Measuring Beach Profiles along a Low-Wave Energy Microtidal Coast, West-Central Florida, USA

Jun Cheng,Ping Wang,Qiandong Guo

doi:10.3390/geosciences6040044

Abstract

Monitoring storm-induced dramatic beach morphology changes and long-term beach evolution provides crucial data for coastal management. Beach-profile measurement using total station has been conducted along the coast of west-central Florida over the last decade. This paper reviews several case studies of beach morphology changes based on total-station survey along this coast. The advantage of flexible and low-cost total-station surveys is discussed in comparison to LIDAR (light detection and ranging) method. In an attempt to introduce total-station survey from a practical prospective, measurement of cross-shore beach profile in various scenarios are discussed, including: (1) establishing a beach profile line with known instrument and benchmark locations; (2) surveying multiple beach profiles with one instrument setup; (3) implementation of coordinate rotation to convert local system to real-earth system. Total-station survey is a highly effective and accurate method in documenting beach profile changes along low-energy coasts.

Highlights

Beach erosion is a serious concern for coastal countries throughout the world [1,2,3].Beach nourishment has become one of the most commonly used methods to mitigate beach erosion [4].Physical monitoring of site-specific morphology following nourishments are essential to quantify and predict nourishment performance, gain a more complete understanding of the underlying causes of beach erosion, and improve project design [5]
The shallow bar crest appears bright in the image due to foam generated by breaking waves, while deeper offshore and trough areas are dark due to the absence of wave breaking [12] )
The purpose of this paper is to provide relatively detailed instructions on conducting beach-profile surveys using total station, using west-central Florida coastal as an example

Summary

Introduction

Beach erosion is a serious concern for coastal countries throughout the world [1,2,3].Beach nourishment has become one of the most commonly used methods to mitigate beach erosion [4].Physical monitoring of site-specific morphology following nourishments are essential to quantify and predict nourishment performance, gain a more complete understanding of the underlying causes of beach erosion, and improve project design [5]. Beach erosion is a serious concern for coastal countries throughout the world [1,2,3]. Various methods have been applied to monitor the beach profile changes, including direct measurement using GPS-RTK(Global Positioning System-Real Time. With recent development of video-imaging technology, high-performance cameras have been applied to measure nearshore bathymetry and sandbar movements [11]. Applications of video imaging along low-energy coast, (e.g., the coast of Gulf of Mexico and the Great Lakes) can be limited because significant waves breaking over sandbars occur only during energetic conditions. No apparent wave breaking occurs over the bar crests under typical conditions, making bar identification via breaking-induced foam practically impossible

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