The Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines (PSDS) at Western Carolina University (WCU) is using relational tools and geographic information systems (GIS) to build a national storm surge database beginning with a North Carolina prototype. This  project will provide one central location for coastal scientists and engineers to access storm surge and high water mark data (HWM). This queriable database is being built in Microsoft Access and ArcGIS at WCU, but will ultimately be maintained and archived at NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center (NCDC).  Storm surge data are being obtained from multiple sources including federal agencies, state agencies, academic studies, and the private sector.

During a hurricane, storm surge is often the greatest factor contributing to loss of life and property along the coast. Therefore, predicting the height of storm surge for an approaching storm is vital for coastal communities.  Predicting a value for storm surge has proven to be extremely difficult, due to the numerous factors that can contribute to the overall rise in water level. One setback for these predictions is the lack of one central location to access past storm surge measurements. Prior to this project, most water level data has been stored within storm specific reports and documents.Numerous different types of measurements are part of the database, including hurricane tracks, characteristics, and water level data.

Much of the hurricane track and characteristic data was imported directly from NOAA’s  IBTrACS  (International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship) Database. Several of the characteristics were calculated internally using existing data in combination with ArcGIS data. Some of the characteristics include:

Water Level Measurement Characteristics:
*Water Level Measurement Elevation           
*Type of Measurement (HWM, storm surge, etc)
*Latitude/Longitude                                       
*Vertical Datum
*Collector                                                     
*Reported Quality

Storm Landfall Characteristics
*Time/Date                  -Imported directly from IBTrACS                                           
*City/State                   -Imported directly from IBTrACS      
*Winds                        -Imported directly from IBTrACS                                                 
*Pressure                     -Imported directly from IBTrACS      
*Track Straightness      -Calculated at PSDS
*Track Speed              -Calculated at PSDS
*Angle of Impact          -Calculated at PSDS

***Updates: The database has been recently been updated to include the states of South Carolina and Florida. This brings the number of hurricanes in the database to 26, with over 1700 water marks. One of the most important features utilizing the database is the user-friendly web site, the storm surge viewer. This site uses Google Maps to search, filter and view storm surge and water mark data using a simple location search.

Example of Track Straightness Calculation:

Fun Facts about NC derived from the database:

Below Left: All 1700+ water mark and storm surge measurements currently in the database.

Below Right: The storm surge viewer web site. In this case, there was a simple search for Cape Hatteras, NC, and a radius of 50 miles. This brings up Google Maps, centered on that location and all of the data within that radius is represented by the filters below. The results map is showing all high water marks for Hurricane Bonnie (1998) within the radius, and the hurricane path (track points) for Bonnie.