A coastal flooding database from 1980 to 2018 for the continental Portuguese coastal zone

Alexandre Oliveira Tavares,José Leandro Barros,Paula Freire,Pedro Pinto Santos,Luís Perdiz,André Bustorff Fortunato

doi:10.1016/j.apgeog.2021.102534

Alexandre Oliveira Tavares, José Leandro Barros + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2021.102534

Copy DOI

Abstract

Continental Portugal presents an extensive and diversified coastal zone which concentrates the main public and private infrastructures of the different economic sectors, as well as the main critical infrastructures. This area is also characterized by a high population density, being a differentiated territory in geophysical, biological and landscape terms. The wave regime is highly energetic, and storms are frequent. In the last decades, the coast of continental Portugal has been affected numerous times by overtopping and coastal flooding processes. Identifying the critical coastal typologies affected by flooding can contribute to a comprehensive flood risk management framework for the Portuguese coastal zones. Hence, a historical database of coastal flooding occurrences was created for the period 1980–2018 based on national and regional newspapers. For this period 650 occurrences were identified as well as 1708 impacts associated with them. In terms of impacts, the typologies associated with public areas, human impacts, the natural system, environmental degradation and buildings stand out. Results provide relevant temporal and spatial information about coastal historical flood occurrences related to extreme storm events and associated impacts, and contribute to the design of a risk framework.

Highlights

Coastal flooding and its associated impacts have become a growing concern in recent decades, as a result of the increasing exposure and changes in the hazard forcers throughout the 20th and 21st centuries (Nicholls & Cazenave, 2010; Weisse et al, 2014; Silva et al, 2017)
Considering the planning and management instruments (Spatial Coastal Zone Plans - POC), that divide the coastal area in six different sectors, results show that 85% of the occurrences are located in the three northernmost sectors (Fig. 4b)
The present study demonstrates the importance of historical data bases of natural hazardous processes from hemerographic sources

Summary

Introduction

Coastal flooding and its associated impacts have become a growing concern in recent decades, as a result of the increasing exposure and changes in the hazard forcers throughout the 20th and 21st centuries (Nicholls & Cazenave, 2010; Weisse et al, 2014; Silva et al, 2017). Change (IPCC, 2014) predict the continuous rise of the mean sea level and the worldwide increase in storminess. This fact puts several coastal zones at high risk of flooding, including densely populated and economically vital areas. The factors mentioned above, combined with the growth of migration to coastal areas, industrialization, urbanization processes, and with the increase in the intensity and frequency of extreme events related to climate change (Bertin et al, 2013), enhances the exposure and susceptibility to coastal flooding (IPCC, 2014; Neumann et al, 2015; Rilo et al, 2017)

Objectives

Results

Discussion

Conclusion