Post-Georges Disaster Mitigation Project: Terms of Reference
Coastal Storm Hazard Mapping
The Independent Contractor (hereinafter referred to as "The Consultant") will
be technically responsible to the Director of the Unit for Sustainable Development and
Environment ("USDE") of the General Secretariat of the Organization of American
States ("GS/OAS"), for fulfilling the obligations established by the following
terms of reference of this contract.
One of the major objectives of the Post-Georges Disaster Mitigation (PGDM) project is
the development of national goals, objectives and actions to reduce the vulnerability of
Antigua/Barbuda and St. Kitts/Nevis to the effects of natural hazards. A prerequisite for
developing appropriate hazard mitigation strategies is a solid understanding of the
existing hazards and their effects. Under this contract, maps of estimated storm surge and
wind hazard effects will be developed for the islands of Antigua, Barbuda, St. Kitts and
Nevis.
Under this contract, the Consultant will:
Assemble and evaluate source materials and procedures needed to create digital maps of
the near-shore bathymetry and land cover of Antigua, Barbuda, St. Kitts, and Nevis in the
Leeward Islands for the purpose of running TAOS hurricane models at a resolution of 6
arc-seconds. Purchase LANDSAT images for land cover mapping.
Process the materials and produce digital raster images of elevation/bathymetry and land
cover to common georeferencing and extents for each of the four islands listed above at a
resolution 6 arc-seconds. This task will begin once the PGDM delivers digital elevation
models of all four islands to the consultant.
Visit the four islands to verify the accuracy of the maps in the field before they are
used for modeling.
Contract with Watson Technical Consulting to use the map sets of each of the four
islands as input to the TAOS model suite and produce raster images as well as Arc/Info
data sets of the Maximum Likelihood Estimator for maximum storm wind, storm surge, and
waves due to Tropical Cyclones for return times of 10, 25, 50, and 100 years. Watson
Technical Consulting is to subject the outputs to statistical verification and check them
for errors before delivering them to the Consultant.
For each island, organize the outputs with appropriate colors, legends, explanatory text
and other support materials, in digital format. The format is to be based on Atlas of
Probable Storm Effects in the Caribbean produced by USDE/OAS under the Caribbean
Disaster Mitigation Project. (Hereinafter referred to as "the Atlas") and
consistent with other maps in the PGDM hazard map series. These maps are to include a
common set of locational features (e.g. roads, settlements), to be provided by the PGDM.
Each atlas is to include a technical description of the storm hazard modeling process and
an executive summary of the findings of the mapping/modeling work.
Travel to Antigua and St. Kitts to present the final results of the statistical storm
hazard modeling and mapping work.
Develop maps of Antigua, Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis showing the maximum envelope of
water (MEOW) for storm surge resulting from storms approaching the islands from a variety
of storm tracks, from all directions around the island. Travel to Barbados for five days
to work with the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology to develop a standard
set of colors, legends and explanatory text for inclusion in MEOW maps in the region.
The consultant shall submit the following documents and data to GS/OAS' satisfaction.
All documents are to be submitted in electronic format.
A trip report describing the initial mission to Antigua/Barbuda and St. Kitts/Nevis
The digital topographic/bathymetric and landcover maps to be used in the TAOS model
runs.
GIS data sets containing the storm hazard model results. These data are to be in an
Arc/Info-compatible format, georeferenced to the common mapping standard for each island,
and accompanied by the appropriate GIS metadata, as well as digital copies of all LANDSAT
images purchased under this contract.
Maps of Maximum Likelihood Estimates for maximum storm wind, storm surge, and waves due
to Tropical Cyclones for return times of 10, 25, 50, and 100 years. The maps are to
include at least 1 kilometer of ocean outside of a convex polygon around each island. The
maps are to be in the following format: PowerPoint presentations consistent with Atlas
of Probable Storm Effects in the Caribbean and the PGDM hazard map series.
Atlases for each island showing the maximum envelope of water for a variety of storm
tracks, from all directions around the island.
A trip report, describing the final mission to Antigua, St. Kitts and Barbados.