'Catch the King' Tide

Let's map how far it floods...

‘Catch the King’ was a citizen science GPS data collection effort centered in Hampton Roads, VA, that sought to map the king tide's maximum inundation extents with the goal of validating and improving predictive models for future forecasting of increasingly pervasive "nuisance" flooding. Prior to the flood event, Dr. Loftis at the CCRFR designed a webmap to direct volunteers to public places that were forecasted to flood during the King Tide using hydrodynamic models. Then, during the king tide, GPS data points were collected by many volunteers to effectively breadcrumb/trace the high water line. This approach mapped the flooding extents across 12 Coastal Cities and Counties in Virginia by pressing the 'Save Data' button in the Sea Level Rise App every few steps along the water's edge during the high tide on the morning of Nov. 5th, 2017.

Response from the event's dedicated volunteers, fueled by constant media coverage leading up to the event, caused 'Catch the King' to become the largest flood-related crowdsourcing data event in the world. Over 35 separate volunteer training events were held all over Hampton Roads resulting in 510 known participants collecting 53,006 time-stamped GPS maximum flooding extent measurements and 1,126 geotagged photographs of the king tide flooding during the 4-hour event. Click here for a map with an illustrative visual distribution of these statistics.

Catch the King, is sponsored by The Virginian-Pilot, WHRO Public Media, the Daily Press, and WVEC-TV are sponsors of  an event aimed at measuring the flood extents of the king tide. They’re supported by the nonprofit group Wetlands Watch and Concursive Corp., creators and developers of the citizen-science Sea Level Rise app (iOS and Android), and the Commonwealth Center for Recurrent Flooding Resiliency. The Dynamic Story Map below was used to recruit the event's many volunteers.

Dynamic Story Map


 

 

 



View Full Story Map in New Window

 

The above Story Map received >10,000 page views in Fall 2017.  

Catalogue of Recent Media Coverage of "Catch the King":

  1. "Catch the King": A King Tide Mapping Event, November 2017
    Dave Mayfield, The Virginian-Pilot, and Derek Loftis, Commonwealth Center for Recurrent Flooding Resiliency, VIMS, W&M, Sep. 14, 2017
    http://arcg.is/1f8W1q 

  2. VIMS Contributes to ‘King Tide’ Mapping Project
    David Malmquist, VIMS, Sep. 17, 2017
    http://www.vims.edu/newsandevents/topstories/2017/king_tide.php 
  3. An astronomical high tide will hit Hampton Roads on Nov. 5 -- will you help us Catch the King tide?
    Dave Mayfield, The Virginian-Pilot, Sep. 14, 2017
    https://pilotonline.com/news/local/environment/an-astronomical-high-tide-will-hit-hampton-roads-on-nov/article_e8eb4963-4a78-5270-b2f4-bb2a4378a1f4.html     
  4. King Tide: Help scientists 'Catch the King'
    Arrianee LeBeau, WVEC, Oct. 30, 2017
    http://www.13newsnow.com/weather/king-tide-help-scientists-catch-the-king/487222892     
  5. Learn how to 'Catch the King' Tide
    Kate Mishkin, Daily Press, Sep. 26, 2017
    http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-nws-king-tide-preview-20170926-story.html
  6. Why King Tides Are Flooding Coastal Cities More Often
    John Perritano, HowStuffWorks.com, Oct. 17, 2017
    https://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/natural-disasters/why-king-tides-are-flooding-coastal-cities-more-often.htm     
  7. Four newsrooms, 350 volunteers ready to engage Virginians on sea's rise
    Ashley McBride, Poynter, Oct. 17, 2017
    https://www.poynter.org/news/four-newsrooms-350-volunteers-ready-engage-virginians-seas-rise 
  8. Catch the King Tide in Hampton Roads
    Belinda Elliott, WHRO Education, Sep. 26, 2017
    http://whro.org/station-initiatives/whro-education/56196-catch-the-king-tide-in-hampton-roads 
  9. 'King Tide' mapping project
    David Malmquist, VIMS, Science Daily, Sep. 18, 2017
    https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/09/170918142147.htm 
  10. Regional Flood Mapping Event Uses "Sea Level Rise" Phone App
    Skip Stiles, Wetlands Watch, Aug. 10, 2017
    http://wetlandswatch.org/directors-blog/2017/8/10/regional-king-tide-mapping-work-uses-our-phone-app 
  11. What is the King Tide? Hampton Roads' highest astronomical tide of the year!
    Yasmeen Freightman, WVEC, Oct. 11, 2017
    http://www.13newsnow.com/news/local/king-tide/470643018
  12. Hampton Roads media, scientists are teaming up to understand tides. We need your help.
    The Virginian-Pilot; Daily Press, Sep. 14, 2017
    http://www.dailypress.com/news/science/dp-nws-king-tide-introduction-20170914-story.html 
  13. New App to Document King Tide Flooding in Hampton Roads
    Chesapeake Bay Magazine, Oct. 2, 2017
    https://www.chesapeakebaymagazine.com/baybulletin/2017/9/28/ml6ukn30uffnrusqs71c04f1jpdmcg 
  14. Catching the King Tide in Hampton Roads
    The Virginian-Pilot Editorial Board, Oct. 15, 2017
  15. An astronomical high tide will hit Hampton Roads on Nov. 5 -- will you help us Catch the King tide?
    Dave Mayfield, The Virginian-Pilot, Sep. 14, 2017
    https://pilotonline.com/news/local/environment/hampton-roads-media-organizations-are-teaming-up-to-understand-tides/article_e8eb4963-4a78-5270-b2f4-bb2a4378a1f4.html
  16. Will You "Catch the King"?
    Nicole Alvarado, Military News, Sep. 17, 2017
    http://www.militarynews.com/life/events/will-you-catch-the-king/article_332bb7fc-9bbd-11e7-8c6d-0b77d232bd7c.html 
  17. A few questions and answers about Catch the King
    Dave Mayfield, The Virginian-Pilot, Sep. 14, 2017
    https://pilotonline.com/news/local/environment/a-few-questions-and-answers-about-catch-the-king/article_80c473d2-87b3-509b-b301-9fca31c06a70.html 
  18. Volunteers Learn Tips, Tricks to Measure King Tide
    Kate Mishkin, Daily Press, Sep. 28, 2017
    http://www.dailypress.com/news/science/dp-nws-king-tide-0929-story.html 
  19. Scientists Seek Citizen Help to Map Nov. 5 King Tide Sea Levels
    Laurie L. Dove Sep. 25, 2017
    https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/citizen-science-king-tide-sea-level-11-2017.htm 
  20. "Catch the King" Tide Monitoring Event
    Lizz Gunnufsen, City of Chesapeake, Aug. 29, 2017
    https://nextdoor.com/agency-post/va/chesapeake/city-of-chesapeake/catch-the-king-tide-monitoring-event-62001701/ 
  21. Calling All Hampton Roads Residents to Help Catch the King Tide
    Daniel Kvaternik, City of Newport News, Sep. 29, 2017 
    https://www.nngov.com/Blog.aspx?IID=1256 
  22. “How are we going to pay for this?” agencies ask re: climate change costs?
    Wes Siler, Rapid Shift, Sep. 11, 2017
    http://www.rapidshift.net/how-are-we-going-to-pay-for-this-agencies-ask-re-climate-change-costs/
  23. King Tide volunteer sign-up ends Sunday
    Tamara Dietrich, Daily Press, Oct. 20, 2017
    http://www.dailypress.com/news/science/dp-nws-king-tide-signup-20171020-story.html 
  24. Help Document Sea Level During King Tide Event Nov 4-6
    Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve, Oct. 22, 2017
    http://www.ahherald.com/newsbrief/local-news/24762-help-document-sea-level-during-king-tide-event-nov-4-6 
  25. King Tide offers York County school real-world teaching opportunity
    Josh Reyes, Daily Press, Nov. 1, 2017
    http://www.dailypress.com/news/york-county/dp-nws-york-county-yorktown-elementary-king-tide-20171029-story.html 
  26. Podcast: Women in the Military (King Tide Segment: 37:30 - 46:00): 
    Cathy Lewis, WHRO, HearSay with Cathy Lewis, Nov. 2, 2017
    http://www.npr.org/podcasts/381444504/hear-say-with-cathy-lewis 
  27. Mild weather, flooded streets: Ideal conditions to Catch the King
    Dave Mayfield, The Virginian-Pilot, Nov. 3, 2017
    https://pilotonline.com/news/local/environment/mild-weather-flooded-streets-ideal-conditions-to-catch-the-king/article_21dbdf05-da11-5762-9cc4-ec385cedeb2d.html 
  28. Hundreds of volunteers turn out to Catch the King tide
    Dave Mayfield, The Virginian-Pilot, Nov. 5, 2017
    https://pilotonline.com/news/local/environment/hundreds-of-volunteers-turn-out-to-catch-the-king-tide/article_14364a12-985c-53ef-b675-872e35f1c954.html 
  29. Peninsula volunteers catch the king tide
    Tamara Dietrich, Daily Press, Nov. 5, 2017
    http://www.dailypress.com/news/science/dp-nws-catch-the-king-coverage-20171030-story.html 
  30. Four things we learned from tracing the king tide across Hampton Roads
    Dave Mayfield, The Virginian-Pilot, Nov. 7, 2017
    https://pilotonline.com/news/local/environment/things-we-learned-from-tracing-the-king-tide-across-hampton/article_81e82d0d-b6d6-53c7-a1da-a94b51305e07.html 
  31. An App and Volunteer Army Are Improving Local Tidal Flood Forecasts
    Jessica Leber, News Deeply, Dec. 1, 2017
    https://www.newsdeeply.com/oceans/community/2017/12/01/an-app-and-volunteer-army-are-improving-local-tidal-flood-forecasts
  32. Reporters, Scientists, and Citizens Team to Map Virginia’s Highest Tide
    Dawn Wright, ESRI Blog, Dec. 13, 2017
    https://www.esri.com/about/newsroom/blog/mapping-virginias-highest-tide/ 
  33. An App is Improving Local Tidal Flood Forecasts
    Ocean Leadership, Dec. 8, 2017
    http://oceanleadership.org/app-volunteer-army-improving-local-tidal-flood-forecasts/ 
  34. King Tide data shows Peninsula flooding in 50 years
    Tamara Dietrich, Daily Press, Jan. 23, 2018
    http://www.dailypress.com/news/science/dp-nws-king-tide-folo-20180109-story.html 
  35. How Virginia Beach involves citizens in disaster preparedness
    Nurfilzah Rohaidi, Gov Insider, Feb. 1, 2018
    https://govinsider.asia/smart-gov/sridhar-katragadda-city-of-virginia-beach-stormsense/ 
  36. Podcast: King Tide (Segment: 28:00 - 46:30): 
    Cathy Lewis, WHRO, HearSay with Cathy Lewis, Feb. 1, 2018
    http://www.hearsay.org/2018/02/01/default.aspx
  37. More to come...
    See an article that should be included in this list? Please email it to me at jdloftis@vims.edu.