Application of NASA ERTS-1 satellite imagery in coastal studies

There are no author-identified significant results in this report. Review of ERTS-1 imagery indicates that it contains information of great value in coastal engineering studies. A brief introduction is given to the methods by which imagery is generated, and examples of its application to coastal engineering. Specific applications discussed include study of the movement of coastal and nearshore sediment-laden water masses and information for planning and construction in remote areas of the world

Application of ERTS-1 imagery in coastal studies

The basic ERTS output is four black-and-white photographs presenting the same scene recorded in each multispectral scanner band. Mosaics covering large regions at a 1:250,000 scale can be compiled from these photographs. Office study of the image of each band separately, in combination with other bands, and in conjunction with other available data (navigation charts, tide tables, etc.) permits extraction of data useful in coastal engineering planning and coastal processes studies. Specific examples in which significant information on regional shoreline configuration or nearshore water movements has been obtained from unenhanced ERTS imagery are: (1) tidal inlet configuration; (2) navigation information; and (3) nearshore water movements

Field Performance of Reinforced Dunes for Improving Coastal Resilience

Increased coastal erosion rates have forced communities to rethink how to manage vulnerable coastlines. In many locations there is a trend towards implementing temporary engineering solutions, such as geotextile sand containers (GSCs) and geo-tubes, to stabilize erosion hot spots and assess the impact of these designs while long-term solutions are developed. GSCs and geo-tubes have the potential to increase the resilience of natural systems to protect coastlines from smaller storm events (e.g. 25-year storms) while providing flexibility in design considering the uncertainty regarding future rates of sea level rise and storm frequency. The objective of this paper is to summarize the performance of geotextile stabilized coastal sites and present results of on-going field studies to assess the performance of GSC reinforced dunes in Montauk, NY. The better-than-expected, resilient performance of GSCs and geo-tubes at most locations and recent reinforcement of dunes, bluffs, and shorelines in New York, Massachusetts, and Hawaii emphasizes the need for continued field research and in situ monitoring to collect high-quality performance data to better evaluate laboratory experiments and numerical models developed to predict the hydraulic stability of these systems