Benchmarking shoreline prediction models over multi-decadal timescales

Communications Earth & Environment
By: , and 

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Abstract

Robust predictions of shoreline change are critical for sustainable coastal management. Despite advancements in shoreline models, objective benchmarking remains limited. Here we present results from ShoreShop2.0, an international collaborative benchmarking workshop, where 34 groups submitted shoreline change predictions in a blind competition. Subsets of shoreline observations at an undisclosed site (BeachX) over short (5-year) and medium (50-year) periods were withheld from modelers and used for model benchmarking. Using satellite-derived shoreline datasets for calibration and evaluation, the best performing models achieved prediction accuracies on the order of 10 m, comparable to the accuracy of the satellite shoreline data, indicating that certain beaches can be modelled nearly as well as they can be remotely observed. The outcomes from this collaborative benchmarking competition critically review the present state-of-the-art in shoreline change prediction as well as reveal model limitations, facilitate improvements, and offer insights for advancing shoreline-prediction capabilities.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Benchmarking shoreline prediction models over multi-decadal timescales
Series title Communications Earth & Environment
DOI 10.1038/s43247-025-02550-4
Volume 6
Publication Date July 24, 2025
Year Published 2025
Language English
Publisher Nature
Contributing office(s) Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
Description 581, 15 p.
Country Australia
State New South Wales
Other Geospatial Curl Curl Beach
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