Two video cameras atop the Dream Inn hotel in Santa Cruz, California, overlook the coast in northern Monterey Bay. One camera looks eastward over Santa Cruz Main Beach and boardwalk, while the other looks southward over Cowells Beach.
These cameras are part of the Remote Sensing Coastal Change project.
Every half hour during daylight hours, the cameras collect snapshots and video for 10 minutes. Today’s most recent images are shown below. Please note that it takes 10 minutes for the images to be posted, once they are collected by the camera.
Currently, video cameras are active at these locations:
- Dream Inn hotel in Santa Cruz, California
- Head of the Meadow Beach, Massachusetts
- Marconi Beach, Massachusetts
- Norton Sound, Unalakleet, Alaska
- Nuvuk (Point Barrow), Alaska
- Sunset State Beach, California
These and other images are used to remotely sense a range of processes, including:
- shoreline position,
- sandbar migration,
- rip-channel formation,
- wave run-up on the beach,
- alongshore current, and
- nearshore bathymetry.
Note: if old images are displayed, the camera system might be temporarily offline.
Snapshots
The snapshot is the first frame of the video, just like a standard photo.
Timex (time-exposure) images
A timex is a time-averaged image of all frames, smoothing away surface waves and determining the location of persistent wave-breaking (indicative of shallow sandbars).
Variance images
A “variance” image shows the standard deviation of pixel intensity throughout the video, and it is useful for determining how much variation or movement is occurring at a given location.
Bright images
A “bright” image shows the brightest pixel values throughout the video, useful for identifying the position of maximum wave run-up on the beach, position of all breaking waves, and sea-state.
Dark images
A “dark” image shows the darkest pixel values throughout the video, useful for tracking sediment plumes, tracking floating debris, and filtering out breaking waves.
Below are the projects that use the data collected by the video cameras, as well as other locations where similar video cameras are or were previously installed.
Remote Sensing Coastal Change
Coastal Climate Impacts
Climate impacts on Monterey Bay area beaches
Using Video Imagery to Study Coastal Change: Sunset State Beach
Using Video Imagery to Study Wave Dynamics: Unalakleet
Using Video Imagery to Study Sediment Transport and Wave Dynamics: Nuvuk (Point Barrow)
Using Video Imagery to Study Head of the Meadow Beach
Using Video Imagery to Study Marconi Beach
- Overview
Two video cameras atop the Dream Inn hotel in Santa Cruz, California, overlook the coast in northern Monterey Bay. One camera looks eastward over Santa Cruz Main Beach and boardwalk, while the other looks southward over Cowells Beach.
These cameras are part of the Remote Sensing Coastal Change project.
Every half hour during daylight hours, the cameras collect snapshots and video for 10 minutes. Today’s most recent images are shown below. Please note that it takes 10 minutes for the images to be posted, once they are collected by the camera.
Currently, video cameras are active at these locations:
- Dream Inn hotel in Santa Cruz, California
- Head of the Meadow Beach, Massachusetts
- Marconi Beach, Massachusetts
- Norton Sound, Unalakleet, Alaska
- Nuvuk (Point Barrow), Alaska
- Sunset State Beach, California
These and other images are used to remotely sense a range of processes, including:
- shoreline position,
- sandbar migration,
- rip-channel formation,
- wave run-up on the beach,
- alongshore current, and
- nearshore bathymetry.
Note: if old images are displayed, the camera system might be temporarily offline.
Snapshots
The snapshot is the first frame of the video, just like a standard photo.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Main Beach Snapshot, looking eastward Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Cowells Beach Snapshot, looking southward Timex (time-exposure) images
A timex is a time-averaged image of all frames, smoothing away surface waves and determining the location of persistent wave-breaking (indicative of shallow sandbars).
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Main Beach Timex, looking eastward Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Cowells Beach Timex, looking southward Variance images
A “variance” image shows the standard deviation of pixel intensity throughout the video, and it is useful for determining how much variation or movement is occurring at a given location.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Main Beach Variance Image, looking eastward Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Cowells Beach Variance Image, looking southward Bright images
A “bright” image shows the brightest pixel values throughout the video, useful for identifying the position of maximum wave run-up on the beach, position of all breaking waves, and sea-state.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Main Beach Bright Image, looking eastward Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Cowells Beach Bright Image, looking southward Dark images
A “dark” image shows the darkest pixel values throughout the video, useful for tracking sediment plumes, tracking floating debris, and filtering out breaking waves.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Main Beach Dark Image, looking eastward Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Cowells Beach Dark Image, looking southward
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.USGS ocean engineer Gerry Hatcher (left) and USGS postdoctoral oceanographer Shawn Harrison make adjustments to a computer controlling two video cameras on the roof of the Dream Inn, a 10-story hotel overlooking Monterey Bay in Santa Cruz, California. - Science
Below are the projects that use the data collected by the video cameras, as well as other locations where similar video cameras are or were previously installed.
Remote Sensing Coastal Change
We use remote-sensing technologies—such as aerial photography, satellite imagery, structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry, and lidar (laser-based surveying)—to measure coastal change along U.S. shorelines.Coastal Climate Impacts
The impacts of climate change and sea-level rise around the Pacific and Arctic Oceans can vary tremendously. Thus far the vast majority of national and international impact assessments and models of coastal climate change have focused on low-relief coastlines that are not near seismically active zones. Furthermore, the degree to which extreme waves and wind will add further stress to coastal...Climate impacts on Monterey Bay area beaches
For beach towns around Monterey Bay, preserving the beaches by mitigating coastal erosion is vital. Surveys conducted now and regularly in the future will help scientists understand the short- and long-term impacts of climate change, El Niño years, and sea-level rise on a populated and vulnerable coastline.Using Video Imagery to Study Coastal Change: Sunset State Beach
Two video cameras overlook the coast at Sunset State Beach in Watsonville, California. Camera 1 looks northwest while Camera 2 looks north. The cameras are part of the Remote Sensing Coastal Change project.Using Video Imagery to Study Wave Dynamics: Unalakleet
USGS scientists installed two video cameras atop a windmill tower in Unalakleet, Alaska, pointing westward over Norton Sound, to observe and quantify coastal processes such as wave run-up, development of rip channels, bluff erosion, and movement of sandbars and ice floes.Using Video Imagery to Study Sediment Transport and Wave Dynamics: Nuvuk (Point Barrow)
Two coastal observing video cameras are installed atop a utility pole near the northernmost point of land in the United States, at Nuvuk (Point Barrow), Alaska. The cameras point northwest toward the Arctic Ocean and the boundary between the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, and will be used to observe and quantify coastal processes such as wave run-up, bluff erosion, movement of sandbars and ice floes...Using Video Imagery to Study Head of the Meadow Beach
Two video cameras are mounted on a bluff near Head of the Meadow Beach, Cape Cod National Seashore, North Truro, MA. One camera looks alongshore toward the north-northeast, and the second looks directly offshore (northeast). The cameras are part of a U.S. Geological Survey research project to study the beach and nearshore environment shared by beachgoers, shorebirds, seals, and sharks. The work is...Using Video Imagery to Study Marconi Beach
Two video cameras are mounted on a bluff above Marconi Beach, Cape Cod National Seashore, Wellfleet, MA. One camera looks alongshore toward the northeast, and the second looks directly offshore (east). The cameras are part of a U.S. Geological Survey research project to study the beach and nearshore environment shared by beachgoers, shorebirds, seals, and sharks. The work is being conducted under...