Using Video Imagery to Study Coastal Change: Santa Cruz Beaches
Science Center Objects
Two video cameras atop the Dream Inn hotel in Santa Cruz, California, overlook the coast in northern Monterey Bay. Camera 1 looks eastward over Santa Cruz Main Beach and boardwalk, while Camera 2 looks southward over Cowells Beach. The 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 installed at these locations:
- Dream Inn hotel in Santa Cruz, California;
- Sunset State Beach in Santa Cruz, California;
- Isla Verde in San Juan, Puerto Rico;
- Unalakleet, Alaska; and
- Whidbey Island, Washington.
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.
Snapshots
The snapshot is the first frame of the video, just like a standard photo.
Main Beach Snapshot, looking eastward
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).
Main Beach Timex, looking eastward
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.
Main Beach Variance Image, looking eastward
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.
Main Beach Bright Image, looking eastward
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.
Main Beach Dark Image, looking eastward
Cowells Beach Dark Image, looking southward
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.
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Date published: June 1, 2018Status: ActiveRemote Sensing Coastal Change
We use remote-sensing technologies—such as aerial photography, satellite imagery, and lidar (laser-based surveying)—to measure coastal change along U.S. shorelines.
Contacts: Jonathan Warrick, Shawn R Harrison
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Date published: April 25, 2019Status: ActiveUsing Video Imagery to Study Coastal Change: Whidbey Island
Video cameras overlook the coast along a beach on Whidbey Island, Island County at the northern boundary of Puget Sound in western Washington.
Contacts: Shawn R Harrison, Eric GrossmanAttribution: Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center -
Date published: April 25, 2019Status: ActiveUsing Video Imagery to Study Wave Dynamics: Isla Verde
Four video cameras overlook the coast at Isla Verde in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Two of them focus on the shoreline: Camera 1 looks at the nearby beach and eastward along the shore, and Camera 2 looks farther away to the eastern end of the beach. The other two look out across the reefs: Camera 3 to the north-northwest, and Camera 4 to the northeast.
Contacts: Curt Storlazzi, Shawn R HarrisonAttribution: Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center -
Date published: April 25, 2019Status: ActiveUsing 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.
Contacts: Shawn R HarrisonAttribution: Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center -
Date published: April 25, 2019Status: ActiveUsing Video Imagery to Study Wave Dynamics: Unalakleet
Two video cameras overlook the coast from atop a windmill tower in Unalakleet, Alaska where they look westward over Norton Sound.
Contacts: Shawn R HarrisonAttribution: Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center -
Date published: March 29, 2018Status: ActiveClimate check in our Santa Cruz backyard
For a beach town like Santa Cruz, preserving 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.
Contacts: Patrick Barnard, Jonathan WarrickAttribution: Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center -
Date published: December 7, 2017Status: ActiveThe Mud Creek landslide on California’s Big Sur coast
On May 20, 2017, the steep slopes at Mud Creek on California’s Big Sur coast, about 140 miles south of San Francisco, suffered a catastrophic collapse. USGS Scientists from the Pacific Coastal and Marine and the Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Centers are monitoring this section of the coastline, in collaboration with the California Department of Transportation.
Attribution: Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
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Date published: November 8, 2017Eyes on the Coast—Video Cameras Help Forecast Coastal Change
Coastal communities count on beaches for recreation and for protection from large waves, but beaches are vulnerable to threats such as erosion by storms and flooding. Whether beaches grow, shrink, or even disappear depends in part on what happens just offshore. How do features like shifting sandbars affect waves, currents, and the movement of sand from the beach to offshore and back?