Fusing geophysical and remotely sensed data for observing overwash occurrence, frequency, and impact

The Water Institute of the Gulf, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
By: , and 

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Abstract

Overwash is an important process that enables a barrier island to migrate landward to adapt to rising sea levels but can also impact vegetated areas and create coastal hazards for populated barrier islands. Our overall objectives were to hindcast overwash events from September 2008 to November 2009 and assess whether overwash impacts could be detected using moderate-resolution imagery (30 m). Estimates of wave and still water levels can be benchmarked against morphological characteristics from elevation datasets to predict overwash events. These observations can be combined with optical remote sensing data used to monitor for changes in vegetation greenness over time to evaluate potential impacts from overwash. This study highlighted how physical-based overwash data can be paired with observations of greenness. The results from our study highlighted that a discernable drop in greenness can be detected for major hurricanes, such as Hurricane Gustav in 2008, with a weaker signal observed for smaller magnitude events in 2009 like Hurricane Ida. Tracking overwash impacts to vegetation can be helpful for observing impacts to vegetation associated with restoration efforts and advancing our understanding of general overwash impacts and recovery.
Publication type Conference Paper
Publication Subtype Conference Paper
Title Fusing geophysical and remotely sensed data for observing overwash occurrence, frequency, and impact
DOI 10.1142/9789811275135_0203
Year Published 2023
Language English
Publisher World Scientific
Contributing office(s) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center
Description 14 p.; Data Release
Larger Work Type Book
Larger Work Subtype Conference publication
Larger Work Title The proceedings of the coastal sediments 2023
First page 2206
Last page 2219
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