Wetlands Watch, a coastal-Virginia-based environmental nonprofit organization, is expanding its king tides monitoring project to North Carolina, and organizers hope to coordinate its first data collection with volunteers later this month.
With funding from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Program Office, Wetlands Watch has teamed up with the existing North Carolina King Tides program, which asks volunteers submit photos of tidal-related events and other examples of flooding.
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Both organizations use apps to document king tides. N.C. King Tides uses the Coastal Observer app to collect photo observations of flooding and ruler gauges that measure water levels. For Wetlands Watch, volunteers map the horizontal extent of street-level flooding that occurs during king tide events using the Sea Level Rise app.
Focused on community flood resilience and climate adaptation, Wetlands Watch heads up the annual Catch the King. This year’s tide mapping event that recruits volunteers to collect flooding data during the Perigean tides, the highest tides of the year, is scheduled for Oct. 27-29.
King tides are the most extreme tides of the year and typically happen August to November. These tides can cause several days of high water and flooding in coastal communities. “As normal flood events grow more severe and more frequent due to climate change, we need your help to document kin tides of today to help us visualize high water levels of the future,” organizers said.
Remaining king tides for this year are expected to be Aug. 23 to Sept. 4, Sept. 25 to Oct. 4, Oct. 27 to Nov. 1, and Nov. 26-28. Previous king tides were in June and July.
Organizers hope to coordinate its first data collection effort during the week of Aug. 28, with particular interest in the super full moon in perigee on Aug. 30.
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A virtual information session on the project is set for 6 p.m. Aug. 23. Register online.
To become involved, email Wetlands Watch Community Engagement Project Manager Gabi Kinney at gabi.kinney@wetlandswatch.org with how you’d like to get involved in collecting data.
