Module GEOG40530: HYDRO-METEOROLOGICAL HAZARDS

Department: Geography

GEOG40530: HYDRO-METEOROLOGICAL HAZARDS

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• The aim of this module is to provide students with fundamental knowledge of hydro-meteorological hazards, with a particular focus upon flood and drought risk, their causes, the role of feedbacks and the changing environmental drivers influencing them, including climate change, and the ways that risks might be investigated and managed as part of a risk management strategy.

Content

• The module will cover three themes
• 1. Flooding and droughts as environmental hazards
• 2. Meteorological drivers, processes and quantification of floods and drought
• 3. Monitoring, estimating and predicting floods and droughts

Learning Outcomes

• 1. Understanding of the primary drivers of flood and drought risk and the interactions between elements of the flood risk system, including feedbacks
• 2. Appreciation of the different types of drought and their measurement
• 3. Understanding of the role played by environmental change, catchment management, and social and economic processes in driving hydro-meteorological hazards
• 4. Grasping the basics of the hydrological science required as inputs to flood risk analysis, and the associated tools used in those sciences.

• 1. Ability to undertake return period analysis using the statistical distribution (e.g. Gumbel)
• 2. Competence to model hydrological problems (as an alternative to statistical methods) including awareness of data issues, calibration and validation
• 3. Ability to link flood hazard analysis to vulnerability questions, including the data and methods used in vulnerability analysis.
• 4. Capability to analyse large scale meteorlogical drivers associated with drought and floods.

• 1. Critical evaluation and synthesis of published data and interpretations
• 2. Technical skills in analysing data (e.g. time-series, extremes, trends)
• 3. Demonstrate the ability to complete written work within word limits, including essay and report writing skill

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• There are three modes of teaching:
• i) lectures will provide core understanding, including that associated with the subject knowledge, and the underpinning science and social science to enable acquisition of necessary subject skills;
• ii) practical exercises (in the form of workshops) as well as formative written assignments will be used to develop the specific subject skills, based around case examples linked to research and to develop student understanding of lecture-based material; and
• iii) a field day will demonstrate how these approaches are applied and will be used to gain an increased understanding of the catchment areas used in the modelling practicals
• Independent study will be required to deepen the student's subject knowledge through reading, and to develop practical skills, with practical classes assisting with these.
• We will assess subject knowledge by asking students to provide a written review of the fundamental elements of a flood risk analysis and the associated limits of such analyses. We will assess subject skills through short practical excercises linked to each practical.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Formative feedback will be provided through verbal discussions in the practical sessions, and through written feedback on each practical. A formative written task will be set to guide the summative essay and a formative practical report will be set to guide the two summative reports. Both formative assessments will be set in term one. Practical and field trip sessions are compulsory and will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University