Browsing by Author "Konak, Abdullah"

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    Brief communication: lessons learned and experiences gained from building up a global survey on societal resilience to changing droughts
    (Copernicus, 2024-07-01) de Macedo, Marina Batalini; Benso, Marcos Roberto; Sass, Karina Simone; Mendiondo, Eduardo Mario; da Silva, Greicelene Jesus; da Silva, Pedro Gustavo Câmara; Shrimpton, Elisabeth; Sarmah, Tanaya; Huo, Da; Jacobson, Michael; Konak, Abdullah; Balta-Ozkan, Nazmiye; Nardocci, Adelaide Cassia
    This paper describes the process of creating a global survey of experts to evaluate drought resilience indicators. The lessons learned include five main points: (1) the heterogeneity in the conceptual background should be minimized before the construction of the survey; (2) large numbers of indicators decrease the engagement of respondents through the survey, and ways to apportion indicators whilst maintaining reliability should be considered; (3) it is necessary to design the survey to balance response rate and accuracy; (4) the survey questions should have clear statements with a logical and flowing structure; and (5) reaching experts with different domain experience and representing different regions is difficult but crucial to minimize biased results.
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    Usability of agricultural drought vulnerability and resilience indicators in planning strategies for small farms: a principal component approach
    (Elsevier, 2025-04-01) Sarmah, Tanaya; Balta-Ozkan, Nazmiye; Konak, Abdullah; Shrimpton, Elisabeth; Sass, Karina Simone; De Macedo, Marina Batalini; Mendiondo, Eduardo Mario; Nardocci, Adelaide Cassia; Huo, Da; Jacobson, Michael Gregory
    Water-related stresses and risks of droughts, exacerbated by climate change, have been extensively documented. These studies often rely on various indicators to monitor and forecast the impacts of droughts. However, current literature on the usability of these indicators for modelling drought risk and in decision-making processes is fragmented and lacks a clear, systematic, and methodological approach. Usability, in this context, refers to the relevance, accessibility, clarity, and practicality of indicators for guiding planning strategies. To address this knowledge gap, the Management of Disaster Risk and Societal Resilience (MADIS)1 project aims to collate and assess drought vulnerability and resilience indicators from existing literature to support decision-makers in improving policies related to agricultural droughts on small farms. The MADIS project identified over 100 indicators, from which 36 were selected for further analysis. A global online survey using the Delphi technique was conducted, and the resulting data was used to perform a Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Findings revealed that these 36 indicators could be reduced and grouped up to ten principal components, each corresponding to a theme across five categories: relevancy, understanding, accessibility, objectivity, and temporal. This study, therefore, highlights the practical usability of these indicators for developing context-specific and efficient resilience strategies. Indicators related to water management were found to be crucial and applicable across all five categories, as the availability, quality, and source of water are essential for monitoring and mitigating drought hazards. Conversely, indicators related to rural development and demographics, while quantifiable and collected at different temporal scales, were deemed less understandable and accessible by experts. Grouping indicators under common themes reduces the complexity of evaluating similar indicators and aids in selecting the most relevant ones for different contexts. This approach simplifies indicator selection and enables decision-makers to formulate resilience policies more efficiently and comprehensively.