Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) of Dry Tortugas National Park (drto_shore)

A coastal vulnerability index (CVI) was used to map the relative vulnerability of the coast to future sea-level rise within Dry Tortugas National Park, located 70 miles west of Key West, Florida. The CVI ranks the following in terms of their physical contribution to sea-level rise-related coastal change: geomorphology, regional coastal slope, rate of relative sea-level rise, historical shoreline change rates, mean tidal range and mean significant wave height. The rankings for each input variable were combined and an index value calculated for 1-minute grid cells covering the park. The CVI highlights those regions where the physical effects of sea-level rise might be the greatest. This approach combines the coastal system's susceptibility to change with its natural ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions, yielding a quantitative, although relative, measure of the park's natural vulnerability to the effects of sea-level rise. The CVI and the data contained within this dataset provide an objective technique for evaluation and long-term planning by scientists and park managers.

本研究采用海岸脆弱性指数（Coastal Vulnerability Index, CVI），针对位于佛罗里达州基韦斯特以西70英里处的德赖托图格斯国家公园范围，绘制海岸应对未来海平面上升的相对脆弱性分布图。该指数从对海平面上升相关海岸变化的物理贡献角度，对以下要素进行评级：地貌（Geomorphology）、区域海岸坡度、相对海平面上升速率、历史海岸线变化速率、平均潮差以及平均有效波高。研究将各输入变量的评级结果进行整合，并为覆盖该公园的1弧分网格单元计算指数值。该指数可凸显出海平面上升物理影响可能最为严重的区域。本方法将海岸系统的变化敏感性与其适应环境变化的自然能力相结合，得到了该公园受海平面上升影响的自然脆弱性的量化评估结果——尽管该结果为相对量化值。该指数与本数据集所载数据，可为科研人员与公园管理者提供用于开展评估与长期规划的客观技术方法。