NOAA Office for Coastal Management Sea Level Rise Data: Mapping Confidence

These data were created as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office for Coastal Management's efforts to create an online mapping viewer depicting potential sea level rise and its associated impacts on the nation's coastal areas. The purpose of the mapping viewer is to provide coastal managers and scientists with a preliminary look at sea level rise (slr) and coastal flooding impacts. The viewer is a screening-level tool that uses nationally consistent data sets and analyses. Data and maps provided can be used at several scales to help gauge trends and prioritize actions for different scenarios. The Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding Impacts Viewer may be accessed at: https://www.coast.noaa.gov/slr

These data depict the mapping confidence of the associated Sea Level Rise inundation data, for the sea level rise amount specified. Areas that have a low degree of confidence, or high uncertainty, represent locations that may be mapped correctly (either as inundated or dry) less than 8 out of 10 times. Areas that have a high degree of confidence, or low uncertainty, represent locations that will be correctly mapped (either as inundated or dry) more than 8 out of 10 times or that there is an 80 percent degree of confidence that these areas are correctly mapped.

Areas mapped as dry (no inundation) with a high confidence or low uncertainty are coded as 0.

Areas mapped as dry or wet with a low confidence or high uncertainty are coded as 1.

Areas mapped as wet (inundation) with a high confidence or low uncertainty are coded as 2.

The NOAA Office for Coastal Management has tentatively adopted an 80 percent rank (as either inundated or not inundated) as the zone of relative confidence. The use of 80 percent has no special significance but is a commonly used rule of thumb measure to describe economic systems (Epstein and Axtell, 1996). In short, the method includes the uncertainty in the lidar derived elevation data (root mean square error, or RMSE) and the uncertainty in the modeled tidal surface from the NOAA VDATUM model (RMSE). This uncertainty is combined and mapped to show that the inundation depicted in this data is not really a hard line, but rather a zone with greater and lesser chances of getting wet.

For a detailed description of the confidence level and its computation, please see the Mapping Inundation Uncertainty document available at: https://coast.noaa.gov/data/digitalcoast/pdf/mapping-inundation-uncertainty.pdf

The purpose of these data is to show the level of confidence of the sea level rise inundation data based on the uncertainty in the lidar elevation data and the uncertainty in the NOAA VDATUM model.

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A detailed methodology for producing these data can be found via the following url:

https://coast.noaa.gov/data/digitalcoast/pdf/mapping-inundation-uncertainty.pdf

Any conclusions drawn from the analysis of this information are not the responsibility of the Office for Coastal Management or its partners.

This data may be downloaded at: https://www.coast.noaa.gov/slrdata

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These data should be used only as a screening-level tool for management decisions. As with all remotely sensed data, all features should be verified with a site visit. The dataset is provided as is, without warranty to its performance, merchantable state, or fitness for any particular purpose. The entire risk associated with the results and performance of this dataset is assumed by the user. This dataset should be used strictly as a planning reference and not for navigation, permitting, or other legal purposes.

The mapping confidence extent covers areas currently shown in the NOAA Sea Level Rise Viewer. The current status of areas of coverage for the tool can be accessed at: https://www.coast.noaa.gov/slr

The data were reviewed for consistency and anomalies.