Satellite-derived shorelines for North Carolina and South Carolina (1984-2021)

This dataset contains shoreline positions derived from available Landsat satellite imagery for North Carolina and South Carolina for the time period of 1984 to 2021. Positions were determined using CoastSat (Vos and others, 2019a and 2019b), an open-source mapping toolbox, was used to classify coastal Landsat imagery and detect shorelines at the sub-pixel scale.
To understand shoreline evolution in complex environments and operate long-term simulations illustrating potential shoreline positions in the next century (Vitousek and others, 2017, 2021), robust historical shoreline data is necessary. Satellite-derived shorelines (SDS) offer expansive shoreline observational data over large geographic and temporal scales. Resulting shorelines for the period of 1984-2021 are presented in KMZ format. Significant uncertainty is associated with the locations of shorelines in extremely dynamic regions, including at the locations of river mouths, tidal inlets, capes, and ends of spits.
These data are readily viewable in Google Earth. For best display of results, it is recommended to turn off any 3D viewing. For technical users and researchers, data can be ingested into Global Mapper or QGIS for more detailed analysis.