Skip to main content

NASA Finds VA Metro Area Is Sinking Unevenly

Home SubsidenceNASA Finds VA Metro Area Is Sinking Unevenly
NASA Finds VA Metro Area Is Sinking Unevenly
Motorists crossing a flooded street in a low-lying Norfolk neighborhood called Colonial Place, which floods at every high tide. Credit: Chesapeake Bay Program/Will Parson
NASA Finds VA Metro Area Is Sinking Unevenly
Part of the new map showing subsidence rates in millimeters per year. Locations A through G are areas of unusually high subsidence. CHR1, LOY1, LOY2 and LSO3 are GPS stations. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The Hampton Roads metropolitan area is sinking at highly uneven rates, with a few spots subsiding 7 to 10 times faster than the area average.

A new NASA-led study shows that land in the Hampton Roads, Virginia, metropolitan area is sinking at highly uneven rates, with a few trouble spots subsiding 7 to 10 times faster than the area average. Whereas earlier estimates had suggested the area is subsiding evenly, the new study found that major differences in subsidence rates occur only a few miles apart.

Hampton Roads has one of the highest rates of relative sea level rise — the combined effects of sinking land and rising seas — along the U.S. East Coast, about an inch (23 millimeters) every five years. It has experienced a steady and dramatic increase in high-tide flooding over the last 90 years. Accurate, local subsidence maps are necessary for the area to prepare for increasing flood risks in the future. The region comprises seven Virginia cities, including Norfolk and Virginia Beach, as well as Naval Station Norfolk, the country’s largest naval base.

Read More

Last modified: November 13, 2025

Placeholder CCRFR Previous:
Spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar Survey of Subsidence in Hampton Roads, Virginia (USA)
Lion fountain statue splashed with blue water Next:
New Study Provides Insight – from Space – Into Sinking Land in Hampton Roads

Comments are closed.

↑