Lab 7: Applications in GIS

This week's lab focused on coastal flooding.  With concerns of sea level rising during storms and due to global warming, coastal flooding analysis is important to decision makers.  The map below shows the effects of flooding on Honolulu, HI.

To perform the analysis, I had to create the flood zone by using the Less Than tool to find areas less than 1.41 and 2.33 meters.  To find the area of the flood zones, I converted the rasters to polygons and used the field geometry tool to calculate the geometry.

I used the Multiply tool to multiply the DEM with the flood zones.  Then to get the Minus tool to get the flood depth.  Next I added the tract shapefile.  I added a field tool to calculate the area in square kilometers.  I also calculated the population density by taking the population divided by the area.

People over 65 are less likely to be affected by the floods compared to the other types of population.  In the 3 foot scenario, the white population make up the greatest percent of being affected by flooding.  In the 6 foot scenario, home owners are most likely to be affected by flooding.  In either scenario, people 65 and older are less likely to be affected.  Home owners do have a high social vulnerability of the three groups here.  In the 3 foot scenario, it is the second highest percentage.

Flood Depth Analysis