Database on coastal vulnerability and exposure : COAST project.
Date: 2018-01-08
Institutions: Joint Research Centre
Subjects: coastal region, data processing, database, industrial infrastructure, land use, natural disaster, natural hazard, population density, research report, transport infrastructure

Database on coastal vulnerability 
and exposure 

COAST project 

Michalis I. Vousdoukas, Tiberiu-Eugen 
Antofie, Lorenzo Mentaschi, Evangelos 
Voukouvalas, Luc Feyen, George 
Breyiannis.  

2017 

This publication is a Technical report by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Commission’s science 
and knowledge service. It aims to provide evidence-based scientific support to the European policymaking 
process. The scientific output expressed does not imply a policy position of the European Commission. Neither 
the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible for the use that 
might be made of this publication. 

Contact information  
Name: Michalis Vousdoukas 
Address:  
Email: Michail.VOUSDOUKAS@ec.europa.eu 
Tel.: +39 033278-6499 

JRC Science Hub 
https://ec.europa.eu/jrc 

JRC109187 

PDF 

ISBN 978-92-79-77047-0 

doi:10.2760/288881 

Ispra: European Commission, 2017 

© European Union, 2017 

The reuse of the document is authorised, provided the source is acknowledged and the original meaning or 
message of the texts are not distorted. The European Commission shall not be held liable for any consequences 
stemming from the reuse. 

How to cite this report: Author(s), Title, EUR, doi 

All images © European Union 2017 

 
Contents 

1  Introduction ...................................................................................................... 2 

2  Exposure .......................................................................................................... 3 

3  Vulnerability ..................................................................................................... 6 

4  The Risk Data Hub database conceptual model ...................................................... 7 

4.1  Standards ................................................................................................... 7 

4.2  Community of Users ..................................................................................... 7 

5  Implementing the pilot Risk Data hub database ................................................... 10 

5.1  Data Storage - general aspects ................................................................... 10 

5.2  Data distribution – general aspects .............................................................. 10 

5.3  Risk Data Hub database development .......................................................... 11 

5.4  System architecture ................................................................................... 11 

5.5  Data storage ............................................................................................. 12 

5.6  Data access .............................................................................................. 12 

5.7  Data representation ................................................................................... 12 

References ......................................................................................................... 14 

List of figures ...................................................................................................... 16 

i 

1  Introduction 

The coastal zone is an area of high interest, characterized by increased population density, 
hosting  important  commercial  activities  and  constituting  habitats  of  high  socioeconomic 
value  (Costanza,  1999).  Nearshore  areas  also  support  diverse  ecosystems  that  provide 
important habitats and sources of food. One third of the EU population lives within 50 km 
of the  coast.  Globally about 120  million people are exposed annually to tropical cyclone 
hazards, which killed 250,000 people from 1980 to 2000. The EU Strategy on Adaptation 
to Climate Change stresses that coastal zones are particularly vulnerable to the effects of 
climate change. This is due to the combined effects of sea level rise and potential changes 
in the frequency and/or intensity of storms. In recent years, substantial research effort has 
focused on several aspects of coastal hazard and risk in view of climate change  (Church 
and White, 2011; Hinkel et al., 2014; Hogarth, 2014; Hoggart et al., 2014; Jevrejeva et 
al., 2014; Losada et al., 2013).  

In this document, we report progress on the development of European layers on exposure 
and vulnerability. This involves the collection and cataloguing of relevant exposure factors 
(e.g.,  land  use,  population,  settlements,  infrastructures)  and  vulnerability  indicators 
(coastal flood protection, damage functions) as well as the development and application of 
tools for the logging, spatial interpolation, statistical analysis and validation of the collected 
information.  All  data  are  available  through  the  The  Risk  Data  hub  database  the  aim  of 
which is  to improve  the  accessibility  and  dissemination  of  EU-wide  curated  risk  data  for 
fostering Disaster Risk Management (DRM).  

2 

 
 
2  Exposure 

Exposure refers to the capital and human assets exposed to the hazard. These are typically 
expressed  by  statistics  on  population,  socio-economic  data  on  sectorial  activities  and 
infrastructure, and information about environmental variables. To assess impacts in coastal 
zones in Europe the following exposure information has been collected:  

Geographical data 

SRTM  Digital  Elevation  Model  -  NASA  provides  the  Shuttle  Radar  Topographic  Mission 
(SRTM) digital elevation model (DEM) version 4.1 freely to the public in efforts to increase 
the  use  of  geospatial  science  for  sustainable  development  and  analysis  in  developing 
countries.  For  a  good  overview  of 
the  webpage: 
http://srtm.csi.cgiar.org/index.asp.  

the  data  please  visit 

Land Cover 

Corine Land Cover is a compilation of national land cover inventories, which are integrated 
into a seamless land cover map of Europe. For a good overview of the data please visit the 
webpage:http://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/data/corine-land-cover-2006-
raster-2  

Figure 1. Example of coastal segment data: Digital Elevation Model, Population, Land Use and 
Damage Prone areas according to the land use and the depth damage functions. 

3 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Current population 

A  100  m  resolution  population grid  map  for  Europe  has  been  derived  for  the  year  2006 
based on a refined version of Corine Land Cover 2006 (with a minimum mapping unit of 
one hectare for artificial surfaces (Batista e Silva et al., 2013), combined with information 
on the soil sealing degree. 

Current land use  

A refined version of the Corine Land Cover 2006 map with an improved minimum mapping 
unit of 1 hectare for all types of artificial surfaces and inland waters has been generated 
by incorporating land use/cover information present in finer thematic maps available for 
Europe.  These  include  the  CLC  change  map,  Soil  Sealing  Layer,  TeleAtlas®  Spatial 
Database, Urban Atlas, and SRTM Water Bodies Data. Relevant data from these datasets 
were extracted and prepared to be combined with CLC in a stepwise approach. Each step 
increased the level of modifications to the original CLC. The spatial resolution of the map 
is 100 x 100 m (Batista e Silva et al., 2013).  

Critical infrastructures  

A wide range of existing infrastructures and key economic assets in the EU have been 
mapped, including the following: 

a.  Energy assets (e.g., nuclear and thermal power plants, renewable energy 

infrastructure) 

b.  Transport assets (e.g., roads, railways, ports) 
c.  Social infrastructure (e.g., education, health) 
d.  Industry (e.g., chemical, metals, waste treatment)  
e.  Nature protection (e.g., NATURA sites) 

These exposure layers are currently being collected at European scale and integrated in a 
GIS  environment  (also  in  view  of  the  AA  "Resilience  of  large  investments  in  Europe  to 
climate change (CCMFF)” between JRC and DG CLIMA). An effort is currently under way to 
extract only the information relevant to the coastal zone from the pan-European datasets, 
thus reducing substantially the amount of data and the computational times. These layers 
can  then  be  combined  with  the  inundation  maps  generated  in  the  previous  step  and 
information on the vulnerability of the exposed assets.  

4 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 2. Example of key infrastructures in Europe at potential risk from coastal hazards: Ports. 

5 

 
 
3  Vulnerability 

Depth Damage Functions: Vulnerability refers here to the susceptibility of the receptor 
to  be  adversely  affected  by  the  coastal  flood  hazard  and  can  be  seen  as  an  internal 
characteristic of the affected element. This includes the capacity to anticipate, cope with, 
resist,  and  recover  from  the  adverse  effects  of  the  physical  event.  The  vulnerability  to 
coastal  flooding  of  coastal  infrastructure,  societies  and  ecosystems  is  expressed  in  this 
work through depth-damage functions (Ciscar et al., 2014; Rojas et al., 2013). JRC has an 
extensive database of country-specific depth-damage functions (DDFs) that relate water 
depth with exposed assets and the resulting economic damage. The country based DDFs 
are piece-wise linear functions from 0 to 6 meters flood depth, defined for each of the 45 
land use classes included in the refined CORINE Land Cover (e.g. see; Figure 3). To account 
for  differences  in  the  distribution  of  wealth  within  countries,  national DDFs  were  further 
rescaled to NUTS3 level on the grounds of GDP per capita.  

Figure 3. Example depth-damage functions showing relationship between flood water depth and 
damage factor per land use class (note that damage factors are normalized and need to be 
rescaled with maximum damages per land use class prior to their application). 

authorities 

Coastal  protection:  Starting  with  the  FLOPROS  database  (Scussolini  et  al.,  2015),  all 
available  data  on  coastal  protection  in  Europe  were  compiled  from  open  databases  and 
national 
(https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/environment-
agency; Vafeidis et al., 2008; www.ahn.nl). For several countries baseline inundation maps 
and  losses  for  different  return  periods  were  also  available  from  national  reports  and 
datasets (BRGM, 2009; Paprotny and Terefenko, 2017; Portuguese Environment Agency, 
2014; Prefet de la region Centre, 2014; Rijkswaterstaat, 2012; UK Environmental Agency, 
2015; Verwaest et al., 2012). The compiled information allowed carrying out a regional or 
country-level  calibration  of  the  protection  standards;  which  were  adjusted  in  order  to 
reproduce the reported present day impacts as in Jongman et al (Jongman et al., 2014) 
using the LISCOAST tool (Vousdoukas et al., submitted).  

6 

 
 
 
 
4  The Risk Data Hub database conceptual model 

The  DRMKC  RiskData  Hub  will  host  various  geospatial  data,  technologies  and 
methodologies coming from different sources (projects, organisations and scientists). In 
order to share all these resources, the platform will promote data sharing on the concept 
of  open  data  and  open  technologies.  Moreover,  a  set  of  standards  will  be  adopted  as  a 
strategy for rendering the spatial data and associated technologies easily accessible and 
to support a seamless interaction between users and the resources hosted on the platform. 
Furthermore, DRMKC RiskData Hub will provide technology where the users will not only 
be able to access the database but also will become the main participants for producing 
and updating the required data.  

4.1   Standards 

Standards are technical specifications that clarifies the interaction between users and data. 
These  standards  pertain  to  data  (data  capture,  encoding,  data  quality,  data  delivery, 
metadata)  as  well  as  to  services  and  tools  used  to  communicate  it.  All  together  the 
identified standards related to spatial data and communication protocols of the web-based 
platform, enhance the interoperability of the system.  

Standards that allow access to integrated spatial data or metadata through a HTTP protocol 
defined by Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC; http//:www.opengeospatial.org): 

-  Web Feature Service (WFS) specifications gives access to data sets 
-  Web Coverage Service (WCS) specifications gives access to raster data 
-  Web  Map  Service  (WMS)  offers  the  ability  of  accessing  georeferenced  images  of 

vectors and raster data  

Standards  that  allow  to  document  data  and  related  services  through  metadata  using 
International Organisation of Standardization (ISO; http://www.iso.org): 

- 
- 
- 

ISO 19115 for resource metadata  
ISO 19139 for metadata encoding  
ISO 19119 for service metadata  

In addition, the INSPIRE directive, adopted for DRMKC RiskData Hub provides the basis for 
the  interoperability  of  spatial  data  by  establishing  harmonised  conditions  of  access  by 
public, EU institutions and organisations to spatial data and services.   

4.2  Community of Users 

Various  communities  covering  research,  policy  and  operational  actors,  which  have  their 
own specificities but also present a common goal of overall risk management will form the 
community  of  users  for  Risk  Data  hub  database.  The  diversity  and  cross-discipline 
disseminated  data  and  results,  render  the  community  users  as  both  data  providers  and 
also end-users. Therefore, Risk Data hub database intends to create conditions to enhance 
a network for information transfer among various involved communities.  

The data providers are mainly the research groups from the EU’s Joint Research Centres 
which  are  also  collaborating  centres  of  DRMKC  -  European  Flood  Awareness  System 
(EFAS),  European  Forest  Fires  Information  System(EFIS),  Global  Disasters  Alerts  and 
Coordination System (GDACS), Major Accident Reporting System (eMARS), Global Informal 
Tsunami  Monitoring  System  (GTIMS-2),  European  Reference  Network  for  Critical 

7 

 
 
 
Infrastructure  Protection  (ERNCIP),  -  and  also  EU-funded  research  projects  developed 
through programmes such as Horizon 2020 and the Framework Programme for Research 
and Technological Development (FP7). 

Complementary  to  data  providers  the  end-users  represent  a  complex  and  ambitious 
challenge as they include a wide variety of stakeholders. The user community of the DRMKC 
are  multinational,  cross-discipline  scientists,  policy-makers  and  practitioners.  They  are 
dispersed into different disciplines and sectors and often they are working independently 
on overlapping crisis situations. They can be divided in five main categories of users:  

Policy Makers   

At EU level, the main policy DGs concerned with Disaster Risk Management are DGs, ECHO, 
ENTR, ENV, ENER, MOVE etc.  

At Member State’s level, Ministries  of Defence,  Interior, Foreign Affairs, Civil Protection, 
Industry, Agencies as well as Regional Authorities all benefit from research outputs. 

Benefits: 

-  Use of curated and scientifically based data needed for policy implementations.  
-  Compare implementation development among countries and regions. 
-  Get an overview of research results in disaster risk management. 

Scientists 

Disaster risk assessment research involves a wide range of scientific disciplines which have 
to  interact,  ensuring  complementarity  and  building  interdisciplinary  networks.  Different 
types of scientists are considered (University, Research Institutes, research units linked to 
Defence/Interior ministries or agencies); 

Benefits: 

-  Publish  and  share  EU  and  regional  data  to  turn  their  research  into  operational 

- 

services and policy advice; 
Identify  cross-border  platform  and  data  commonly  used  by  Policy-Makers  and 
Practitioners;  

-  Participate  in  multi-disciplinary,  cross-border  scientific  partnerships  and  offer 

expertise to civil protection and disaster risk management authorities. 

Private Sector 

Various industry branches and stakeholders in the areas of infrastructure, energy, defence, 
civil protection etc. 
Benefits: 

-  Access tested innovative  solutions for  crisis management  and practical advice on 

adoption of new research and technology. 

-  Be aware of curated and updated data and initiatives from EU organisations; 

General public 

Various NGOs, public at large and users form the Education (schools) and training bodies.  
Benefits: 

8 

 
 
 
-  Get situation awareness and general information on disaster risk from regional to 

- 

global disasters; 
Join a Community of Users, collaborating to share data, and even help in developing 
database on losses and damages 

9 

5  Implementing the pilot Risk Data hub database 

DRMKC RiskData Hub is a web-based application that aims to offer a technological solution 
for  freely  visualize  access,  download  and  link  to  geospatial  data  on  disaster  risk  and 
determinants of risk at EU-wide scale.  

5.1  Data Storage - general aspects 

Two types of implementation are considered for the data storage: the file system and the 
database. 

File system – is the simplest form of storage for a web GIS that is usually used when the 
amount of data is relatively small. The advantage of this type of storage comes from the 
fast, secure manner it can be handled and maintained. However, the server needs to be 
able to examine the changes that are brought to the content of the file which sometimes 
is done by many concurrent users.   
Database – is a collection of data and the structures used to represent that data - most 
commonly used are tables. Each row of the table is depicting an object and each column 
defines the attributes. Using a database to store spatial data has some advantages: 

-  Attributes and geometry of features are stored together. 
-  Spatial databases allow you to perform spatial queries and manipulate geometry 

with functions. 

-  Multiuser-support: share data among users and manage rights to access data. 

5.2  Data distribution – general aspects 

The  communication  between  the  client  and  the  server  needs  to  be  performed  in  a 
standardized way. The standardized HTTP communication protocol and OGC web Services, 
which  are  standardized  HTTP  interfaces  for  exchange  of  spatial  data between  client  and 
server are the processes chosen for data distribution. 

Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is a standardized communication protocol for the 
World Wide Web (WWW). It uses Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI) to identify the path 
to the resource (W3 2016a). 

OGC Web Services refers to a set of standards defined for publishing raster and vector 
data over the web (OGC 2016b). These standards define on how to request or send spatial 
data over a network, considering the format of the data, the extent and in what coordinate 
system the extent is defined. The most commonly used operations that ensure spatial data 
distribution are: 

-  Web  Map  Service  (WMS)  defines  an  interface  that  allows  a  client  to  retrieve 

georeferenced images/data (raster or vector data)  

-  The Web Feature Service (WFS) used for exchanging vector data 
-  The Web Coverage Service (WCS) used for retrieving the raw raster data 
-  The  Web  Processing  Service  (WPS)  provides  a  standard  for  geospatial  processes 

implemented as web services. 

10 

 
 
 
 
 
 
5.3  Risk Data Hub database development  

The  DRMKC 
https://disastergeonode.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ 
architecture: 

database 

is 

currently 

accessible 

at 

the 

following 

  and 

it  is  supported  on  the 

link: 
following 

-  PostgresSQL  and  PostGIS  is  an  open  source  Database  Management  System 

(DMS); 

-  GeoNode open-source software that will enable share of disaster risk datasets and 

enhance public access.  

-  GeoServer is an open source software server; 

5.4   System architecture 

The Risk Data hub database is currently implemented following the software architecture 
as  shown  in  the  figure  below.    GeoNode  is  a  geographic  Content  Management  System 
(CMS), mainly aimed at collaborative sharing and editing of geographic layers and maps 
and it is composed by:  

- A Database Management System and its spatial extension: PostgreSQL and PostGIS 
- A server-side software which can provide standard Web Map Services: GeoServer;  
- A CSM framework: Django; 
- Client-side libraries for building WebGIS applications: OpenLayers, GeoExt and LeafletJs. 

Figure 4. Schema of the Multi-Hazard Risk Data Hub architecture, based on the Geonode 
technology stack. The hub will be also integrated with the DRMKC web portal (e.g. for displaying 

the latest published layers) through the RESTul web services made available by GeoNode.    

PostgresSQL and PostGIS is an open source Database Management System (DMS) that 
combines  a  relational  database  model  and  an  object-oriented  database  model,  which  is 
commonly used in GIS and is called Object-Relational database (PostgresSQL, 2016). This 
model structures data in tables and provides all the functionality of a relational database. 

11 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For the RiskData Hub, the GeoNode/PostgresSQL has a double function: first it works in 
support of the GeoNode website, being the place where all the information about the users, 
groups  and  instruments  is  stored.  Secondly  it  works  as  a  data  repository  for  geospatial 
data using the PostGIs extension. For the DRMKC database the geospatial data is stored 
both as vector (.shp) and gridded data (.tif). 

GeoServer is an open source software server written in Java that allows users to publish 
geospatial data. It performs 3 main activities: stores, renders and transforms geographical 
content showed by the GeoNode in a graphic format. GeoServer is able to serve map data 
in a variety of formats and is fully OGC compliant (GeoServer, 2016) 

Django is a framework for building web applications and in particular Content Management 
Systems  (Django,  2016).  It  provides  the  foundation  to  GeoNode  logic  components,  in 
particular in relation to modelling, classification, querying and navigation, as well as user 
and group-based permission management for viewing and editing data.  

OpenLayers,  GeoExt  and  LefletJs  are  all  javascript  libraries  especially  aimed  at  the 
management  of  GIS  information.  In  particular,  GeoExt  (GeoExt,  2016)  relies  on 
OpenLayers  for  displaying  geographical  information  retrieved  from  standard  OGC  web 
services.  In  addition,  it  uses  the  ExtJS  UI  framework  for  enabling  desktop-like  GIS 
functionalities  such  as  advanced  querying  of  features  and  style  editing.  However,  the 
GeoExt/ExtJs (OpenLayers, 2016) version currently used by GeoNode is not aligned with 
the latest implementation of these software tools.  

LeafletJs is an alternative, lightweight map client which has become increasingly popular 
in  the  community  of  web  GIS  developers.  It  has  a  plugin-based  architecture  and  offers 
better responsiveness on mobile devices.  

5.5  Data storage 

The main datasets stored in the DRMKC databases are:  

-  Spatial Data, both raw and aggregated (at administration units) representing risk 

and determinants of risk data (exposure, vulnerability, hazard).  

-  Geospatial data: layers of administration boundaries, Geophysical features, Digital 

Elevation Model, etc.) 

-  Metadata:  in  accordance  with  INSPIRE  recommendations  and  stored  in  the 

Database Management System (PostgresSQL and PostGIS).  

5.6  Data access 

The database is accessible only by the server. Access rules are set to strict, meaning that 
there exists no public URL pointing to the folder and the DBMS endpoint.  

User  access  to  data  is  therefore  managed  only  by  the  web  application,  either  via  the 
GeoNode-enabled  web  pages  and  RESTful  APIs  or  via  the  OGS-compliant  web  services 
provided by GeoServer.  

The permission structure in GeoNode permits the restriction of access and editing right of 
certain layers either to specific users, or to all those belonging to a certain group.  

5.7  Data representation 

Data is represented in a variety of formats depending on the specific purpose and 
user requirements.  In particular, raw, continuous data is represented as raster layers (.tif) 
and  served  via  WMS  tiled  services,  while  information  aggregated  at  level  of  NUTS 

12 

 
 
 
 
 
administrative level is represented as vector feature classes, and is later available to the 
client  both  via  WMS  and  WFS  services.  WFS  enable  for  better  interactivity  on  the  client 
side. To allow for faster loading of data, GeoJSON data format is an option. However, the 
GeoNode/GeoServer  architecture  still  enables  access  to  resources  using  standard  OGC 
formats for INSPIRE compliant interoperability with future third-party applications.   

The main entities included for aggregated vector layers are: NUTS_ID, Nuts_name, 
their coordinates system, statistical indicators names (for hazard, risk, vulnerability and 
exposure) with their value.  

13 

 
 
References 

Batista e Silva, F., Gallego, J., Lavalle, C., 2013. A high-resolution population grid map 
for Europe. Journal of Maps 9, 16-28. 

BRGM, 2009. Impact de changement climatique: Adaptation et couts associes en France 
pour les risques cotiers, p. 134. 

Church, J., White, N., 2011. Sea-Level Rise from the Late 19th to the Early 21st Century. 
Surv. Geophys. 32, 585-602. 

Ciscar, J., Feyen, L., Soria, A., Lavalle, C., Raes, F., Perry, M., Nemry, F., Demirel, H., 
Rozsai, M., Dosio, A., Donatelli, M., Srivastava, A., Fumagalli, D., Niemeyer, S., 
Shrestha, S., Ciaian, P., Himics, M., Van Doorslaer, B., Barrios, S., Ibáñez, N., Forzieri, 
G., Rojas, R., Bianchi, A., Dowling, P., Camia, A., Libertà, G., San Miguel, J., de Rigo, D., 
Caudullo, G., Barredo, J., Paci, D., Pycroft, J., Saveyn, B., Van Regemorter, D., Revesz, 
T., Vandyck, T., Vrontisi, Z., Baranzelli, C., Vandecasteele, I., Batista e Silva, F., 
Ibarreta, D., 2014. Climate Impacts in Europe. The JRC PESETA II Project. 
Costanza, R., 1999. The ecological, economic, and social importance of the oceans. 
Ecological Economics 31, 199-213. 

Hinkel, J., Lincke, D., Vafeidis, A.T., Perrette, M., Nicholls, R.J., Tol, R.S.J., Marzeion, B., 
Fettweis, X., Ionescu, C., Levermann, A., 2014. Coastal flood damage and adaptation 
costs under 21st century sea-level rise. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 
111, 3292-3297. 

Hogarth, P., 2014. Preliminary analysis of acceleration of sea level rise through the 
twentieth century using extended tide gauge data sets (August 2014). Journal of 
Geophysical Research: Oceans 119, 7645-7659. 

Hoggart, S.P.G., Hanley, M.E., Parker, D.J., Simmonds, D.J., Bilton, D.T., Filipova-
Marinova, M., Franklin, E.L., Kotsev, I., Penning-Rowsell, E.C., Rundle, S.D., Trifonova, 
E., Vergiev, S., White, A.C., Thompson, R.C., 2014. The consequences of doing nothing: 
The effects of seawater flooding on coastal zones. Coastal Eng. 87, 169-182. 

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/environment-agency. 

Jevrejeva, S., Moore, J.C., Grinsted, A., Matthews, A.P., Spada, G., 2014. Trends and 
acceleration in global and regional sea levels since 1807. Global Planet. Change 113, 11-
22. 

Jongman, B., Hochrainer-Stigler, S., Feyen, L., Aerts, J.C.J.H., Mechler, R., Botzen, 
W.J.W., Bouwer, L.M., Pflug, G., Rojas, R., Ward, P.J., 2014. Increasing stress on 
disaster-risk finance due to large floods. Nature Clim. Change 4, 264-268. 

Losada, I.J., Reguero, B.G., Méndez, F.J., Castanedo, S., Abascal, A.J., Mínguez, R., 
2013. Long-term changes in sea-level components in Latin America and the Caribbean. 
Global Planet. Change 104, 34-50. 

Paprotny, D., Terefenko, P., 2017. New estimates of potential impacts of sea level rise 
and coastal floods in Poland. Nat. Hazards 85, 1249-1277. 

Portuguese Environment Agency, 2014. Gestão da Zona Costeira. O Desafio da Mudança, 
p. 260. 

Prefet de la region Centre, 2014. Projet de plan de gestion des risques d'inondation du 
bassin Loire-Bretagne 2016 - 2021, p. 112. 

14 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Rijkswaterstaat, 2012. The National Flood Risk Analysis for the Netherlands, in: Office, 
V.P. (Ed.), p. 120. 

Rojas, R., Feyen, L., Watkiss, P., 2013. Climate change and river floods in the European 
Union: Socio-economic consequences and the costs and benefits of adaptation. Global 
Environmental Change 23, 1737-1751. 

Scussolini, P., Aerts, J.C.J.H., Jongman, B., Bouwer, L.M., Winsemius, H.C., de Moel, H., 
Ward, P.J., 2015. FLOPROS: an evolving global database of flood protection standards. 
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss. 3, 7275-7309. 

UK Environmental Agency, 2015. Recorded flood outlines. 

Vafeidis, A.T., Nicholls, R.J., McFadden, L., Tol, R.S.J., Hinkel, J., Spencer, T., Grashoff, 
P.S., Boot, G., Klein, R.J.T., 2008. A New Global Coastal Database for Impact and 
Vulnerability Analysis to Sea-Level Rise. J. Coast. Res. 24, 917-924. 

Verwaest, T., Dan, S., Reyns, J., Meire, E., Mertens, T., Gysens, S., 2012. Coastal 
flooding risk and adaptation to climate change in Belgium, in: Lynett, P. (Ed.), 33rd 
Conference on Coastal Engineering, Santander, Spain. 

Vousdoukas, M.I., Mentaschi, L., Voukouvalas, E., Alessandra, B., Francesco, D., Feyen, 
L., submitted. Climatic and socioeconomic controls of future coastal flood risk in Europe 
Nature Climate Change. 
www.ahn.nl. 

15 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
List of figures 

Figure 1. Example of coastal segment data: Digital Elevation Model, Population, Land Use 
and Damage Prone areas according to the land use and the depth damage functions. .... 3 

Figure 2. Example of key infrastructures in Europe at potential risk from coastal hazards: 
Ports. ................................................................................................................... 5 

Figure 3. Example depth-damage functions showing relationship between flood water 
depth and damage factor per land use class (note that damage factors are normalized) 
and need to be rescaled with maximum damages per land use class prior to their 
application)........................................................................................................... 6 

Figure 4. Schema of the Multi-Hazard Risk Data Hub architecture, based on the Geonode 
technology stack. The hub will be also integrated with the DRMKC web portal (e.g. for 
displaying the latest published layers) through the RESTul web services made available 
by GeoNode. ........................................................................................................11 

16 

Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers  
to your questions about the European Union. 

Freephone number (*): 

00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 
(*) The information given is free, as are most calls (though some operators, phone boxes or hotels may 
charge you). 

More information on the European Union is available on the internet (http://europa.eu). 

HOW TO OBTAIN EU PUBLICATIONS 

Free publications: 

•  one copy: 

via EU Bookshop (http://bookshop.europa.eu); 

•  more than one copy or posters/maps: 

from the European Union’s representations (http://ec.europa.eu/represent_en.htm);  
from the delegations in non-EU countries (http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/index_en.htm);  
by contacting the Europe Direct service (http://europa.eu/europedirect/index_en.htm) or 
calling 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (freephone number from anywhere in the EU) (*). 

(*) The information given is free, as are most calls (though some operators, phone boxes or hotels may charge you). 

Priced publications: 

•  via EU Bookshop (http://bookshop.europa.eu). 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
K
J
-
0
7
-
1
7
-
1
4
7
-
E
N
-
N

doi:10.2760/288881 

ISBN 978-92-79-77047-0