Impact Assessment of Road Infrastructure: A State of the Art Review}, journal = {Natural Hazards Review}, volume = {21}, year = {2020}, month = {02/2020}, abstract = {

Road infrastructure is a vital aspect in transportation systems and can be severely affected by disasters. Postdisaster impact assessment is vital for the repair and reconstruction of such infrastructure, which is constrained by budget and time. This review provides a detailed analysis of prior literature on postdisaster impact assessments of road infrastructure. The related methods used in the literature were analyzed based on their classifications, such as social, environmental, and economic impacts of road failure. It was determined that although a wide range of methods have been used to assess economic impacts, there is still a lack of research measuring environmental and indirect social impacts. Prior literature has also highlighted that the use of bottom-up models to assess socioeconomic impacts is more relevant in the aftermath of a disaster. This paper presents a systematic review of the literature and guidelines for selecting the most appropriate method to assess impacts. This review aims to provide a frame of reference for researchers and government authorities involved in postdisaster impact assessment and decision making related to road infrastructure.

}, keywords = {Infrastructure, post disaster, road, State-of-the-art review}, doi = {10.1061/(ASCE)NH.1527-6996.0000343}, url = {https://ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/\%28ASCE\%29NH.1527-6996.0000343}, author = {Akvan Gajanayake and Guomin Zhang and Tehmina Khan and Hessam Mohseni} } @conference {bnh-6330, title = {Post-Disaster Decision Making in Road Infrastructure Recovery Projects - An Interview Study with Practitioners in Queensland}, booktitle = {Australian \& New Zealand Disaster \& Emergency Management Conference}, year = {2019}, month = {06/2019}, abstract = {

The repair and reconstruction of road infrastructure plays a vital role in the recovery process after a disaster event and will be affected by the decision-making processes adopted by asset owners. The objective of this study is to understand how road asset owners assess and prioritise road reconstruction projects in order to identify how decision making could be improved in real-life post-disaster scenarios. This paper presents results of in-depth interviews with road infrastructure practitioners in Queensland, on decision making in a post-disaster context, using a case study based approach. A number of challenges were identified including the lack of a common decision making platform, the lack of focus on the socio-ecological impacts during decision making and the importance of community engagement during the reconstruction process.

}, keywords = {Decision making, Disaster management, Natural hazards, Reconstruction, Road infrastructure}, url = {https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333842851_Post-Disaster_Decision_Making_in_Road_Infrastructure_Recovery_Projects_-_An_Interview_Study_with_Practitioners_in_Queensland}, author = {Akvan Gajanayake and Tehmina Khan and Kevin Zhang} }