A database of 100 years (1915-2014) of coastal flooding in the UK
This database, and the accompanying website called ‘SurgeWatch’ (http://surgewatch.stg.rlp.io), provides a systematic UK-wide record of high sea level and coastal flood events over the last 100 years (1915-2014). Derived using records from the National Tide Gauge Network, a dataset of exceedence probabilities from the Environment Agency and meteorological fields from the 20th Century Reanalysis, the database captures information of 96 storm events that generated the highest sea levels around the UK since 1915. For each event, the database contains information about: (1) the storm that generated that event; (2) the sea levels recorded around the UK during the event; and (3) the occurrence and severity of coastal flooding as consequence of the event. The data are presented to be easily assessable and understandable to a wide range of interested parties. The database contains 100 files; four CSV files and 96 PDF files. Two CSV files contain the meteorological and sea level data for each of the 96 events. A third file contains the list of the top 20 largest skew surges at each of the 40 study tide gauge site. In the file containing the sea level and skew surge data, the tide gauge sites are numbered 1 to 40. A fourth accompanying CSV file lists, for reference, the site name and location (longitude and latitude). A description of the parameters in each of the four CSV files is given in the table below. There are also 96 separate PDF files containing the event commentaries. For each event these contain a concise narrative of the meteorological and sea level conditions experienced during the event, and a succinct description of the evidence available in support of coastal flooding, with a brief account of the recorded consequences to people and property. In addition, these contain graphical representation of the storm track and mean sea level pressure and wind fields at the time of maximum high water, the return period and skew surge magnitudes at sites around the UK, and a table of the date and time, offset return period, water level, predicted tide and skew surge for each site where the 1 in 5 year threshold was reached or exceeded for each event. A detailed description of how the database was created is given in Haigh et al. (2015). Coastal flooding caused by extreme sea levels can be devastating, with long-lasting and diverse consequences. The UK has a long history of severe coastal flooding. The recent 2013-14 winter in particular, produced a sequence of some of the worst coastal flooding the UK has experienced in the last 100 years. At present 2.5 million properties and £150 billion of assets are potentially exposed to coastal flooding. Yet despite these concerns, there is no formal, national framework in the UK to record flood severity and consequences and thus benefit an understanding of coastal flooding mechanisms and consequences. Without a systematic record of flood events, assessment of coastal flooding around the UK coast is limited. The database was created at the School of Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton with help from the Faculty of Engineering and the Environment, University of Southampton, the National Oceanography Centre and the British Oceanographic Data Centre. Collation of the database and the development of the website was funded through a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) impact acceleration grant. The database contributes to the objectives of UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) consortium project FLOOD Memory (EP/K013513/1).
INSPIRE
Identification
- File identifier
- eacfe8e3090253cdbe4b107d306547b6 XML
- Hierarchy level
- dataset Dataset
Online resource
Resource identifier
- Metadata language
- EnglishEnglish
- Spatial representation type
- Text, table
Encoding
- Format
- Delimited
Projection
Classification of data and services
- Topic category
-
- Elevation
- Oceans
Classification of data and services
Coupled resource
Coupled resource
Classification of data and services
Coupled resource
Coupled resource
Keywords
- INSPIRE themes
- Vertical Coverages
- SeaDataNet PDV
- MEDIN metadata record availability
Geographic coverage
N
S
E
W
Temporal reference
Temporal extent
- Begin
- 1915-01-01
- End
- 2014-12-31
Temporal extent
- Date (Publication)
- 2018-05-18
- Date (Creation)
- 2015-01-13
- Date (Revision)
- 2021-04-21
Quality and validity
- Lineage
- Instrument(s) used to collect data: sea level recorders.
Conformity
Conformity
Conformity
Conformity
Conformity
Conformity
- Explanation
- BODC protocols are based on the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) model enabling BODC to iterate towards compliance with the on-going evolution and development of community requirements including FAIR (Findable,Accessible,Interoperable,Reusable), TRUST (Transparency, Responsibility, User community, Sustainability, Technology) and CARE (Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility, Ethics). Data managers quality assure submissions and assemble the metadata necessary for curation. Submissions (as received) are placed in a long-term accession and stored in triplicate across multiple sites. Appropriate data are transferred into a standard internal format with source variable names mapped to controlled vocabularies, documentation assembled, and metadata loaded into BODC databases. Access to these data is through direct request, the BODC website and through partner repositories such as SeaDataNet. Access control is attained by assigning a data policy to each set of data and this policy is used to administer access when data are requested. Discovery metadata is aligned with EU INSPIRE (through MEDIN) and SeaDataNet community standards. Data are converted to open community formats including Ocean Data View ASCII and SeaDataNet NetCDF, with data described using terms from the NERC vocabulary server. BODC submission agreements are documented on the BODC website and customer service is assured with a dedicated requests team that serve data following local regulations including General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2018 and Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) 2004.
Restrictions on access and use
- Access constraints
- No limitations apply
- Access constraints
- Data are freely available
- Access constraints
- No conditions apply
Responsible organization (s)
Contact for the resource
- Organisation name
- University of Southampton School of Ocean and Earth Science
- soes@noc.soton.ac.uk
- Organisation name
- University of Southampton School of Ocean and Earth Science
- soes@noc.soton.ac.uk
- Organisation name
- British Oceanographic Data Centre
- enquiries@bodc.ac.uk
- Organisation name
- British Oceanographic Data Centre
- enquiries@bodc.ac.uk
Responsible organization (s)
Contact for the resource
- Organisation name
- University of Southampton School of Ocean and Earth Science
- soes@noc.soton.ac.uk
- Organisation name
- University of Southampton School of Ocean and Earth Science
- soes@noc.soton.ac.uk
- Organisation name
- British Oceanographic Data Centre
- enquiries@bodc.ac.uk
- Organisation name
- British Oceanographic Data Centre
- enquiries@bodc.ac.uk
Metadata information
Contact for the metadata
- Organisation name
- British Oceanographic Data Centre
- enquiries@bodc.ac.uk
- Date stamp
- 2021-12-20T06:31:16
- Metadata language
- EnglishEnglish
SDS
Conformance class 1: invocable
Access Point URL
Endpoint URL
Technical specification
Conformance class 2: interoperable
Access constraints
Limitation
Use constraints
Limitation
Responsible custodian
Contact for the resource
Overviews
Spatial extent
N
S
E
W
Provided by
Associated resources
Not available