Shoreline classification maps and ground truth data for the Neuse River Estuary, North Carolina

Abstract

Estuaries provide essential ecosystem services and economic value but are facing widespread degradation due to changing anthropogenic and climatic factors. In North Carolina, coastal structures, like bulkheads and riprap, are widely used by property owners throughout the Albemarle-Pamlico estuary to stop erosion and reclaim lost land following storm events. While coastal development is tightly governed, limited historical and no up-to-date data report on the spatial distribution of coastal structures throughout the Albemarle-Pamlico estuary. Here we describe the development of a dataset that classifies and catalogues 67 km of shoreline type along the Neuse River Estuary (NRE), a large tributary of the Albemarle-Pamlico. We used available LiDAR digital elevation models (DEMs), aerial imagery, and a ground truthing field campaign to determine shoreline type present along the NRE as of 2020. We validated these results using an intensive manual editing procedure that comparatively examines DEMs, LiDAR derived slope, aerial imagery, and ground truth photography of the shoreline. This dataset is available for public download.