Academic Citations for U-Surge Development
Dr. "Hurricane Hal" Needham is the architect and developer of U-Surge. He authored several academic papers establishing its creation, from an initial dataset for the U.S. Gulf Coast through its expansion as the authoritative global coastal flood database.
The following citations reference peer-reviewed journal articles that established the development of U-Surge:
Needham, H.F., and B.D. Keim, 2012: A Storm Surge Database for the U.S. Gulf Coast. International Journal of Climatology, 32,14,2108-2123. DOI: 10.1002/joc.2425.
Needham, H.F., B.D. Keim, D. Sathiaraj, and M. Shafer, 2013: A Global Database of Tropical Storm Surges. EOS, Transactions American Geophysical Union, 94, 24, 213-214.
Needham, H.F., B.D. Keim, and D. Sathiaraj, 2015: A Review of Tropical Cyclone-Generated Storm Surges: Global Data Sources, Observations and Impacts. Reviews of Geophysics, 53, 2, 545-591.
The following citations reference peer-reviewed journal articles that established the development of U-Surge:
Needham, H.F., and B.D. Keim, 2012: A Storm Surge Database for the U.S. Gulf Coast. International Journal of Climatology, 32,14,2108-2123. DOI: 10.1002/joc.2425.
Needham, H.F., B.D. Keim, D. Sathiaraj, and M. Shafer, 2013: A Global Database of Tropical Storm Surges. EOS, Transactions American Geophysical Union, 94, 24, 213-214.
Needham, H.F., B.D. Keim, and D. Sathiaraj, 2015: A Review of Tropical Cyclone-Generated Storm Surges: Global Data Sources, Observations and Impacts. Reviews of Geophysics, 53, 2, 545-591.
Academic Citations for U-Surge Data Use and Analysis
The world loves U-Surge! The database has been cited hundreds of times in academic literature. For example, as of February, 2026, the journal article Needham et al. (2015), which provided a review of global storm surges using U-Surge data, was cited 396 times! Here are some examples of academic articles that reference U-Surge data.
Morim, J., Wahl, T., Rasmussen, D. J., Calafat, F. M., Vitousek, S., Dangendorf, S., ... & Oppenheimer, M. (2025). Observations reveal changing coastal storm extremes around the United States. Nature Climate Change, 15(5), 538-545.
Li, Q., Ali, R., Zhang, J., He, L., Wu, Z., Ye, Y., ... & Chan, P. W. (2025). Spatial characteristics and prediction of tropical cyclone-induced storm surge along the Guangdong and Hong Kong Coast. Atmospheric Research, 320, 108052.
Ma, Z., Mei, G., & Xu, N. (2024). Generative deep learning for data generation in natural hazard analysis: motivations, advances, challenges, and opportunities. Artificial Intelligence Review, 57(6), 160.
Bernier, N. B., Hemer, M., Mori, N., Appendini, C. M., Breivik, O., de Camargo, R., ... & Zhang, Y. J. (2024). Storm surges and extreme sea levels: Review, establishment of model intercomparison and coordination of surge climate projection efforts (SurgeMIP). Weather and Climate Extremes, 45, 100689.
Qin, Y., Su, C., Chu, D., Zhang, J., & Song, J. (2023). A review of application of machine learning in storm surge problems. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 11(9), 1729.
Chen, R., Zhang, W., & Wang, X. (2020). Machine learning in tropical cyclone forecast modeling: A review. Atmosphere, 11(7), 676.
Balaguru, K., Foltz, G. R., Leung, L. R., Xu, W., Kim, D., Lopez, H., & West, R. (2022). Increasing hurricane intensification rate near the US Atlantic coast. Geophysical Research Letters, 49(20), e2022GL099793.
Naseri, K., & Hummel, M. A. (2022). A Bayesian copula-based nonstationary framework for compound flood risk assessment along US coastlines. Journal of Hydrology, 610, 128005.
Mullick, M. R. A., Tanim, A. H., & Islam, S. S. (2019). Coastal vulnerability analysis of Bangladesh coast using fuzzy logic based geospatial techniques. Ocean & Coastal Management, 174, 154-169.
Lin, Ning, and Kerry Emanuel. "Grey swan tropical cyclones." Nature Climate Change 6.1 (2016): 106-111.
Muis, S., Verlaan, M., Winsemius, H. C., Aerts, J. C., & Ward, P. J. (2016). A global reanalysis of storm surges and extreme sea levels. Nature communications, 7(1), 11969.
Morim, J., Wahl, T., Rasmussen, D. J., Calafat, F. M., Vitousek, S., Dangendorf, S., ... & Oppenheimer, M. (2025). Observations reveal changing coastal storm extremes around the United States. Nature Climate Change, 15(5), 538-545.
Li, Q., Ali, R., Zhang, J., He, L., Wu, Z., Ye, Y., ... & Chan, P. W. (2025). Spatial characteristics and prediction of tropical cyclone-induced storm surge along the Guangdong and Hong Kong Coast. Atmospheric Research, 320, 108052.
Ma, Z., Mei, G., & Xu, N. (2024). Generative deep learning for data generation in natural hazard analysis: motivations, advances, challenges, and opportunities. Artificial Intelligence Review, 57(6), 160.
Bernier, N. B., Hemer, M., Mori, N., Appendini, C. M., Breivik, O., de Camargo, R., ... & Zhang, Y. J. (2024). Storm surges and extreme sea levels: Review, establishment of model intercomparison and coordination of surge climate projection efforts (SurgeMIP). Weather and Climate Extremes, 45, 100689.
Qin, Y., Su, C., Chu, D., Zhang, J., & Song, J. (2023). A review of application of machine learning in storm surge problems. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 11(9), 1729.
Chen, R., Zhang, W., & Wang, X. (2020). Machine learning in tropical cyclone forecast modeling: A review. Atmosphere, 11(7), 676.
Balaguru, K., Foltz, G. R., Leung, L. R., Xu, W., Kim, D., Lopez, H., & West, R. (2022). Increasing hurricane intensification rate near the US Atlantic coast. Geophysical Research Letters, 49(20), e2022GL099793.
Naseri, K., & Hummel, M. A. (2022). A Bayesian copula-based nonstationary framework for compound flood risk assessment along US coastlines. Journal of Hydrology, 610, 128005.
Mullick, M. R. A., Tanim, A. H., & Islam, S. S. (2019). Coastal vulnerability analysis of Bangladesh coast using fuzzy logic based geospatial techniques. Ocean & Coastal Management, 174, 154-169.
Lin, Ning, and Kerry Emanuel. "Grey swan tropical cyclones." Nature Climate Change 6.1 (2016): 106-111.
Muis, S., Verlaan, M., Winsemius, H. C., Aerts, J. C., & Ward, P. J. (2016). A global reanalysis of storm surges and extreme sea levels. Nature communications, 7(1), 11969.