Define 'exposure', 'vulnerability', and 'hazard' in the geospatial risk framework and give a business example for each.

• A. Exposure is assets located in harm's way; Vulnerability is propensity to suffer losses given exposure; Hazard is the potential event; Examples: facilities near floodplains (exposure), elderly infrastructure with poor flood defenses (vulnerability), rising flood frequency (hazard).
• B. Exposure is probability of rainfall; Vulnerability is propensity to suffer losses; Hazard is data quality.
• C. Exposure is mitigation measures; Vulnerability is insurance coverage; Hazard is satellite imagery.
• D. Exposure is historical losses; Vulnerability is market risk; Hazard is regulatory changes.

Answer: (A)

Exposure, vulnerability, and hazard address different pieces of risk in geospatial analysis. Exposure is about what could be affected—assets located in places where a threat could act. A business example is a manufacturing plant situated in a floodplain, meaning the facility is in harm’s way and could be impacted by flood events. Vulnerability describes how susceptible those exposed assets are to losses once a threat occurs. For a business, a facility with aging flood defenses and limited redundancy in critical systems would be more vulnerable because damage would be greater and recovery slower given the same flood exposure. Hazard refers to the potential event or process that could cause harm. An increase in flood frequency due to climate change represents the hazard in this context, raising the likelihood that exposed assets face damaging floods.

The other options mix concepts in ways that don’t align with how exposure, vulnerability, and hazard are defined. For example, probability of rainfall or data quality aren’t the definitions of hazard, and mitigation measures or insurance coverage aren’t exposure or hazard themselves.