# Multi-Hazard WebGIS Platform for Coastal Regions
## 2 Materials and Methods
### The MOSAIC Multi-Hazard Platform  
#### 2.2.1 Concept and Main Implementation  
The main goal of the WebGIS platform is to provide a reference, generic tool in support of flood risk assessment, demonstrated in the following section for the western Portuguese coastal zone. The western coast is characterized by energetic wave conditions, storm surges and high spring-tide levels that have historically translated into overtopping and flooding, as well as erosion and dismantling of sandy dune bodies and rocky cliffs [6]. End-users should have access to information and data on the platform in a user-friendly way, requiring only a device with an internet connection. Mainly developed as an operational platform for  
Figure 2: Monitoring framework workflow. In the inset, the forecasting workflow is detailed, where the following acronyms stand for: BCs: boundary conditions, FES2014—the Finite Element Solution Global Ocean Tidal Atlas (2014 results), WW3: WaveWatch 2 model, GFS—(weather) Global Forecast System (from NOAA) as an alternative to Arpege, the French National Centre for Meteorological Research European/Global Numerical Weather Prediction Model, WWM—wind wave model.  
sharing results from the MOSAIC.pt project, the major focus of the platform is to guarantee a high degree of usability. Essentially, the final product was developed to fulfill the needs of the expected end-users.  
The tool was also developed with modularity and reusability in mind. Therefore, some parts of the website, mostly connected to widgets (components of an interface, that enables a user to perform a function or access a service) and the use of prediction models, can be easily ported and reused on other platforms.  
The interface starts by authenticating the user (Figure 3) using credentials that can be obtained by registration in the same site. The welcome interface also shares publicly the main news of the project.  
After authentication, the frontend is organized in the following dashboards (Figure 4), structured in two categories--regional products (historical data of coastal flooding occurrences and regional hydrodynamic forcings) and local products (observatories):  
* Historical data of coastal flooding occurrences (_historico de eventos_)--a statistical analysis of past events is presented here using WebGIS capabilities. In the demo below, this analysis is supported by data from newspapers;
* Regional hydrodynamic forcings (_forcamentos regionais_)--forecasts results used to force the simulations of the observatories are shown here, for a rapid evaluation of hazardous events conditions. These forecasts are provided by external providers outside the MOSAIC project, which will allow for updates for better forcings in the future if needed. In the demo below, [[http://ariel.lnec.pt](http://ariel.lnec.pt)]([http://ariel.lnec.pt](http://ariel.lnec.pt)) (accessed on 10 May 2021) is the forecast source;
* Observatories (_observatorios_)--selection of the observatory to unlock the access to the corresponding model predictions, data, and risk products. These products are available in the following tab outputs (_resultados_).  
Figure 3: Welcome dashboard of the platform.