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Contributions of different sea-level processes to high-tide flooding along the U.S. coastline

Li, S., T. Wahl, A. Barroso, S. Coats, S. Dangendorf, C. Piecuch, Q. Sun, P. Thompson, and L. Liu, 2022. Contributions of Different Sea-Level Processes to High-Tide Flooding Along the U.S. Coastline, Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans, 127(7), e2021JC018276, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC018276

High-tide flooding in Honolulu, Hawaii. Photograph courtesy of Hawaii Sea Grant King Tides Project (https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/study-projects-a-surge-in-coastal-flooding-starting-in-2030s)

High-tide flooding, also known as nuisance flooding or minor flooding, is one of the most obvious outcomes of climate change and associated sea-level rise (SLR). The increased frequency of high-tide flooding (HTF) and the fact that more and more communities are affected by it, has raised public awareness. We develop a new database consisting of different sea-level components, representing different processes, and analyze their contribution to HTF. We find, for example, that ocean tides are the main driver for HTF along the U.S. west coast, while surges are relatively more important along the east coast. Due to SLR, fewer sea level components can combine to lead to HTF at present-day compared to the past. Correlation between the different sea-level components also causes compounding effects leading to more (or fewer) HTF events in certain locations. The new database and analysis that is presented here advance our understanding of the role of different sea-level processes in causing HTF along the U.S. coastline.

This research was funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (award 80NSSC20K1241) and published in the Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans.