Application of nonstationary extreme value analysis in the coastal environment – A systematic literature review

Abstract

Coastal zones are among the most complex and dynamic areas on earth. Many marine and hydrologic processes act individually or combined in these areas and can lead to extreme events impacting coastal communities. Since coastal areas are densely populated and host many significant economic activities, understanding how these extremes are changing is crucial for integrated coastal zone management. More reliable and appropriate estimations of future extreme conditions in nearshore areas are urgently needed in light of the projected increases in the severity of future loading conditions combined with the limited residual service life of many existing coastal infrastructures. Considering the ever-growing adoption of nonstationary extreme value analysis as a reliable tool to study the evolution of extremes in coastal regions, this paper provides a systematic and comprehensive literature review on this topic. For this purpose, an automated search algorithm is used to retrieve the most relevant literature form the SCOPUS database. Then, after a careful review of the full texts, a set of articles and conference papers that fully match the purpose of the article are selected and classified based on 14 different categories. Moreover, research challenges and future research pathways regarding nonstationary extreme value analysis are highlighted and discussed.

Keywords

• Nonstationarity
• Extreme value analysis
• Coastal environment
• Flooding
• Systematic review