Topographic and bathymetric data, structure from motion imagery, and ground control data collected at Marconi Beach, Wellfleet, Massachusetts in March 2023, U.S. Geological Survey Field Activity 2023-012-FA

The data in this release re-map the beach and nearshore environment at Marconi Beach in Wellfleet, MA and provide updated environmental context for the 2021 CoastCam installation that looks out at the coast shared by beachgoers, shorebirds, seals, and sharks. This is related to the field activity 2022-014-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. In March 2023, U.S. Geological Survey and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) scientists conducted field surveys to collect topographic and bathymetric data. Images of the beach for use in structure-from-motion were taken with a camera (SONY a6000) and a post-processed kinematic (PPK) system attached to a helium powered balloon-kite (Helikite). High-precision GPS targets (AeroPoints) and numbered black and white tarps 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 surface vehicle. Agisoft Metashape (v. 1.8.1) was used to create a digital surface model and orthomosaic with the collected imagery.