A European database of resources on coastal storm impacts

Abstract

Abstract. Detailed information on coastal storm impacts is crucial to evaluate the degree of damages caused by floods, implementing effective recovery actions for risk prevention and preparedness, and to design appropriate coastal zone management plans. This article presents a new database containing information on extreme storm events that generated damage and flooding along European coastlines between 2010 and 2020. The storm events, associated with specific locations, define the test cases which are then used to retrieve information from different extreme coastal storms that hit the same area. The database is a workbook that collects items organised in worksheets and constitutes an inventory of resources defined as a collection of different types of information used to characterize the event (i.e., hydrodynamics, weather information) and its consequences (impacts, flood extent, etc.). The guidelines and polygons in GeoJSON format that define the domain of the sites are also provided together with the workbook. The database contains 11 coastal storm events, 26 sites, 28 test cases, and 232 resources and is designed to allow the addition of new events and resources. Descriptive statistical analyses were performed to define the types and topics addressed by the resources and the distribution of types of resources per country. Lastly, an example of application of the database to European-scale flood modelling is provided.