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Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program images.

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View of a coral reef in La Parguera, Lajas, Puerto Rico
Coral reef in La Parguera, Lajas, Puerto Rico, View 1
Coral reef in La Parguera, Lajas, Puerto Rico, View 1
Coral reef in La Parguera, Lajas, Puerto Rico, View 1

Coral reef in La Parguera, Lajas Puerto Rico shows various types and conditions of corals, including sea fan corals (Gorgonia) in the center.

View of a coral reef in La Parguera, Lajas, Puerto Rico, showing a large purple sea fan
Coral reef in La Parguera, Lajas, Puerto Rico, View 2
Coral reef in La Parguera, Lajas, Puerto Rico, View 2
Coral reef in La Parguera, Lajas, Puerto Rico, View 2

Coral reef in La Parguera, Lajas Puerto Rico shows a sea fan coral (Gorgonia) in the center, surrounded other corals and fishes.

Photo looks down to a coastal area with ice and snow and the open ocean in the background.
Video monitoring at Nuvuk
Video monitoring at Nuvuk
Video monitoring at Nuvuk

This image from a video camera pointed at the coast tracks the brightest pixels in the camera view over 10 minutes of video. The resulting image is useful for identifying features such as the position of maximum wave run-up on the beach, the position of all breaking waves, and sea-state.

This image from a video camera pointed at the coast tracks the brightest pixels in the camera view over 10 minutes of video. The resulting image is useful for identifying features such as the position of maximum wave run-up on the beach, the position of all breaking waves, and sea-state.

Four scientists smiling standing in a vegetated wetland under a blue sky with white clouds
Meagan Eagle and team in a coastal wetland
Meagan Eagle and team in a coastal wetland
Meagan Eagle and team in a coastal wetland

Sophie Kuhl, Simone Gibson, Meagan Eagle, and Lindsey Smith in a coastal wetland, Mashpee, Massachusetts. Photo credit Jen O'Keefe Suttles (USG

Sophie Kuhl, Simone Gibson, Meagan Eagle, and Lindsey Smith in a coastal wetland, Mashpee, Massachusetts. Photo credit Jen O'Keefe Suttles (USG

Photo looks down on a sandy beach with signs on the beach and grassy dunes and the open ocean in the background.
Video camera snapshot at Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge
Video camera snapshot at Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge
Video camera snapshot at Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge

Two video cameras are temporarily mounted on a dune at Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The cameras are imaging the southern DUNEX experiment site and are designed to have a stereo view of the beach and potential overwash path until late October. Instruments from the U.S.

Two video cameras are temporarily mounted on a dune at Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The cameras are imaging the southern DUNEX experiment site and are designed to have a stereo view of the beach and potential overwash path until late October. Instruments from the U.S.

scientists stand near a tower in heavily vegetated sandy dunes under a blue sky
Installing Coastal Camera Tower
Installing Coastal Camera Tower
Installing Coastal Camera Tower

Time-lapse of USGS researchers raising a mechanical mast with a high-resolution camera mounted on top, which was deployed atop a dune in the U.S.

Two high-resolution, digital cameras are mounted on towers overlooking the beach and dunes
Two CoastCams installed in the Outer Banks for DUNEX project
Two CoastCams installed in the Outer Banks for DUNEX project
Michael Itzkin standing at the Dunex field site on the beach at Pea Island in September 2021 next to field instruments
Michael Itzkin at the DUNEX field location
Michael Itzkin at the DUNEX field location
Michael Itzkin at the DUNEX field location

Michael Itzkin at the DUNEX field location on Pea Island, North Carolina. The instruments next to Michael include lidars, pressure sensors, and sonars to measure morphologic change, hydrodynamics, and sediment transport.

Michael Itzkin at the DUNEX field location on Pea Island, North Carolina. The instruments next to Michael include lidars, pressure sensors, and sonars to measure morphologic change, hydrodynamics, and sediment transport.

Two boats and multiple people on a calm ocean with a clear blue sky
USGS personnel and contracted divers work together to install instrume
USGS personnel and contracted divers work together to install instrume
USGS personnel and contracted divers work together to install instrume

To install instruments offshore professional divers were hired to work alongside USGS personnel. Here, long segments of pipe are jetted into the seafloor to which instruments will be attached to measure offshore oceanographic conditions.

A woman sitting cross legged on top of a ladder writing in a notebook next to long skinny equipment
USGS researcher uses RTk equipment to locate installed instruments
USGS researcher uses RTk equipment to locate installed instruments
USGS researcher uses RTk equipment to locate installed instruments

USGS researcher Jenna Brown takes a measurement with a real time kinematic GPS receiver, this will give her an accurate position and height of the aluminum pole beneath it, which will have mutliple instruments attached to it to measure water flow and elevation changes.

USGS researcher Jenna Brown takes a measurement with a real time kinematic GPS receiver, this will give her an accurate position and height of the aluminum pole beneath it, which will have mutliple instruments attached to it to measure water flow and elevation changes.

Wide view of a beach, waves, and a pier. Several metal poles stick out of the sand on the beach.
DUNEX instruments and FRF pier
DUNEX instruments and FRF pier
DUNEX instruments and FRF pier

Metal poles and equipment will installed on the beach and in the surf zone near the Army Corps of Engineers Field Research Facility pier near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The poles extend about 5 feet above the ground or seabed, to support instruments that continuously measure wave heights, water levels, and currents using acoustics. 

Metal poles and equipment will installed on the beach and in the surf zone near the Army Corps of Engineers Field Research Facility pier near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The poles extend about 5 feet above the ground or seabed, to support instruments that continuously measure wave heights, water levels, and currents using acoustics. 

A beach with vegetated dunes and ocean waves approaching the shoreline. Houses are seen on the island in the distance.
Outer Banks, North Carolina coastline
Outer Banks, North Carolina coastline
Outer Banks, North Carolina coastline

Coastal communities, especially those on barrier islands, are vulnerable to processes of coastal change. The DUring Nearshore Event eXperiment (DUNEX) project is a multi-agency, a

A camera points down at a sandy coastline lined with vegetated dunes and a pier. Residential area seen in the distance.
Coast Cam at the USACE Field Research Facility
Coast Cam at the USACE Field Research Facility
Coast Cam at the USACE Field Research Facility

USGS scientists mounted this high-resolution digital camera on an observation tower in the dune at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Field Research Facility near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The camera overlooks the beach, dune, and an instrument array, and collects images throughout calm and storm conditions. 

USGS scientists mounted this high-resolution digital camera on an observation tower in the dune at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Field Research Facility near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The camera overlooks the beach, dune, and an instrument array, and collects images throughout calm and storm conditions. 

A person walks along a sandy scarped dune near the waves under a cloudy sky, pulling along a white balloon-shaped kite
Flying a helikite to survey the beach
Flying a helikite to survey the beach
Flying a helikite to survey the beach

An alternative to uncrewed aerial systems (UAS; commonly known as 'drones'), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists use helikites equipped with cameras to collect imagery of the coastline. The pictures collected by these helium-powered kite-balloons are used to create a 3D digital elevation map of the beach.

An alternative to uncrewed aerial systems (UAS; commonly known as 'drones'), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists use helikites equipped with cameras to collect imagery of the coastline. The pictures collected by these helium-powered kite-balloons are used to create a 3D digital elevation map of the beach.

A person walks along a sandy scarped dune near the waves under a cloudy sky, pulling along a white balloon-shaped kite
Flying a helikite to survey the beach
Flying a helikite to survey the beach
Flying a helikite to survey the beach

An alternative to uncrewed aerial systems (UAS; commonly known as 'drones'), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists use helikites equipped with cameras to collect imagery of the coastline. The pictures collected by these helium-powered kite-balloons are used to create a 3D digital elevation map of the beach.

An alternative to uncrewed aerial systems (UAS; commonly known as 'drones'), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists use helikites equipped with cameras to collect imagery of the coastline. The pictures collected by these helium-powered kite-balloons are used to create a 3D digital elevation map of the beach.

A white balloon-shaped kite being held in the air
A helikite used to collect imagery of the coastline
A helikite used to collect imagery of the coastline
A helikite used to collect imagery of the coastline

An alternative to uncrewed aerial systems (UAS; commonly known as 'drones'), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists use helikites equipped with cameras to collect imagery of the coastline. The pictures collected by these helium-powered kite-balloons are used to create a 3D digital elevation map of the beach.

An alternative to uncrewed aerial systems (UAS; commonly known as 'drones'), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists use helikites equipped with cameras to collect imagery of the coastline. The pictures collected by these helium-powered kite-balloons are used to create a 3D digital elevation map of the beach.

Aerial view of a sandy beach and dune. A scientists holds a post near a black and white marker on the ground.
DUNEX beach profile survey
DUNEX beach profile survey
DUNEX beach profile survey

Overhead image collected by a helikite of field work being conducted in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. An alternative to uncrewed aerial systems (UAS; commonly known as 'drones'), USGS scientists use helikites equipped with cameras to collect imagery of the coastline.

Overhead image collected by a helikite of field work being conducted in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. An alternative to uncrewed aerial systems (UAS; commonly known as 'drones'), USGS scientists use helikites equipped with cameras to collect imagery of the coastline.

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