Digital Coast

Picture It

Photos – Photos and photo-realistic what-if scenarios can help people see what past events looked like or what might be impacted in the future. By using photos of familiar places, people can relate these events directly to their community―depicting the community’s safety or vulnerability.

• CanVis – Create visualizations for your community’s popular locations by using existing photos. These what-if scenarios will help people see what impacts look like and the management options for providing solutions. The easy-to-use software is free, and monthly trainings will show you how to use it.

Use multiple visualizations, such as photos and mapping viewers, to help others see the extent of inundation and understand potential impacts.

Maps – Maps allow users to combine inundation layers with socioeconomic and aerial photographs to get an idea of what’s exposed to inundation and prioritize areas for further analysis. Maps are also helpful in stakeholder meetings because people can see the extent of the inundation for their community and contribute their own local experiences and knowledge to add value to the map data.

Local Examples

• Visualizing Sea Level Rise to Engage Municipal Government Officials in Coastal South Carolina – Learn how one municipality used an inundation map to help local officials to see the potential impacts of sea level rise.
• Visualizing the Impacts of Sea Level Rise in Delaware – See how one community used different sea level rise scenarios, which resulted in the development of an adaptation policy.

Web Map Viewers – Web mapping viewers enable users to view critical community information in an interactive format. On-the-fly analysis can be done with these viewers because users can turn different data layers on and off and also view contextual information on a specific topic, such as impacts and risk level.

• Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flood Impacts Viewer – Different sea level rise and flooding scenarios enable communities to view inundation impacts for 1 to 6 feet of sea level rise. Communities can also see vulnerable populations exposed to sea level rise, marsh migration potentials, and flood frequency.
• Tsunami Hazard Information Service – Users can view tsunami evacuation zones for specific locations and obtain information on tsunami risks and preparedness.
• Flood Forecasts – Riverine flood forecasts, once only available in tabular format, are now available in an interactive mapping environment. Users can raise and lower the water level with a slider bar and visualize the areas that will be impacted at specified river levels. This information is available on NOAA’s National Weather Service Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service website.

Local Examples

Mapping flood forecasts allows users to see the extent of the inundation at various water levels and the expected depth of the water.

• Mapping Flood Forecasts in Texas Communities – See how visualizing NWS flood forecasts in an interactive mapping format can help better inform local decision-makers and planners.
• Improving Inundation Predictions and Visualization Capabilities for the New England Coast – Discover how one community created an enhanced visualization tool for predicting and communicating coastal inundation.
• Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flood Frequency Viewer – See how one community uses visualizations to help inform coastal planners and educate citizens.
• Coastal Resilience Tool – Discover how this decision-support tool enables users to visualize future flood scenarios and potential impacts of sea level rise and storm surge on community resources.