The Application of WebGIS Tools for Visualizing Coastal Flooding Vulnerability and Planning for Resiliency: The New Jersey Experience

Richard Lathrop,Lisa Auermuller,James Trimble,John Bognar

doi:10.3390/ijgi3020408

Abstract

While sea level rise is a world-wide phenomenon, mitigating its impacts is a local decision-making challenge that is going to require site-specific remedies. Faced with a variety of conflicting mandates and uncertainty as to appropriate responses, local land use planners and managers need place-based decision support tools. With the increasing availability of high-resolution digital elevation models and the advancing speed and sophistication of web-based mapping, a number of web geographic information systems (GIS) tools have been developed to map and visualize what areas of a coastal landscape will potentially be flooded under different scenarios of sea level rise. This paper presents a case study of one such WebGIS application, NJFloodMapper (www.NJFloodMapper.org), with a focus on the user-centered design process employed to help our target audience of coastal decision-makers in the state of New Jersey, USA, access and understand relevant geographic information concerning sea level rise and exposure to coastal inundation, as well as assess the vulnerability of key infrastructure, populations and natural resources within their communities. We discuss the success of this approach amidst the broader context of the application of WebGIS tools in this arena. Due to its flexible design and user-friendly interface, NJFloodMapper has been widely adopted by government and non-governmental agencies in the state to assess coastal flooding exposure and vulnerability in the aftermath of a recent destructive coastal storm. However, additional decision support tools are needed to help coastal decision-makers translate the place-based information into concrete action plans aimed at promoting more resilient coastal land use decisions.

Highlights

Sea level rise is a physical reality that is impacting the New Jersey and the entire Mid-AtlanticUnited States (New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New York) coastline
In developing our WebGIS application (NJFloodMapper), we proposed to employ a user-centered design approach, i.e., a system that involved the target users to a great extent to influence the design of the system [20]
Sixty-three coastal decision-makers attended the workshop at the JC NERR Coastal Center, and an equal number joined via videoconference from locations in Maryland and Virginia

Summary

Introduction

Sea level rise is a physical reality that is impacting the New Jersey and the entire Mid-AtlanticUnited States (New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New York) coastline. Sea level rise is a physical reality that is impacting the New Jersey and the entire Mid-Atlantic. The historical rate of sea level rise along the New Jersey coast is 3–4 mm/yr, while predicted future rates are expected to increase to 6 mm/yr [1,2,3]. We suggest that future adaptation to sea level rise should be an engineering issue, but rather primarily a land use issue. Through their land use planning, development and management decisions, local decision-makers will greatly influence future impacts of sea level rise and global climate change. R.G.; Love, A.A. Vulnerability of New Jersey’s Coastal Habitat to Sea Level Rise; CRSSA Technical Report; Rutgers University: New Brunswick, NJ, USA, 2007.

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