A Rapid Assessment of Kili Island - Sea Grant College Program

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KiliKili Island is one of only 5 mid-ocean reef platform islands in the Republic of the Marshall Islands(RMI). Mid-ocean reef platform islands are differentiated from atoll islands through the absence of alagoon. Typically these islands are small, and due to limited resources sustain relatively low populations.Kili is the southernmost platform island in the RMI located at 5°38’ N, 169°7’ E, approximately 280km WSW of the capitol island of Majuro. The post WWII history of Kili is both highly complexand contentious. Kili is home to a large population of Bikini Atoll Islanders relocated as a result ofradioactive contamination of their traditionalhome islands. Kili was never intended to serve asa permanent population base and given the sizeand relative paucity of resources, would unlikelysupport such a population if it were not for theissues surrounding resident’s traditional homeislands.Kili is approximately 2000 m long by 500 m wideand has a land area 1 of 0.78 km 2 (192.5 acres). Theisland is oriented along a NE-SW axis. The reefflat which surrounds the island is generally under100 m in width, although in the NW corner thereef exceeds 150 m in width. The 2011 populationof Kili is XXX, although the population is highlydynamic, with considerable movement betweenKili and Majuro.Figure 1. Map of the Marshall Islands showing Kili (5°38’N,169°07’E)ObjectivesKili was subjected to marine inundation on the evening of the 20 th and 21 st of January 2011. The aimof this study is to further understand the mechanisms responsible for this flooding and assess thevulnerability of Kili to future storm and sea-level rise driven inundation. Specific project objectivesinclude:• Assess the physical cause of the January 2011 event by examining the meteorological andoceanographic processes operating during the event.• Determine the extent of flooding based on a robust, community driven assessment of inundatedarea.• Rapidly assess the topography of Kili to better understand the physical characteristics of Kiliwhich contribute to the susceptibility to inundation• Discuss the vulnerability of Kili and provide recommendations for the RMI government, KBEgovernment and Kili community for actions which can mitigate future inundation impacts.Develop a training program to build the capacity of stakeholders in producing assessments ofcoastal inundation events and recording this information on digital maps.1
Figure 2. Aerial photo of Kili, 1945.Figure 3. Satellite image of Kili, 2005. Copyright Digital Globe 2011, all rights reserved.Figure 4. Map of Kili based on features derived from 2006 satellite imagery.2
Page 3: Executive SummaryKili is one of fiv
Page 8 and 9: Between April 2009 and August2011 a
Page 10 and 11: Photographs were then loaded within
Page 12 and 13: Figure 15. Location of elevation me
Page 14 and 15: Figure 17. Generalized contouring o
Page 16: Table 1. A generalized comparison o
Page 19 and 20: ANNEX 2A Simple Plan for Inundation
Page 22 and 23: References1Measured using the edge

A Rapid Assessment of Kili Island - Sea Grant College Program

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