CLIMATE ADAPTATION & TRANSPORTATION Identifying Information and Assistance Needs

This report summarizes a 2011 workshop on climate adaptation for transportation, highlighting that local contextual data (e.g., infrastructure condition) is often more critical for decision-making than broad climate models. It identifies significant communication gaps between scientists and engineers, calls for a central information clearinghouse, and recommends updating engineering standards to move beyond historical data. Key needs include higher-resolution precipitation data, better economic tools for cost-benefit analysis of adaptation, and increased federal support for state and local capacity building.

• Local, non-climate contextual data is often as critical as, or more important than, climate science for adaptation decisions. Key factors include infrastructure elevation, state of repair, culvert capacity, and natural conditions like soil saturation and hydrology. These local parameters can define impact scenarios and identify cascading vulnerabilities, such as a dam failure leading to transportation infrastructure inundation.
• There are specific climate and weather information products that require urgent improvement to support transportation adaptation. These include updated NOAA Atlas 14 precipitation data, flood maps that incorporate climate change scenarios, data on daily temperature extremes and freeze/thaw cycles, and LiDAR and Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data for coastal areas to analyze sea level rise.
• The delivery and communication of climate data are significant barriers; scientists and transportation engineers often use different terminology and units. There is a expressed need for a central clearinghouse to guide officials on where to find information and how to interpret it, including 'Climate-to-English' translation to remove overly technical jargon.
• Effective decision-making requires a shift in professional culture and education, moving from a reliance on historical data to a comfort with applying future projections. This includes updating engineering standards to reflect that the '100-year flood' is not a static metric due to rising sea levels and expanding floodplains.
• Transportation officials lack sufficient tools to integrate climate data with other variables like population growth and economic sector shifts. There is a need for guidance on 'Asking the Climate Question' across the full lifecycle of infrastructure—from planning and siting to maintenance—and tools to evaluate the costs of inaction versus the benefits of adaptation.
• Research gaps exist regarding high-resolution temporal data; while projections are often provided at a 24-hour level, hydraulic engineers require data for events of 6 hours or less. Additionally, small-scale events that impact stormwater management are often overlooked in current research.
• Climate adaptation is a management and economic challenge as much as an engineering one. Practitioners need tools to analyze the total economic value of assets at risk and the social benefits of preparedness for various stakeholders, including households and businesses.
• Federal agencies are encouraged to enhance state and local capacity by providing technical assistance on identifying critical assets, developing a hierarchy of risk management methods, and conducting studies on the vulnerability of specific transportation materials to climate stressors.

APA

Winkelman, S., Winkelman, S., Mueller, J., & Jue, E. (2012). CLIMATE ADAPTATION & TRANSPORTATION Identifying Information and Assistance Needs. Environmental and Energy Study Institute. https://www.eesi.org/files/Climate_Adaptation_Transportation.pdf

Chicago

Winkelman, S., Steve Winkelman, Jan Mueller, and Erica Jue. CLIMATE ADAPTATION & TRANSPORTATION Identifying Information and Assistance Needs. Environmental and Energy Study Institute, 2012. https://www.eesi.org/files/Climate_Adaptation_Transportation.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{winkelman2012climate, author = {Winkelman, S. and Winkelman, Steve and Mueller, Jan and Jue, Erica}, title = {{CLIMATE ADAPTATION \& TRANSPORTATION Identifying Information and Assistance Needs}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2012}, month = may, url = {https://www.eesi.org/files/Climate_Adaptation_Transportation.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }