Faculty

Academic Interests:

Natural Hazards and Disasters: Bridging physical and social sciences to model and identify vulnerabilities and risks; help estimating affected population and resources at risk using spatial multi-criteria modeling. I am interested in short-term scale disasters such as floods, tsunamis, hurricanes, etc. and also in long-term scale hazards such as climate change and geologic factors that contribute to these changes, including effects of the sea-level rise and glacial environment. Looking at modern hazards we can also bridge our knowledge with historical events, for example abandonment and destruction of Minoan (Late Bronze Age) palaces on Crete. The historical aspect is interesting to me because it requires the use of actualism, one of the oldest geological principle.

Spatial Modeling: Application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in analysis and mapping; design of multi-criteria analysis for decision making; combination of remote sensing and GIS data. My interests are in expanding the use of GIS and spatial modeling techniques in geology and geomorphology. There are many ways to create simple applications that can help disaster management, provide fast assessment of hazards and produce maps for planning and further analysis. More interesting task is integration of data with various spatial resolutions and sources, such as remote sensing, hardcopy media, surveys and participatory GIS.

Research:

My current research is focused on investigating long-term scale hazards (e.g. sea-level rise, deglaciation processes affecting climate change, etc.) and short-term scale disasters (earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, etc.), specifically understanding vulnerability and risk components, finding and quantifying physical and other related conditions of hazards and disasters; expanding applications of new data and methods in studying and modeling contemporary and historical environments turning hazards into disasters. This focus is being supported by two current research grants from NOAA (Assessment of the Vulnerability of the Northwestern Arctic Borough Coast to the Sea-Level Rise Induced by Climate Change) and NSF (Social and Environmental Vulnerability in Disasters: Spatial Analysis and Information Management for Humanitarian Decision Making).

Publication Highlights:

• Rinterknecht V.R., Y. Gorokhovich, J. Schaefer, M. Caffee. 2009. Preliminary 10Be Chronology for the Last Deglaciation of the Western Margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Journal of Quaternary Science, Volume 24, Issue 3, pp. 270-278
• Gorokhovich Y., V. Rinterknecht, J. Rogers. 2009. "Reconstruction of glacial dynamics in formerly glaciated terrain in southwestern Greenland using spatial analysis of lakes". Earth Surface Processes and Landforms. Volume 34, pp. 801- 809.
• Gorokhovich Y., V. Goldsmith. 2009. Water Supply Management of The New York Metropolitan Area and Future Challenges From Population Growth and Global Climate Change. In: The Role of Hydrology in Water Resources Management. IAHS Publ. 327, 2009, pp 1-8
• Gorokhovich Y., S. Doocy. 2008. Estimating Population Risk for Coastal Disasters Using Spatial Models with Global Data. In: Solutions to Coastal Disasters 2008. Eds: Wallendorf L., L. Ewing, C. Jones and B. Jaffe. American Society of Civil Engineers. Proceedings of the conference, Oahu, Hawaii, April 13-16, 2008, ISBN: 9780784409787, pp. 308-317
• Doocy S., Y. Gorokhovich, G. Burnham, D. Balk, C. Robinson. 2007. Tsunami Mortality Estimates and Vulnerability Mapping in Aceh, Indonesia. American Journal of Public Health. Supplement 1, 2007, Vol 97, No. S1, pp.S146-S151.
• Gorokhovich Y., G. Fleeger. 2007. Pymatuning Earthquake in Pennsylvania and Late Minoan Crisis on Crete. Water Science & Technology: Water Supply, Vol 7, No 1, pp 245–251
• Gorokhovich Y., A. Voustianiouk. 2006. Accuracy Assessment of the Processed SRTM Based Elevation Data by CGIAR Using Field Data from USA and Thailand and Its Relation to the Terrain Characteristics. Remote Sensing of Environment, 104 (4), pp. 409-415.
• Gorokhovich Y. 2005. Abandonment of Minoan Palaces on Crete in Relation to the Earthquake Induced Changes in Ground Water Supply. Journal of Archeological Sciences, 32 (2), pp. 217-222.