An application of LIDAR to examine erosion in the southern Monterey Bay during the 1997-98 El Nino

Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) was used in a Geographic Information System (GIS) to quantify coastal changes to beaches and dunes in the Southern Monterey Bay region and to qualitatively assess the erosional impact of large storms on coastal dune areas. LIDAR provides a rapid and accurate survey technique to measure topographic elevation. A LIDAR survey was performed in October 1997 and then a second survey in April 1998 to measure the erosion occurring during the 1997-1998 El Nino winter storm. Maximum dune erosion occurred in the vicinity of Fort Ord (13 m) and Marina (15 m), along with significant dune recession in Monterey and Sand City. Beach erosion was prevalent from Moss Landing to Monterey showing the seasonal beach loss. There was a large spatial variability all along the shoreline, with many numerous erosional "hot spots". LIDAR data provide a high-quality representation of the episodic erosion process in Southern Monterey Bay, and also offers useful environmental information to the warfighter in terms of detailed beach or landing zone characterizations.

Department dc:contributor.department

Oceanography

Grantor dc:publisher

Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School

Year dc:date.issued

2002

Author dc:creator

• Egley, Lora A.

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Thornton, Edward B.
• Parsons, Arthur R.

Statement dc:rights

• This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10945/6068

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:calhoun.nps.edu:10945/6068