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Categories: Engineering: Biometric, Geoscience: Landslides
Published New model developed to predict landslides along wildfire burn scars
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers have augmented a physics-based numerical model to investigate and predict areas susceptible to debris flows. This augmented model eventually could be used in an early warning system for people living in high-risk areas, enabling them to evacuate before it's too late. Information from model simulations also could be used to design new infrastructure -- such as diversion bars that deflect fast-moving water away from homes and roads -- for high hazard zones.
Published Sniffing out your identity with breath biometrics
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers have developed an artificial 'nose' that can identify individuals from their breath. Built with a 16-channel sensor array that can detect different compounds found in a person's breath, the olfactory sensor system has the potential to become another option in the biometric security toolkit. Combined with machine learning, the 'artificial nose' was able to authenticate up to 20 individuals with an average accuracy of more than 97%.
Published Sensor imperfections are perfect for forensic camera analysis
(via sciencedaily.com) In a project aimed at developing intelligent tools to fight child exploitation, computer scientists have developed a system to analyze the noise produced by individual cameras. This information can be used to link a video or an image to a particular camera.
Published Mangrove and reef restoration yield positive returns on investment for flood protection, study shows
(via sciencedaily.com) Restoration of mangroves and coral reefs can be a cost-effective solution for coastal flood reduction in more than 20 countries across the Caribbean. Researchers used methods from the risk and insurance industry to provide rigorous valuations of these natural defenses and show that they can deliver a positive return on investment, with the benefits from reduced flood damage exceeding the costs of restoration. The results point toward new opportunities to support restoration efforts with funds from sources that support hazard mitigation, climate adaptation, and disaster recovery, including FEMA.
Published Study explores uncertainties in flood risk estimates
(via sciencedaily.com) Flood frequency analysis is a technique used to estimate flood risk, providing statistics such as the '100-year flood' or '500-year flood' that are critical to infrastructure design, dam safety analysis, and flood mapping in flood-prone areas. But the method used to calculate these flood frequencies is due for an update, according to a new study.
Published Radio waves for the detection of hardware tampering
(via sciencedaily.com) Up to now, protecting hardware against manipulation has been a laborious business: expensive, and only possible on a small scale. And yet, two simple antennas might do the trick.
Published Bluetooth signals can be used to identify and track smartphones
(via sciencedaily.com) A team of engineers has demonstrated for the first time that the Bluetooth signals emitted constantly by our mobile phones have a unique fingerprint that can be used to track individuals' movements.
Published Landslides can have a major impact on glacier melt and movement
(via sciencedaily.com) Using satellite imagery to study the effects of a 2019 landslide on the Amalia Glacier in Patagonia, a research team found the landslide helped stabilize the glacier and caused it to grow by about 1,000 meters over the last three years.
Published Flood risk for Iowa farmland
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers have created a detailed set of maps examining the flood risk for all farmland in Iowa. The maps show 450,000 acres of crops in areas with a 50% chance of flooding, and losses from flooding averaging $230 million annually.
Published Drenching rains to pose greater threat to fire-damaged areas in West
(via sciencedaily.com) The western United States this century is facing a greatly heightened risk of heavy rains inundating areas recently scarred by wildfires, new research warns. Such events can cause significant destruction, including debris flows, mudslides, and flash floods, because the denuded landscape cannot easily contain the drenching moisture.
Published Forensic scientists improve touch DNA collection methods
(via sciencedaily.com) Skin cells and their DNA varies between individuals, but new data shows that some groups of people have higher variability in their cell deposits. The South Australian forensic science researchers are building a suite of new insights into crime scene investigation -- including the difference between high, intermediate and low skin 'shedders' that will help understanding of trace or 'touch DNA'.
Published Turning any camera into a polarization camera
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers have developed a metasurface attachment that can turn just about any camera or imaging system, even off-the-shelf systems, into polarization cameras. The attachment uses a metasurface of subwavelength nanopillars to direct light based on its polarization and compiles an image that captures polarization at every pixel.
Published Overlooked channels influence water flow and flooding along Gulf Coast
(via sciencedaily.com) An unnoticed network of channels is cutting across the coastal plain landscape along the Gulf Coast and influencing how water flows, according to new research that could help predict flooding from major storms in the future.
Published US flood damage risk is underestimated
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers found a high probability of flood damage -- including monetary damage, human injury and loss of life -- for more than a million square miles of land across the United States across a 14-year period.
Published U.S. coastline to see up to a foot of sea level rise by 2050
(via sciencedaily.com) The United States is expected to experience as much sea level rise by the year 2050 as it witnessed in the previous hundred years. That's according to a NOAA-led report updating sea level rise decision-support information for the U.S. released in partnership with half a dozen other U.S.federal agencies.
Published January 2020 Puerto Rico earthquake provides valuable data for ground failure models
(via sciencedaily.com) Field surveys conducted in the days after the 7 January 2020 Puerto Rico earthquake documented more than 300 landslides and severe liquefaction in southern coastal regions, according to a new study.
Published Pioneering research forecasts climate change set to send costs of flooding soaring
(via sciencedaily.com) Climate change could result in the financial toll of flooding rising by more than a quarter in the United States by 2050 -- and disadvantaged communities will bear the biggest brunt, according to new research.
Published New study improves understanding of Southern California’s intense winter rains
(via sciencedaily.com) New research looks to improve prediction of brief but intense rainstorms that can cause devastating flash floods and landslides. Intense rain associated with narrow cold-frontal rainbands may last only a few minutes at a particular location, yet the rain can cause catastrophic flash flooding, debris flows and landslides, and can occur along with tornadoes and severe thunderstorms.
Published Powerful volcanic blast not the cause for 2018 Indonesian island collapse
(via sciencedaily.com) The dramatic collapse of Indonesia's Anak Krakatau volcano in December 2018 resulted from long-term destabilising processes, and was not triggered by any distinct changes in the magmatic system that could have been detected by current monitoring techniques, new research has found.
Published Real-world study shows the potential of gait authentication to enhance smartphone security
(via sciencedaily.com) A study showed that -- within an appropriate framework -- gait recognition could be a viable technique for protecting individuals and their data from potential crime.