Mapping Historical Changes in Florida's Coastline from 1875 to 2000

Authors

  • Tucker Hindle
  • Hongbo Su
  • Tsung-Chow Su
  • Tobin Hindle

Abstract

Florida’s beaches are highly dynamic coastal
features. They are vulnerable to accretion and erosion
over time due in part to human interaction and climate
change stressors such as storm activity. This study used
the USGS Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) to
calculate a long-term change rate from 1875 to 2000 and
a short-term change rate from 1950 to 2000 of Florida’s
coastline from the NOAA Historical Surveys data set.
The results show that Florida’s coastline has not retreated
in the past 50 years with overall long and short-term
change rates of 0.014 m/yr and 0.110 m/yr of accretion
respectively. Although the overall rates imply minimal
change, coastline variability at a local level is prevalent.
The data set of mapped historical change rates created
during this research provides quantitative data that can be
used to make local decisions to improve beach stability.

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Published

2019-07-25

Issue

Vol. 8 (2019): FAU Undergraduate Research Journal

Section

Articles

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