By R. Duncan McIntosh, Elizabeth L. Mclean, and Austin Becker
This research identified vulnerability indicators from open-data sources that represent the three components of vulnerability, as outlined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. With input from experts knowledgeable in port operations, planning, policy, and data, researchers refined a set of high-level vulnerability indicators to answer the following key questions: (1) how sufficient is the current state of U.S. seaport sector data for developing expert-supported vulnerability indicators for a regional sample of ports and (2) how can indicators be used to measure the relative vulnerability (i.e., exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity) of multiple ports? Using open-data sources, this study developed an Indicator-Based Vulnerability Assessment methodology that integrates multiple vulnerability indicators for ports in the North Atlantic region. The Analytic Hierarchy Process, a technique for organizing and analyzing complex decisions using pairwise comparisons, was used to develop a ranking that matched 3 of the top-4 most vulnerable ports that were subjectively identified by port experts. This demonstrates a strong promise for this methodological approach to measure seaport vulnerability to climate and extreme weather events. Indices of seaport relative vulnerability to climate and extreme weather can advance goals for a resilient Marine Transportation System by informing efforts and plans to prioritize and allocate limited resources.