InVEST Results: Coastal Vulnerability

The Coastal Vulnerability model calculates a coastal exposure index, which represents the relative exposure of different coastline segments to erosion and inundation caused by storms within the region of interest. The index values range from 1 (least exposed) to 5 (most exposed) and are calculated as the geometric mean of up to seven bio-geophysical variables.

To learn more about the Coastal Vulnerability model, visit the InVEST User Guide (opens in new browser window).

Primary Outputs

The coastal exposure index is the geometric mean of all the ranked (R_*) variables. Values range from 1 - 5 where 1 means least exposed and 5 means most exposed to coastal hazards. If a point is missing data for one or more R_* variables, then the exposure index will also be missing at that point.

If a human population input raster was used, this is the average population density around each point. '-1' represents no valid population data within the search radius around a point.

Sources: coastal_exposure.gpkg; intermediate/shore_points/clipped_projected_landmass.gpkg

Habitat role is the change in the coastal exposure index if no habitats were present.

Sources: coastal_exposure.gpkg; intermediate/habitats/habitat_protection.csv

id path rank protection distance (m)
0 Coral Coral.shp 1 2000
1 Coastal_Forest CoastalForest.shp 3 1000
2 Seagrass seagrass.tif 4 500
3 Mangrove Mangrove.shp 1 2000

Rank = Relative amount of coastline protection this habitat provides, from 1 (very high protection) to 5 (no protection).

Sources: D:\a\invest\invest\data\invest-sample-data\CoastalVulnerability\GrandBahama_Habitats\Natural_Habitats.csv

Intermediate Outputs

These variables are the individual components of the coastal exposure index. The exposure index is calculated as the geometric mean of these variables. If a shore point is missing data about one of these variables, then the exposure index will also be missing at that point.

Sources: coastal_exposure.gpkg

Shore points have values measuring the variables associated with coastal hazard. Each variable will be binned into quantiles in order to get the ranked variables used in the exposure index calculation.

Sources: intermediate/intermediate_exposure.gpkg

Shore points are exposed to open ocean waves and local wind-driven waves. The model estimates the energy of both wave types at each point, and uses the larger value to represent wave energies at that point. Wind-driven waves tend to dominate in areas sheltered from the open ocean. If sheltered points appear dominated by ocean waves, the max fetch distance may be too short.

The maximum fetch distance parameter can be used to control which shore points are exposed to open ocean waves. The value is the maximum distance in meters to extend rays from shore points. Points with rays equal to this distance accumulate ocean-driven wave energy along those rays. Local-wind-driven wave energy is accumulated along all rays.

Sources: intermediate/wind_wave/wave_energies.gpkg; intermediate/intermediate_exposure.gpkg

Inputs

Name Value
workspace_dir D:\a\invest\invest\autotest_dir\autorun_coastal_vulnerability_0
results_suffix
n_workers -1
aoi_vector_path D:\a\invest\invest\data\invest-sample-data\CoastalVulnerability\aoi_grandbahama_utm.shp
model_resolution 1000.0
landmass_vector_path D:\a\invest\invest\data\invest-sample-data\CoastalVulnerability\landmass_polygon.shp
wwiii_vector_path D:\a\invest\invest\data\invest-sample-data\CoastalVulnerability\WaveWatchIII_global.shp
max_fetch_distance 30000.0
bathymetry_raster_path D:\a\invest\invest\data\invest-sample-data\CoastalVulnerability\bathymetry.tif
shelf_contour_vector_path D:\a\invest\invest\data\invest-sample-data\CoastalVulnerability\continental_shelf_polyline_global.shp
dem_path D:\a\invest\invest\data\invest-sample-data\CoastalVulnerability\dem_srtm_grandbahama.tif
dem_averaging_radius 900.0
habitat_table_path D:\a\invest\invest\data\invest-sample-data\CoastalVulnerability\GrandBahama_Habitats\Natural_Habitats.csv
geomorphology_vector_path D:\a\invest\invest\data\invest-sample-data\CoastalVulnerability\geomorphology_grandbahama.shp
geomorphology_fill_value 4
population_raster_path D:\a\invest\invest\data\invest-sample-data\CoastalVulnerability\population_grandbahama.tif
population_radius 500.0
slr_vector_path None
slr_field unknown

Metadata

coastal_exposure.gpkg
This point vector file contains the final outputs of the model. The points are created based on the input model resolution, landmass, and AOI.
coastal_exposure.csv
This is an identical copy of the attribute table of coastal_exposure.gpkg provided in csv format for convenience. Users may wish to modify or add to the columns of this table in order to calculate exposure indices for custom scenarios.
intermediate/intermediate_exposure.gpkg
Shore points have values measuring the variables associated with coastal hazard. Each variable will be binned into quantiles in order to get the ranked variables used in the exposure index calculation.
intermediate/intermediate_exposure.csv
This is an identical copy of the attribute table of intermediate_exposure.gpkg provided in csv format for convenience.
intermediate/geomorphology/geomorph.pickle
Pickled geomorphology data
intermediate/geomorphology/geomorphology_projected.gpkg
Geomorphology vector reprojected to match the AOI
intermediate/geomorphology/shore_points_missing_geomorphology.gpkg
The shore points that received the geomorphology fill value because no geomorphology segments were found within the search radius of the point. If very many points are missing data, it might be explained by spatial inaccuracy of either the geomorphology or landmass polygon inputs. Editing the geometory of one or both in GIS could help resolve this.
intermediate/habitats/[HABITAT].pickle
Pickled habitat data
intermediate/habitats/clipped_projected_[HABITAT].tif
Clipped and reprojected habitat map
Units: None
intermediate/habitats/[HABITAT_FILENAME]_clipped.tif
Clipped habitat map
Units: None
intermediate/habitats/habitat_protection.csv
Shore points with associated habitat data
intermediate/population/clipped_projected_pop.tif
Clipped and reprojected population map
Units: people
intermediate/population/[POPULATION_FILENAME]_clipped.tif
Clipped population map
Units: people
intermediate/population/population.pickle
Pickled population data
intermediate/wind_wave/[BATHYMETRY_FILENAME]_clipped.tif
Clipped population map
Units: None
intermediate/relief/clipped_projected_dem.tif
Clipped and reprojected DEM
Units: other
intermediate/relief/[DEM_FILENAME]_clipped.tif
Clipped DEM
Units: other
intermediate/relief/positive_dem.tif
DEM thresholded to positive values only
Units: other
intermediate/relief/relief.pickle
Pickled relief data
intermediate/sealevelrise/slr.pickle
Pickled sea level rise data
intermediate/shore_points/clipped_projected_landmass.gpkg
Clipped and reprojected landmass map
intermediate/shore_points/landmass_line_index.pickle
Pickled landmass index
intermediate/shore_points/landmass_polygon.pickle
Pickled landmass polygon
intermediate/shore_points/shore_points.gpkg
Map of shore points
intermediate/shore_points/tmp_clipped_landmass.gpkg
Clipped landmass map
intermediate/surge/surge.pickle
Pickled surge data
intermediate/wind_wave/clipped_projected_bathy.tif
Copy of bathymetry input, clipped and reprojected to match the AOI
Units: meter
intermediate/wind_wave/fetch_points.gpkg
Shore points with added fetch ray data
intermediate/wind_wave/fetch_rays.gpkg
Map of fetch rays around each shore point.
intermediate/wind_wave/negative_bathymetry.tif
Copy of bathymetry input with any positive values masked out
Units: meter
intermediate/wind_wave/wave_energies.gpkg
Shore points are exposed to open ocean waves and local wind-driven waves. The model estimates the energy of both wave types at each point, and uses the larger value to represent wave energies at that point. Wind-driven waves tend to dominate in areas sheltered from the open ocean. If sheltered points appear dominated by ocean waves, the max fetch distance may be too short.
intermediate/wind_wave/wave.pickle
Pickled wave data
intermediate/wind_wave/wind.pickle
Pickled wind data
intermediate/wind_wave/wwiii_shore_points.gpkg
WaveWatch 3 data interpolated to shore points
taskgraph_cache/taskgraph.db
Cache that stores data between model runs. This directory contains no human-readable data and you may ignore it.