Author(s): Zahra Kalantari; Amir Rezvani
Linked Author(s): Zahra Kalantari
Keywords: Critical Infrastructure Adaptive Warning System Disaster Risk Reduction Cascading Effects
Abstract: Urban areas are increasingly vulnerable to the growing impacts of hydrometeorological hazards, including floods, droughts, and heatwaves, which are exacerbated by climate change and urbanization. These hazards pose severe risks to critical societal services and infrastructure (CSSIs), such as transport networks, water supply systems, and energy grids, which are essential for maintaining urban functionality. The CASCADE project seeks to address these challenges by developing innovative solutions to enhance urban resilience and preparedness against multiple hydrometeorological hazards. This research integrates advanced technologies, cutting-edge methodologies, and transdisciplinary collaboration to provide actionable insights and tools for disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation. The project focuses on three interconnected pillars: advanced monitoring and prediction systems, systemic risk analysis, and practical tools for adaptive action (Fig1). CASCADE employs state-of-the-art artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, such as Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks (Hochreiter, 1997) and multivariate copula analysis (MvCAT) (Sadegh et al., 2017), to improve the accuracy of hazard predictions. These models enable the identification of current and future hotspots of hydrometeorological risks by analyzing hazard intensity, duration, and frequency. Through the integration of real-time data from sources such as SMHI’s database and Google Earth Engine, CASCADE extends forecasting capabilities to several months, allowing decision-makers to anticipate and mitigate cascading effects across urban systems. The project’s Multi-Hazard Adaptive Warning System (AWS) incorporates these predictive capabilities into a user-friendly platform, enabling authorities to visualize hazards and their interdependencies through interactive dashboards and advanced visualization tools.
Year: 2025