GIS modeling in coastal flooding analysis: a case study in the Yellow River Delta, China

The rising sea level caused mainly by global climate change has become an eminent global environmental problem. Around the coast of the Yellow River Delta, the relative sea-level is rising by 6-10 mm per year. By 2100, the accumulated sea-level rise will be 600-1000 mm. It would directly threaten the low-lying coastal area, home of the second largest oil field in China, the Shenli Oilfield. Some GIS modeling techniques have been used to calculate the area susceptible to coastal flooding due to sea level rise, by incorporating the database uncertainty and risk concept. The magnitude of sea level rise in 2100 has been simulated with respect to its flooding effect over the coastal lowland in the Yellow River Delta, China.