The document outlines the vision and tools under development for StormTools, a system designed to provide coastal planning tools accessible via a web service for predicting flooding due to sea level rise (SLR) in Rhode Island. It details the use of high-resolution storm inundation models and extremal analysis to prepare flood maps for different return periods and SLR scenarios. The project also includes plans for a simplified flood mapping strategy and web-based mapping viewer access for public use.

1. Malcolm L. Spaulding1
Chris Damon2
1Professor Emeritus, Ocean Engineering
2Environmental Data Center
University of RI
Narragansett, RI
December 9, 2014
*http://www.beachsamp.org/research/stormtools/

2. Outline
 STORMTOOLS Vision
 Tools under development
‐ Simplified Method for Coastal Flooding for RI
with SLR
‐ Develop Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMS) for
Washington County, using high resolution
hydrodynamic and wave models (in progress)
‐Hydrological model of Pawtuxet River Basin for
real time operation, linked coastal and riverine
flooding (planned)

3. Vision for STORM TOOLS
 Develop a system that provides access to a suite of coastal
planning tools (numerical models et al) available as a web
service that allows wide spread accessibility and
applicability at high resolution to user selected coastal
areas of interest.
 Tools to predict winds, waves, and currents; with and
without sea level rise. The models would link directly to the
hindcast fields provided at the CSTORM web site or local
systems (e.g. NECOFS or other regional association model
system).
 The models and associated data bases would reside on the
web server site and run remotely via the web. The system
would be hosted on the cloud.

4. STORMTOOLS

5. * Use extremal analysis and results of high resolution
storm inundation models to predict 25, 50, and
100 yr water levels with SLR (0, 1, 2, 3, and 5 ft)
for RI waters (explicitly consider uncertainty).
* Prepare maps for each return period and sea level rise
scenario for all coastal waters and access via
publically available web map viewer.
Simplified Flood Mapping Strategy:

6. Location 100 yr
water level
SWL
–still
water
level
BFE –base
flood elevation

7. Extremal Analysis, NOAA NOS Station Newport,
RI
Once in 100 yrs, 1%
From NOAA NOS COOPS web site Extreme Values Section
2 yrs, 50%
10 yr, 10%
95% confidence
limit value

8. MOMS‐ Cat 4
storm with
1.52m (5 ft)
tides (SLR)

9. Sea Level Rise Estimates for Newport, RI
Gauge: 8452660, RI, Newport: 77 yrs
All values are in feet
Year
USACE USACE USACE
Low Int High
2010 0.15 0.18 0.27
2015 0.19 0.24 0.39
2020 0.24 0.31 0.53
2025 0.28 0.38 0.68
2030 0.32 0.45 0.86
2035 0.36 0.53 1.05
2040 0.41 0.61 1.26
2045 0.45 0.7 1.49
2050 0.49 0.79 1.74
2055 0.53 0.89 2
2060 0.58 0.99 2.29
2065 0.62 1.09 2.59
2070 0.66 1.2 2.92
2075 0.7 1.32 3.26
2080 0.74 1.43 3.62
2085 0.79 1.56 3.99
2090 0.83 1.68 4.39
2095 0.87 1.82 4.8
2100 0.91 1.95 5.24
http://www.corpsclimate.us/ccaceslcurves(s
uperseded).cfm

12. Barrington, 100 Acre Cove: 100 Year Flood no SLR

13. Barrington, 100 Acre Cove: 100 Year Flood, 5’ SLR

14. Barrington, 100 Acre Cove:
FEMA 100 Year Base Flood Compared to Scaled SLR

19. STORM TOOLS Simplified Flooding
Web Based Mapping Viewer Access
Web address: http://edc.maps.arcgis.com/home/. Type in
“scaled SLR” in the search window to connect to the maps
Contacts:
Chris Damon, URI Environmental
Data Center, cdamon@edc.uri.edu
Malcolm Spaulding, URI Ocean
Engineering, spaulding@egr.uri.edu

20. Additional Slides

24. DEM 2011 Lidar Data Set ( 1 m
horizontal resolution)