Historical shoreline positions compiled for this update were acquired from multiple sources and are documented in table 1 of this report. Additional information can be found within the attribute table of the shoreline GIS file and the metadata. Historical shoreline position data from 1844–2000 were obtained from previous shoreline change studies completed by the CZM and the USGS (Thieler and others, 2001; Hapke and others, 2010; Himmelstoss and others, 2010). These data were digitized from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) topographic sheets (T-sheets) and aerial photographs as well as a 2000 lidar-derived mean high water (MHW) shoreline extracted from topographic surveys. The 2000 lidar data were collected by the USGS in collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and are part of the 2000 fall East Coast Airborne Lidar Assessment of Coastal Erosion Project. A 2001 shoreline digitized from 50-centimeter (cm) color orthophotographs was obtained from a shoreline change study contracted by the CZM, of the South Shore from the town of Hull to the Cape Cod Canal (Applied Coastal Research and Engineering, Inc., 2006). New data acquired for this update includes vector shorelines digitized from 2008 and 2009 15-cm and 30-cm resolution, 4-band (Red, Green, Blue, natural and infrared) color orthophotographs and a 2007 lidar-derived MHW shoreline. The 2007 lidar data were obtained from NOAA’s National Ocean Service (NOS) and are a part of the 2007 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers scanning hydrographic operational airborne lidar survey (SHOALS).

Table 1. Historical shorelines and data sources.
[ACRE, Applied Coastal Research and Engineering, Inc; CZM, Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management; cm, centimeter; m, meter; T-sheet, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration topography sheet; USGS, U.S. Geological Survey]