Abstract

Sea Level Rise Wizard: An Inundation Mapping and Planning Application
Track: Climate Change
Authors: Chris Zganjar, Tamara Manik-Perlman, Robert Cheetham, Evan Girvetz, Brian Embley, Sean McGinnis

As coastal communities and land managers become increasingly aware of the challenges born from climate-change enhanced sea level rise, there is an immediate need for real-time, web-based, dynamic inundation modeling to prepare for coastal flooding and to minimize its impact on both human and natural systems. Using Esri's web mapping and data visualization and distribution applications with coastal elevation data sets for the contiguous United States, users can explore future inundation patterns resulting from changes due to global climate change. We use ArcGIS ServerŪ, Image ServerŪ and Python scripting to combine National Elevation Data (NED) with LiDAR elevation data to create a continuous surface on which we apply cell connectivity algorithms to create flood maps representing probability of inundation based on NOAA tidal datums. The maps and data are available via web mapping systems for visualization and download to support sea level rise adaptation planning.

Chris Zganjar
The Nature Conservancy
4245 N Fairfx Drive Suite 100
Arlington, Virginia .
United States
Phone: 703-841-2724
E-mail: czganjar@tnc.org

Tamara Manik-Perlman
Avencia Incorporated
340 North 12th Street
Suite 402
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107
United States
Phone: (215) 925 - 2600
E-mail: tmanik-perlman@avencia.com

Robert Cheetham
Avencia Incorporated
340 North 12th Street,
Suite 402
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107
United States
Phone: (215) 925 - 2600
E-mail: cheetham@avencia.com

Evan Girvetz
The Nature Conservancy
1917 1st Avenue
Seattle , Washington 98101
United States
Phone: (206) 543-5772
E-mail: egirvetz@tnc.org

Brian Embley
The Nature Conservancy
4245 North Fairfax Dr
Suite 100
Arlington, Virgin Islands 22203
United States
Phone: (703) 841-3920
E-mail: BEMBLEY@TNC.ORG

Sean McGinnis
Avencia Incorporated
340 North 12th Street
Suite 402
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107
United States
Phone: (215) 925 - 2600
E-mail: smcginnis@avencia.com