Shorelines of the Alabama coastal region used in shoreline change analysis

Publication Date

2017

Start Date

1849

End Date

2001

Himmelstoss, E.A., Kratzmann, M.G., and Thieler, E.R., 2017, National assessment of shoreline change – A GIS compilation of updated vector shorelines and associated shoreline change data for the Gulf of Mexico: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/F78P5XNK.

This dataset includes shorelines from 152 years ranging from 1849 to 2001 for the Alabama coastal region from the Florida border to Dauphin Island. Shorelines were compiled from topographic survey sheets (T-sheets; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, Office of Geology (MOG), University of South Alabama (USA)), air photos (Florida Department of Environmental Protection), and lidar data (United States Geological Survey/National Aeronautics and Space Administration). Historical shoreline positions serve as easily understood features that can be used to describe the movement of beaches through time. These data are used to calculate rates of shoreline change for the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Assessment of Shoreline Change Project. Rates of long-term and short-term shoreline change were generated in a GIS using the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) version 4.3. DSAS uses a measurement baseline method to calculate rate-of-change statistics. Transects are cast from the reference baseline to intersect each shoreline, establishing measurement points used to calculate shoreline change rates.

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