Project Info

Objectives

• Contribute to the evolution of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service by demonstrating the technical and operational feasibility of a European Coastal Flood Awareness System; 
• Provide a proof-of-concept that will complement and broaden the currently available panoply of core service information;
• Contribute to a fully integrated risk cycle monitoring service, through the implementation of an awareness system specifically targeted to coastal areas (preparedness phase) and impact assessment (response phase) in the aftermath of a flood event, playing a fundamental role for the implementation of effective recovery and prevention actions;
• Improve marine forcing hindcasting and forecasting through the integration of existing data and models of CMEMS and comparison with the ANYEU-SSL model developed in the EU H2020 ANYWHERE project and identify marine forcing thresholds able to trigger coastal flooding;
• Capitalize on the existing framework of CEMS and EFAS to implement the coastal flood awareness system, from the forecasting component (ECFAS-Warning component), to the provision of mapping and impact assessment products (ECFAS-RM&RRM component). 
• Use state-of-the-art algorithms to automatically detect shoreline position through the use of satellite images (Sentinel-1, -2, and previous sensor missions) to include the evaluation of shoreline position (before the forecasted event) and shoreline displacement in the aftermath of the event. The latter is a key information for Delineation and Grading maps and Risk and Recovery products of CEMS, adding coast-targeted products

Workpackages

Project Coordination and Management – WP1 is devoted to coordination and management of ECFAS and will assure smooth progression and effective achievement of project results, facilitating communication among the partners. Work plans are developed, and their progress monitored at all levels of the project. WP1 promotes and maintains scientific integration and coherence within and across different WPs. Furthermore, the conceptual framework will be rendered operational and links between different tasks are monitored and managed.

Users’ needs and regulatory framework – WP2 looks at users’ requirements together with the regulatory framework, including relevant international Conventions and EU Directives. WP2 integrates user needs and legal requirements into an improved set of available CEMS products and designs new added value products to better serve the coastal community’s needs. User engagement is stimulated involving the national coordinators of the Copernicus User Forum and national delegates at the Copernicus EU User Forum in order to reach a larger audience. Through WP2, members of the Copernicus Relays at the national level are brought into the project. WP2 supports all other WPs, to enhance the exploitation and uptake of products and to maximise impact.

Coastal exposure and vulnerability: methodologies and datasets – WP3 identifies the available datasets of exposure and vulnerability components of the coastal zone and selects the “optimal” algorithm to extract the Satellite Derived Shoreline. The algorithm is used in WP5 and integrated into the platform in WP6.

Hindcast/forecast forcing of total water levels and identification of thresholds – WP4 provides pan-European hindcasts and 10-day forecasts of total water levels at the coast, including contributions from tides, waves, storm surges and steric sea level effects related to ocean circulation and density fields. Different modelling systems are used to produce TWL. Time-series of TWL are validated with a special focus on extreme values. A joint analysis of simulated TWL and past coastal flooding events allows identifying local thresholds of TWL for which coastal flooding could occur and activates coastal flood mapping (WP5).

Implementation of the coastal flood awareness system and impact assessment – WP5 represents the integration of the products defined in WP3 and WP4 into the operational chain of the awareness system. The WP5 phases follow a specific set of activities: (i) identification of test sites on the basis of hindcast provided by WP4 to identify areas that were affected by marine flooding. Additional test sites are identified by partners on the basis of available in-situ data on flood extent and impacts; (ii) calibration and validation of the flood model (LISFLOOD-FP) at test sites; (iii) implementation of the “mapping” module of the system on the basis of the products already provided in CEMS; (iv) implementation of the impact assessment on assets, population, etc. including a coast-targeted product; (v) system performance evaluation in hindcast and forecast mode at pan-EU level.

Proof-of-concept (PoC) of integration into CEMS – WP6 is dedicated to the design of the proof-of-concept and its integration into existing core services in accordance with the requirements relevant to the needs of the users as defined in WP2, supported by a co-development approach. An accurate PoC back-end design is guaranteed through the integration of the awareness system in WP5. The products of the different phases of the PoC implementation are operationally tested by users to ensure sustainability of the development through co-design, co-development and co-evaluation methodologies. The PoC implementation guides innovation and exploitation actions in WP7.

Dissemination and Exploitation (visibility, transfer and shared benefits) – WP7 deals with communication, dissemination, exploitation and uptake, including IPR. It includes the dissemination of the results of the project to different types of audiences: private, institutional and academic users, a wide stakeholder audience (comprising industry and policy makers, coastal managers and disaster risk reduction professionals). It also includes activities such as open-access publications, participation in relevant events, production of videos and dedicated actions towards regional authorities, EU policy-makers, business, scientific community and the general public. It deals with the Exploitation Plan to identify project’s outputs with a potential for exploitation and by addressing dissemination issues and strategy. User uptake involves the user community, from the development of the project tools taking into consideration their needs, to communication of the results carried out through conferences and workshops, publications and newsletters. Different training activities towards different audiences (from post-graduate scientists, engineers and researchers to users identified at specific test cases, LRAs and CEMS users) and general stakeholders (through E-Learning Modules) promote the uptake of the project’s results and its long-lasting impact.