Coastal Vulnerability Assessment Due to Sea Level Rise: The Case Study of the Atlantic Coast of Mainland Portugal
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Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
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Instituto Dom Luiz, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Water 2020, 12(2), 360; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12020360
Received: 20 December 2019
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Revised: 24 January 2020
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Accepted: 26 January 2020
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Published: 28 January 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Assessment of Current and Future Vulnerability of Coastal Flooding)
Sea level rise, a consequence of climate change, is one of the biggest challenges that countries and regions with coastal lowlands will face in the medium term. This study proposes a methodology for assessing the vulnerability to sea-level rise on the Atlantic coast of mainland Portugal. Some scenarios of extreme sea levels for different return periods and extreme flooding events were estimated for 2050 and 2100, as proposed by the European Directive 2007/60/EC. A set of physical parameters are considered for the multi-attribute analysis based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process, in order to define a Physical Vulnerability Index fundamental to assess coastal vulnerability. For each sea-level rise scenario, coastal vulnerability maps, with a spatial resolution of 20 m, are produced at a national scale to identify areas more vulnerable to sea-level rise, which are key elements for triggering adaptation plans for such vulnerable regions. For 2050 and 2100, it is estimated that there will be 903 and 1146 km2 of vulnerable areas, respectively; the Lisbon district being identified as the most vulnerable in both scenarios. Results are available as a Web Map Service for the Portuguese public entities, and through a web map viewer for the public and communities in general.
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Keywords:
European Directive 2007/60/EC; sea-level rise; coastal vulnerability; GIS; Portugal Coast; Web Map Service; WebViewer
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MDPI and ACS Style
Rocha, C.; Antunes, C.; Catita, C. Coastal Vulnerability Assessment Due to Sea Level Rise: The Case Study of the Atlantic Coast of Mainland Portugal. Water 2020, 12, 360. https://doi.org/10.3390/w12020360
AMA Style
Rocha C, Antunes C, Catita C. Coastal Vulnerability Assessment Due to Sea Level Rise: The Case Study of the Atlantic Coast of Mainland Portugal. Water. 2020; 12(2):360. https://doi.org/10.3390/w12020360
Chicago/Turabian StyleRocha, Carolina, Carlos Antunes, and Cristina Catita. 2020. "Coastal Vulnerability Assessment Due to Sea Level Rise: The Case Study of the Atlantic Coast of Mainland Portugal" Water 12, no. 2: 360. https://doi.org/10.3390/w12020360
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