We’ve seen in the news recently the devastating erosion events in Norfolk and other parts of the UK. Erosion is often seen as a gradual risk but when left unchecked, it can compound into acute physical risks and cause significant economic damage. Our thoughts are with the communities that are impacted, and continue to be at risk.

The national database is a fantastic resource to assess coastal erosion & flood-risks and we want to play a part by going a step farther. By equipping municipalities and risk advisors with the insights to more precisely, we can more comprehensively forecast erosion risks (over shorter 1-20 year periods) and monitor these.

To forecast, Ocean Ledger generates a standardised, consistent historical dataset. Here, we focus on the coast between the villages of Happisburgh and Sea Palling, extracting annual shoreline movement at 30 meters resolution going back to 1986. Notwithstanding the particularly challenging cloud cover, we’ve been able to identify the areas where seawalls have triggered accretion as opposed to erosion.