Littoscope goes to scale with Corisclim

Published on 25/09/2024

Spatial altimetry enables us to measure precisely the rise in sea levels, which is accelerating. The extent of this rise varies from place to place, and coastal communities need tools to project their future into the coming decades. As the successor to the SCO LITTOSCOPE project, CORISCLIM offers a rapid assessment of future coastal flood risks worldwide.

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Online, CORISCLIM simulates marine submersions and the associated impacts. © CLS

This was a major challenge, and LITTOSCOPE, a project from the first SCO Edition, rose to it with flying colors. Led by CLS, the project team delivered a web mapping platform that simulates marine submersions over different time horizons according to three scenarios of rising sea levels. By cross-referencing socio-economic data, these forecasts are accompanied by an assessment of the human, economic, heritage and environmental issues at stake. To achieve these results, the project focused on French pilot areas: the communes around the Palavas-Les-Flots pond on the Mediterranean coast and Gâvres on the Atlantic coast.

CLS is now taking CORISCLIM to the next level, adapting its method to provide a local estimate of coastal vulnerability on a global scale up to 2100, taking into account wave action and subsidence, and now offering a confidence index. Flexible enough to parameterize the specific characteristics of different coastlines (intensity of extreme waves, subsidence effects, etc.), the new interactive interface also offers the possibility of visualizing coastal erosion or accretion forecasts.

CORISCLIM combines the use of several satellite systems:
•   Radar altimetry for precise measurement and monitoring of sea level changes;
•   Optical imaging for coastal erosion ;
•   LIDAR for the digital terrain elevation model.

Service finalization

Produced within the ESA/BASS framework following a request from AXA Climate, a framework dedicated to the development of innovative space applications, this development is aimed at coastal authorities and coastal engineering offices, as well as insurance companies and development banks, NGOs, etc.

After a test phase during which the demonstration service remained freely available free on request, the feedback from pilot users will enable CORISCLIM to be optimized for an official launch at the end of 2024.

Find out more about CORISCLIM:

on the CLS website

on the ESA website

Contact CLS