Technical Tools
New Projects and Data Viewers
Resilient Connecticut Story Map
CIRCA partnered with Milone & MacBroom to create a story map that gives an overview of Resilient Connecticut and explains a new climate change vulnerability mapping tool for flood, heat and wind stressors. Zones of shared risk and an interactive map showing previous resilience planning projects are also featured. Visit the tab to Provide Input if you’d like to take a survey, give feedback on the map tools, or identify vulnerable areas in your community.
Climate Change Vulnerability Index
Demo the latest climate vulnerability mapping tool for flood, heat and wind stressors. The Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI) is a regional tool developed for New Haven and Fairfield Counties that can be used, in conjunction with other resources, for planning and developing purposes. Additional CCVI resources include fact sheets, previous workshop materials, and links to reports describing Connecticut's climate projections for precipitation, heat, and sea level rise to 2050 and beyond.
Social Vulnerability
The social vulnerability (SV) mapping created for Resilience Connecticut has been developed as a hybrid approach based on two commonly referenced methodologies. The vulnerability factors used in the mapping are those used in the University of South Carolina Social Vulnerability Index (SoVI). However, the Resilient Connecticut analysis provides finer scale values as it utilizes block group census data in comparison to SoVI which uses tract data. To calculate the social vulnerability, and develop a more repeatable process, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) mathematical methodology was used. This hybrid SV mapping utilizes a variety of social factors that are indicative of social vulnerability while using a straightforward mathematical depiction of percentile ranks to characterize social vulnerabilities in New Haven and Fairfield counties using statewide values.
Connecticut Coastal Towns Storm Annual Exceedance Probability/Return Interval
The highest 44 storms between 1950-2018 were reproduced using a coupled circulation and wave model to show the annual exceedance probability (or return period) of storm surge water levels and significant wave height for each of Connecticut's 24 coastal towns. The results presented in a tool, data, and journal article highlight the storm surge water levels and significant wave heights, which may contribute to a better understanding of extreme storms and guide decision-makers.
Coastal Vulnerability Index
This map viewer is a GIS based tool to express a one-dimensional, interactive risk index at multiple scales. The influence of different factors to the effects of sea level rise are incorporated to help users visualize the relationship between environmental, socio-economic, and built contributors in terms of exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity at a range of locations. The tool indicates a high to low rank for coastal vulnerability from the impacts of sea level rise.