Earth observation technologies, policies and legislation for the coastal flood risk assessment and management: a European perspective

The aim of this contribution is to provide a brief overview of the current and future earth observation (EO) technologies that can be used to assess and manage the EU coastal flood risk, together with the pertinent international and EU policies and legislation. The review has shown that EOs have become an indispensable technology for the assessment and management of the coastal flood risk, and their role will increase further in the future when EO information of higher resolution and accuracy become available. With regard to the relevant policies and legislation, their common thread is associated with the promotion and facilitation of the development of appropriate data and tools for high-quality and timely geo-spatial information based on EO technologies. In Europe, in particular, this development is promoted and facilitated by an array of international and supra-national (EU), interacting policies and legislation. It appears, however, that additional initiatives and technological progress in EO functionalities and the information technology are needed together with more targeted policy and legislation frameworks to provide vital information for the management of the coastal flood risk.