Abstract
A natural factors-based approach was developed to examine proactive responses to hazards and improving sustainability on the Chan May-Lang Co Gulf area, Central Vietnam. The approach was based on a weight-of-evidence method within an integrated and quantitative vulnerability assessment in which the spatial relationship between a set of evidential factors (lithology, distance to the coastline, altitude, slope, aspect, drainage, wind speed during storms, and land use and cover) and a set of hazard locations was combined with the prior probability (total vulnerability) to obtain the posterior probability of hazard occurrence. The result showed that 44.3 % of the study area had high to very high total vulnerability, due to the high density of vulnerable objects and frequency of severe damage from typhoons, floods, landslides, and erosion. The result also demonstrated that the contribution of natural factors was directly proportional to total vulnerability in approximately 75 % of the study area, indicating a high dependence of vulnerability on natural factors. In the remaining areas, low contributions were found in the high and very high vulnerability areas dominated by high anthropogenic activities. In contrast, natural factors were important contributors to total vulnerability in areas characterized by dense vegetation, consolidated rocks, and altitude greater than 300 m, reflecting high natural resilience. The present study demonstrated that a proactive approach may provide appropriate measures to mitigate hazards and to increase the sustainability of the study area.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the Vietnam’s National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED) (No. 105.09.82.09). The authors gratefully acknowledge the People’s Committee of Phu Loc District, Thua Thien Hue Province (Vietnam), the VAST Institute of Marine Resources and Environment for their help with data collection.
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Handled by Soontak Lee, Yeungnam University, Korea.
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Nhuan, M.T., Hien, L.T.T., Ha, N.T.H. et al. An integrated and quantitative vulnerability assessment for proactive hazard response and sustainability: a case study on the Chan May-Lang Co Gulf area, Central Vietnam. Sustain Sci 9, 399–409 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-013-0221-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-013-0221-9