Improving coastal flood models with AI: Spotlight on Iria Suárez Corral.

As climate change accelerates, better tools are needed to assess and adapt to rising sea levels and coastal flooding. Iria Suárez Corral, a PhD candidate and consultant at IHCantabria, is contributing to this challenge as part of the CoCliCo project.

Her research focuses on improving the way coastal defense structures are represented in flood models, an often overlooked but crucial factor in determining the accuracy of flood impact assessments.

Bridging a data gap in flood risk assessment
Iria is based at the Environmental Hydraulics Institute of the University of Cantabria, within the “Climate Risks, Adaptation and Resilience” research group. Her work combines flood modeling, erosion risk analysis, and the testing of adaptation measures.

At the core of her PhD is the development of a methodological framework to reduce uncertainty in large-scale flood simulations. A key part of this involves using computer vision techniques to automatically detect and characterize coastal defenses from satellite imagery. These structures are typically underrepresented or entirely absent in many regional and continental flood models due to the lack of accessible and standardized geospatial data.

By bringing them into clearer view, Iria’s work can support more reliable simulations and more informed decisions for coastal management and spatial planning.

Why CoCliCo?
For Iria, being part of the CoCliCo project means contributing to innovative tools that promote resilience across European coastlines. The collaborative nature of the project is also a strong motivator.

“It’s also highly motivating to work in a multidisciplinary and international environment, which allows me to connect with leading researchers and fellow PhD students working on similar challenges” she notes.

From chemical engineering to coastal resilience
Iria holds a Master’s Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Barcelona and another in Protected Areas from the University of Madrid. Her shift toward coastal research was driven by the urgent need for better risk assessment tools in a world facing climate change, sea-level rise, and rapid socio-economic development.

Her aim is to ensure that technical limitations (such as missing data on coastal infrastructure) don’t stand in the way of protecting vulnerable communities and ecosystems.

Impact beyond the lab
With more accurate simulations of coastal flooding, Iria hopes her research will lead to better policy and planning decisions. This is especially important for regions where coastal defenses are critical to reducing the risks of extreme weather events.

By incorporating artificial intelligence and remote sensing into flood modeling, her work aims to support a broader move toward smarter, more responsive climate adaptation strategies.

When not in the lab…
Outside of work, Iria enjoys hiking, scuba diving, and snorkeling. When she’s not exploring the mountains or the sea, she relaxes with watercolor painting and reading.

Want to connect with Iria?
Find her on LinkedIn.