NSF Contributions to Natural Disaster Reduction and

Risk Assessments: Research and Education

Prepared for the Forum on

Risk Management and Assessments of Natural Hazards

Toward a Safer America: Building Natural Hazard Resistant Communities Through Risk

Management and Assessments

February 5-6, 2001

Natural Disaster-Related Research at NSF

• Over $60 million invested in FY2000– National Space Weather Program

– US Weather Research Program

– Earthquake Research (NEHRP)

– Risk assessment and management research in Social, Behavioral, Biological, Geophysical, Mathematical and Computer sciences

– Educational programs

– Support for international research collaborations and workshops

NSF-National Space Weather Program

• This program examines sun and solar wind influences on technology systems.

• Contact: Richard Behnke, GEO

• Investment: About $16 million/year

• NSF plans to provide $6M additional in FY00-02 for two large modelling efforts.

The U.S. Weather ResearchProgram (USWRP)

• NSF supports National Center for Atmospheric Research and NSF awards in joint NSF/NOAA/NASA weather research projects. Infrastructure as well as forecasting and modeling projects build the nation’s capacity to understand and manage severe weather events,

• Contact: Steve Nelson, GEO

• Investment: about $16 million/yr

• Incremental NSF support in fiscal years 2000-2004 for research and infrastructure projects to improve forecasting capabilities for extreme weather events.

National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program at NSF

• NSF strives to advance fundamental knowledge in earthquake engineering, earth science processes, and societal preparedness and response to earthquakes.

• Supports geoscience, engineering, and social, behavioral and economic research on earthquakes and earthquake hazard mitigation, including geotechnical, structural, architectural, and lifeline systems. New: Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation - NEES

• NSF Investment: $38m in FY2000, $59m in FY2001

• Contact: Priscilla Nelson, ENG

Social, behavioral and economic sciences

http://www.exploratorium.edu/faultline/index.html

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U.S.-Japan Cooperative Science: Structure, Seismicity and Tectonics of the Japanese Island Arc from New Deep Seismic ExplorationUS-India/Bangladesh Cooperative Research: Architecture, Dynamics, and Hazards of the Ganges-Brahmaputra DeltaUS-Senegal Workshop: West African Monsoon Variability and Predictability, Dakar, Senegal, May 1999U.S.-Ecuador Planning Visit: Geodynamics, Active Tectonics, and Geological Hazards in the Northern Andes, EcuadorSouthern California Earthquake CenterSGER: Young Children's Reaction to a Natural Disaster: Memory and StressBusinesses and Disasters: Consequences of Disaster Victimization for Businesses and Business DistrictsBrains for Intelligent Buildings Under Seismic LoadsBiocomplexity - Incubation Activity: Integrated Modeling of the Complementarities and Conflicts Between Ecological Systems and Economic Activities in North Carolina

• Continue collaborating with other agencies• Advance a coordinated extreme events research

agenda– Within NSF: Increase investments in research

infrastructure, and basic research across the sciences, and interdisciplinary centers and projects - increased emphases on biocomplexity and the environment, information technology, mathematics, and social and behavioral sciences

– Across agencies and with other partners

Present and Future NSF contributions to natural hazards research

• Improvements in information technology provide new opportunities for social and behavioral scientists to assess, inform, and improve risk decisions and tradeoffs.

• Integrated assessments can inform strategic policy choices. Analysis of risk tradeoffs can also reveal where decisions have socially desirable outcomes.

• Some mitigation investments may not treat subpopulations equitably. Research on such ethical dimensions can improve the fairness of mitigation programs.

Understanding risk tradeoffs associated with natural hazard management

Motivating action• One historic problem in successful implementation of

risk reduction efforts has been the lack of understanding of factors that motivate action.

• Research on communications and incentives for individual and organizational action to reduce risks, overcome institutional obstacles and institute effective responses would improve practice.

• SNDR agencies should work together to identify specific topics where further research is needed.