Our task in Part A was to concentrate on the District of Honolulu and use 2010 Census data to report population density and demographics of the areas affected or not affected by a 3 foot and 6 foot rise in sea level. The map below answers the question, what is the population density in areas with flooding due to a 6 foot rise in sea level. The map shows the flood depth in the impacted census tracts. Looking at the table one can see that the coastline of Honolulu where there are likely expensive high rise condominiums or hotels and therefore less owner-occupied housing units with higher non-native or white populations is most vulnerable to sea level rises.
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| What is the population density in areas with flooding due to a 6 foot rise in sea level? |
Variable Entire District 3 feet Scenario 6 feet Scenario
Flooded Not-flooded Flooded Not-flooded
Total
Population 390,738 8,544 382,194 60,005 330,733
% White 19.48 36.79 19.09 29.58 17.64
%
owner-occupied 48.98 32.22 49.36 36.97 51.16
% 65 and
older 18.13 7.41 18.14 17.18 18.30
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This part of the lab was labor intensive with several table joins and statistical analysis.
Part B focused on Collier County, Florida and was a comparison of two different DEMs of the same area, a Lidar DEM and a USGS DEM. I think naming this a USGS DEM is misleading as USGS has data from Lidar as well. I think the USGS DEM is from the National Elevation Dataset with a 1 arc-second ~30 meter resolution. Regardless, Part B's coastal flooding analysis showed how important image resolution is when selecting a DEM to predict sea level rise or storm surge impact. The reliability of the USGS DEM was much weaker than the Lidar DEM as born out in our % omisson and % commission calculations. The Lidar image had a cell size of 25 sq. ft and the USGS image had a 100 sq. ft. cell size.
Both Part A and Part B took me much more time than the 7 hours described in the assignment. Partially because I'm interrupted a lot while working on assignments but this lab was definitely more time intensive for me.
It was also coincidental that in the news this week, both locally and nationally, there were articles regarding coastal flooding and rises in sea level.
http://gatehouseprojects.com/risingseas/home/site/nwfdailynews.com
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Marin-San-Mateo-County-sue-big-oil-over-climate-11294549.php
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