The abstracts of this issue are below. Note that ASBPA members only now have access to a full digital edition of Shore & Beach (click here). Become a member now to get immediate access to the latest issue!
From the Editors’ Desk: Embracing change
Bret Webb and Tiffany Roberts Briggs
https://doi.org/10.34237/1009310
Satellite derived bathymetry as a tool for rapid assessment of storm-induced impacts to beach fill
Edward Albada, Morjana Signorin, Lindino Benedet, Chelsea Ryan, Knut Hartmann, and Christian Bödinge
https://doi.org/10.34237/1009311
For state and federal beach nourishment projects, agencies often face challenges to provide rapid assessments of volume losses immediately after a storm event. These assessments play an important role in quantifying losses and assisting in the decision-making process regarding disaster declarations. Traditionally, the immediate post-storm beach assessment is conducted using visual estimates aided by limited measurements (beach elevation, scarp height, distance from dune to waterline, etc.). Rapid assessments based on visual estimates and limited measurements often have a significant margin of error, especially due to the lack of data in the offshore part of the beach profile. Traditional beach profile surveys including the dry beach and the offshore portion of the beach profile are only collected at a later date, after initial assessments and disaster declarations. Utilizing Satellite-Derived Bathymetry (SDB) to quantify the offshore portion of the profile immediately after a storm could address the issue of lack of offshore data when conducting rapid post-storm assessments for disaster declaration. SDB data is spatially complete, can be available for multiple dates pre- and post-storm (typically a few days after the storm), and it can be used to improve beach volume loss estimates of rapid post-storm assessments. However, SDB is also subject to limitations inherent in the methods and data processing, which will be discussed in this paper. The applicability of SDB is assessed here through comparative analysis between pre- and post- storm SDB datasets and traditional topobathy beach profile surveys. Both SDB data and traditional surveys were obtained at the same dates for the study area, Coquina Beach, located at the southern end of Anna Maria Island, Manatee County, Florida. By conducting this comparative analysis and examining the differences between traditional beach profile surveys and SDB data, the usefulness and limitations of using SDB in estimating preliminary volume losses after a storm event are elucidated. This analysis demonstrated that SDB data can contribute to greater accuracy in post-storm assessments to assist in initial economical loss estimate and disaster declarations as well as facilitate faster disaster response.
Beachcam monitoring of shoreline dynamics
Anna Crouse, Kathleen Fallon, and Henry Bokuniewicz
https://doi.org/10.34237/1009312
Long-term periodic monitoring on New York’s ocean shoreline showed that, despite waxing and waning in the course of any year, beaches have maintained a stable average width between 200 and 300 ft. To examine the shorter-term patterns of change in the beach width, camera images were calibrated to allow beach widths to be determined. Beach widths measured at low tide varied between less than 60 ft to more than 175 ft between January 2023 and the end of January 2024. A pattern of modulation showed a quasi-cyclical behavior with periods between five and 15 days. This seems consistent with the classic synoptic periods of between two and seven days for the passage of mesoscale weather systems. Large variations seem to coincide with wave activity monitored 30 nautical miles south of Long Island (NOAA station 44025) as represented by a “Dalrymple Parameter” (Dp) and taking into account wave height, period and sediment settling speed. Beach widths increased
A method for investigation of small-scale morphologic change around low crested oyster-based structures
Makaya Shemu, Michael Roster, Lauren Cope, Jacob Waggoner, Raphael Crowley, and Robert Richardson
https://doi.org/10.34237/1009313
In recent years, a novel method for shoreline stabilization — Pervious Oyster Shell Habitat (POSH) units, comprised of recycled eastern oyster shells — has been developed. These mound-shaped structures have been deployed along several shoreline sites in northeast Florida. This case study sought to develop and implement a method for investigation of small-scale morphologic change in the vicinity of these structures using smartphone LiDAR technology, surveying instruments, and 2D/3D mapping software. Results suggest that the POSH units are helping to mitigate erosion by trapping sediments around them.
Closure of Historic Lighthouse Beach, Cape Hatteras National Seashore
Stephen P. Leatherman
https://doi.org/10.34237/1009314
Lighthouse Beach at Cape Hatteras National Seashore has been closed by the National Park Service (NPS) because of an oily substance leaking out of the recently uncovered remains of a former U.S. Navy facility. This was the first NPS seashore so designated because of its natural, unspoiled nature. Cape Hatteras is the most northern cape of a unique coastal landform composed of three capes joined by long, narrow barrier islands. Beach erosion has long been a problem, necessitating the landward movement of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in 1999. Continued erosion, as exacerbated by two recent storms, has resulted in the closure of Lighthouse Beach with remediation efforts tied up in jurisdictional issues.
Coastal Observations: Seawall will raise quality of life for shore communities on Staten Island, New York
JoAnne Castagna
https://doi.org/10.34237/1009315
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