Barrier Island Evolution - Applied Research
Completed
By St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
October 29, 2018
Assessments include depiction of trends (the past points to the future), updated observations (topography/bathymetry), and predicted sensitivity of barrier island evolution to possible climatologies and restoration plans.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Applied Research
The applications of our research can be generalized to production of a variety of assessments that include explanations of what happened in the past, status updates of the current environment, updated vulnerability assessments, and predicted scenarios for the future. These assessments can include depiction of trends (the past points to the future), updated observations (topography/bathymetry), and predicted sensitivity of barrier island evolution to possible climatologies and restoration plans.
Objectives
- Provide support information to coastal resource managers, including FWS, NPS, ACOE, NASA, AF, State, and local authorities.
- Test the relevance of decision-support information.
- Share and integrate data collected by different agencies.
- Update decision-support information so that it is timely and accurate.
Methodology
Chandeleur Island
- Chandeleur Island is both a research focus area and a coastal management focus. Data collection will support management by generating updates of topo bathy and establishing evolution trends.
- Modeling to generate evolution scenarios reflecting the residual berm and data updates will be used to present future scenarios that depict future morphologic configurations.
- Data will be disseminated via data series reports and assessment updates on the web.
Mississippi-Alabama-Florida barriers
- These locations are the sites of restoration efforts and ongoing response to residual buried Deep Water Horizon oil. Management needs include understanding the integrated response to the medium-term change processes considered in the BIER project and applying this understanding to adaptive management.
- Updated topo-bathy data and modeling are supported by other agencies. We can integrate this information with historical data and update medium-term predictions. The data updates can be used to evaluate assessments and identify gaps in understanding.
Barrier Island Evolution
The Barrier Island Evolution Project addresses a research gap between the short time scale of individual storms (hours to days) and the longer time scales associated with the historic and geologic evolution of the coastal system (decades to millennia).
Storm-Related Barrier Island Morphological Evolution
Storms quickly and dramatically alter barrier island environments by changing adjacent seafloor morphology, eroding beaches, scarping or leveling dunes, and sometimes creating new inlets. Measuring the magnitude of barrier island sediment movement during and after storms allows us to track rates of beach recovery, dune growth, and inlet-related alterations to barrier island sediment supply.
Modeling Barrier Island Evolution, Shoreface Morphology, and Overwash
Barrier island field observations provide information about past and current environmental conditions and changes over time; however, they can’t tell us about the future. Models can predict possible future behaviors but are only as good as their input data. By integrating both observations and models, we can extend observations and arrive at more realistic predictions of barrier island behavior...
Barrier Island Evolution - Geologic Analysis
Quantifying changes in morphology and sediment distribution over short time scales will demonstrate how geologic variability influences medium-term barrier island response and near-term barrier island trajectories and help to refine sedimentological boundary conditions for morphologic evolution models.
Barrier Island Evolution - Numerical Modeling and Oceanography
Numerical models compliment the collection of geophysical data by hindcasting and forecasting sediment transport pathways, natural island trajectories, and berm/island interactions over larger and higher resolution domains and time periods.
Barrier Island Evolution - Geomorphic Analysis and Data Collection
Medium-term coastal evolution involves the interaction of submerged and subaerial geomorphology, oceanography, sediment supply and other geologic constraints, and biological interactions associated with marshes and dune grasses which may capture or release sediments. The resulting sediment budgets determine the balance of topographic and bathymetric elevations and dictate how barrier island...
Assessments include depiction of trends (the past points to the future), updated observations (topography/bathymetry), and predicted sensitivity of barrier island evolution to possible climatologies and restoration plans.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Applied Research
The applications of our research can be generalized to production of a variety of assessments that include explanations of what happened in the past, status updates of the current environment, updated vulnerability assessments, and predicted scenarios for the future. These assessments can include depiction of trends (the past points to the future), updated observations (topography/bathymetry), and predicted sensitivity of barrier island evolution to possible climatologies and restoration plans.
Objectives
- Provide support information to coastal resource managers, including FWS, NPS, ACOE, NASA, AF, State, and local authorities.
- Test the relevance of decision-support information.
- Share and integrate data collected by different agencies.
- Update decision-support information so that it is timely and accurate.
Methodology
Chandeleur Island
- Chandeleur Island is both a research focus area and a coastal management focus. Data collection will support management by generating updates of topo bathy and establishing evolution trends.
- Modeling to generate evolution scenarios reflecting the residual berm and data updates will be used to present future scenarios that depict future morphologic configurations.
- Data will be disseminated via data series reports and assessment updates on the web.
Mississippi-Alabama-Florida barriers
- These locations are the sites of restoration efforts and ongoing response to residual buried Deep Water Horizon oil. Management needs include understanding the integrated response to the medium-term change processes considered in the BIER project and applying this understanding to adaptive management.
- Updated topo-bathy data and modeling are supported by other agencies. We can integrate this information with historical data and update medium-term predictions. The data updates can be used to evaluate assessments and identify gaps in understanding.
Barrier Island Evolution
The Barrier Island Evolution Project addresses a research gap between the short time scale of individual storms (hours to days) and the longer time scales associated with the historic and geologic evolution of the coastal system (decades to millennia).
Storm-Related Barrier Island Morphological Evolution
Storms quickly and dramatically alter barrier island environments by changing adjacent seafloor morphology, eroding beaches, scarping or leveling dunes, and sometimes creating new inlets. Measuring the magnitude of barrier island sediment movement during and after storms allows us to track rates of beach recovery, dune growth, and inlet-related alterations to barrier island sediment supply.
Modeling Barrier Island Evolution, Shoreface Morphology, and Overwash
Barrier island field observations provide information about past and current environmental conditions and changes over time; however, they can’t tell us about the future. Models can predict possible future behaviors but are only as good as their input data. By integrating both observations and models, we can extend observations and arrive at more realistic predictions of barrier island behavior...
Barrier Island Evolution - Geologic Analysis
Quantifying changes in morphology and sediment distribution over short time scales will demonstrate how geologic variability influences medium-term barrier island response and near-term barrier island trajectories and help to refine sedimentological boundary conditions for morphologic evolution models.
Barrier Island Evolution - Numerical Modeling and Oceanography
Numerical models compliment the collection of geophysical data by hindcasting and forecasting sediment transport pathways, natural island trajectories, and berm/island interactions over larger and higher resolution domains and time periods.
Barrier Island Evolution - Geomorphic Analysis and Data Collection
Medium-term coastal evolution involves the interaction of submerged and subaerial geomorphology, oceanography, sediment supply and other geologic constraints, and biological interactions associated with marshes and dune grasses which may capture or release sediments. The resulting sediment budgets determine the balance of topographic and bathymetric elevations and dictate how barrier island...