Coastal Dune Condition Codes, North Carolina

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) supports multiple efforts to understand and predict storm impacts to our nation’s coastlines. The geospatial dataset (vector feature class) and comma-delimited American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) table describes the changes in the elevation and cross-shore position of the modern foredune crest from September 1997 to October 2018 across the North Carolina ocean-fronted coastline, as well as infrastructure distance, beach width, and total water level (TWL) elevation information. Two datasets are provided point shapefiles, both at an alongshore resolution of 500 meters (m). The first dataset consists of dune condition codes which provide a summary description of the dune crest height (classified as ‘low’, ‘moderate’, or ‘high’), the dune crest elevation trend (classified as ‘eroding’, ‘no net change’, or ‘accreting’), and the dune crest migration trend (classified as ‘landward’, ‘no net change’, or ‘seaward’) over the last two decades. The cross-shore distance between the dune crest and line of first infrastructure at the end of the study period, the average beach width, and 98% quantile total water level elevation for the study period are also provided. The second dataset consists of interannual dune, beach, and shoreline measurements from which condition code summaries were built and are included so that users may graph and visualize the dune and beach timeseries information at individual condition code locations. An ArcGIS Pro Map Package file is included which displays North Carolina dune condition code and time series features with specific symbology and graphing schema that aid the user in interpreting and visualizing some of the most important data attributes. The methods used to generate this data followed the process outlined in “Decadal-scale characteristics of natural and anthropogenic dune morphology along North Carolina barrier islands (SE Atlantic coast)” by Seymour and others (2026).

Seymour, A.C., Ciarletta, D.J., Parker, K., Doran, K.S., Palmsten, M.L., 2026, Decadal-scale characteristics of natural and anthropogenic dune morphology along North Carolina barrier islands (SE Atlantic coast): Journal of Coastal Research, https://doi.org/10.2112/JCOASTRES-D-25-00053.1.

美国地质调查局（U.S. Geological Survey, USGS）支持多项旨在理解并预测风暴对美国海岸线影响的工作。本次提供的地理空间数据集（矢量要素类，vector feature class）与逗号分隔的美国信息交换标准代码（American Standard Code for Information Interchange, ASCII）表，记录了1997年9月至2018年10月期间北卡罗来纳州临海海岸线现代前沙丘脊的高程与跨岸位置变化，同时涵盖基础设施间距、海滩宽度及总水位（Total Water Level, TWL）高程信息。本次提供两类数据集，均采用沿岸分辨率为500米（m）的点形状文件（point shapefiles）。第一类数据集包含沙丘状态编码，可汇总近二十年来的三类核心信息：沙丘脊高度（分类为“低”“中等”或“高”）、沙丘脊高程变化趋势（分类为“侵蚀”“无净变化”或“淤积”），以及沙丘脊迁移趋势（分类为“向陆”“无净变化”或“向海”）。此外还提供了研究期末沙丘脊与首个基础设施之间的跨岸距离、平均海滩宽度，以及研究期内98%分位数总水位高程数据。第二类数据集包含年际间沙丘、海滩及海岸线的测量数据，基于此类数据生成了前述的沙丘状态编码汇总信息，用户可据此绘制并可视化单个状态编码位置处的沙丘与海滩时序信息。本次附带ArcGIS Pro地图包文件（ArcGIS Pro Map Package file），该文件采用特定符号系统与绘图框架展示北卡罗来纳州沙丘状态编码及时序特征，便于用户解读与可视化部分关键数据属性。本数据集的生成方法遵循了Seymour等人（2026）发表的《北卡罗来纳障壁岛（东南大西洋海岸）天然与人为沙丘形态的十年尺度特征》一文所述流程。
Seymour, A.C., Ciarletta, D.J., Parker, K., Doran, K.S., Palmsten, M.L., 2026, 北卡罗来纳障壁岛（东南大西洋海岸）天然与人为沙丘形态的十年尺度特征：《海岸研究杂志（Journal of Coastal Research）》，https://doi.org/10.2112/JCOASTRES-D-25-00053.1。