Browsing by Author "Van Koningsveld, Mark"
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- Applicability of the “Frame of Reference" approach for environmental monitoring of offshore renewable energy projectsPublication . Garel, Erwan; Rey, Cibran Camba; Ferreira, Óscar; Van Koningsveld, MarkThis paper assesses the applicability of the Frame of Reference (FoR) approach for the environmental monitoring of large-scale offshore Marine Renewable Energy (MRE) projects. The focus is on projects harvesting energy from winds, waves and currents. Environmental concerns induced by MRE projects are reported based on a classification scheme identifying stressors, receptors, effects and impacts. Although the potential effects of stressors on most receptors are identified, there are large knowledge gaps regarding the corresponding (positive and negative) impacts. In that context, the development of offshore MRE requires the implementation of fit-for-purpose monitoring activities aimed at environmental protection and knowledge development. Taking European legislation as an example, it is suggested to adopt standardized monitoring protocols for the enhanced usage and utility of environmental indicators. Towards this objective, the use of the FoR approach is advocated since it provides guidance for the definition and use of coherent set of environmental state indicators. After a description of this framework, various examples of applications are provided considering a virtual MRE project located in European waters. Finally, some conclusions and recommendations are provided for the successful implementation of the FoR approach and for future studies.
- Storm impacts along European coastlines. Part 1: The joint effort of the MICORE and ConHaz ProjectsPublication . Ciavola, Paolo; Ferreira, Óscar; Haerens, Piet; Van Koningsveld, Mark; Armaroli, Clara; Lequeux, QuentinThe current paper discusses the topic of marine storm impact along European coastlines, presenting results from two FP7 Projects currently focusing on this topic, one working on the physical aspects of the problem (MICORE) and the other one on the socio-economic implications (ConHaz). The MICORE Project aims to provide on-line predictions of storm-related physical hazards (hydrodynamic as well as morphodynamic). The ConHaz Project addresses the socio-economic implications should these (or other) hazards actually materialize. Together these projects aim to deliver crucial information for emergency response efforts, while realizing the practical limitations for information processing and dissemination during crisis situations. The MICORE Project has developed and demonstrated on-line tools for reliable predictions of the morphological impact of marine storm events in support of civil protection mitigation strategies. The project specifically targeted the development of early warning and information systems to support short term emergency response in case of an extreme storm event. The current paper discusses in detail the outcome of an activity of databasing historical storm data. No clear changes in storminess were observed, except for some storm proxies (e.g. surges) and only at some locations (e.g. northern Adriatic, southern Baltic, etc.). The ConHaz Project undertook a desktop study of the methods normally used for evaluating the impact of marine storms and the associated coastal hazards considering direct costs, costs due to disruption of production processes, indirect costs, intangible costs, and costs of adaptation and mitigation measures. Several methods for cost estimation were reviewed. From the review it emerged that normally end-users only evaluate direct costs after the storms, while the cost of adaptation and mitigation measures is only done strategically in the context of Integrated Coastal Zone Management plans. As there is no standardized method for cost evaluations in this field, it is suggested that clear guidelines should be produced on the basis of simplicity for use by end-users. The integration between historical databases of the physical parameters of storms and detailed cost evaluation information would support the development of a knowledge background in end-users and justify the development of adaptation strategies.
- Storm impacts along European coastlines. Part 2: lessons learned from the MICORE projectPublication . Ciavola, Paolo; Ferreira, Óscar; Haerens, Piet; Van Koningsveld, Mark; Armaroli, ClaraThis paper describes the MICORE approach to quantify for nine field sites the crucial storm related physical hazards (hydrodynamic as well as morphodynamic) in support of early warning efforts and emergency response. As a first step historical storms that had a significant morphological impact on a representative number of sensitive European coastal stretches were reviewed and analysed in order to understand storm related morphological changes and how often they occur around Europe. Next, an on-line storm prediction system was set up to enable prediction of storm related hydro- and morphodynamic impacts. The system makes use of existing offthe- shelf models as well as a new open-source morphological model. To validate the models at least one year of fieldwork was done at nine pilot sites. The data was safeguarded and stored for future use in an open database that conforms to the OpenEarth protocols. To translate quantitative model results to useful information for Civil Protection agencies the Frame of Reference approach (Van Koningsveld et al., 2005, 2007) was used to derive Storm Impact Indicators (SIIs) for relevant decision makers. The acquired knowledge is expected to be directly transferred to the civil society trough partnerships with end-users at the end of the MICORE project.