Coastal areas are especially vulnerable to flooding from hurricanes, tropical storms and other hazardous weather. The effects of this extra water on waves, tides, river flows and storm surge have been unpredictable, until now.

The Coastal and Inland-Flooding Observation and Warning (CI-FLOW) project is a prototype system combining observations, weather and water models and decision support tools to help bridge the gap and predict total water levels in coastal areas. When the demonstration is complete, everyone from emergency management officials to coastal residents will be able to use CI-FLOW to make informed decisions.

The CI-FLOW project has brought together a diverse team of national,  regional, state and university partners to improve the quality of  flood and surge information from every angle.

CI-FLOW currently focuses on the Tar-Pamlico and Neuse River basins of North Carolina and the adjacent coastal waters and shorelines of the Pamlico Sound and Atlantic Ocean. Storm-surge and coastal flooding from Hurricanes Floyd and Dennis devastated this region in 1999. A broad spectrum of local, state, regional, academic and federal partners are working together on CI-FLOW to improve total water level forecasts in this area.

Over half our nation's population now lives permanently in coastal zones. Research projects like CI-FLOW will make great strides towards increasing warning times and improving predictions to save lives and limit property damage.

CI-FLOW Backgrounder — a brief overview of the CI-FLOW project, written in layperson's language. (.pdf, 893 kB, updated 22 Feb 2012)

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NOAA's nowCOAST is a GIS-based web mapping portal providing integrated, one-stop access to on-line, real-time coastal environmental observations and NOAA forecasts for any region in the coastal United States. NowCOAST provides users with displays of the latest surface weather and ocean observations, satellite cloud imagery, weather radar reflectivity mosaics, sea surface temperature analyses and gridded forecasts.

CI-FLOW on NOAA nowCOAST

Irene to be test for experimental flood forecasting system

August 25, 2011

As Hurricane Irene churns towards the U.S. coast, residents of coastal North Carolina have a new flood forecasting research tool to help them prepare for the expected deluge.

NOAA researchers lead the Coastal and Inland Flooding Observation and Warning (CI-FLOW) project, a total water level prediction system in North Carolina. CI-FLOW is the first system to capture the complex interaction between waves, tides, river flows, and storm surge to produce total water level simulations. NOAA forecasters will use CI-FLOW to help make more accurate flood and flash flood forecasts, helping coastal and inland communities react, respond, and recover.

The NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory leads CI-FLOW’s unique interdisciplinary team that includes local, state, regional, academic, and federal partners, emergency managers, and outreach and education specialists. The CI-FLOW system is focused on the Tar-Pamlico and Neuse river basins of North Carolina but the goal is to expand CI-FLOW research and technologies to other U.S. coastal watersheds.

The CI-FLOW system routinely collects weather, river, tide and ocean observations to be used in an interactive exchange between atmospheric, river and ocean models. Researchers and forecasters can access real-time simulations of coastal water levels for the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season on a secure website.

The CI-FLOW project addresses a critical NOAA service gap: routine total water level predictions for tidally-influenced watersheds; and has a vision to transition CI-FLOW research findings and technologies to other U.S. coastal watersheds. This real-time demonstration will offer valuable insight on the accuracy and utility of total water level predictions for communities in the coastal plain of the Tar-Pamlico and Neuse Rivers and the Pamlico Sound.

The system is used by National Weather Service Forecast Offices in North Carolina and South Carolina, as well as the NWS Southeast River Forecast Center. Additional NOAA partners include NOAA Sea Grant College Program, North Carolina and South Carolina Sea Grant Programs, NWS Office of Hydrologic Development, NOAA Coastal Services Center, NOAA in the Carolinas, NOAA National Ocean Service Coast Survey Development Laboratory, and Texas Sea Grant.

CI-FLOW News archive

The CI-FLOW research consortium comprises a number of federal agencies and university programs.

NOAA Partners

• NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory
• NOAA National Sea Grant Office
• North Carolina , South Carolina , and Texas Sea Grant Programs
• National Sea Grant College Program
• NWS Weather Forecast Offices of Raleigh and Newport/Morehead City in North Carolina
• NWS Office of Hydrologic Development
• NWS Southeast River Forecast Center
• NOAA Coastal Services Center
• NOS Coast Survey Development Laboratory
• NWS Office of Hydrologic Development
• NWS Eastern and Sourthern Region Headquarters

University Partners

• The University of Oklahoma
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Louisiana State University

Research Partners

• Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies

• Department of Homeland Security, Center of Excellence – Natural Disasters, Coastal Infrastructure and Emergency Management

• Renaissance Computing Institute

• ADCIRC

• USGS North Carolina Water Science Center

• North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Program

• State Climate Office of North Carolina

PRIVATE SECTOR PARTNERS

• Seahorse Coastal Consulting

OTHER PARTNERS

• NOAA in the Carolinas
• Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence SouthEast
• NOAA Southeast and Caribbean Regional Tea
• Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association
• Integrated Ocean Observing System