Areas Vulnerable to Coastal Flooding & Sea Level Rise (Projection: 30cm a.m.s.l.)

This layer identifies areas vulnerable to flooding at 30cm (1 foot) water heights, potentially caused in the near- and long- term by a combination of sea level rise, storm surge, tides, or tsunamis. The water height at 30 cm has been determines based on the average value of sea level rise projected for 2050 based on the RCP8.5 for the coastal area of Western Africa as depicted from these views [https://app.mapx.org?project=MX-5Z8-45E-K4I-SKH-75H&views=MX-9C2IH-YHLDP-I2ZB6,MX-K7BCD-BXZMA-LCKGI] that were generated based on Kopp et al. (2014) [doi:10.1002/2017EF000663]'s calculations and sourced from PREPdata [www.prepdata.org].

This layer is relative to local high tide lines (Mean Higher High Water, or MHHW). Map areas below 30 cm water level are displayed in blue indicating vulnerability to flooding from combined sea level rise, storm surge, and tides, or to permanent submergence by long-term sea level rise. Elevation data used for parts of this map within the U.S. come almost entirely from ~5-meter horizontal resolution digital elevation models curated and distributed by NOAA in its Coastal Lidar collection, derived from high-accuracy laser-rangefinding measurements. Areas outside the U.S. use elevation data on a roughly 90-meter horizontal resolution grid derived from NASA’s Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). Local high tide level is determined using two data sources as well: the VDatum tidal model for the contiguous United States, and a global tidal model supplied by Mark Merrifield of the University of Hawaii for the rest of the world.

Climate Central, Surging Seas, sealevel.climatecentral.org 2018. Accessed through Resource Watch, (date). resourcewatch.org [www.resourcewatch.org]

The Areas Vulnerable to Coastal Flooding & Sea Level Rise data set is prepared by Climate Central, and streamed to MapX from ResourceWatch.