What does BIVA mean in UNCLASSIFIED

The Bonriki Inundation Vulnerability Assessment, or BIVA for short, is a tool developed by the World Bank to assess and monitor coastal inundation risks in the Pacific Islands. It uses socio-economic data and oceanographic info to provide an assessment of likely impacts from coastal inundation on communities and infrastructure, so that governments and stakeholders can plan accordingly.

BIVA examines various physical factors which may affect coastal flooding such as sea level rise, storm surge, tide levels and other related variables. Furthermore, it also looks at social and economic factors like population density and land use data to calculate vulnerability scores. These scores are used to analyze how different areas might be affected by rising sea levels.

BIVA can be used by governments, local authorities, private companies or any other party interested in analyzing the potential consequences of coastal inundation for their region or country. Additionally, academic researchers and policymakers may also benefit from using BIVA to understand how their communities would be affected by rising sea levels.

BIVA takes into account various sources of physical information such as bathymetric datasets (showing water depths) as well as elevation models; climate change-related variables such as regional temperature changes; socio-economic data like population density; land use information; as well as historical records of past flooding events. All these datasets are used to asses vulnerability towards inundation events in a specific area.

Ideally, assessments should be done regularly (at least every 5 years) so that assumptions about population density or land use do not become outdated quickly. Additionally, analysis based on future projections should also take into account long-term trends in climate change that might influence coastlines differently over time.

No; access to the tool is free for everyone who wishes to take advantage of it.

While understanding some basic terms related to geospatial analysis is recommended when using BIVA most users will only need basic computer literacy skills such as downloading/uploading files or navigating through web directories when interacting with the online platform on which BIVa runs.

Inundation risk is the probability that an area will experience flooding due to water levels rising above normal conditions. This can happen due to natural causes (such as heavy rainfalls leading riverbanks overflowing), but more importantly due human-induced activities such high emissions causing sea level rise.

After assessing a region’s vulnerability through BIva policy makers have tools available to consider mitigation actions against coastal erosion and sea level rise. These actions may include reinforcing existing protection structures against floods (like dikes), restoring natural defense systems like coral reefs or even relocating settlements away from coasts prone to flooding.