Research, Development, and Demonstration Needs

#, #; Olsen, J. Rolf; ,

Research, Development, and Demonstration Needs

by
J. Rolf Olsen, Senior Lead for Climate, Institute for Water Resources, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), 7701 Telegraph Road, Alexandria, VA 22315, j.rolf.olsen@usace.army.mil,

2015

Part of: Adapting Infrastructure and Civil Engineering Practice to a Changing Climate

Abstract:

Research, development and demonstration (RDD) is needed to advance recommended civil engineering practices and standards in order to effectively address climate change impacts. Wilbanks et al. (2013) describe three types of information needed: action-oriented knowledge, fundamental knowledge and analytical tools. Civil engineers will especially require action oriented climate change information that translates and characterizes climate projections on water, temperature, sea-level rise, storm surge and wind regimes over the next few decades. Research is needed to better understand the interdependencies within the various components of civil infrastructure, such as energy supply and demand, as well as the interdependencies between the various components of civil infrastructure, such as energy, water, transportation, agriculture, communication and other infrastructure (DOE, 2013). Understanding the relationship betweenthe rate of change of climate impacts on infrastructure systems and the natural turnover of the infrastructure stock is also crucial for characterizing low-regret adaptive actions (Dowling,2013).

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