LONGSHORE SPATIAL VARIABILITY

OF COASTAL CHANGE COMPARISON

Thesis Proposal
Sarah Jones

Committee
Paul Gares, Advisor
Thad Wasklewicz, Committee Member
Yong Wang, Committee Member
Introduction Current Knowledge Research Questions Study Area Methodology

• Coastal geomorphologists spend most of their time studying beach and dune systems, but the process-form
interrelationship between the two is rarely looked at

• For the coast to best be managed, and to protect or preserve valuable natural and economic resources, its
important that researchers know as much as they can

• Beach and dune systems are one of the most dynamic geomorphic environments where changes occur from
season to season

• They get a continual influx of energy from waves, currents, and winds

• All areas of beaches and dunes experience different energy conditions

• This can result in beach segments showing alternate areas of erosion and deposition next to each other and then
exhibiting opposite trends at another time
Introduction Current Knowledge Research Questions Study Area Methodology

ROMAN-RIVERA (2014) STUDY

• She identified that there were obvious differences in the alongshore direction in all of the
variables she measured (bar line, shoreline, duneline, beach width, and bar distance offshore)

• Those differences also resulted in alongshore differences in changes in the bar/beach/dune dimensions
she measured.

• These differences were noticeable within the 1km long study sections of the Cape Cod shoreline

• Her results lead me to ask several questions about the analysis of shoreline change and to focus
specifically on 2:
• One is more about understanding the shoreline system and the other focuses on sampling
methodology
Introduction Current Knowledge Research Questions Study Area Methodology

BEACH AND SHORELINES

• Creating widespread concern because all around the world beaches are constantly facing coastal erosion

• Shorelines worldwide experience long-term receding, likely from climate change or variations in sediment
supply

• The receding patterns are resulted from longshore gradients in sediment fluxes that causes sediment
redistribution between the onshore and offshore areas both up and down the coast, resulting in net erosion and
accretion

• Factors to consider:
• Wave propagation and refraction
• Longshore currents
• Immediate and long-term beach response
• Short-term extreme events like coastal storms and/or tides
• Sediment size and type
Introduction Current Knowledge Research Questions Study Area Methodology

BEACH AND SHORELINE

• Shoreline features are generally looked at either in the field or in aerial photographs

• Different shoreline proxies used:

• Beach scarp
• High water line (HWL) – most frequently used
• Berm crest
• Vegetation line
• Dune toe
• Dune crest
• Bluff edge
Introduction Current Knowledge Research Questions Study Area Methodology

SHORT AND HESP (1982) BEACH MOBILITY

• Biggest factor of a beach and shoreline is the beach mobility

• Declared that beach mobility can be measured as the standard deviation of the mean position of the shoreline, and
backshore mobility is measured by the coefficient of variation of mean shoreline position
• Low values = low mobility
• High values = high mobility
• Higher susceptibility to erosion-accretion episodes

• Beach form is simply a characteristic of its range of mobility

• Highly mobile beaches have a wider range of forms than beaches with low mobility

• Shoreline change mapping is done to monitor and measure shoreline mobility

• It is important because the erosion rate can affect things like building setbacks, manmade structures built on coasts, insurance rates,
and increasing population in coastal areas
Introduction Current Knowledge Research Questions Study Area Methodology

DUNES

• Foredunes are shore-parallel dune ridges that formed on the top of the backshore, where they can range from flat terraces to
convex ridges

• Growth and development is reliant on:

• Source and availability of sand supply
• Rates of sand transport
• Speed and direction of wind flow across dune systems
• Vegetation density, distribution, height and cover
• Wind velocity
• Storm wave erosion
• Wind direction

• On aerial photographs, appear lighter in color due to grassy-type vegetation

Introduction Current Knowledge Research Questions Study Area Methodology

BEACH-DUNE INTERACTIONS

• Relation between the two is crucial because beaches and dunes are fundamentally important to
economies, marine ecosystems, cultures, and the lifestyle of the residents

• Interaction is characterized by exchanges of sediment that depend on sand availability and wind
conditions

• The beach directly affects the exchange of sediments going from the beach to the dunes, by influencing
aeolian processes through beach slope, grain size distribution and beach width

• Different beach types have varying interactions with dunes:

• Dissipative, intermediate, and reflective
 Introduction Current Knowledge Research Questions Study Area Methodology

BEACH TYPES AND CORRESPONDING

DUNES

 Dissipative beaches:
 High wave energy
 Maximum potential aeolian sediment transport but low wind
flow disturbance
 Wide, gently sloping beach face
 Large foredunes

 Reflective beaches:
 Lower wave energy
 Minimal potential aeolian sediment transport but high wind
flow disturbance
 Steep beach face
 Fairly small foredunes

 Intermediate beaches:
 Moderate wave energy
 High to moderate potential aeolian sediment transport, and
moderate to low wind flow disturbance
 Moderate sloping beach face
 Foredune size ranges from large-scale parabolic dunes to
small-scale blowouts Photo credibility: Dr. Brent
Zaprowski, Salisbury University
Introduction Current Knowledge Research Questions Study Area Methodology

BEACH-DUNE INTERACTION RESPONSE TO STORM EVENTS

• Storm impact response depends on:

• Height and extend of the foredune relative to storm level
• Shoreline conditions that were pre-existing and their vulnerability
• Storm characteristics
• Shoreline orientation and swash process
• Wave and wind energy variations
• Water level
• Beach width

• Greatest control on shoreline recession and dune erosion during storms is the water levels from storm surges.
• The higher water level, typically leads to more extensive dune cliffing and overwash events
• The lower water level, typically leads to dune repair and foredune progradation

• The more sediment is eroded from dunes, the less likely it will withstand storm surge
Introduction Current Knowledge Research Questions Study Area Methodology

RELATIONSHIP TO BEACH WIDTH

• Beach width is directly related to the dune field vegetation and its ability to resist damage from storms
• Larger foredunes occur on the widest beaches with maximum potential sediment supply making it more storm resistant
• Smaller foredunes occur on the narrowest beaches with minimum potential sediment supply, making it less storm resistant

• The wider a beach, the farther waves have to travel inland resulting is a dissipation of their energy.
Introduction Current Knowledge Research Questions Study Area Methodology

SEASONALITY

• Beaches and dunes experience periodic fluctuations in their dynamic behavior as frequently as a seasonal time
scales to individual events.

• Spring and summer is generally more mild

• Fall and winter there is an increase in storm frequency and intensity

• Seasonal changes and storm-induced erosion is one of the biggest causes of error when studying coastal areas
• To minimize the error, only use and/or collect summertime data
• This eliminates the chance for extreme rate-of-change values

• Coco et al., (2014) states that shorelines can mostly recover from storm-induced erosion, and that recovery can
happen extremely fast
Introduction Current Knowledge Research Questions Study Area Methodology

SHORELINE SEASONALITY

Spring and Summer:

Continuous deposition of new shoreline occurs in the
summer because waves are at their mildest
Shorelines facing southerly tend to erode more in the
summer

Fall and Winter:

Rapid shoreline erosional events occurs in the winter
because there are more high-energetic wave conditions
Shorelines facing northerly tend to erode more in the
winter
Introduction Current Knowledge Research Questions Study Area Methodology

DUNE SEASONALITY

• Spring and Summer:

• The frontal dune typically collapses
• Lower slope because the vegetation roots are exposed to salt water and winds, making the plants die and the sand of the
dune to dry out, allowing sand to accumulate at its toe

• Fall and Winter:

• Aeolian sedimentation was found to be minimal with foredunes
• The dune is eroded by the waves, making the slope of the frontal dune steep because the plants can prevent the collapsing of
the dune crest and the retreat of the mount
Introduction Current Knowledge Research Questions Study Area Methodology

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. Dealing with patterns of change in the longshore direction, do the patterns that Roman-Rivera (2014) observed
repeat themselves if the area studied is expanded, or were the patterns she observed random?

2. Is there a sample transect interval that best represents the longshore variations in beach/dune system change?
 Introduction Current Knowledge Research Questions Study Area Methodology

STUDY AREA

• Provincetown, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

• Roman-Rivera (2014) divided Cape Cod into
5 zones, but I will only focusing on zones 4
and 5
• Zone 4
• Total: 3.9km shoreline section
• 1km section in the center
• Zone 5
• Total: 6.4km shoreline section
• 1km section in the center

• Dunes were created by sand from the beaches

of the signature elongated hook being blown
inland
Introduction Current Knowledge Research Questions Study Area Methodology

VEGETATION AT CAPE COD

• Dunes are scattered by vegetation to try to minimize dune migration

• Most common vegetation is the American Beach Grass

• American beach grass blankets the dunes which traps the wind-blown sand and hugging the sand against their
extensive root systems

• The plant has learned to tolerate most of the atmospheric conditions

• But winds tend to carry salt spray from the ocean causing damage to the structural integrity of the plant

• Areas that were once bare sand are now covered with plants, working to continuously stabilize the dunes
 Introduction Current Knowledge Research Questions Study Area Methodology

DATA COLLECTION AND

PRE-PROCESSING

Date Resolution Source

 The same data that was used by Roman-Rivera (2014) will be
used here April 2001 1:2,500 MassGIS
Summer 2003 1m USDA Data Gateway
 Orthoimagery for time periods 2001-2012 from two different
sources: USDA Data Gateway and the Massachusetts Office of April 2005 1:5,000 MassGIS
Geographic Information Systems (MassGIS)
Summer 2008 1m USDA Data Gateway
 Only doing 2001-2012 because that is the short term time frame
that Roman-Rivera did Summer 2010 1m USDA Data Gateway
Summer 2012 1m USDA Data Gateway
 For each separate year, the different photos needs to be
combined together into their own mosaic using Lambert
Conformal Conic, leaving me with 6 different mosaics

 Nearest Neighbor resampling method used where the values of

the output cells are determined by the nearest center on the input
grid
Introduction Current Knowledge Research Questions Study Area Methodology

DIGITIZATION OF FEATURES

• On each of the 6 mosaic images, the shoreline and duneline positions will be digitized for that year twice, once at the1km length
and then doubled at 2km
• Shoreline = high water mark (HWM) (wet/dry line)
• Positive: Clearly visible on aerial photography due to the obvious tonal difference between the wet and dry sand
• Negative: Not a morphological feature but is more of a “line in the sand,” making it sensitive to short-term fluctuations in wave and tide
conditions
• Duneline = vegetation line
• Positive: the most easily identifiable if I'm trying to define the boundary line between the beach and dunes, given the fact that I don’t have 3-
dimensional information
• Negative: there is lag effect where vegetation takes a while to react to external forces, but again it’s the best I can see on orthophotography

• Once each year’s mosaic has both features digitized for both lengths, the different lengths will be inserted on to their own master
mosaic image and then all of the feature’s position data will be put in their own single feature class within a personal geodatabase.
Introduction Current Knowledge Research Questions Study Area Methodology

DIGITAL SHORELINE ANALYSIS SYSTEM (DSAS)

• DSAS computes rate-of-change statistics for a time series of shoreline vector data

• Initially built for use in coastal environments, but it can be used for any boundary-change problem that
incorporates a clearly-identified feature position at separate times like:
• Glacier limits
• River banks
• Landuse/cover boundaries

• It measures distance from an established baseline to a line that has been digitized on a map or photo as the
boundary of a feature

• The baseline Roman-Rivera used will be used here so that a level of consistency between the two research
projects is maintained
Introduction Current Knowledge Research Questions Study Area Methodology

IDEA BEHIND DSAS WORKFLOW

Each shoreline path represents a specific position in time and must be assigned a
date in the shoreline feature-class attribute table

The measurement transects that are cast by DSAS from the baseline will intersect the
shoreline paths

The points of intersection provide location and time information used to calculate
rates of change

The distances from the baseline to each intersection point along a transect are used to
compute the selected statistics
Introduction Current Knowledge Research Questions Study Area Methodology

DSAS CALCULATIONS

• Calculations performed from DSAS are expressed in meters of change along transects per year

• Net Shoreline Movement (NSM):

• The total distance between the oldest and youngest shoreline/duneline for each transect
• Shoreline change envelope (SCE):
• The distance between the shoreline/duneline farthest from and closest to the baseline at each transect
• End Point Rate (EPR):
• Calculates the rate of change between the oldest and most recent shoreline/duneline by dividing the distance
between them by the years elapsed between the two
Introduction Current Knowledge Research Questions Study Area Methodology

DSAS PART 1
Introduction Current Knowledge Research Questions Study Area Methodology

DSAS PART 1: BOTH ZONES 4 & 5

• Transect interval will be set at 50m for both sample lengths, 1km and 2km

• EPR, SCE, and NSM will be calculated for both lengths

• ANOVA test will be run to determine if there are significant differences in mean scores on the dependent variable
across two or more groups.
• Roman-Rivera’s ANOVA didn’t meet all assumptions

• Robust Test of Equality of Means will be done next

• t-Test will also likely be done

• As I get results, for both the 1km and 2km AOI, I plan to compare them by plotting and running more
comparison statistics
Introduction Current Knowledge Research Questions Study Area Methodology

DSAS PART 2

• Seeks to answer the sampling density required to adequately represent the spatial
nature of the beach/dune features question
• Only done for zone 4
• Transects will be cast across the 2km AOI at intervals of 25m, yielding data for
80 transects.
• Data set will then be divided into 4 subgroups per increasing transect intervals of
25, 50, 75, and 100m, yielding data sets with 80, 40, 26 and 20 transects.
• All of the same DSAS calculations and comparison statistics done in part 1, will
be done here.
• It it looks like something is significant within those 4 subgroups, I will then
break the intervals down further
Introduction Current Knowledge Research Questions Study Area Methodology

FURTHER ANALYSIS

• I plan to plot using bar graphs the distance from baseline to duneline, and
distance from baseline to shoreline.

• To look at variability across beach width, I plan to subtract the distance from
baseline to duneline from the distance from baseline to shoreline

• I plan to manipulate the data in multiple ways just to see what stands out and
works, and what doesn’t

• If there’s time:
• Find elevation data for the corresponding years, to add another component
• Add the most recent years to see if that effects the patterns
Introduction Current Knowledge Research Questions Study Area Methodology

TIMELINE

• End of January  Be done with digitizing

• Middle of February  Be done with DSAS and have data organized in Excel

• February to March  Start manipulating the data and run statistical tests

• April  Start writing

• Beginning to Middle of June  Finish writing

Introduction Current Knowledge Research Questions Study Area Methodology

QUESTIONS?
 Introduction Current Knowledge Research Questions Study Area Methodology

REFERENCES

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