Digital Shoreline Analysis System version 4.3 Transects with Short-Term End Point Rate Calculations for southern North Carolina (NCsouth)

Sandy ocean beaches are a popular recreational destination, often surrounded by communities containing valuable real estate. Development is on the rise despite the fact that coastal infrastructure is subjected to flooding and erosion. As a result, there is an increased demand for accurate information regarding past and present shoreline changes. 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 open-ocean 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.

砂质滨海沙滩是热门的休闲度假胜地，周边往往环绕着拥有高价值不动产的社区。尽管沿海基础设施面临洪涝与侵蚀威胁，滨海开发仍呈上升趋势。因此，精准掌握历史与当前海岸线变化情况的社会需求日益攀升。为满足这类国家层面的需求，美国地质调查局（U.S. Geological Survey, USGS）下属的海岸与海洋地质项目组，依托《海岸线变化国家评估》（National Assessment of Shoreline Change）项目，正在汇编美国本土、阿拉斯加部分区域及夏威夷的开放洋域砂质海岸沿线的可靠历史海岸线数据集。
目前尚无被广泛认可的海岸线变化分析标准。现有海岸线数据测量方法与变化速率计算方案因研究而异，导致相关成果无法整合至州级或区域级评估工作中。本次国家评估项目的初衷，便是开发一套跨海岸统一的标准化海岸线位置变化测量方法。其目标是以内部统一的标准，实现海岸线变化评估结果的定期系统化更新。