Delivering Global Flood Mapping Solutions and Risk Models for Resilience
Access to high quality flood hazard data globally is crucial when planning for and mitigating the risks of flood hazards. High quality flood hazard data is available for every location worldwide. JBA’s Global Flood Maps are an important source of information to support communities in being better prepared and more resilient to the impacts of flooding. These maps provide a foundation for effective flood risk management, offering fast access and global coverage to address today’s challenges and plan for a resilient future.
Comprehensive Global Coverage and Resolution
Available everywhere, 30m resolution maps are available for every location in the world. Furthermore, high resolution 5m flood maps are available for the UK, Republic of Ireland, US, Australia and Continental Europe. Our maps cover river and surface water flooding everywhere, while coastal flooding, groundwater flooding and climate change scenarios are available on demand. Designed for seamless integration into existing platforms, they are an invaluable resource for tackling flood risk at every scale.
The following table outlines the regional specifications of JBA’s Global Flood Maps:
| Region | Resolution | Layers | Return Periods |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK and Republic of Ireland | 5m | River, surface water, groundwater and coastal layers | Multiple |
| USA | 5m | River, surface water and coastal layers | 6 |
| Europe | 5m (selected countries) / 30m | River, surface water and coastal layers | 6 |
| Asia | 30m | River, surface water and coastal layers | 6 |
| Africa | 30m | River, surface water and coastal layers | 6 |
| Canada | 30m | River, surface water and coastal layers | 7 |
| Central and South America | 30m | River and surface water flooding | 6 |
| Australia | 5m (populated areas) / 30m | River and surface water layers | 6 |
| Oceania | 30m | River and surface water layers | 6 |
Advanced Flood Risk Modeling
Our Global Flood Models use cutting-edge science to simulate hundreds of thousands of plausible flood events. They capture the full spectrum of scenarios – from frequent to extreme – to reveal how often flooding might occur, how severe it could be, and what the impacts might be. Specifically, our Global Flood Models use probabilistic modelling — an industry-standard method trusted by the global insurance sector — to estimate flood risk with confidence.
As part of this methodology, risk is calculated by bringing together three key components:
- Hazard – Where flooding could occur
- Exposure – What could be affected (people, infrastructure, assets)
- Vulnerability – How much damage those things might sustain.
By combining these with JBA’s Global Flood Event Set — a large library of realistic flood scenarios — the models generate robust, science-based estimates of flood risk across a range of probabilities. This helps governments, organisations and communities make robust, risk-informed decisions across disaster risk finance, adaptation planning and anticipatory action.
Strategic Data Partnerships and Integration
JBA signs data sharing agreement with World Bank under Development Data Partnership. Under the agreement, the World Bank has access to our 30m resolution flood hazard maps for every country in the world. The collaboration builds on our extensive work with the World Bank and other development banks, NGOs and governments. These maps provide flood extents and depths across multiple return periods and cover both river and surface water flooding as well as coastal flooding in some countries.
JBA’s Global Flood Maps can also be integrated into existing platforms and operating systems to generate powerful insights for our clients. One example is the integration of global flood hazard data into Flood Foresight, our unique flood monitoring and forecasting system. Flood Foresight is a globally-scalable solution providing rainfall severity, flood inundation footprints and depth, and flood impacts. With JBA’s global flood mapping as a component, Flood Foresight has been adopted by clients worldwide for disaster risk financing and humanitarian early warnings systems.
Planning for Future Climate Scenarios
Understanding how flood hazard may change under different climate futures is critical for long-term resilience planning. Our climate change flood data quantify how flood hazard could evolve across multiple future climate projections. These projections are based on climate storylines derived from internationally recognised global climate models. Our Global Flood Models translate these projected flood hazard changes into potential socioeconomic impacts – such as financial loss and populations affected — across a range of possible futures.