An Application of LIDAR to Analyses of El Niño Erosion in the Netarts Littoral Cell, Oregon

El Niño produces coastal and beach erosion along the West Coast of the USA by elevating mean water levels so that tides are significantly higher than predicted, and by altering the paths of storms that generate large waves. In the past it has been difficult to adequately document the erosion impacts...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of coastal research 2002-09, Vol.18 (4), p.792-801
Main Authors: David L. Revell, Komar, Paul D., Asbury H. Sallenger Jr
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Beaches
Coasts
Dunes
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Erosion
Exact sciences and technology
Inlets
LIDAR
Littoral transport
Marine
Marine and continental quaternary
Sand
Storms
Surficial geology
USA, Oregon
Waves
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Summary:El Niño produces coastal and beach erosion along the West Coast of the USA by elevating mean water levels so that tides are significantly higher than predicted, and by altering the paths of storms that generate large waves. In the past it has been difficult to adequately document the erosion impacts since they are so widespread. This difficulty has been solved through the application of LIDAR, which uses a scanning laser mounted in a small aircraft to rapidly and accurately survey beach elevations. This study uses LIDAR to document the beach changes and shoreline erosion that occurred during the 1997-98 El Niño within the Netarts Littoral Cell on the Oregon coast, a 14-km long "pocket beach" between large rocky headlands. The LIDAR surveys demonstrate that sand generally migrated northward within the cell due to the southwest approach of the El Niño storm waves, but there was a complex pattern of beachelevation change due to the superposition of eroded rip-current embayments. The greatest beach erosion occurred near the south end of the cell, where it impacted Cape Lookout State Park, and to the north of the inlet to Netarts Bay where it threatened The Capes, a development of condominiums located on a high bluff. In both cases the LIDAR data proved to be extremely useful in quantifying the erosion, and in providing a better understanding of the erosion processes that occur during an El Niño.
ISSN:0749-0208
1551-5036