Advancements in Modeled Coastal Water Level Data

This winter, NOAA released an innovative approach for understanding historic water level and wave information along U.S. coasts.

CORA, which stands for Coastal Ocean Reanalysis, marks a major advancement in NOAA's ability to better serve coastal communities in data-sparse regions, such as those along the Atlantic and the Caribbean. Although NOAA has tide gauges placed along a wide range of U.S. coastlines, they are often near population centers or economic hubs like cities and ports. This means it can be harder for NOAA to accurately measure water levels in areas where tide gauges don’t exist.

CORA estimates historical water levels in locations between and beyond the current reach of NOAA’s tide gauges and at high resolution, making it possible for more coastal communities to assess flood frequencies over time.

Created by pairing NOAA’s long-term water level observations with state-of-the-art modeling, CORA takes us back in time and delivers over 40 years of retrospective data to provide a more complete picture of how water levels have changed along our nation’s coasts. Coastal communities can use this information to assess past flood frequencies and understand changes in their coastal flood risk.

For researchers, engineers, consultants, and many others, CORA is a game changer. This information is now ready for use to advance research, as well as decision- and policymaking in a variety of business and economic sectors as they plan for the future.

CORA datasets are hosted through NOAA’s Open Data Dissemination Platform and visualized on NOAA’s Tides and Currents website alongside maps, use cases, and other resources to help make the most of these new insights.

In the future, CORA’s data will be integrated into existing NOAA products like our Sea Level Calculator, making it easier for users to apply the data to their coastal resilience planning.

But that’s not all. CORA also paves the way for NOAA to provide coastal flood predictions every 500 meters along U.S. coasts. This will be a major advancement in our understanding of our nation’s coastal flood risk, including in rural communities like those in Florida’s Big Bend, an area frequently impacted by hurricanes. We know that as our coasts continue to change, our coastal flood risks are increasing. By delivering more robust historical water level information, NOAA helps our nation’s coastal communities build a safer, more secure future.