Topographic and bathymetric data, sediment samples, structure from motion imagery, and reference mark data collected at Marconi Beach, Wellfleet in winter 2021, U.S Geological Survey Field Activity 2021-022-FA (ver. 2, December 2023)

The data in this publication map the beach and nearshore environment at Marconi Beach in Wellfleet, MA and provide regional context for the 2021 CoastCam installation that looks out at the coast shared by beachgoers, shorebirds, seals, and sharks. These data were collected as part of field activity 2021-022-FA and a collaboration with the National Park Service at Cape Cod National Seashore to monitor the region that falls within the field of view of CoastCam CACO-02, which are two video cameras aimed at the beach. Starting in February and ending in March 2021, U.S Geological Survey and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) scientists conducted field surveys to collect position and orientation information for the CoastCam cameras and map the field of view. Two new reference marks were established in the Marconi Beach parking area to establish ground control for future surveys. Elevation data were collected using a real time kinematic satellite navigation system (RTK-GNSS) receiver attached to a pole and walked on the beach. Point data of the beach face were collected along transects. Grain-size analysis was performed on sediment samples collected with a spade along multiple profiles from the bluff base to the intertidal zone. Aerial images of the beach for use in Structure-from-Motion were taken with a camera (Ricoh GRII) and a post-processed kinematic (PPK) system attached to a helium powered balloon-kite (Helikite) and high-precision GPS targets (AeroPoints) were used as ground control points. Bathymetry was collected in the nearshore using a single-beam echosounder mounted on a surf capable self-righting electric autonomous survey vehicle. Agisoft Metashape (v. 1.7.2) was used to create a digital elevation model with the collected imagery and this was merged with the bathymetry in MATLAB (v. 2020) to create a continuous topobathy product.