Articles | Volume 26, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-1685-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-1685-2026
Research article
 | 
14 Apr 2026
Research article |  | 14 Apr 2026

A geospatial database of coastal characteristics for erosion assessment of Europe's coastal floodplains

Susan E. Hanson, Robert J. Nicholls, Floris R. Calkoen, Gonéri Le Cozannet, and Arjen P. Luijendijk

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Mapping the world's coast: a global 100-m coastal typology derived from satellite data using deep learning
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Cited articles

Almar, R., Ranasinghe, R., Bergsma, E. W. J., Diaz, H., Melet, A., Papa, F., Vousdoukas, M., Athanasiou, P., Dada, O., Almeida, L. P., and Kestenare, E.: A global analysis of extreme coastal water levels with implications for potential coastal overtopping, Nat. Commun., 12, 3775, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24008-9, 2021. 
Andrade, M. J., Jiménez-Morales, E., Rodríguez-Ramos, R., and Martínez-Ramírez, P.: Reuse of port industrial heritage in tourist cities: Shipyards as case studies, Frontiers of Architectural Research, 13, 164–183, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foar.2023.09.005, 2024. 
Athanasiou, P., van Dongeren, A., Pronk, M., Giardino, A., Vousdoukas, M., and Ranasinghe, R.: Global Coastal Characteristics (GCC): a global dataset of geophysical, hydrodynamic, and socioeconomic coastal indicators, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 3433–3452, https://doi.org//10.5194/essd-16-3433-2024, 2024. 
Bateman, M. D., McHale, K., Bayntun, H. J., and Williams, N.: Understanding historical coastal spit evolution: A case study from Spurn, East Yorkshire, UK, Earth Surf. Proc. Land., 45, 3670–3686, https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.4991, 2020. 
BGS: GeoCoastOpen, British Geological Society, https://www.bgs.ac.uk/datasets/geocoast-open/ (last access: 16 May 2025), 2023. 
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The CoasTER geographic database provides erosion relevant characteristics (sediment type, land use, geomorphology, historical shoreline movement trend) for Europe’s coastal floodplains. Building on earlier erosion research, it also includes a coastal geomorphological typology incorporating hard engineering and other infrastructure. Analysis demonstrates that episodic/long-term erosion and coastal flooding interactions are widespread and an important aspect within any management strategy.
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