Building and Analyzing SURGEDAT: The World's Most Comprehensive Storm Surge Database

SURGEDAT, the world's most comprehensive tropical storm surge database, has identified and mapped the location and height of hundreds of global storm surge events. This project originated with a study that identified more than 200 tropical surge events along the U.S. Gulf Coast. Spatial analysis of these data reveal that the central and western Gulf Coast observe more frequent and higher magnitude surges, whereas much of the eastern Gulf Coast, including the west coast of Florida, experiences less storm surge activity. Basin-wide return period analysis of these data estimate a 100-year return period of 8.20m, and a 10-year return period of 4.95m. Return period analysis of 10 sub-regions within the basin reveal that the highest surge levels occur in the Southeast Louisiana/ Mississippi zone, which includes the New Orleans metropolitan area. The 100-year surge level in this zone is estimated to be 7.67m. The Southeast Texas/ Southwest Louisiana zone, which includes the Houston metropolitan area, has the second highest surge levels, with a 100-year storm surge estimate of 6.30m. Surge levels are lower on the west coast of Florida, where the 100-year surge level is estimated between three and four meters. Expansion of this work includes mapping all high water marks for each surge event and the creation of a search-by-location web tool, which enables users to see the entire storm surge history for specific locations. In addition, the dataset has expanded internationally and now includes more than 500 surge events, as surges have now been identified in all the major ocean basins that experience tropical cyclones. International partnerships are sought to further expand this work, particularly in Australia, China, Japan, Philippines, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Mexico and various countries in Oceania and the Caribbean.; ;