We are visualizing an historical flood in a photorealistic environment using a virtual reality (VR) headset as well as its projected level with different level of sea level rise. Our pilot study will be Balboa Island of Newport Beach, a coastal city in South California, that has experienced nuisance floodings regularly as well as a major centennial flood in 2005. Because of the recurrent nuisance flood and recent centennial flood still in people memory, Balboa Island is a perfect location for testing the impact of VR technology of coastal flooding awareness in a changing climate. By showing that sea level rise is the main contributor to flood in Balboa, we will highlight the importance of Earth science research to estimate sea level rise accurately, and invest to build the appropriate infrastructures.
