COASTPROS-EU

Bridging the data gap – enhancing the representation of global coastal flood protection 

Nicole van Maanen*, Joël J.-F. G. De Plaen*, Timothy Tiggeloven, Maria Luisa Colmenares, Philip J. Ward, Paolo Scussolini and Elco Koks

Abstract 

Understanding coastal flood protection is crucial for assessing risks from natural hazards and climate change. However, there is a significant lack of quantitative data on coastal flood protection and their standards. FLOPROS, currently the only global database of flood protection standards, relies on limited coastal observations and simplified assumptions. Despite these limitations, it is widely used by the research community, leading to potential uncertainties in impact estimates. We propose that a new community-driven effort is needed to develop a more complete dataset, and we present COASTPROS-EU, a dataset compiling coastal flood protection defenses and standards within Europe. This effort further highlights the urgent need for enhanced information. Establishing an accurate dataset requires using both bottom-up and top-down approaches and ensuring diverse societal representation.

COASTPROS-EU: a coastal flood protection standards database for Europe.

Despite various advancements in recent years, a dataset with comprehensive global representation of coastal flood protection measures and their standards is still lacking. We present here, COASTPROS-EU, a new database on policy standards and defence structures along the European coast. The database builds upon the approach followed by FLOPROS and its subsequent improvement by Tiggeloven et al., (2020). However, it differs from FLOPROS by compiling specifically information on European coastal defences for each NUTS2 region. Furthermore, it references three topologies of layers, namely geolocated coastal defences, regional coastal defence policies, and modeled defences based on Tiggeloven et al. (2020). Where applicable, flood protection standards are expressed in return periods. The “Summary Return Period” summarise the most accurate information layer type regarding flood protection collected. This column prioritizes the layers type in the following order: (a) geolocated coastal defences, (b) policy standards, and lastly, (c) modeled defence if no other information is applicable. The overview of the data availability summary is mapped in Figure 1.

Method 

The database was produced through key initiatives. First, an online survey was distributed within the network of the CoCliCo project (European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme Coastal Climate Core Services, under grant agreement No 101003598) and the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Second, a data workshop was held at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in November 2023, where flood experts collected information on flood defense and protection standards in their respective language using academic and grey literature (policy reports and governmental data portals).

The survey consited in online form that was filled in by the flood risk practisioners. The survey intended to collect information related to the scale of the protection measure, the area protected, the flood protection level expressed in return period and the year of implementation. In case of a lack of information on physical defenses, indication of policy standards applicable to the area could be filled in with the assiciated policy measure. Finally additional data such as geospatial layer  or other relevant information could be uploaded. The information collected were then manually summerised into the geospatial and policy layers of the database. The suyvey answers were then archived in the excel file referenced in the zenodo repository De Plaen et al., (2024).

Survey link: https://forms.gle/vgpthKmw8vrW7Vhe6