Engaging the Business and Tourism Industry in Visualizing Sea Level Rise Impacts to Transportation Infrastructure in Waikiki, Hawaii

Transportation planners in coastal communities plan for future hazards and risks of sea-level rise (SLR), and often, they communicate risk in public meetings via PowerPoint presentations with charts as well as two-dimensional (2D) maps that visualize information using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technologies. The project investigates the use of immersive technology to communicate SLR risk, including the development of an immersive three-dimensional (3D) model of the Waikiki neighborhood of Honolulu, Hawaii. According to the project’s original methodology, participants would have experienced the model using virtual reality (VR). However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team pivoted to creating and implementing an internet-based survey instrument with embedded 2D charts and video of the animated 3D model. The flooding projections were derived from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data. NOAA supplies the SLR Viewer, a screening-level tool that uses the best-available national projections to map areas vulnerable to current and future flood risks.