• Elevation: the height of the land from mean sea level. Visually, this data can be represented in a Digital Elevation Model (DEM). There are two types, a Digital Terrain Model (DTM) and a Digital Surface Model (DSM). The DSM includes the height of every surface on the earth including mountains, buildings, and vegetation. A DTM takes out all of the structures and plants and only shows the height of the terrain itself.

• Land Cover: the extent of land separated by different uses and covers. Land can be classified by how humans use it, such as urban vs. rural land. Land can also be classified by the type of vegetative cover, such as forested or marsh. For this study, different types of land cover and land use include: mudflat/sand, salt marsh, and built ground. See Fig. 1 for more detail.

• Buildings: for this study, the addresses of every building in the study area are georeferenced with a latitude and longitude.

• Sea Level Change: the change in mean sea level according to different sea level rise (SLR) scenarios. For this study, two different SLR scenarios were used to predict the flooding of coastal areas, a low change (+8 cm) and a high change (+42 cm).

• Tides and Floods: the tidal and flood extent that North Norfolk experiences presently before SLR. This is measured in meters above mean sea level. See Fig. 2 for measurements.

Figure 2: Elevation extent above mean sea level for different tidal extents and flood events.

Other types of Data