Catch the King Tide 2020: All King Tide Data
Loftis, Jon Derek
Loftis, Jon Derek
Abstract
"Catch the King" is a community science GPS flood extent mapping effort centered in Tidewater Virginia, USA, that seeks to map the King Tide's maximum inundation extent with the goal of validating and improving inundation prediction models like the Virginia Institute of Marine Science’s Tidewatch Map (https://cmap2.vims.edu/SCHISM/TidewatchViewer.html). This 36-hour storm tide inundation forecast model is based on the Center for Coastal Resources Management’s open-source SCHISM hydrodynamic model’s operational outputs, updated every 12 hours at noon and midnight (EST). Timestamped GPS-reported high water marks were collected by volunteers to effectively trace the high water line by pressing the 'Save Data' button in the free Sea Level Rise mobile app (available on iOS and Android) in regular intervals along the water's edge during one of the highest astronomical tides of 2020 on October 18th, from 09:00 AM - 02:59 PM EDT, which was harmonically forecasted to be 3.59 ft. above MLLW at 10:53 AM at Sewells Point in Norfolk, VA. In reality, 5 mph NE wind on October 18th, coupled with extra high water levels in the prior days leading up to the event amplified the observed water level to 4.13 ft. Notably, the water level was 0.5 ft higher the day before on Saturday, October 17th, recorded at 4.65 ft. at Sewells Point in Norfolk, owing to a sustained wind speed of 15 mph from the NE for over 12 hours. With consideration towards minimizing the spread of COVID-19 in Fall 2020, like many volunteer programs, Catch the King did not directly engage in any in-person training events at public parks and schools around Hampton Roads, as we have done 25-35 times, annually, in the years past. Instead, remote training videos were shared via YouTube, and app interface tutorials within the "Help Catch the King Tide" public Facebook Group were leveraged to indirectly engage with our seasoned tide mappers. While 2020 was not a growth year, 184 citizen scientists mapped nearly 27,770 high water marks during Catch the King, and mapped even more events trough year-round flood monitoring efforts throughout 2020, also included in this dataset, as Catch the King’s community scientists collected more data in more unique places across VA's Coastal Plain (especially in the Rappahannock and Potomac River Basins).
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Date
2020-11-01
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Keywords
Sea Level Rise, Tides, Flooding, Virginia, Citizen Science, Community Science, Inundation Data
Citation
Loftis, Jon Derek, "Catch the King Tide 2020: All King Tide Data" (2020). Data. William & Mary. https://doi.org/10.25773/cqpx-4421
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Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Center for Coastal Resources Management (CCRM)
Center for Coastal Resources Management (CCRM)
DOI
https://doi.org/10.25773/cqpx-4421