Remote Sensing Team

William ShannonSenior Major: Computer Sci.

Omotileiwa OluwatobaFifth Year StudentMajor: GeoinformaticsMinor: Digital Cartography

Michael Jefferson Jr. SophomoreMajor: Computer Sci. Minor: Math

OutlineAbstractIntro to Beach ErosionSatellite Imaging vs. Video ImagingData RetrievalConclusionReferences AcknowledgementsQuestions?

AbstractClimate change has affected the North Carolina coastal environments and coastal

hazards have already taken place in that area. Significant adverse impacts in the form of frequent storms and higher rates of beach erosion have been registered, thus, making compelling the necessity of a current understanding of the vulnerability of coastal zones. We propose to study this vulnerability in the Duck area, North Carolina (location: Lat 36 10 57” N Long 75 45 05” W) utilizing the work of the Army Corps of Engineers at Duck, North Carolina at the Field Research facility (FRF). Our interest in their work lies on the use of video imagery based techniques (researched, designed, experimented and developed by the Coastal Imaging Lab of Oregon State University) implemented for the capture and understanding of changes of near shore morphology since beaches are continuously changing from geological materials (sands, dead and/or bleached corals…etc) shifted by waves, tides, and currents moving sediments and eroding shorelines; this phenomenon carries very challenging, above all devastating outcomes on coastal communities. We are most interested in the intolerant and dramatic periods of storms and hurricanes (when sediment transport is more energetic [Stockdon and Holman,2000] and shoreline changes are more rapid) associated with extended cloud cover when satellite fails to produce images of events occurring during those times.

Due to proprietary rights to this technique developed by CIL, and other limitations, we could at this time acquire neither all the scientific details related to the techniques implemented by the Coastal Imaging Lab (CIL) of Oregon State University nor the logistics behind the installation of the outlet at the FRF tower; nonetheless, our study outcome will help demonstrate the relevance and the ability of the video imagery based techniques to collect images of coastal not only during times of rebuilding but also above all, during dramatic periods of long lasting impact of storms and hurricanes.

IntroductionBeach Erosion/Shoreline ChangesVideo Imaging Satellite Remote Sensing

Field Research Facility Observation Tower

Example of Orbiting Satellite

Example of Satellite Imagery vs. Video Imagery

Satellite Image from Google Earth

Video Image from the FRF tower

Why video Images are importantVideo imaging is based near the investigation areaVideo images are important during inclement

weather because the satellite does not have the ability to permeate the cloud cover.

Data Retrievalhttp://www.frf.usace.army.mil/

InvestigationWe decided to model the changes of beach erosion

from 2002 to 2004We came upon this decision because Hurricane

Isabel came in 2003We thought that the most substantial change would

come in between these years, because hurricanes produce significant changes in beach form

Entrance

Conference with Dr. McNinch

Accessing the Data

Latitudinal and Longitudinal DataData was previously recorded by the FRF

EngineersData on Internet contained a lot of redundant

measurementsWe needed to extract the Latitudinal and

Longitudinal coordinates

This is what the data looked like on the webpage

Latitude

Longitude

Unneeded Information

After deleting approximately 4,000 pieces of information this is what we put into Google Earth to model the changes in beach erosion

Latitude

Longitude

Uploading the Data pointsThe first step was to copy a .kml file program

template from Google

The second step was to add the data into the .kml program and open the program in Google Earth

Duck Beach Pier

One of the methods we observed them using to collect data is a sled. This is a flat trapezoidal shaped wave data collector.This type of shape allows it to stay stationary when collecting data, while also versatile when it is time to move it Coastal Research Amphibious Buggy (CRAB)The CRAB puts the sleds into position

CRAB

Storm Surge of Hurricane Isabel (2003)

Hurricane Isabel had a twenty-five foot storm surge on the North Carolina coast; the beach momentarily disappears

Animation of a fifteen foot storm surge

Future ResearchSince most of the coastal third world countries do not

have the economic prowess to monitor their coastline changes via the use of satellite remote sensing, it is therefore our recommendation, that the use of video imaging remote sensing which is a lot less cheaper than the launching of a space vehicle, be encouraged in order to observe and monitor such critical temporal changes.

Being able to obtain the height difference which is the third variable needed to calculate the volume

Being able to calculate the intense transport of sand volume resulting in beach erosion and shoreline change

Conclusions To conclude, we have observed how coastal video imaging, through the time

exposure (Timex) system (600 pictures at a rate of one image per second for 10 minutes), can help collect, analyze and archive images.

Although we have not been able to establish the mass of sand movement

along the beach, we have however been able to show that there was a movement of sand along the beach particularly during the Hurricane Isabel

Showing that the most prominent causes of beach erosion are tidal waves

and storm surges.

References http://www.frf.usace.army.mil/http://images.google.com/satelliteshttp://cil-www.oce.orst.eduhttp://www.ieee.org/web/publications/

authors/transjnl/index.html

AcknowledgementsMost of the data was provided by the Field Research

Facility, Field Data Collections and Analysis Branch, US Army Corps of Engineers, Duck, North Carolina.

Some of the data was provided by the coastal imaging lab of the State University of Oregon

Special thanks to Dr. Linda B. Hayden Principle Investigator, who has afforded the opportunity to participate in the URE Summer Program 2008

Questions/Comments