Cape Canaveral Dune Vulnerability-Coastal Process and Hazard Active
At Cape Canaveral, located on Florida's east coast, NASA must maintain its space program launch capabilities while protecting sensitive habitat and wildlife populations present within the boundaries of the John F. Kennedy Space Center. Dune erosion due to storms and long-term landward movement of the shoreline (called recession) threaten space program infrastructure, alter habitat, and affect nesting turtle populations.
The goal of the Cape Canaveral vulnerability study was to identify the coastal hazards that have and will continue to affect local infrastructure, habitat, and wildlife, and to develop approaches that could evaluate past, current, and future vulnerabilities and guide management response. This collaborative effort included resource managers (NASA, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), other researchers (USGS, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, University of Florida), and professional coastal engineers (Coastal Planning and Engineering Inc.).
As part of this effort, the USGS collected topographic data on shore using its airborne lidar capability, collected bathymetric data (measurements of ocean depth) from small boats and from an automated imaging system, and developed a number of storm vulnerability scenarios using modeling methods developed by the USGS that have broad applicability. NASA used this information to develop a dune restoration strategy.
One of the challenges of this effort was the need to consider a broad range of storm events, specifically the impact of winter storms. The USGS had previously developed models aimed at assessing hurricane impacts, which occur during only a portion of a year, rather than throughout the year. Because USGS research had been invested in fundamental understanding of storm processes and coastal erosion, previous results were immediately applicable to this new problem.
Future USGS studies at Cape Canaveral will address local data and information needs that at the same time inform national-scale coastal resource management. Focused regional efforts provide an opportunity to attack coastal vulnerability problems in great detail and include more complexity than national-scale efforts, thereby defining new targets for future national-scale studies.
In 2012, the USGS was part of a team that received a group achievement award from NASA's director:
The Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Dune Vulnerability Team (DVT) has demonstrated exceptional group efforts in providing KSC a state of the art risk model for the Center utilizing multiple Federal, state, contractor and private entities to study the shoreline risk and mitigation requirements for KSC...Their unique skill set provided a data source needed to take the coastal geological data and apply it to KSC specific infrastructure, master planning and natural resources modeling results that engineers, scientists and planners alike can use in further developing the 21st Century Sustainable Launch Complex at KSC. The DVT is a team that others should model, both in expertise, knowledge, teamwork and innovative thinking.
- Overview
At Cape Canaveral, located on Florida's east coast, NASA must maintain its space program launch capabilities while protecting sensitive habitat and wildlife populations present within the boundaries of the John F. Kennedy Space Center. Dune erosion due to storms and long-term landward movement of the shoreline (called recession) threaten space program infrastructure, alter habitat, and affect nesting turtle populations.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media DetailsPhoto showing turtle tracks leading from a nest on a dune at Cape Canaveral. Credit: Nathaniel Plant, USGS The goal of the Cape Canaveral vulnerability study was to identify the coastal hazards that have and will continue to affect local infrastructure, habitat, and wildlife, and to develop approaches that could evaluate past, current, and future vulnerabilities and guide management response. This collaborative effort included resource managers (NASA, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), other researchers (USGS, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, University of Florida), and professional coastal engineers (Coastal Planning and Engineering Inc.).
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media DetailsUsing lidar data and numerical models, the USGS identified the processes and patterns of erosion and assessed future vulnerabilities for NASA facilities and habitat at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Credit: USGS As part of this effort, the USGS collected topographic data on shore using its airborne lidar capability, collected bathymetric data (measurements of ocean depth) from small boats and from an automated imaging system, and developed a number of storm vulnerability scenarios using modeling methods developed by the USGS that have broad applicability. NASA used this information to develop a dune restoration strategy.
One of the challenges of this effort was the need to consider a broad range of storm events, specifically the impact of winter storms. The USGS had previously developed models aimed at assessing hurricane impacts, which occur during only a portion of a year, rather than throughout the year. Because USGS research had been invested in fundamental understanding of storm processes and coastal erosion, previous results were immediately applicable to this new problem.
Future USGS studies at Cape Canaveral will address local data and information needs that at the same time inform national-scale coastal resource management. Focused regional efforts provide an opportunity to attack coastal vulnerability problems in great detail and include more complexity than national-scale efforts, thereby defining new targets for future national-scale studies.
In 2012, the USGS was part of a team that received a group achievement award from NASA's director:
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media DetailsThis image displays expected overwash probabilities at Cape Canaveral given a typical nor’easter storm striking the coast. Credit: USGS The Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Dune Vulnerability Team (DVT) has demonstrated exceptional group efforts in providing KSC a state of the art risk model for the Center utilizing multiple Federal, state, contractor and private entities to study the shoreline risk and mitigation requirements for KSC...Their unique skill set provided a data source needed to take the coastal geological data and apply it to KSC specific infrastructure, master planning and natural resources modeling results that engineers, scientists and planners alike can use in further developing the 21st Century Sustainable Launch Complex at KSC. The DVT is a team that others should model, both in expertise, knowledge, teamwork and innovative thinking.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media DetailsThe USGS collaborates with NASA, the University of Florida, National Park Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to assess coastal erosion hazards affecting space program infrastructure, habitat, and wildlife populations. Credit: B.J. Reynolds, USGS