Sven Fuchs

University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna | boku · Institute of Mountain Risk Engineering

Recent events have demonstrated the devastating impact of meteorological hazards on buildings and infrastructure. The possible effects of climate change on their frequency and intensity but also the rise in the value of assets may increase future risks significantly. It is crucial, therefore, for decision-makers to analyze these risks, focusing on...

The omnipresent threat of natural hazards in mountainous regions has led to a risk culture which requires knowledge about the frequency of the considered hazardous process. Observations suggest that the frequency of debris‐flow events in a single catchment is, beside climatic thresholds, also controlled by its geological, lithological and geomorpho...

Change triggered by natural hazards such as pluvial and coastal floods, sea-level rise as well as risks resulting from water scarcity are highly dynamic and related to the effects of ongoing climate change. Whether and how societies adapt, adjust, change, or transform because of climate change and related risks, is a currently debated topic. This q...

Endogenic and exogenic geomorphic processes of different types and spatiotemporal dynamics can be observed within the territory of Austria. If these processes affect assets such as exposed buildings or infrastructure lines, they turn into hazards. In particular in the mountainous parts and in the Alpine foreland geomorphic hazards of different magn...

The Montafon Valley, located in southwestern Austria, is—for a comparatively small region of approximately 560 km2—characterized by a high diversity of geological and geomorphological features. The landscapes of the Montafon comprise landforms and associated processes common in high mountains, a deeply incised main valley of the Ill River as a resu...

Recent wildfire events (e.g. Mediterranean region, USA, and Australia) showed that this hazard poses a serious threat for wildland–urban interface (WUI) areas around the globe. Furthermore, recent events in regions where wildfire does not constitute a frequent hazard (e.g. Siberia, Scandinavia) indicated that the spatial pattern of wildfire risk mi...

Generalizing properties of samples derived via data analysis to advance understanding of underlying processes constitutes the essence of statistical inference. This is especially true in geophysical research, where general findings often emerge from case studies. Consequently, statements about trends in case studies should naturally be grounded on...

Satellite radar interferometry is a powerful tool for measuring displacements of the Earth’s surface. However, we recommend to extend the currently prevailing focus on ex-post analyses and monitoring towards ex-ante early warning applications. Underlying challenges and key requirements are discussed.

Vulnerability analysis is crucial to assess natural hazard risk. Methods for vulnerability assessment include indices as well as vulnerability curves. Vulnerability curves make use of empirical data to show the relationship between the process intensity and the resulting degree of loss on each affected building whereas vulnerability indices are bas...

Zusammenfassung Der Raumplanung kommt aufgrund ihres präventiven Charakters und durch ihren Einfluss auf die räumliche Verteilung und Intensität von Nutzungen eine zunehmend bedeutende Rolle im Naturgefahrenmanagement zu. Im Sinne der vorausschauenden Planung sollte eine an die Naturgefahren angepasste Flächennutzung forciert werden, mit dem Ziel,...

Current procedures in risk management request new institutional innovations to effectively respond to observed dynamics. This paper aims to assess and explain institutional innovations in natural hazard risk management by analyzing examples of multi-functional protection schemes, which are distinctive to mainstream solutions. These multi-functional...

In flood risk management, the choice of vulnerability functions has a remarkable impact on the overall uncertainty of modelling flood damage. The spatial transferability of empirical vulnerability functions is limited, leading to the need for computation and validation of region-specific vulnerability functions. In data-scarce regions however, this...

Austrian municipalities face increasing risk from natural hazards due to a number of developments: the frequency and severity of extreme weather events are expected to rise due to a warmer climate; settlements are expanding in hazard-prone areas; and the monetary value of assets and property at risk is increasing. While the policy discourse in the...

Institutional vulnerability to natural hazards has not been thoroughly investigated until now. Yet, institutional vulnerability is strongly connected to all other vulnerability dimensions, and specific socio-economic and physical indicators. Moreover, different types of crises such as economic, political or health crisis strongly affect the institu...

In recent years, losses due to torrential flooding have been increasing in the Eastern European Alps, with effects of climate change and settlement growth being postulated root causes. In the context of flood mitigation, however, it remains unclear to which degree loss dynamics can be attributed to these causes. We addressed this question based on...

Climate change is likely to cause a change in frequency and intensity of convective thunderstorms and associated heavy precipitation. Typical consequences of such events are a rapid generation of surface runoff with high flow velocities in hilly and mountainous areas as well as the unexpected and abrupt occurrence of inundation in areas currently n...

The frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events are expected to increase due to the effects of climate change and socio-economic development. Potentially higher flood risk, hence, triggered debate about a shift in flood risk management from mainly public to increasingly private involvement. So far, public flood mitigation schemes were standar...

Mountain hazard risk analysis for transport infrastructure is regularly based on deterministic approaches. Standard risk assessment approaches for roads need a variety of variables and data for risk computation, however without considering potential uncertainty in the input data. Consequently, input data needed for risk assessment are normally proc...

The use of different methods for physical flood vulnerability assessment has evolved over time, from traditional single-parameter stage–damage curves to multi-parameter approaches such as multivariate or indicator-based models. However, despite the extensive implementation of these models in flood risk assessment globally, a considerable gap remain...

Adaptive behaviour has become a crucial aspect in current flood risk management strategies across the globe, especially in response to potential consequences of flood hazards and facing challenges of climate change. There are several factors which influence the motivation to implement flood risk management strategies such as property-level flood ri...

Reducing vulnerabilities has become a central concern for humanitarian actors, as annually thousands of people facing unequal access to resources and power, are repeatedly harmed in disasters. This paper analyses the impact that humanitarian assistance had on vulnerabilities in Nepal following the 2015 earthquake. Applying the Pressure and Release...

Hydro-meteorological hazards annually lead to considerable economic losses worldwide. Property level flood risk adaptation (PLFRA) measures have shown to decrease potential damages by floods and other hazards. However, such measures are often implemented inadequately, frequently because of lacking communication between public administration and hom...

Abstract. Mountain hazard risk analysis for transport infrastructure is regularly based on deterministic approaches. Due to a variety of variables and data needed for risk computation, a considerable degree of epistemic uncertainty results. Consequently, input data needed for risk assessment is normally processed as mean values with or without scat...

Demographic change is one of the most important challenges of our time. Demographic changes take place in different ways and with different dynamics: aging, population decline, changes in household structures and immigration. Although the increasing life expectancy and the persistently low birth rates lead to a growing proportion of older people in...

Hydrometeorological events are highly costly and have strong impacts on the human‐environment system. Effective response requires effective risk management concepts and strategies at individual and watershed level to increase community resilience. Focusing on flood risk and the information associated with it, individual risk behavior in the shape o...

Abstract. Although the vulnerability indicator method has been applied to several data-scarce regions, a missing linkage with damage grades had hindered its application for loss evaluation to complement disaster risk reduction efforts. To address this gap, we present a review of physical vulnerability indicators and flood damage models to gain insi...

To prepare for upcoming extreme events, decision makers, scientists and other stakeholders require a thorough understanding of the vulnerability of the built environment to natural hazards. A vulnerability index based on building characteristics (indicators) rather than empirical data may be an alternative approach to a comprehensive physical vulne...

Environmental change is subject to discussion among scientists, practitioners, and policymakers. As increasing threats to both environment and society are on the agenda, alternative management approaches are gaining importance. This paper focuses on the influence of policy changes on flood risk management. There is evidence that shifts in settlemen...

Damages due to extreme hydro-metrological events request for additional efforts to enhance the implementation of property level flood risk adaptation (PLFRA) measures. Although a highly effective long-term measure, the planned relocation of individuals from areas at risk is rarely considered as an adaptive response. We evaluate how financial recove...

This article aims to analyze the legal framework for flood risk management in Austria, focusing on planning. Austria’s legal basis for flood risk management is fairly complex because its federal organization involves various administrative bodies and a fragmented legal framework. Regulations are numerous, as are competencies, which poses challenges...

Introduction—Guests and guides partaking in helicopter and snowcat skiing (collectively known as mechanized skiing) are exposed to numerous natural winter hazards that can result in injury or death, but detailed quantitative risk estimates are currently lacking. This lack represents a considerable barrier for evaluating existing risk management pra...

Irrespective of the magnitude and spatial extend, the consequences of a natural hazard are strongly connected to the vulnerability of elements at risk (e.g. people, buildings and infrastructure). It is, therefore, obvious that an analysis and quantification of vulnerability is required for successful disaster risk reduction. The need for vulnerabil...

Because effects of climate change and an increase in elements at risk, mountain hazard loss increased throughout Europe. Yet, factors influencing loss, i.e. vulnerability, have gained less attention to date. Vulnerability is defined as the degree of loss resulting from the hazard impact on buildings. Recent studies have focused on evaluating vulner...

Decision makers in the field of disaster management have many tools at their disposal to assist them in making informed decisions. They make use of the available information to set priorities, choose adequate local adaptation measures and make decisions regarding land use and emergency planning. As far as the vulnerability assessment of buildings i...

Road networks are complex interconnected systems. Any sudden disruption can result in debilitating impacts on human life or the economy. In particular, road systems in mountain areas are highly vulnerable, because they often do not feature redundant elements at comparable efficiency. This paper addresses the impacts of network interruptions caused...

Guests and guides partaking in commercial mechanized backcountry skiing are exposed to numerous natural hazards that can result in injury or death, but detailed quantitative risk estimates are currently lacking. This represents a considerable barrier for evaluating existing risk management practices and implementing evidence-based interventions. We...

Torrential flood hazards are a major threat for inhabited alluvial fans. They have the potential to relocate large amounts of sediment from the upper catchments to settlement areas on the alluvial fans where typically distributary processes take place. The approaching water-sediment-mixture impacting on building walls are part of a set of damage-ge...

Urban and land use planning is conditioned by flood risk analyses and is a great research challenge. While methods are available for quantitative hazard and risk modeling, there is still a major gap related to reliable rational approaches for vulnerability assessment. This is particularly true for assessing vulnerability of buildings to floods. Thi...

Fluvial processes have a significant impact on buildings and infrastructure and despite their local character they cause annually considerable costs in mountain areas worldwide. Vulnerability studies are based mainly on empirical data from past events whereas laboratory studies investigating the impact forces on buildings are still limited. The pap...

Understanding the impact dynamics on buildings caused by complex fluviatile sediment transport processes and the interaction with the exposed elements is still a major challenge. Especially flood hazards with large amount of mobilized sediments can cause severe damages to exposed building structures located within flood-prone torrential fans. Mitig...

A key challenge of hazard risk management is finding novel ways to respond to future extremes amid increasing vulnerability. Societal transformation in the context of multi-functional protection schemes offers potential in this regard. However, the drivers and barriers of societal transformation in hazard management are poorly understood. Here we i...

Numerous rockfalls released during the 2010–2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence affected vital road sections for local commuters. We quantified rockfall fatality risk on two main routes by adapting a risk approach for roads originally developed for snow avalanche risk. We present results of the collective and individual fatality risks for traffic f...

This last chapter provides a summary and outlook to future research needs. To summarize, this book demonstrates how vulnerability and resilience are conceptualized in natural hazard and risk management, and that sustainable risk reduction and adaptation strategies require a profound understanding of both of the concepts. The complex interplay betwe...

All the processing and post-classification steps were completed using the software packages ENVI 5.1 and ArcGIS 10.1. Six types of LULC classes were identified in the study area: snow cover, bare soil/rock, forest, waterbodies, built-up areas and areas used for agriculture. Supervised classification methods and maximum likelihood algorithm were use...

Zusammenfassung Mittels der Richtlinie 2007/60/EG über die Bewertung und das Management von Hochwasserrisiken soll der Übergang vom Hochwasserschutz hin zum Hochwasserrisikomanagement in den Ländern der Europäischen Union forciert werden. Die Erstellung von Hochwassergefahren- und Hochwasserrisikokarten folgt dabei der Zielsetzung, einerseits eine...

As financing protection against mountain hazards becomes increasingly challenging and therefore investments have to be prioritized, dilemmas of justice emerge: some local governments and individuals benefit from natural hazard protection schemes, whereas others loose. Decisions on whom to protect often caused contradicting concepts of political und...

The original paper was published not bearing Open Access copyright and north arrows are missing from the figures

In Österreich sind in den vergangenen Jahren wiederholt Naturgefahren aufgetreten, die in der Politik, aber auch in der Bevölkerung – verstärkt durch die Meldungen in den Medien – immer wieder als Jahrhundertereignisse bezeichnet wurden. Die hohen volkswirtschaftlichen und privaten Schäden stellen die Frage in den Vordergrund, welche gesellschaftli...

In this paper, we show how the concept of tipping points can be interpreted by using the example of natural hazard management. Until now, despite the increasing amount of papers on tipping points in the assessment of geomorphologic hazards and the associated dynamics of research on climate change, there has been little empirical or theoretical enga...

Flood events in mountain streams mobilize and transport large amounts of sediment and often lead to sediment depositions on densely populated alluvial fans. The impacts of these fluviatile hazard processes potentially lead to a substantial damage of buildings, infrastructure facilities, etc. The work presented deals with experimental measurements a...

Conference Poster

The contributions of this special issue are centered on Russian natural hazard and risk research in the territory of the Russian Federation and the former Soviet Union. The overall aim is to promote the excellent research results in this scientific field which were, unfortunately, for decades only available to the Russian-speaking community. Despit...

Poster for AGIT - Symposium und EXPO Angewandte Geoinformatik 2017

Der vorliegende Beitrag befasst sich mit der experimentellen Modellierung fluviatiler Geschiebetransportprozesse und einhergehenden Einwirkungen auf Gebäudestrukturen. In einer homogenen Versuchsrinne wurden die Anströmungsmuster und Einwirkungen geschiebeführender Abflüsse auf ein einzelnes vertikales Plattenelement untersucht. Belastungen auf das...

Dealing with flood hazard and risk requires approaches rooted in both natural and social sciences, which provided the nexus for the ongoing debate on socio-hydrology. Various combinations of non-structural and structural flood risk reduction options are available to communities. Focusing on flood risk and the information associated with it, develop...

Debris flows are natural processes that cause considerable economic loss and sometimes also casualties. The motion of the debris flow is influenced by both solid and fluid forces making it particularly destructive. Although a large amount of studies regarding the process itself is available in the literature, scientists repeatedly focused on the ph...

A coevolutionary perspective is adopted to understand the dynamics of exposure to mountain hazards in the European Alps. A spatially explicit, object-based temporal assessment of elements at risk to mountain hazards (river floods, torrential floods, and debris flows) in Austria and Switzerland is presented for the period from 1919 to 2012. The asse...

Making the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 work for sustainable development in mountains means giving special attention to the specific challenges mountain people face. Many mountain people are vulnerable and exposed to multiple natural hazards: Safe living space is limited and often close to hazard zones. The frequency and m...

Lograr que el Marco de Sendai para la Reducción del Riesgo de Desastres 2015-2030 sirva al desarrollo sostenible de las regiones de montaña significa dar especial atención a los desafíos específicos que enfrentan sus poblaciones. Muchas personas en las montañas son vulnerables y están expuestas a múltiples amenazas naturales, dado que los espacios...