Headwaters Economics

Integrating Climate and Socioeconomic Data to Map Risk Exposure ($25,000)

Recipient: Headwaters Economics

Project Partners: Northeast Regional Climate Center, Cornell University, NOAA, Mapbox Community, Azavea, Inc., Urban Sustainability Directors Network, US Bureau of Land Management 

Headwaters Economics developed the Neighborhoods at Risk web-based tool to help 18 Midwestern and Mid-Atlantic communities identify the location of socioeconomically at-risk populations who are especially vulnerable to extreme weather events. The tool was developed in close partnership with sustainability directors from each of the 18 cities and with guidance from the NOAA Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic RISA teams. It was originally published in December 2018 and later expanded to include 9 additional communities in the Great Lakes region.

Headwaters Economics will integrate two open-access tools, Neighborhoods at Risk and the Applied Climate Information System (ACIS). The ACIS, hosted by the Northeast Regional Climate Center, provides open and free access to the latest downscaled climate model projections as well as historical climate data. The NRCC ACIS was designed for integration into other tools, such as Neighborhoods at Risk, to reduce resources required to make climate information accessible to decision makers. This project will expand the Neighborhoods at Risk tool, making it available to every community and county in the nation.