Supplementary material to "A global open-source database of flood-protection levees on river deltas (openDELvE)"

Abstract. Flood-protection levees have been built along rivers and coastlines globally. Current datasets, however, are generally confined to territorial boundaries (national datasets) and are not always easily accessible, posing limitations for hydrologic models and assessments of flood hazard. Here we present our work to develop a single, open-source global river delta levee data environment (openDELvE) which aims to bridge a data deficiency by collecting and standardising global flood-protection levee data for river deltas. In openDELvE we have aggregated data from national databases as well as data stored in reports, maps, and satellite imagery. The database identifies the river delta land areas that the levees have been designed to protect, and where additional data is available, we record the extent and design specifications of the levees themselves (e.g., levee height, crest width, construction material) in a harmonised format. openDELvE currently contains 5,089 km of levees on deltas, and 44,733.505 km2 of leveed area in 1,601 polygons. For the 152 deltas included in openDELvE, on average 19 % of their habitable land area is confined by verifiable flood-protection levees. Globally, we estimate that between 5 % and 54 % of all delta land is confined by flood-protection levees. The data is aligned to the recent standards of Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability and Reuse of scientific data (FAIR) and is open-source. openDELvE is made public on an interactive platform (www.opendelve.eu), which includes a community-driven revision tool to encourage inclusion of new levee data and continuous improvement and refinement of open-source levee data.

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A global database of flood-protection levees on river deltas (openDELvE)

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-13180 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Joey O'Dell ◽

Jaap H. Nienhuis ◽

Jana R. Cox ◽

Douglas A. Edmonds ◽

Paolo Scussolini

Keyword(s):

Open Source ◽

Construction Material ◽

Information Management System ◽

Flood Protection ◽

Delta Area ◽

Global Database ◽

River Deltas ◽

Global Dynamic ◽

The Uk ◽

National Databases

Global flood modelling requires standardised global flood-protection levee datasets. Current datasets, however, are generally confined to territorial boundaries (national datasets) and are scarcely made public. Here we report on our effort to collect and standardise flood-protection levee data for river deltas from various sources to create a single, open source and FAIR-aligned global dynamic evolving river levee data environment (openDELvE).openDELvE aggregates data from national databases (including the USACE National Levee Database, and the UK EA Asset Information Management System, amongst others) as well as data collected from reports, maps, and satellite imagery. We report primarily the land areas &#160;that the levees have been designed to protect, and where additional data is available, the location of levees and unified attributes.&#160; openDELvE currently contains 1601 mapped leveed area polygons distributed over 152 deltas, covering 28% of globally defined delta area. Out of the 152 deltas, which cover a total delta area of 239,043 km2, the levees registered in the database protect a land area of 42,342 km2. Additionally, more extensive data has been collected from a selection of freely accessible public national databases (mostly the UK and USA, and some of Australia) spanning 5,089 km of levees with additional unified attributes (e.g. levee height, crest width, construction material), and a semi-automated process is being used to extend and develop this layer.The data is published aligned to FAIR-standards and is open-source, with an interactive viewing platform to supplement the data which is targeted for use in global river delta modelling and research. The viewing platform for the database incorporates a community-driven revision tool to encourage ongoing improvement and refinement of delta levee data, which can be extended to future projects as required.&#160;

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