Leading up to, during and after a hurricane, your team at SpatialKey is here to help you navigate the multiple resources available to understand the impact to your business.
Here is information outlining data that is, or will be, available in SpatialKey for Hurricane Michael.
| Wind | Surge | Flood | Precipitation | Aerial Imagery | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NOAA | Available | Available | Available | Available | Available |
| JBA | Available | ||||
| KatRisk | Available | Available | Available | ||
| Aon Impact Forecasting | Available | Available | Expecting | ||
| FEMA | Expecting |
For footprints from modeling providers, contact your account rep to discuss options for viewing in SpatialKey.
NOAA
Hurricane track and forecast
The National Hurricane Center at NOAA provides wind radii, cone of uncertainty, and additional metadata about each snapshot in time for an active hurricane.
This data is available in SpatialKey’s Hurricane app.
This data can be updated up to every 3 hours during an active hurricane. A final footprint will be made available post-event.
Probabilistic hurricane storm surge
The NOAA Probabilistic Hurricane Storm Surge (P-Surge) is an ensemble model based on the SLOSH model, a storm surge model in use by the National Weather Service to help forecast surge from hurricanes. P-Surge takes the hurricane forecast from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) and uses error statistics from past hurricane forecasts to create many statistically probable storms. P-Surge then computes the possible storm surge from each of these and combines them together to get a better idea of the probable storm surge within the next 102 hours.
When available, this data can be found in SpatialKey’s data mart. We are using the 10% Exceedance product which shows the max height in feet that will be exceeded by only 10% of possible storms. The 10% exceedance level provides a reasonable worst-case scenario of flooding.
P-Surge values are in feet. This data can be updated up to every 3 hours during an active hurricane.
Quantitative precipitation forecasts
The Weather Prediction Center at NOAA publishes nationwide data, not specific to a particular hurricane, that gives up-to-date information about precipitation totals (in inches). We recommend looking at the 5-7 day total snapshots in order to understand precipitation accumulations during an active hurricane.
When available, this data can be found in SpatialKey’s data mart.
This data is updated 2-4x a day.
National river flood outlook
The Weather Production Center at NOAA publishes nationwide data, not specific to a particular hurricane, that gives up-to-date information about whether flooding is occurring, likely, or possible.
When available, this data can be found in SpatialKey’s data mart.
This data is updated 2-4x a day.
Post-event Aerial Imagery
The NOAA Remote Sensing Division provides damage assessment imagery in the aftermath of hurricanes. Weather permitting, aerial imagery is being collected in specific areas identified by NOAA in coordination with FEMA and other state and federal partners.
When available, this data can be found in SpatialKey’s data mart.
Imagery is updated up to 2x a day during an event.
JBA
Surge
JBA produces hydrodynamic modeling of storm surge based on best available track information. They produce two sets of data – 1) surge event footprint, 2) surge event footprint with inundation depths. Event footprints are available to all SpatialKey customers, the inundation depths are available to SpatialKey customers who license the JBA United States flood model.
Inundation depths are in meters. There may be multiple versions of data available depending on the nature of the event. A final surge footprint will be produced based on actual observations post-event.
Inland flood
The creation of JBA flood hazard maps for pluvial flood for the impacted area are based on extensive research into the areas inundated. They produce two sets of data – 1) flood event footprint, 2) flood event footprint with inundation depths. Event footprints are available to all SpatialKey customers, the inundation depths are available to SpatialKey customers who license the JBA United States flood model.
Inundation depths are in meters. There may be multiple versions of data available depending on the nature of the event. A final flood footprint will be produced based on actual observations post-event.
KatRisk
Wind
During an active event, KatRisk uses NHC observed and forecast data and runs it through their model in order to produce a wind footprint. This results in a peak gust view of wind risk.
Peak gusts are in MPH. There may be multiple versions of data available depending on the nature of the event. A final wind footprint will be produced based on actual observations post-event.
Surge
KatRisk uses NHC observed and forecast data and runs it through their model in order to produce a surge footprint. This results in a conservative view of inundation risk.
Inundation depths are in meters. There may be multiple versions of data available depending on the nature of the event. A final surge footprint will be produced based on actual observations post-event.
Inland flood
KatRisk uses precipitation data from NOAA and runs it through their model in order to produce a flood footprint. This results in a conservative view of inundation risk.
Inundation depths are in meters. There may be multiple versions of data available depending on the nature of the event. A final flood footprint will be produced based on actual observations post-event.
Aon Impact Forecasting
Wind
Aon Impact Forecasting produces wind footprints with varying windspeed bands. They use a Shapiro-based model to numerically model wind speeds. The modeled wind field uses NHC data for track and storm parameters. This data is available to all Aon customers.
Wind speeds are in MPH. There may be multiple versions of data available depending on the nature of the event.
Surge
Aon Impact Forecasting produces a surge boundary to represent the impacted area. They use their windfield model combined with NOAA’s SLOSH model to estimate storm surge. This data is available to all Aon customers.
There may be multiple versions of data available depending on the nature of the event.
Flood
Aon Impact Forecasting produces a flood boundary to represent the impacted area. This is determined using precipitation and river flood models. This data is available to all Aon customers.
There may be multiple versions of data available depending on the nature of the event.
FEMA
For select events, the USGS and FEMA will initiate a study to evaluate the magnitude of flooding, determine the probability of future occurrence and map the extent of the flooding. High-water mark data, along with flood flow information from USGS streamgages, were used to create inundation maps to document the areal extent and depth of the flooding.