This Flagship provides improved analysis, modelling and predictions, including using advanced AI methods, of floods, droughts, wildfires, sea-level rise, storm surge and tsunamis.
This information helps national and local agencies, such as infrastructure operators, emergency management groups and local councils, and at-risk communities better understand and map New Zealand’s exposure and vulnerability to these hazards, considering the wellbeing of our people, economy and environment.
The need for this research is driven by the impact on life, the economic and environment impact, and the increasing frequency and severity of weather-related hazard events in New Zealand and elsewhere. Our coastal environments are also impacted by sea-level rise and other hazards, such as tsunamis. New Zealand has committed to implementing the internationally agreed Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction by reducing the underlying hazard and risk factors associated with natural disasters.
This Flagship’s research includes enhancements to forecasting of weather events, floods and coastal inundation, with a dual focus on numerical and AI-based modelling. We develop decision-support tools for and with communities and businesses to plan for and mitigate the impacts of these hazard events. This includes providing improved assessments of exposure and vulnerability to these hazards, including quantification of their impacts on people, land, buildings, infrastructure and the economy.
