The objective of the tool is to identify vulnerable infrastructures and census block groups under different sea level rise scenarios. Four vulnerabilities (i.e. inundated infrastructures, low-lying infrastructures, infrastructure vulnerability, and integrated vulnerability) are visualized under three sea level rise scenarios: 1ft (low), 2ft (medium), and 5ft (high).

Sea Level Rise

Sea level rise inundation data are obtained from NOAA Coastal Service Center (http://www.csc.noaa.gov/slr/viewer/), which includes direct inundation and low-lying area.

The tool shows the Direct Inundation area as the blue area in the following diagram. It identifies places where the elevation is less than or equal to the elevation of the water surface and is connected with the ocean. The tool shows the Low-lying area as the green area in the following diagram. It identifies places where the elevation is less than or equal to the elevation of the water surface but is not connected with the ocean.

To view the Direct Inundation and Low-lying maps, click on "Inundated Infrastructure" or "low-lying infrastructure" menu in the upper left corner and select the sea level rise scenario of your interest.

Source: NOAA Sea Level Rise Viewer. http://www.csc.noaa.gov/slr/viewer/

Inundated Infrastructure

Inundated infrastructure identifies the vulnerable critical infrastructures that intersect or are completely within the inundation area under different sea level rise scenarios. The infrastructures include transportation infrastructure (roads, aviation facilities and airport, railway, and intermodal facilities and terminals), institutional infrastructure (colleges and universities, public and private schools, state and local government buildings), and emergency infrastructures (emergency operation centers and medical services, hospitals, fire stations). To view the inundated infrastructure under 1ft, 2ft, 5ft sea level rise scenarios, click on "Inundated Infrastructure" menu in the upper left corner and select the sea level rise scenario of interest.

To view the attributes of a specific inundated infrastructure, click on the infrastructure in the map, and its attributes will show in the lower right corner.

Low-lying Infrastructure

Low-lying infrastructure identifies the vulnerable critical infrastructures that intersect or are completely within the low-lying area under different sea level rise scenarios. The infrastructures include transportation infrastructure (roads, aviation facilities and airport, railway, and intermodal facilities and terminals), institutional infrastructure (colleges and universities, public and private schools, state and local government buildings), and emergency infrastructures (emergency operation centers and medical services, hospitals, fire stations). To view the lowlying infrastructure under 1ft, 2ft, 5ft sea level rise scenarios, click on "lowlying Infrastructure" menu in the upper left corner and select the sea level rise scenario of interest.

To view the attributes of a specific lowlying infrastructure, click on the infrastructure in the map, and its attributes will show in the lower right corner.

Infrastructure Vulnerability

Infrastructure Vulnerability is an index that considers weighted vulnerable critical infrastructures (e.g. emergency operation center, health care facilities, principal transportation facilities, fuel distribution centers, police and fire department). The index has a value between 0 and 1, with 0 representing the least vulnerable and 1 representing the most vulnerable. The infrastructure vulnerability is mapped by 5 categories using standard deviation under 1ft scenario to show the change of extreme values as sea level increases.

A survey is conducted in Tampa Bay region to get planners' inputs in rating the relative importance of different types of infrastructures from three different criteria (i.e. facility cost, easiness to reallocate, emergency priorities) in the infrastructure vulnerability assessment. The three criteria are also rated to compare their relative importance. The ratings are used to generate the comparison matrix and to determine the weight of each vulnerable infrastructure measure.

To view the Infrastructure Vulnerability, click on "Infrastructure Vulnerability" menu in the upper left corner and select the sea level rise scenario of interest. The Infrastructure Vulnerability is mapped at census block group level. Click on any of the census block group to view its infrastructure vulnerability score and the causes of vulnerability.

Integrated Vulnerability

Integrated Vulnerability is an index that considers weighted social, economic, and infrastructure vulnerabilities. It helps to identify the most vulnerable census block groups in the region. A survey is conducted to compare the relative importance between infrastructure vulnerability, social vulnerability, and economic vulnerability in the overall adaptation planning process, and to determine the relative weight for each of these indicators to generate the integrated vulnerability index. Social Vulnerability index produced by the Hazards and Vulnerability Research Institute at the University of South Carolina, employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the above infrastructure vulnerability index are used to calculate the integrated vulnerability. The index has a value between 0 and 1, with 0 representing the least vulnerable and 1 representing the most vulnerable. The integrated vulnerability is mapped by 5 categories using standard deviation under 1ft scenario to show the change of extreme values as sea level increases.

To view the Integrated Vulnerability, click on "Integrated Vulnerability" menu in the upper left corner and select the sea level rise scenario of interest. The Integrated Vulnerability is mapped at census block group level. Click on any of the census block group to view its integrated vulnerability score and causes of vulnerability.