Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Coastal Flood Assessment Due to Sea Level Rise and Extreme Storm Events - Case Study of the Atlantic Coast of Portugal Mainland

Version 1 : Received: 3 May 2019 / Approved: 6 May 2019 / Online: 6 May 2019 (10:57:09 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Antunes, C.; Rocha, C.; Catita, C. Coastal Flood Assessment due to Sea Level Rise and Extreme Storm Events: A Case Study of the Atlantic Coast of Portugal’s Mainland. Geosciences 2019, 9, 239. Antunes, C.; Rocha, C.; Catita, C. Coastal Flood Assessment due to Sea Level Rise and Extreme Storm Events: A Case Study of the Atlantic Coast of Portugal’s Mainland. Geosciences 2019, 9, 239.

Abstract

Portugal Mainland has hundreds of thousands of people living in the Atlantic coastal zone, with numerous high economic value activities and a high number of infrastructures that must be protected from natural coastal hazard, namely extreme storms and sea level rise (SLR). In the context of climate change adaptation strategies, a reliable and accurate assessment of the physical vulnerability to SLR is crucial. This study is a contribution to the implementation of flooding standards imposed by the European Directive 2007/60/EC, which requires each member state to assess the risk associated to SLR and floods caused by extreme events. Therefore, coastal hazard in the Continental Atlantic coast of Portugal Mainland was evaluated for 2025, 2050 and 2100 in the whole coastal extension with different sea level scenarios for different extreme event return periods and due to SLR. A coastal flooding probabilistic map was produced based on the developed methodology using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology. The Extreme Flood Hazard Index (EFHI) was determined on flood probabilistic bases through five probability intervals of 20% of amplitude. For a given SLR scenario, the EFHI is expressed, on the probabilistic flooding maps for an extreme tidal maximum level, by five hazard classes ranging from 1 (Very Low) to 5 (Extreme).

Keywords

sea level rise; coastal flood hazard; storm surge; extreme tidal level; GIS

Subject

Environmental and Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Geology

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