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Suggested Citation: "2 Select a Framework." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Assessing Climate Change Vulnerability at Airports: A Primer. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/27982.

2. Select a Framework

There are many ways to approach a vulnerability assessment. Fortunately, existing frameworks and tools are available to guide the process. Before embarking on your vulnerability assessment, consider which framework and tools might be best suited for your needs.

A variety of vulnerability assessment frameworks are available and appropriate for use by airports—including several that are very useful frameworks but may not be specifically designed for airports. Fortunately, they can be easily adapted to apply to airport settings.

Since the landscape of available vulnerability assessment frameworks is diverse, this section will guide you on how to select a framework and the recommended vulnerability assessment framework options available for use by your airport. Though this primer focuses on the frameworks most commonly used, you may select alternate frameworks and resources that are not covered in this primer.

The user-friendly vulnerability assessment frameworks that apply to airports are summarized in Table 2-1.

Table 2-1: Recommended Vulnerability Assessment Frameworks

Resource Name	Scope Applicability	Description	Consider Selecting This Framework When…	Assessment Process Features
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Climate Change: Climate Risk Assessment, Adaptation and Resilience – Key Steps in Aviation Organisation Climate Change Risk Assessment and Adaptation Planning (ICAO, 2022)	Airport-wide operations and infrastructure assets	This resource presents a step-by-step process divided into two stages, “Risk Assessment” and “Adaptation Planning,” to conduct a climate change risk assessment and develop and implement a climate change adaptation plan. This process can be scaled and utilized by organizations of any size or structure.	Getting started and seeking an airport wide framework that specifically focuses on an airport’s general systems or assets. Seeking a generalized framework that can guide your approach. The ICAO framework applies a holistic top down methodology.	The climate risk assessment process follows the plan-do-check-act cycle and provides supplemental guidance related to building organizational-level support, identifying airport-specific impacts by climate hazard, and adaptation planning. Vulnerability is defined as a composite of likelihood, consequence, and adaptive capacity. Terminology including likelihood, consequence, risk, adaptive capacity, and vulnerability are defined and asset categories are airport specific. The term “climate stressors” is used in this framework, which are the same as “climate hazards” in this primer. In the framework, resources are generally referenced and may require additional user research to find the applicable information (e.g., updated climate data).
U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Framework Third Edition (FHWA, 2017) and Vulnerability Assessment Scoring Tool (VAST) (DOT, 2015)	Organizational level infrastructure assets	The framework provides an in-depth and structured process for conducting a vulnerability assessment and guidance for integrating climate resilience considerations into transportation decision-making. VAST is a Microsoft Excel-based tool to guide organizations on implementing an indicator-based vulnerability assessment of their transportation assets.	Asset level data are available that can inform an airport-wide vulnerability assessment. Seeking a bottom-up assessment, starting with asset level data. This indicator-based vulnerability assessment applies to all assets within the airport.	The framework is tailored to the roadway transportation sector, though the concepts are applicable to the aviation sector and many of the referenced resources are applicable to airports. The framework tool, VAST, can be tailored to airports, including the user self-entering assets. Vulnerability is defined as a composite of exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. Vulnerability assessments are determined one of three ways: stakeholder input, an indicator-based desk review approach for systems-level information, or an engineering-informed assessment at an asset level. The term “climate stressors” is used in this framework, which are the same as “climate hazards” in this primer.

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Resource Name	Scope Applicability	Description	Consider Selecting This Framework When…	Assessment Process Features
ACRP Report 147: Climate Change Adaptation Planning: Risk Assessment for Airports and Airport Climate Risk Operational Screening (ACROS) Tool (ACRP, 2015)	Airport-wide operations and infrastructure assets	An aviation resource that provides a climate risk assessment process and custom designed stand-alone tool.	Getting started and seeking an airport-wide framework that specifically focuses on an airport’s assets and operations. This is an acceptable framework, particularly if your airport has used it previously and is seeking to update the vulnerability assessment. Airports should acknowledge that some terms and definitions have been updated since publication.	The framework and ACROS tool have a robust list of airport-specific assets, operations, and associated adaptations. The custom built ACROS tool is based on climate data that has since been updated. The vulnerability assessment process includes supplemental guidance related to building organizational-level support, identifying airport-specific impacts by climate hazard, and resilience planning. Vulnerability is defined using a now superseded approach. Vulnerability assessments are determined via stakeholder input. Assets and operations are prioritized based on a risk score (risk = criticality x vulnerability x climate vector). The term “climate vectors” is used in thisframework, which is no longer commonly referenced in the industry and is not included in this primer.
Federal Aviation Administration and DOT’s Volpe Center National Transportation Systems Center Airport Resilience Analysis Framework (ARAF) (Pending Development)	Project-level infrastructure projects at National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) facilities and six airports in Micronesia	The framework includes a four-step process to complete a climate risk assessment for airport infrastructure assets. The FAA plans to use the outputs of ARAF to identify resilience projects for FAA funding. The resource is anticipated to include a Microsoft Excel-based tool and guidebook.	Publicly available. An airport is seeking capital funding from FAA.	At the time of publication, the framework is in development and the final attributes are unknown. Seven climate hazards are assessed including: coastal flooding, riverine flooding, precipitation and storms, high temperatures, wind, land stability, and wildfire for baseline year 2020 and projected to 2050 using the intermediate emission scenario and the high emission scenario (i.e., representative concentration pathways (RCPs) 4.5 and 8.5); users may self-select to add more climate hazards to assess. The infrastructure critical asset list for the assessment includes runway, drainage, and NAVAIDs with user-specified critical assets optional to add. Climate hazards with an impact exposure rating of medium, high, or very high are prompted to complete a vulnerability assessment. A vulnerability score is calculated based on sensitivity to both historic and future impacts and an adaptive capacity low/medium/high range defined in the framework and based on no more than a 24-hour or 2x/year disruption. The term “climate impact score” is used and is determined by combining the exposure value for each hazard and asset with the vulnerability score; it is referred with in this primer as “risk.” Assessment results are based on the relative exposure of each airport compared to other airports in the region. Data entry is via a downloadable Microsoft Excel-based workbook.
National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Project 23-32: Transportation Asset Risk and Resilience (Pending Development)	Transportation systems, particularly highway systems	A transportation resource that provides a Transportation Asset Risk and Resilience Manual describing methods for completing comprehensive risk assessments for hazards, including climate hazards.	Publicly available. An airport is seeking data-driven risk analyses and a standardized method to identify risk mitigation and improvement strategies.	At the time of publication, the framework is in development and the final attributes are unknown. The anticipated date of availability of the Transportation Asset Risk and Resilience Manual is 2026. The framework is anticipated to include quantitative and data-driven approaches for completing comprehensive risk assessments of transportation systems for hazards, including climate hazards.