water Article Shoreline Solutions: Guiding Efficient Data Selection for Coastal Risk Modeling and the Design of Adaptation Interventions Montserrat Acosta-Morel 1,*, Valerie Pietsch McNulty 1 , Natainia Lummen 1, Steven R. Schill 1 and Michael W. Beck 2 1 The Nature Conservancy, Caribbean Division, Coral Gables, FL 33134, USA;
[email protected] (V.P.M.);
[email protected] (N.L.);
[email protected] (S.R.S.) 2 Institute of Marine Sciences, University California, Santa Cruz, CA 95062, USA;
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[email protected]; Tel.: +1-(829)-641-3301 Abstract: The Caribbean is affected by climate change due to an increase in the variability, frequency, and intensity of extreme weather events. When coupled with sea level rise (SLR), poor urban development design, and loss of habitats, severe flooding often impacts the coastal zone. In order to protect citizens and adapt to a changing climate, national and local governments need to investigate their coastal vulnerability and climate change risks. To assess flood and inundation risk, some of the critical data are topography, bathymetry, and socio-economic. We review the datasets available for these parameters in Jamaica (and specifically Old Harbour Bay) and assess their pros and cons in terms of resolution and costs. We then examine how their use can affect the evaluation of the number of people and the value of infrastructure flooded in a typical sea level rise/flooding assessment. Citation: Acosta-Morel, M.; McNulty, We find that there can be more than a three-fold difference in the estimate of people and property V.P.; Lummen, N.; Schill, S.R.; Beck, flooded under 3m SLR.