Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/53167
BY TAYLOR DAVIS AND CHRIS JENSEN Climate-Change Adaptation Planning Reducing Uncertainty via Integrated Airborne Remote Sensing Ad-ap-ta-tion (noun) 2: adjustment to environmental conditions: as B: modification of an organism or its parts that makes it more fit for existence under the conditions of its environment. - www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adaptation and had an average intensity of 3.1 millimeters/hour. Based on this storm's intensity and duration, it would be characterized locally as having a 10-year return frequency (i.e., a storm lasting for 24 hours with that intensity is likely to happen once every decade in the region). If a "1 in 10-year event" almost surcharges the creek's capacity, there's a potential problem. Furthermore, the 1 in 10-year event is characterized as such from historical climate data. According to local climate-change precipitation mod- T 22 he rain was still falling when it started getting dark on Dec. 11, 2010. It had rained during the day, and continued raining throughout the night, increasing in intensity, and on the morning of Dec. 12, 2010, a raging torrent of water surged through Bowker Creek—almost surcharging the creek's capacity in several areas (see Figure 1). A typical hydraulic engineering-design criterion for a major drainage system is to have safe conveyance of floodwaters for a "1 in 100-year" storm event. The December 2010 storm lasted approximately 24 hours GEO W ORLD /JANUAR Y 2O12 els created at the University of Victoria's Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium, there likely will be a 5-15 percent increase in the area's precipitation. This increase in precipitation is projected to increase flood volumes in Bowker Creek by 29 percent. Such a pro- jected increase in flood volume means that flooding events are inevitable; in fact, they already occur. In 1999, residents on the lower reach of Bowker Creek in the District of Oak Bay sustained flood- associated damages to their homes. One resident described the event: "The flow that happened this year literally burst our doors open. We couldn't hold it back. It was a tsunami." Imagery/LIDAR Special Issue Airborne Technology