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Monitoring interdecadal coastal change along dissipative beaches via satellite imagery at regional scale

Coastal Futures
By: , , , , , and 
https://doi.org/10.1017/cft.2023.30

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Abstract

Coastal morphological changes can be assessed using shoreline position observations from space. However, satellite-derived waterline (SDW) and shoreline (SDS; SDW corrected for hydrodynamic contributions and outliers) detection methods are subject to several sources of uncertainty and inaccuracy. We extracted high-spatiotemporal-resolution (~50 m-monthly) time series of mean high water shoreline position along the Columbia River Littoral Cell (CRLC), located on the US Pacific Northwest coast, from Landsat missions (1984–2021). We examined the accuracy of the SDS time series along the mesotidal, mildly sloping, high-energy wave climate and dissipative beaches of the CRLC by validating them against 20 years of quarterly in situ beach elevation profiles. We found that the accuracy of the SDS time series heavily depends on the capability to identify and remove outliers and correct the biases stemming from tides and wave runup. However, we show that only correcting the SDW data for outliers is sufficient to accurately measure shoreline change trends along the CRLC. Ultimately, the SDS change trends show strong agreement with in situ data, facilitating the spatiotemporal analysis of coastal change and highlighting an overall accretion signal along the CRLC during the past four decades.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Monitoring interdecadal coastal change along dissipative beaches via satellite imagery at regional scale
Series title Coastal Futures
DOI 10.1017/cft.2023.30
Volume 1
Year Published 2023
Language English
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Contributing office(s) Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
Description e42, 14 p.
Country United States
State Oregon, Washington
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