Guidance note on the application of coastal modelling for small island developing states: Part of the NOC-led project “Climate Change Impact Assessment: Ocean Modelling and Monitoring for the Caribbean CME states”, 2017-2020; under the Commonwealth Marine Economies (CME) Programme in the Caribbean

Abstract

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are a diverse group of 51 countries and territories vulnerable to human-induced climate change, due to factors including their small size, large exclusive economic zones and limited resources. They generally have insufficient critical mass in scientific research and technical capability to carry out coastal monitoring campaigns from scratch and limited access to data. This guidance report will go some way to addressing these issues by providing information on monitoring methods and signposting data sources. Coastal monitoring, the collection, analysis and storage of information about coastal processes and the response of the coastline, provides information on how the coast changes over time, after storm events and due to the effects of human intervention. Accurate and repeatable observational data is essential to informed decision making, particularly in light of climate change, the impacts of which are already being felt. In this report, we review the need for monitoring and the development of appropriate strategies, which include good baseline data and long-term repeatable data collection at appropriate timescales. We identify some of the methods for collection of in situ data, such as tide gauges and topographic survey, and highlight where resources in terms of data and equipment are currently available. We then go on to explore the range of remote sensing methods available from satellites to smart phone photography. Both in situ and remotely sensed data are important as inputs into models, which in turn feed in to visualisations for decision-making. We review the availability of a wide range of datasets, including details of how to access satellite data and links to international and regional data banks. The report concludes with information on the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and good practice in managing data.

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