Coastal Flooding Caused by Extreme Coastal Water Level at the World Heritage Historic Keta City (Ghana, West Africa)
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Date
2023
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Marine Science Engineering
Abstract
Like low-lying sandy coasts around the world, the Ghanaian coast is experiencing increasingly frequent coastal flooding due to climate change, putting important socioeconomic infrastructure
and people at risk. Our study assesses the major factors contributing to extreme coastal water
levels (ECWLs) from 1994 to 2015. ECWLs are categorized into low, moderate, and severe levels
corresponding to the 30th, 60th, and 98th percentiles, respectively. Using these three levels over
the Pleiades satellite-derived digital elevation model topography, potential flood extent zones are
mapped. ECWLs have the potential to flood more than 40% of the study area, including socioeconomically important sites such as tourist beach resorts, Cape St. Paul lighthouse, and Fort Prinzenstein.
In this study, all coastal flooding events recorded by the municipality of Keta fall within the 98th
percentile category. Our results show a gradual increase in the frequency of flooding over the years.
Flooding events are caused by a compound effect of the tide, sea level anomaly, waves, and atmospheric conditions. Finally, while wave run-up is the major contributor to coastal flooding, the tide is
the one varying most, which facilitates a simple early warning system based on waves and tide but
adds uncertainty and complicates long-term predictability
Description
Research Article
Keywords
Gulf of Guinea, wave run-up, sea level rise, coastal flooding
Citation
Citation: Brempong, E.K.; Almar, R.; Angnuureng, D.B.; Mattah, P.A.D.; Jayson-Quashigah, P.-N.; Antwi-Agyakwa, K.T.; Charuka, B. Coastal Flooding Caused by Extreme Coastal Water Level at the World Heritage Historic Keta City (Ghana, West Africa). J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2023, 11, 1144. https://doi.org/10.3390/ jmse11061144