Guidelines on Implementation of a Coastal Inundation Forecasting–Early Warning System

This publication, Guidelines on Implementation of a Coastal Inundation Forecasting - Early Warning System (CIF-EWS) is the result of a resolution of the World Meteorological Congress 18 (2019) to assist vulnerable countries to implement their own CIF-EWS. These Guidelines are based on the successful implementation of demonstration systems in four countries between 2009 and 2019 through the Coastal Inundation Forecasting Demonstration Project (CIFDP) (Swail et al., 2019). Additionally, these Guidelines can be used as a valuable planning tool for coastal zone management, in order to build resilience to inundation through reduced exposure and vulnerability of coastal communities. These Guidelines show how an effective end-to-end coastal inundation warning system: CIF-EWS, can be established in a country or region, through a straightforward 10 step process with a number of templates featuring policy, management and technical processes that countries or regions can use to build their own EWS, from vision to “go-live” implementation. These Guidelines also include a comprehensive explanation of the hazards and the range of models used for their forecasting and warning, along with appropriate reference material.