The last weeks I’ve been modeling and calculating the impacts on the land areas of the coastal zone of Lagos State by applying ocean storm surge levels (return periods) in a model. This model is rather simple; a “bathtub” model where the digital elevation model is exposed to the rise of waterlevels. The challenge lies in the handling of the data, since the entire dataset is composed of +/- 4500 tiles of 1km x 1km. Flood extents and inundation depths will be the basic output. The overlay of these digital maps with landuse and estates and already designed master plans will determine hot and cold spots though.

Besides, the pleasant moment of the releasing of the data to us a few weeks ago followed up with the announcement of the special advisor of the company which is responsible for spatial data management in Lagos, that the employee who helped me collecting the data will be fired. According to this special advisor, the employee should not have released the data without informing him. The contract, the confidential terms and data coverage were all agreed up on by all parties, however it seems that this special advisor felt passed by and therefore annoyed. A few meetings and a presentation were necessary to set things straight and sort everything out, because this employee did nothing wrong in essence. At the end, after all rectifications and explanatory talks the guy didn’t lose his job and we were still allowed to use the data. The strong hierarchy within companies in Nigeria is just something you have to take into account..

I’m already one week back in the Netherlands and will finalize my thesis the next coming months. Processing results and writing of my report will be the main activities. But first I will enjoy a nice weekend off In the Ardennes of Belgium!

Cheers Bas