Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) version 4.3 transects with end-point rate calculations for sheltered shorelines between Point Barrow and Icy Cape for the time period 1947 to 2012

The Arctic Coastal Plain of northern Alaska is an area of strategic economic importance to the United States, is home to remote Native American communities, and encompasses unique habitats of global significance. Coastal erosion along the north coast of Alaska is chronic, widespread, may be accelerating, and is threatening defense and energy-related infrastructure, natural shoreline habitats, and Native communities. There is an increased demand for accurate information regarding past and present shoreline changes across the United States. To meet these national needs, the Coastal and Marine Geology Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is compiling existing reliable historical shoreline data along sandy shores of the conterminous United States and parts of Alaska and Hawaii under the National Assessment of Shoreline Change project.
There is no widely accepted standard for analyzing shoreline change. Existing shoreline data measurements and rate calculation methods vary from study to study and prevent combining results into state-wide or regional assessments. The impetus behind the National Assessment project was to develop a standardized method of measuring changes in shoreline position that is consistent from coast to coast. The goal was to facilitate the process of periodically and systematically updating the results in an internally consistent manner.

阿拉斯加北部的北极沿海平原（Arctic Coastal Plain）是对美国具有战略经济价值的区域，同时也是偏远美洲原住民社区的聚居地，拥有兼具全球重要性的独特生境。阿拉斯加北海岸的海岸侵蚀长期存在、分布广泛，且可能呈加剧趋势，正威胁着国防与能源相关基础设施、自然岸线生境以及原住民社区。全美范围内对获取过去与当前岸线变化准确信息的需求日益增长。为满足这些国家层面的需求，美国地质调查局（U.S. Geological Survey, USGS）的海岸与海洋地质项目组正依托《全国岸线变化评估》（National Assessment of Shoreline Change）项目，收集美国本土（conterminous United States）及阿拉斯加、夏威夷部分区域砂质岸线的现有可靠历史岸线数据。
目前尚无被广泛认可的岸线变化分析标准。现有岸线数据测量方法与侵蚀速率计算方法因研究而异，阻碍了将研究结果整合至全州或区域尺度的评估工作。发起《全国岸线变化评估》项目的初衷，便是开发一套跨海岸统一的标准化岸线位置变化测量方法。该项目的目标是以内部统一的标准，定期且系统地更新评估结果，以简化该更新流程。