Regional patterns of changing beach morphology at a decadal scale

Abstract

Bradbury AP, Cope SN, Wilkinson C and Mason TE, 2013. Regional patterns of changing beach morphology at a decadal scale In: Conley, D.C., Masselink, G., Russell, P.E. and O’Hare, T.J. (eds.), Proceedings 12 th International Coastal Symposium (Plymouth, England), Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 65, pp. 452-457, ISSN 0749-0208. The Southeast Regional Coastal Monitoring Programme commenced in 2002 and is on-going. In excess of 1000 km of open coast and estuarine shoreline are monitored at high resolution with a number of tools and at a range of spatial and temporal scales. The programme provides input to flood and coastal erosion risk management at a range of scales, from region-wide shoreline management plans, to detailed and localised geomorphological assessments. Detailed baseline surveys are repeated typically once every 5 years and three full surveys exist now for the entire coast. Sampling of the baseline surveys is conducted typically at biannual temporal interval. Annual analysis is conducted summarising coastal changes within coastal sub cells at a scale of typically 10-100 km. All data from the project are currently freely available via the project website (www.channelcoast.org). Examples are used to illustrate the challenges associated with analysis of coastal geomorphological change over decadal and annual temporal scales. Differentiation between natural coastal processes and management practices are explored.