NC Climate Resilience Data

Use this resource to:

Data Host

MetaData Packet Slide Number

Basemap Data

LiDAR and Digital Elevation Model (DEM)*

Available at via North Carolina’s Spatial Data Download.

Understand land use (e.g., bare earth, trees, buildings, water), the extent of vegetation present across a landscape, and elevation (Digital Elevation Model (DEM)) data.

LiDAR—Light Detection and Ranging—is a data collection method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure distance to the Earth.

NC Emergency Management

4

NC One Map*

• Orthoimagery
• Parcels

Locate base maps, other foundational layers, and existing datasets. Users can view the datasets within the platform or download them. All datasets come with metadata.

NC Department of Information Technology

5, 6

Climate Data

Cardinal Data Retrieval System*

Request historical weather and climate data for any location in North Carolina. Requests might include minimum, maximum, and average annual temperatures; relative humidity; rainfall totals for a specific time period; trend data since the 1800s; soil moisture; calculated data on fire danger; drought indices; and more.

NC State Climate Office

7

CLOUDS API*

Set up an Application Programming Interface (API) to automatically connect your website or other application to weather, climate, or water data.

NC State Climate Office

8

Future Climate Projections*

(Obtain future climate projections for your jurisdiction or area by emailing sco@climate.ncsu.edu.)

Understand your area’s future climate, including the projected change in minimum and maximum temperatures, the number of high heat days and nights, changes in average precipitation, changes in heavy precipitation events, and more.

NC State Climate Office

N/A

Station Scout*

Explore specific weather station data, including historical observations, across North Carolina.

NC State Climate Office

N/A

Coastal Issues

Coastal Roadway Inundation Simulator*

(This data, which will be ready in early 2022, can be requested at resilience@ncdot.gov.)

Simulate and quantify the effects of up to 17 feet of coastal flood inundation on primary and secondary NCDOT roads within 23 coastal counties. The simulator assigns road centerline elevations and compares them against selected inundation profiles and reports depths of flooding at horizontal intervals of 50 feet.

NC Department of Transportation

9

Digital Coast

Download elevation, land cover, climate, orthoimagery, economic, and demographic data for areas along the coast.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Coastal Management

N/A

NC King Tides Project

• 2015-2017
• 2017-2021
• April 2021 - Present

Obtain pairings of water level measurements and imagery. The measurements, photos, videos, and aerial imagery come with date and time stamps.

UNC-Chapel Hill, U Delaware, NOAA

10

NC Oceanfront Erosion Rates*

View or download maps of how the North Carolina shoreline has changed over time due to erosion and other factors.

NC Division of Coastal Management

11
 

NC Sea Level Rise Impact Study (NCSLRIS), June 2014

(available at TNC’s Coastal Resilience Tool)

Visualize the predicted risk from 20, 40, and 100 cm of sea level rise AND “future floodplains or coastal surge extent,” which is sea level rise with a modeled storm surge for a 10-yr, 100-yr and a Hurricane Fran event.

NC Emergency Management

12

Pocosin Wetland Status and Owner Type for North Carolina

• Data download
• Web map

Explore where pocosin conservation or restoration may be needed to reduce the vulnerability of these wetlands and surrounding lands to fire.

Duke University

13

Resilient Coastal Sites for the South Atlantic and Gulf

• Story map and data download

Estimate the relative resilience or vulnerability of coastal sites in the face of rising sea levels.

The Nature Conservancy

14

Southeast Coastal Communities Water Level Observing Network

View local, real-time water level data and projections.

American Shore and Beach Preservation Association

15

Drought

Gridded Drought Events

Conduct a historical analysis of drought events for your jurisdiction, including frequency, intensity, timing, and longevity.

NC Institute for Climate Studies

16

Flooding

FEMA Data Visualizations

Explore FEMA datasets, including hazard mitigation assistance, Small Business Administration’s Disaster Home Loan Program, historical flood risk, potential flood-related costs, historic federal disaster declarations by Tribal nation and by county, and more.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

N/A

Flood Inundation Mapping and Alert Network (FIMAN)*

To see current and forecasted flood gauge data from rivers and streams across North Carolina. Some gauges allow for users to see which nearby buildings will flood under various flood height scenarios.

NC Emergency Management

N/A

Flood Risk Information System (FRIS)*

Download a Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map (DFIRM)—FEMA’s official map of the floodplain; county-level floodplain data; database-driven risk assessments and reports, geospatial base map data, imagery, LiDAR data, hydraulic and hydrologic models, and more.

NC Emergency Management

N/A

Flood Zones*

County data are located in FRIS.
Statewide data

View county-level or statewide flood zone designations, including Special Flood Hazard Areas, that are used by FEMA for insurance-rating and other purposes.

NC Emergency Management

17

Hurricane Flood Exposure and Resilience Opportunities Analysis

• Hurricane Matthew
• Hurricane Florence
• Intervention Opportunities

View estimated inland flood extents based on data from Hurricanes Matthew (2016) and Florence (2018), as well as a map of intervention opportunities.

The Nature Conservancy

18

North Carolina Flood Mapping Program* (also known as flood.NC.gov)

Learn about flood risk at a specific address, to include flood hazard, structural and content impacts, potential insurance rates, mitigation opportunities, and the location of nearby flood warning sites.

NC Emergency Management

N/A

USGS Flood Event Viewer

Access coordinated, short snippets (lengths) of coastal and riverine water-level and highwater mark records corresponding to major storms or other short-term events.

US Geological Society

19

Infrastructure
 

Building Footprints*

(available on the NC Spatial Data Download page. The Composite Footprint Layer is available by request at rmclipandship@ncdps.gov.)
 

2012 Building Footprint - Review 2012 building footprint data that includes building attributes (e.g., first floor elevation which is used to determine if the building is on stilts).

2019 Building Footprints - Composite Footprint Layer – Review 2019 building footprint data. This dataset has a more up-to-date list of buildings, but the data hasn’t been through a quality check and it doesn’t have any building attributes.

*NCEM recommends contacting your local city, town, or county government for the most accurate building footprint data.

NC Emergency Management

20, 21

Carolina Alternative Fuel Infrastructure for Storm Resilience Plan Data

(available by request at nccleantech@ncsu.edu.)

View datasets of alternative fuel infrastructure.

NC Clean Energy Technology Center

22

DriveNC*

View real-time and historic roadway access across North Carolina, detour routes, duration of each closing, and the reason for the shutdowns (e.g., flash flooding, shoulder washout, construction).

NC Department of Transportation

23

First Street Foundation Flood Model*

(Accessible after creating an account on Amazon Web Services (once you create an account,  login to access the data.) Data are also accessible through ESRI’s Living Atlas.

View and download flood risk summary statistics organized by congressional district, county, and ZIP code. The model factors in future climatic changes using the medium emissions scenario (RCP 4.5).

First Street Foundation

N/A

Geotech Asset Management Database*

View and download landslides and rockfalls that have occurred in North Carolina, the impacts that occurred as a result, and the mitigation projects that have been completed in response.

NC Department of Transportation

N/A

Hazard Mitigation Acquisition Sites*

• Rest service

Locate sites where structures have been elevated or removed to avoid recurring hazard impacts.

NC Emergency Management

24

North Carolina Historic Architectural Resources

• Web map
• Data download

Identify buildings, sites, objects, and districts of architectural or cultural significance.

NC Historic Preservation Office

25

Roadway Inundation Tool*

This data, which will be ready in early 2022, can be requested at resilience@ncdot.gov.

Access flood risk statistics for primary and secondary NCDOT roads, including mileage, max depth, and average depth for various flood inundation amounts.

NC Department of Transportation

N/A

Statewide Inlets Inventory* (drop inlets, curb inlets, etc.)

View and download inlets, or structures that provide storm water access, along NCDOT roadways. Types include curb inlets, curb and grate, drop inlets, funnel drains and yard inlets.

NC Department of Transportation

26

Statewide Maintenance Pipe Inventory*

View and download the presence of maintenance pipes along NCDOT roadways, their sizes and uses, the type of road they are under, and latitudes and longitudes of inlets and outlets, among other features. NCDOT defines maintenance pipes as those that are 48" or less in diameter.

NC Department of Transportation

27

Statewide Non-National Bridge Inspection Standard (NBIS) Pipe Inventory*

View and download the presence of pipes along NCDOT roadways, including pipes over 48’’ in diameter and less than 20 feet long located along the center line, as well as culverts that are less than 20 feet in length. Pipe characteristics listed include exact location and pipe material and use, among other features.

NC Department of Transportation

28

Statewide Retaining Wall Inventory*

View and download retaining walls that are part of the NCDOT road network. Retaining walls are structures designed to restrain soil, typically by a steep or near-vertical slope.

NC Department of Transportation

29

Statewide Storm Drainage Pipe Inventory*

View storm drainage (closed system) pipes that have been inventoried and are part of the NCDOT road network. These pipes do not have exposed inlets or outlets. This dataset does not contain a comprehensive list of storm drainage systems.

NC Department of Transportation

30

Natural Environment

Biodiversity and Wildlife Habitat Assessment*

This data is available on the Natural Heritage Data Explorer and on NC OneMap.

Understand where the most ecologically valuable lands are located and which lands need to be conserved. This model includes data on aquatic and terrestrial habitats, landscape function, and connectivity, as well as information on the roles that wetlands and stream buffers play in an ecosystem. Element Occurrences and Natural Areas data are inputs into this model.

Natural Heritage Program of NC

31

Element Occurrences*

Accessed by creating an account with the Natural Heritage Data Explorer.

Identify natural areas in need of new or continued protection. These data provide information on current and past locations of rare plants and animals, exemplary or unique natural communities, and important animal groupings.

Natural Heritage Program of NC

32

Managed Areas*

This data is available on the Natural Heritage Data Explorer and on NC OneMap.
 

Identify conservation properties that help protect the natural resiliency of North Carolina ecosystems.
 

Natural Heritage Program of NC

33

Natural Areas*

This data is available on the Natural Heritage Data Explorer and on NC OneMap.

Locate the Natural Heritage Program’s estimates of the best terrestrial and aquatic areas for supporting natural diversity in the state. Locations are ranked by priority to indicate the degree of importance for conservation.

Natural Heritage Program of NC

34

Natural Heritage Data Explorer*

Data are available for free to government agencies and conservation nonprofits.

Access interactive maps and data representing Natural Heritage resources and other conservation values in North Carolina. Account holders can generate site-specific project review reports. The site contains a map viewer and data download portal.

Natural Heritage Program of NC

N/A

Opportunity Assessment for Carbon and Resilience Benefits on Natural and Working Lands

• Data download
• Story map

Identify places within North Carolina where there are opportunities to manage natural and working lands in ways that help to mitigate climate change (through increased carbon sequestration or reduced emissions) and enhance ecosystem and community resilience by conserving or enhancing ecosystems that reduce threats exacerbated by climate change (e.g., flooding and related water-quality issues).

Duke University

35

Resilient and Connected Landscapes (link includes web map, story map, and data download)

Identify priority landscapes to protect, where nature’s resilience is the highest due to physical features such as the land’s diverse topography, bedrock, and soil. These climate-resilient sites are more likely to sustain native plants, animals, and natural processes.

The Nature Conservancy

36
 

Submerged Aquatic Vegetation

Identify areas with and without submerged aquatic vegetation that can stabilize sediment and improve water quality, among other benefits.

NC Department of Environmental Quality Division of Marine Fisheries

38

USGS Water Data for the Nation

Understand the effects of hydrologic, water-quality, and water use changes over time using long-term timeseries data.

US Geological Survey

39

Populations

Neighborhoods at Risk*

Use an online platform to overlay socioeconomic data (e.g., Census tracts with high proportions of people of color, people who speak English as a second language, residents over 65) with areas with high climate exposure (e.g., low tree canopy, a lot of impervious surface, 500-year floodplain) for any city, town, or county in the U.S. Users can also download a report or shapefile of their findings or set up an Application Programming Interface (API) to automatically connect a website or other application to the Neighborhoods at Risk data. Users can also obtain climate projections for any city, town, or county in the U.S.

Headwaters Economics

N/A

Potentially Underserved Block Groups 2019

Identify potentially underserved communities within North Carolina to assist in climate resiliency planning around vulnerable populations.

NC Department of Environmental Quality

40