Publikationen

Expanding cryospheric landform inventories

Tue, 06 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Expanding cryospheric landform inventories Köhler, Tamara; Schoch-Baumann, Anna; Bell, Rainer; Buckel, Johannes; Ortiz, Diana Agostina; Trombotto Liaudat, Dario; Schrott, Lothar There is a clear spatial discrepancy between the area potentially underlain by permafrost and the landforms recorded in the national inventory of cryospheric landforms in the Dry Andes of Argentina (∼22°–35°S). In the periglacial belt around 30°S, these areas are often covered by extensive block- and talus slopes, whose distribution and potential permafrost content have received little attention so far. We present the first geomorphological mapping and predictive modeling of these underestimated landforms in a semi-arid high Andean catchment with representative cryospheric landform cover (30°S, 69°W). Random forest models produce robust and transferable predictions of both target landforms, demonstrating a high predictive power (mean AUROC values ≥0.95 using non-spatial validation and ≥0.83 using spatial validation). By combining geomorphological mapping, predictive modeling, and geostatistical analysis of block- and talus slopes, we enhance our knowledge of their distribution characteristics, formative controls and potential ground ice content. While both landforms provide suitable site conditions for permafrost occurrence, talus slopes are expected to contain significantly higher ground ice content than blockslopes due to their more favorable characteristics for ice formation and preservation. Given their widespread distribution across almost 79% of the modeled area, block- and talus slopes constitute potentially important ground ice storages and runoff contributors that are not included in current hydrological assessments of mountain permafrost. Our results underscore the need to expand existing cryospheric landform inventories to achieve a more comprehensive quantification of underrepresented periglacial landforms and thus a realistic acquisition of cryospheric water resources in high mountain environments. The newly compiled inventories can serve as a basis for further investigations (e.g., geophysical surveys, hydrochemical analysis, permafrost distribution models) at different spatial scales.

The hard work of future-making

Thu, 02 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT

The hard work of future-making Aalders, Theo; Müller-Mahn, Detlef This article proposes that future-making is hard work. Drawing on examples of work on and around infrastructure projects in East Africa, we show how people orient themselves towards the future through both imagination and material practices. We argue that work navigates between apparent opposites, and identify three antagonisms that are particularly relevant to our argument. First, we discuss how labour mediates between material reality and anticipatory imagination, extending this argument to include a mediation between material present and immaterial future imaginaries. Second, we show how labour can oscillate between visible, even spectacular, performance of labour and employment, and the invisible work of often marginalised people. Finally, we argue that while labour is often characterised by exploitative dynamics, it also offers possibilities for resistance – as well as promises of liberation – through organised labour in various forms. We conclude that (organised) labour, particularly around infrastructure projects, has the potential to make marginalised futures visible and real, thus challenging dominant imaginaries and material realities of the future inscribed by infrastructure master plans. These arguments are illustrated by vignettes collected during fieldwork on the Nairobi Express, along the proposed Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport (LAPSSET) corridor in Kenya and around a dam construction site in Tanzania.

Geographie und Recht

Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT

Geographie und Recht Klosterkamp, Sarah Sarah Klosterkamp will in diesem Buch erstens bereits bestehende gerichtsethnographische Methoden für eine Humangeographie fruchtbar machen, die an Recht und seinen multiplen Wechselwirkungen im Sinne von Subjektkonstitutionen und Produktionsweisen gesellschaftlicher Ungleichheit interessiert ist. Hierfür schlägt sie ein methodisch-methodologisches Instrumentarium vor, das geeignet scheint, den spezifischen Besonderheiten des empirischen Forschens im Gericht Rechnung zu tragen. Zweitens geht es ihr um eine konzeptionelle Ausdehnung politisch-geographisch informierter Ansätze und konkret um eine sinnvolle Ergänzung und Erweiterung bereits bestehender politisch-geographischer Untersuchungen aus dem Bereich der Kriminalgeographien um die Komponente der Logiken und Praktiken machtvoller Institutionen im Sinne einer study-up power Forschung. Dies systematisiert und konkretisiert sie am Beispiel eigener Feldforschungen an Amts-, Landes- und Oberlandesgerichten in Celle, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Köln, Frankfurt, München und Stuttgart-Stammheim. So gelingt ihr eine dichte Ethnographie staatlichen Handelns und Bewertens von strafrechtlich relevanten Gegenständen und Personen an der für die Geographie spannenden Schnittstelle der Terrorismusbekämpfung, Kriminalitätskartierung, Migrations- und Fluchtbewegungen und Materialtransporten, die durch den EU-Schengenraum und bis in das (ehemalige) Kalifat des ‚Islamischen Staates' reichen.

Lessons Learned from PARADeS Project for Flood Disaster Risk Planning and Management in Ghana

Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Lessons Learned from PARADeS Project for Flood Disaster Risk Planning and Management in Ghana Evers, Mariele; Delos Santos Almoradie, Adrian; Ntajal, Joshua; Höllermann, Britta; Johann, Georg; Meyer, Helene; Kruse, Sylvia; Ziga-Abortta, Fafali; Bachmann, Daniel; Schotten, Roman; Lumor, Mawuli; Norman, Charlotte; Adjei, Kwaku The PARADeS project focused on Ghana’s national flood disaster risk reduction and management strategy by investigating existing flood risk and mechanisms for disaster management, governance-policy, human-water interaction, and development of possible future scenarios and feasible and sustainable measures.
Three case study areas with different types of flooding were identified and chosen in a participatory flood risk-based process. These are including the catchments Odaw in Accra (pluvial, fluvial and coastal floods), Aboabo in Kumasi (pluvial and fluvial floods), and the White Volta (fluvial floods).
The project used innovative socio-technical and participatory approaches and tools that combines research, development, and institutional strengthening activities. It integrated diverse information, local knowledge and data sources and was developed collaboratively with stakeholder scenarios and socio-technical tools in order to support coherent decision-making processes. A key aspect was analysing different scenarios of flood hazards, investigating and modelling cascading risk effects regarding critical infrastructure, and an assessment tool to identify flood risk at a household level, the FLOODLABEL Ghana. All processes and working steps are realized using interdisciplinary and participatory approaches together with Ghanaian stakeholders.
The end products are strengthening institutional and citizens’ capacity through a series of activities on societal awareness and training of specialists, decision, and policymakers. Technologically, the project has produced a set of decision support tools (Flood Information Systems, FLOODLABEL Ghana, etc.) to effectively disseminate vital information to citizens, researchers, and decision makers to respond and mitigate the impact of flooding.
In pursuit of sustainable development in FDRM measures, we disseminated the outcomes and products, including technical tools, through reports and scientific publications. Additionally, we developed training materials tailored for students, experts, and decision-makers.