Page 70 - Microsoft Word - 20120528 Unesco study

1
Flood control A structural intervention to limit flooding and so an example of
a risk management structure.
1
Flood damage Damage to receptors (buildings, infrastructure, goods),
production and intangibles (life, cultural and ecological assets)
caused by a flood.
1
Flood hazard map Map with the predicted or documented extent of flooding,
with or without an indication of the flood probability.
1
Flood level Water level during a flood.
1
Flood peak Highest water level recorded in a river during a flood.
1
Flooding system In the broadest terms, a system may be described as the social
and physical domain within which risks arise and are managed.
An understanding of the way of a system behaves and, in
particular, the mechanism by which it may fail, is an essential
aspect of understanding risk. This is true for an organizational
system like flood warning, as well as for a more physical
system, such as a series of flood defenses protecting a flood
plain.
1
Inundation Deliberate of flooding of land with water.
1
Joint probability The probability of specific values of one or more variables
occurring simultaneously. For example, extreme water levels in
estuaries may occur at times of high river flow, times of high
sea level or times when both river flow and sea level are above
average levels. When assessing the likelihood of occurrence of
high estuarine water levels it is therefore necessary to consider
the joint probability of high river flows and high sea levels.
1
Judgement Decisions taken arising from the critical assessment of the
relevant knowledge.
1
Knowledge Spectrum of known relevant information.
1
Knowledge uncertainty Uncertainty due to lack of knowledge of all the causes and
effects in a physical or social system. For example, a numerical
model of wave transformation may not include an accurate
mathematical description of all the relevant physical processes.
Wave breaking aspects may be parameterized to compensate
for the lack of knowledge regarding the physics. The model is
thus subject to a form of knowledge uncertainty. Various forms
of knowledge uncertainty exist, such as: Process model
uncertainty, statistical inference uncertainty and statistical
model uncertainty.
2
Macroeconomic model A macroeconomic model is a deliberate simplification of actual
infrastructure spending. It is possible to study all the
infrastructure projects in elaborate detail, for example by
looking at the spending patterns over every year of every
project and then draw conclusions from masses of detail. The
result would be a nightmare, time-wasting and ineffective; one
would simply not see the wood for the trees. Instead, a
macroeconomic model focuses on key elements that are
relevant to the problem under investigation. The main goals of
a macroeconomic policy are, in essence, the long-term impacts
of the infrastructure on the government’s budget.
3
Monetary assessment method Like “cost-benefit analysis” and “cost effectiveness analysis”,
this method assumes that effect scan be quantified in

69