TY - JOUR

T1 - Decision strategies for handling the uncertainty of future extreme rainfall under the influence of climate change

A1 - Gregersen,Ida Bülow

A1 - Arnbjerg-Nielsen,Karsten

AU - Gregersen,Ida Bülow

AU - Arnbjerg-Nielsen,Karsten

PB - I W A Publishing

PY - 2012

Y1 - 2012

N2 - Several extraordinary rainfall events have occurred in Denmark within the last few years. For each event, problems in urban areas occurred as the capacity of the existing drainage systems were exceeded. Adaptation to climate change is necessary but also very challenging as urban drainage systems are characterized by long technical lifetimes and high, unrecoverable construction costs. One of the most important barriers for the initiation and implementation of the adaptation strategies is therefore the uncertainty when predicting the magnitude of the extreme rainfall in the future. This challenge is explored through the application and discussion of three different theoretical decision support strategies: the precautionary principle, the minimax strategy and Bayesian decision support. The reviewed decision support strategies all proved valuable for addressing the identified uncertainties, at best applied together as they all yield information that improved decision making and thus enabled more robust decisions.

AB - Several extraordinary rainfall events have occurred in Denmark within the last few years. For each event, problems in urban areas occurred as the capacity of the existing drainage systems were exceeded. Adaptation to climate change is necessary but also very challenging as urban drainage systems are characterized by long technical lifetimes and high, unrecoverable construction costs. One of the most important barriers for the initiation and implementation of the adaptation strategies is therefore the uncertainty when predicting the magnitude of the extreme rainfall in the future. This challenge is explored through the application and discussion of three different theoretical decision support strategies: the precautionary principle, the minimax strategy and Bayesian decision support. The reviewed decision support strategies all proved valuable for addressing the identified uncertainties, at best applied together as they all yield information that improved decision making and thus enabled more robust decisions.

KW - Bayesian decision support

KW - Climate change

KW - Minimax strategy

KW - Rainfall

KW - The precautionary principle

KW - Uncertainty

U2 - 10.2166/wst.2012.173

DO - 10.2166/wst.2012.173

JO - Water Science and Technology

JF - Water Science and Technology

SN - 0273-1223

IS - 2

VL - 66

SP - 284

EP - 291

ER -