The geographic area analysed around a set of coordinates. For LULC, this is a 5 km x 5 km square. For other modules, it is the point itself or a small buffer.

A suite of water risk tools and datasets published by the World Resources Institute. Continuuiti uses Aqueduct 4.0 for water stress and Aqueduct Flood Hazard Maps V2 for climate-projected flood depths.

The historical reference period against which future changes are measured. For Climate Risk, the baseline is 1980-2014. For Flood Depth, approximately 1980.

A large-scale ecological community type, such as tropical rainforest, temperate grassland, or desert. The RESOLVE framework defines 14 terrestrial biomes.

The ratio of total water withdrawals to available renewable water supply in a river basin. Higher values indicate greater competition for water.

The percentage of ground area covered by the vertical projection of tree crowns. Used in the Hansen dataset to define forest (threshold: 30%, following FAO standard).

The process of identifying and removing cloud-contaminated pixels from satellite imagery before analysis. Uses quality flags embedded in the satellite data.

The Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, phases 5 and 6. Coordinated international efforts to run and compare global climate models. CMIP6 (used by Climate Risk) is the current generation; CMIP5 (used by Aqueduct flood maps) is the previous generation.

An image created by combining multiple satellite observations. Continuuiti uses annual median composites, where each pixel’s value is the median of all cloud-free observations during the year.

Flooding caused by multiple simultaneous drivers (e.g., river flooding combined with storm surge). Not currently modelled by Continuuiti.

The fraction (0.0 to 1.0) of a building’s value estimated to be destroyed or damaged at a given flood depth.

Digital Elevation Model (generic), Digital Surface Model (measures rooftops and tree canopy), Digital Terrain Model (measures bare ground). Continuuiti uses a DTM (FABDEM) for accurate ground-level elevation.

A function mapping flood water depth to the percentage of building value damaged. Published by agencies such as FEMA (HAZUS) and JRC (Huizinga et al.).

A near-real-time 10-metre land cover dataset produced by Google and the World Resources Institute using deep learning applied to Sentinel-2 imagery. Classifies land into 9 categories.

A geographically defined area with distinct natural communities. The RESOLVE framework identifies 846 terrestrial ecoregions worldwide.

EU Deforestation Regulation. Requires companies to demonstrate that commodities placed on the EU market are not linked to deforestation occurring after December 31, 2020.

Forest And Buildings removed Copernicus DEM. A 30-metre bare-earth elevation dataset created by Hawker et al. (2022) by using machine learning to remove buildings and trees. Primary elevation source for Continuuiti.

The vertical distance from the ground to the lowest habitable floor. Critical for damage estimation because it determines whether floodwater enters the building interior.

The vertical margin between ground elevation and projected water level (including sea level rise and tidal/surge allowance). Higher freeboard means lower sea level rise risk.

A mathematical model simulating the Earth’s climate system. Different GCMs make different assumptions and can produce different projections for the same scenario.

Google’s cloud-based platform for planetary-scale geospatial analysis. Hosts petabytes of satellite imagery and environmental datasets. All Continuuiti geospatial computations run on GEE.

The process of converting a text address into geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude).

Global Flood Awareness System, operated by the Copernicus Emergency Management Service at the EU Joint Research Centre. Provides global river flood hazard maps.

A dataset from the University of Maryland mapping global tree cover extent, loss, and gain at 30-metre resolution from 2000 to present. Updated annually.

Hazards U.S., FEMA’s standardised loss estimation methodology for natural hazards including floods, earthquakes, and hurricanes. Continuuiti uses the flood component (version 4.0).

International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship. NOAA’s comprehensive global dataset of tropical cyclone track and intensity data.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The UN body that assesses climate change science. The Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) provides sea level rise projections used in Continuuiti.

International Union for Conservation of Nature. Defines protected area management categories (Ia through VI) used in the WDPA database.

The European Commission’s science and knowledge service. Produces the GloFAS flood maps, JRC Global Forest Cover dataset, and Huizinga et al. damage functions.

A satellite image composite where each pixel’s value is the statistical median of all observations. More robust to outliers (clouds, shadows) than mean composites.

NASA Earth Exchange Global Daily Downscaled Projections. Bias-corrected, statistically downscaled climate projections from CMIP6 models at ~25 km resolution.

A conservation framework assessing ecoregions based on how much natural habitat is protected, from “Half Protected” (Category 1) to “Nature Imperiled” (Category 4).

The geocoding engine for OpenStreetMap. Converts addresses to coordinates using the OSM database.

A collaborative, community-maintained global map database. The data source underlying Continuuiti’s geocoding service.

An indicator attached to a data point describing the conditions under which it was produced (e.g., “normal,” “no_data,” “jrc_artifact”). Helps assess result confidence.

Climate scenario framework used in CMIP5. RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 are approximately equivalent to SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 respectively.

The average recurrence interval of a flood event. RP100 means the flood has a 1% annual probability — not that it occurs exactly once every 100 years.

A pair of Earth observation satellites operated by ESA as part of the Copernicus programme. Provides 10-metre resolution multispectral imagery with ~5-day revisit time.

The size of the smallest feature that can be distinguished in a dataset. A 10-metre resolution means each data point covers a 10m x 10m area.

Scenario framework used in CMIP6 combining socioeconomic narratives with emissions trajectories. SSP2-4.5 is “Middle of the Road”; SSP5-8.5 is “Fossil-Fueled Development.”

Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. A NASA elevation dataset at 30-metre resolution. Used as fallback when FABDEM is unavailable. SRTM is a surface model (includes buildings and trees), unlike FABDEM which is bare-earth.

A temporary rise in sea level caused by a storm’s winds and low atmospheric pressure.

The gradual sinking of land surface over time, often due to groundwater extraction, sediment compaction, or tectonic processes. Particularly significant in delta cities.

Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures / Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. Regulatory frameworks requiring organisations to report on climate-related risks.

A future year for which projections are provided. Represents the centre of a multi-year averaging window.

World Database on Protected Areas. The most comprehensive global database of terrestrial and marine protected areas, maintained by UNEP-WCMC.

ESA WorldCover v200 is a global land cover map at 10-metre resolution derived from Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 satellite data.