Virtual Globe – Environmental Hazards

Studiewijzer 2023/2024

Globale inhoud

Welcome to the Virtual Globe: Environmental Hazards course!

Environmental hazards have a large impact on society, e.g., on our behavior, our food security, our water resources, our climate, and the quality of our landscapes. Environmental hazards can have a huge impact, such as rapid events like volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, floods, landslides, and avalanches. Others are slow and often relate to climate change but influence our society on longer temporal scales, such as desertification, weathering of rocks (including infrastructure, statues, etc.), soil erosion, permafrost melt, and more. The distribution, frequency of occurrence, impact, and extent of such hazards are of paramount importance but often difficult to predict.

To fully understand the distribution, frequency, rate, and impact of earth surface processes, lectures by earth science experts will be offered in the first part of the course. The lectures focus on key earth science landforms and processes that result from geological (volcanism, tectonics) and geomorphological (weathering, fluvial, coastal, glacial/periglacial, mass movement, and aeolian) activity. A scientific understanding of the occurrence and patterns of environmental hazards that were formed in the past, in combination with knowledge of the geomechanical, hydrological, and rheological behavior of materials and the parameters that determine the rate and extent of environmental hazards, is key to predicting future hazards.

To combat rapid and slow environmental hazards, we will identify both patterns and processes from satellite imagery and aerial photographs that are available on Google Earth Pro and include additional information from historical air photos and thematic / topographical maps. To fully understand the environmental situations across the globe, we will combine the geological, geomorphological, hydrological, and topographical conditions to reconstruct, analyze, quantify, and evaluate the environmental processes and hazards in a wide diversity of landscapes. For that, we will extract information from Google Earth Pro. That information will be used as input in process-specific formulas, which are needed to quantify, e.g., flow velocities of lava flows in volcanic settings, chemical denudation rates in karst landscapes, slope stability analyses in mountains, permafrost melt rates in high latitude areas, and erosion power in fluvial landscapes.

We will study the effects of human interventions in the landscape and their corresponding stabilizing or destabilizing effects in light of future land use and land cover developments.

After an individual introduction to a variety of landscapes, processes, and landform patterns, each student team will select an area that will be quantitatively analyzed and evaluated in the light of past, current, and future processes and focus on actual and potential environmental hazards. The findings will be documented in a 'Virtual Globe' project.

The VG - Env-H Team

Studiemateriaal

Literatuur

• Christopherson & Birkeland: Geosystems: An introduction to Physical Geography, 5th edition or higher; see Canvas modules for exact chapters and pages

Syllabus

• Each laptop practical has additional information on Canvas; see modules section

Practicummateriaal

• See Canvas: there are datasets ready for use in Google Earth Pro; quizzes and tutorials accompany the lap-top practicals

Software

• Google Earth Pro, Excel

Overig

• Scientific calculator needed

Leerdoelen

• Kan de gesteentekringloop, de geomorfologische kringloop en de hydrologische kringloop uitleggen
• Kan de ontstaansgeschiedenis van de belangrijkste exogene en endogene landvormen en processen in de context van het landschap identificeren en reconstrueren
• Kan gesteenten en losse materialen classificeren op basis van hun materiaaleigenschappen op verschillende schalen
• Kan de wiskundige formules toepassen die de principes van fysische en hydrologische processen beschrijven
• Kan de snelheid en intensiteit van abiotische processen en het effect van natuurgevaren in de context van een landschap kwantificeren
• Kan rapporteren over de effecten van natuurgevaren voor een toekomst scenario in de context van veranderend landgebruik

Onderwijsvormen

• Hoorcollege
• Zelfstudie
• Zelfstandig werken aan bijv. project/scriptie
• Werkcollege

The lectures will offer context to the theoretical part of the course and align with the content of the practical work.

Verdeling leeractiviteiten

Aanwezigheid

Aanwezigheidseisen opleiding (OER-B):

• Deelname aan veldwerk is verplicht en niet vervangbaar door opdrachten of andere cursussen.
• In geval van een practicum is de student verplicht ten minste 90% van de practicumbijeenkomsten bij te wonen en zich op deze bijeenkomsten terdege voor te bereiden, tenzij anders aangegeven in de studiewijzer van het vak. Indien de student minder dan 90% heeft bijgewoond dient het practicum opnieuw te worden gevolgd.
• In geval van werkgroepbijeenkomsten is de student verplicht tenminste 7 van elke 8 werkgroepbijeenkomsten bij te wonen en zich op deze bijeenkomsten terdege voor te bereiden, tenzij anders aangegeven in de studiewijzer. Bij meer dan 8 werkgroepbijeenkomsten geldt dat de student steeds per (deel van) 8 bijeenkomsten maximaal 1 bijeenkomst mag missen. Indien de student minder dan het verplichte aantal heeft bijgewoond, kan het vak niet worden afgerond.
  

Aanvullende eisen voor dit vak:

Make sure:

to attend at least 90% of the laptop practicals at Science Park. Less attendance means that the course cannot be finished.

to be prepared for the laptop practicals: read instruction material in advance

that absences, with valid reason, should be communicated with the responsible teaching assistant (cc. to the coordinator)

Attending all scheduled education activities is strongly advised. By doing so, you actively contribute to a lively learning environment and significantly improve your chances of successfully completing the course. The designated mandatory activities play a crucial role in achieving the course objectives and are essential for your overall progress. In addition,
Pattern recognition and quantitative problem-solving skills are crucial for follow-up courses in your curriculum.

Toetsing

The week's assignments prepare for the digital exam. Each assignment (Modules 1–8) must be passed with a 75% score. Multiple attempts are possible. The weekly assignments are open during the regular course period.

The digital exam is taken in the TestVision software. Google Earth Pro will be used, and a scientific calculator is allowed.

For the project and the digital exam, there is an official retake date in July. The resit digital exam is similar to the regular exam. The same project can be used and upgraded for the retake.

Toetsmatrijs (studentenversie)

Studenten die het vak al eerder hebben gevolgd

Participants that attended the previous year's course but did not pass should contact the coordinator, Harry Seijmonsbergen, at least a week before the start of the new course to decide what assignments or projects are mandatory to fulfill the requirements of last year's courses.

Inzage toetsing

Grade percentages of week assignments will be available after the due dates. Feedback is automatically provided via Canvas.

The digital exam will be evaluated within 10 working days, after which the grades will be announced via Canvas and the solutions to the exam will be published. Students can make an appointment with the responsible teachers to review their work.

The project outcome can be reviewed through the feedback rubric form. If necessary, the students can make an appointment with the responsible teachers for additional feedback.

Opdrachten

The weekly assignments are pass/fail, but they should meet the 75% score threshold. Feedback is automatically provided via Canvas. The digital exam is an individual, graded activity. The project is a team effort of two students and will be graded as a team; exceptions are possible.

Fraude en plagiaat

Dit vak hanteert de algemene 'Fraude- en plagiaatregeling' van de UvA. Hier wordt nauwkeurig op gecontroleerd. Bij verdenking van fraude of plagiaat wordt de examencommissie van de opleiding ingeschakeld. Zie de Fraude- en plagiaatregeling van de UvA: http://student.uva.nl

Weekplanning

Honoursinformatie

Not applicable

Aanvullende informatie

We vinden het belangrijk dat je je op de UvA en bij Future Planet Studies veilig voelt. Krijg je onverhoopt te maken met ongewenst gedrag of voel je je onveilig, dan kun je terecht bij verschillende personen. Je melding wordt altijd vertrouwelijk behandeld. Kijk op onze website voor meer informatie over waar en bij wie je terecht kunt.

It is important that everyone feels safe at the UvA and Future Planet Studies. We are committed to provide social safety and we offer various forms of support for people experiencing inappropriate or unsafe situations. Consult the UvA website or Future Planet Studies Canvas page for more information and contact info.

Feedback studenten afgelopen jaar

Vorig jaar waren de meeste studenten positief over de cursus. De weekopdrachten worden niet meer meegewogen in de eindbeoordeling, hetgeen voor veel druk zorgde bij sommige  deelnemers. Dit jaar moeten de oefenopdrachten wel voldoende gemaakt worden, maar tellen niet mee in de eindbeoordeling. Vanwege de afstand tussen instructie voor het project (werd gegeven voor het deeltentamen), is dit jaar gekozen om de onderwijsassistenten deze informatie te geven tijdens het eerste practicum na het digital deeltenetamen,uiteraard ook met instructies via Canvas.

Contactinformatie

Coördinator

• dr. A.C. Seijmonsbergen

Lecturers

• Harry Seijmonsbergen
• Kenneth Rijsdijk
• Jelle Bulens
• Walter van Dijk
• Daniël Kooij
• Philipp Grammel