Open dataset · Habitat · Driver/Pressure

Global database of Coastal Characteristics (GCC)

Global database of Coastal Characteristics (GCC) is an open dataset published by Zenodo, under CC BY 4.0. It describes sandy shores, climate change, human population and wealth. Coverage: global ice-free coastline, ERA5 wave/met indicators from hourly data 1979-2019; land cover ESA WorldCover 2020; other indicators not stated. Biohotspot shows it on its map as 3 layers.

CC BY 4.0Published 2024Free downloadOn the map · 3 layers

About this dataset

This dataset present a Global database of Coastal Characteristics (GCC) with 80 indicators spanning the

geophysical,

hydrometeorological and

socioeconomic

environment, at a high alongshore resolution of 1 km and provided at ~730,000 points along the global ice-free coastline. The latest freely available global datasets and a global high-resolution transect system are used to derive these indicators.

The geophysical indicators include coastal slopes and elevation maxima, land-use, presence of vegetation or sandy beaches.The hydro-meteorological indicators involve water level, wave conditions and meteorological conditions (rain and temperature). Additionally, the socioeconomic indices are related to population, GDP and presence of critical infrastructure (roads, railways, ports and airports).

The indicators are provided in three comma-separated values (CSV) files, one for each group:

GCC_geophysical.csv

GCC_hydrometeorological.csv

GCC_socioeconomic.csv

Information for each individual indicator, including its name, long name (description), units and type, are provided in the meta_data.yml file.

The authors' description, from the dataset's DataCite record (10.5281/zenodo.8200199, CC0).

What it describes

Habitat
Sandy shores
Driver/Pressure
Climate changeHuman populationWealth
Variables
Land useMean wave direction (degrees)RainTemperatureWater levelPopulation at elevation of <10m (thousands)GDPPresence of vegetation

On the Biohotspot map

Open a layer to see it on the map, then tap any sea or draw an area to read its values there.

Get the data

Open https://zenodo.org/records/11072020 (v1.1; concept DOI 10.5281/zenodo.8200199 always resolves to latest) and download the three CSVs plus meta_data.yml. No login needed.

How to cite it

Athanasiou, P., van Dongeren, A., Pronk, M., Giardino, A., Vousdoukas, M., Ranasinghe, R. (2024). Global database of Coastal Characteristics (GCC) (v1.1). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8200199. Article: Global Coastal Characteristics (GCC): a global dataset of geophysical, hydrodynamic, and socioeconomic coastal indicators, Earth Syst. Sci. Data 16, 3433-3452, 2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-3433-2024

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