There is growing demand across all levels of government for an improved capacity to quantitatively assess risks to infrastructure, communities and natural systems from coastal inundation and other potential impacts of climate change. A key impediment to the development of this capacity has been the absence of high-resolution elevation data that enables an effective assessment of climate change risks and adequately informs investment decisions and adaptation efforts.
Acquired airborne LiDAR data were further processed to produce hydrologically enforced and conditioned DEMs (Hydro-DEMs). The quality of inundation products derived from standard or Hydo-DEMs vary depending on the complexity of the landscape, and interaction between natural and man-made hydrological features.
Given the additional costs involved in the development of Hydro-DEMs, there is a need to review the extent to which different levels of processing meet specific user needs in order to guide the development of consistent product specifications and future investment in standardised products.
The purpose of this project is to identify and qualitatively evaluate the benefits of the hydrological enforcement and conditioning processes in the context of creating “Hydro-DEMs”.
Contributors: Graeme Kernich, Phil Tickle, SKM
UDEM Hydrological models of coastal inundation