Research Framework
An integrated research framework provides a basis for joint inquiry and overall conceptual structure for the FRR program. Three issue domains: Environmental/Physical, Built, and Socioeconomic interact to form a fourth system we call Flood Risk Reduction. Inquiry under the Environmental/Physical domain will help understand the baseline conditions and boundaries for each coastal case study and will include: storm surge models, hydraulic models, sediment transport, and the overall erosion dynamics of coastal systems. This research will help identify the boundary conditions for the built, social, and economic systems in place. Investigation within the Socioeconomic issue domain will consist of direct and indirect economic analyses, losses avoided studies, and cost-benefit analysis. Understanding the degree to which communities are socially vulnerable to flooding is also an import line of research that will be addressed. Social and economic systems will also impact environmental and physical systems via population growth, a larger workforce, etc. Finally, inquiry taking place within the Built Environment issue domain will focus on how land use change analysis, development patterns, and public infrastructure contribute to flood risk and associated losses. Development design and visualization is also an important aspect, as it will help incorporate aesthetics and specific development configurations into the research. Alteration of the coastal landscape through development will also impact the Environmental/Physical and Socioeconomic domains through the spread of impervious surfaces, alteration of naturally occurring wetlands, etc.
Research Framework
Interactive inquiry across all three issue domains will lead to various Flood Risk Reduction solutions. This final domain involves the generation of mitigation techniques specific to each case study, encompassing resistance, avoidance, structural, and non-structural interventions. We are particularly interested in investigating FRR programs that involve a synergistic set of different techniques (i.e. structural and non-structural measures working in concert). This integrated framework will help program participants see beyond their single discipline and work on flood problems in a more comprehensive manner.
The research framework described above will provide the structure for joint inquiry across multiple institutions and international boundaries. Within each study region in the U.S. and the Netherlands, six sub-case studies will be initiated covering both surge-based and precipitation-driven flood problems (see Figure 2 below). Each case will provide a target area for interdisciplinary research and education on physical flood risk, socioeconomic characteristics, built environment patterns, and mitigation techniques.
