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The vulnerability of the European air traffic network to spatial hazards

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  • Sean Wilkinson
  • Sarah Dunn
  • Shu Ma

Abstract

The 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano had a devastating effect on the European air traffic network, preventing air travel throughout most of Europe for 6 days (Oroian in ProEnvironment 3:5–8, 2010 ). The severity of the disruption was surprising as previous research suggests that this type of network should be tolerant to random hazard (Albert et al. in Nature 406(6794):378–382, 2000 ; Strogatz in Nature 410(6825):268–276, 2001 ). The source of this hazard tolerance lies in the degree distribution of the network which, for many real-world networks, has been shown to follow a power law (Albert et al. in Nature 401(6749):130–131, 1999 ; Albert et al. in Nature 406(6794):378–382, 2000 ). In this paper, we demonstrate that the ash cloud was unexpectedly disruptive because it was spatially coherent rather than uniformly random. We analyse the spatial dependence in air traffic networks and demonstrate how the combination of their geographical distribution and their network architectures jeopardises their inherent hazard tolerance. Copyright The Author(s) 2012

Suggested Citation

  • Sean Wilkinson & Sarah Dunn & Shu Ma, 2012. "The vulnerability of the European air traffic network to spatial hazards," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 60(3), pages 1027-1036, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:nathaz:v:60:y:2012:i:3:p:1027-1036
    DOI: 10.1007/s11069-011-9885-6
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    17. Dunn, Sarah & Wilkinson, Sean, 2017. "Hazard tolerance of spatially distributed complex networks," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 1-12.
    18. Caroline A Johnson & Allison C Reilly & Roger Flage & Seth D Guikema, 2021. "Characterizing the robustness of power-law networks that experience spatially-correlated failures," Journal of Risk and Reliability, , vol. 235(3), pages 403-415, June.
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    20. Wang, Junwei & Zhou, Yaoming & Huang, George Q., 2019. "Alternative pair in the airport network," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 408-418.
    21. Xinglong Wang & Shangfei Miao & Junqing Tang, 2020. "Vulnerability and Resilience Analysis of the Air Traffic Control Sector Network in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-18, May.
    22. Xiaoqian Sun & Sebastian Wandelt, 2021. "Robustness of Air Transportation as Complex Networks:Systematic Review of 15 Years of Research and Outlook into the Future," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-19, June.
    23. Zhou, Yaoming & Kundu, Tanmoy & Qin, Wei & Goh, Mark & Sheu, Jiuh-Biing, 2021. "Vulnerability of the worldwide air transportation network to global catastrophes such as COVID-19," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
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