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© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Global elevation datasets such as the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) digital elevation model (DEM) are the best available terrain data in many parts of the world. Consequently, SRTM is widely used for understanding the risk of coastal inundation due to climate change-induced sea level rise. However, SRTM elevations are prone to error, giving rise to uncertainty in the quality of the inundation projections. This study investigated the error propagation model for the Shatt al-Arab River region (SARR) to understand the impact of DEM error on an inundation model in this sensitive, low-lying coastal region. The analysis involved three stages. First, a multiple regression model, parameterized from the Mississippi River delta region, was used to generate an expected DEM error surface for the SARR. This surface was subtracted from the SRTM DEM for the SARR to adjust it. Second, residuals from this model were simulated for the SARR. Modelled residuals were subtracted from the adjusted SRTM to produce 50 DEM realizations capturing potential elevation variation. Third, the DEM realizations were each used in a geospatial “bathtub” inundation model to estimate flooding area in the region given 1 m of sea level rise. Across all realizations, the area predicted to flood covered about 50% of the entire region, while predicted flooding using the raw SRTM covered only about 28%, indicating substantial underprediction of the affected area when error was not accounted for. This study can be an applicable approach within such environments worldwide.

Details

Title
Accounting for DEM Error in Sea Level Rise Assessment within Riverine Regions; Case Study from the Shatt Al-Arab River Region
Author
Al-Nasrawi, Ali K M 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Kadhim, Ameen A 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Shortridge, Ashton M 3 ; Jones, Brian G 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Science, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia; [email protected]; Department of Geography, University of Babylon, Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Hillah 51001, Iraq 
 Department of Applied Geography, University of Karbala, Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Karbala 56001, Iraq; [email protected]; Department of Geography, Environment and Spatial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48808, USA; [email protected] 
 Department of Geography, Environment and Spatial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48808, USA; [email protected] 
 School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Science, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia; [email protected] 
First page
46
Publication year
2021
Publication date
2021
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
20763298
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2532336090
Copyright
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.