Most of the world’s beaches have regular cycles of erosion and recovery, but new USGS research is showing that these cycles may be considerably different from common perceptions.
Remote Sensing Coastal Change
Fire plus Flood equals Beach
A new study combines decades of coastal satellite imagery with hydrologic and oceanographic data to look at how changes on land affect coastlines in Big Sur, California
Eyes in the Sky
How Satellite Imagery Transforms Shoreline Monitoring From “Data-Poor” to “Data-Rich”
We use remote-sensing technologies—such as aerial photography, satellite imagery, structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry, and lidar (laser-based surveying)—to measure coastal change along U.S. shorelines.
Why measure coastal change?
Quantifying coastal change is essential for calculating trends in erosion, evaluating processes that shape coastal landscapes, and predicting how the coast will respond to future storms and sea-level rise, all critical for U.S. coastal communities.
Rapid developments have occurred in remote-sensing technologies during the 21st century. With our collaborators in and beyond the Department of the Interior, we seek to apply these technologies in innovative ways to advance understanding of coastal systems and their hazards.

Using photogrammetry to map natural hazards
USGS and partners collect extensive photographic data using airplanes and drones in coastal settings vulnerable to hazards such as landslides, coastal erosion, and powerful storms. Photos are processed with a digital technique called structure-from-motion photogrammetry to make accurate orthomosaics of the coastal landscape. Comparing the data with previously documented conditions provide “before” and “after” perspectives of the effects of those coastal hazards. These data often have immediate or time-sensitive relevance to public health and safety.

Tracking shoreline change from space
For decades, the USGS has monitored shoreline change in the United States by measuring and recording information at a study site (on the ground), using LIDAR (light detection and ranging) or GPS (Global Positioning System) surveys to meticulously collect data on beaches from coast to coast. These surveys are precise but costly, requiring lots of travel, hours of work, and expensive equipment. Using these methods to regularly monitor the 95,471 miles of coastline in the U.S. has been a monumental and impractical task.
That’s why USGS scientists are increasingly using Earth-observing satellites as their “eyes in the sky,” collecting and analyzing satellite imagery to study coastal change.
What traditionally was a labor- and time-intensive endeavor has been transformed by the high quality and quantity of data provided by satellite remote-sensing techniques. For example, global-scale studies of the world’s coastlines have been completed for a fraction of the cost of many labor-intensive field studies.

Seafloor mapping technology
To accurately measure seafloor change at millimeter-scale resolutions—in order to, say, monitor the growth and recovery of coral reefs—USGS scientists developed the “Structure-from-Motion Quantitative Underwater Imaging Device with 5 Cameras” system, or SQUID-5. With its five-camera array, SQUID-5 enables researchers to collect high-resolution images in shallow-water environments, which can be used to create complex three-dimensional seafloor maps with unprecedented accuracy and geolocation.
SQUID-5 is the product of a cross-center partnership. Ocean Engineer Gerry Hatcher of the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center (PCMSC) and Dave Zawada of the St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (SPCMSC) are two of the lead scientists behind the creation of SQUID-5. The Remote Sensing Coastal Change team at PCMSC engineered the device, and the Processes Impacting Seafloor Change and Ecosystem Services team (PISCES) at SPCMSC is tasked with its deployment and data collection.


Using video imagery to study coastal change
USGS researchers analyze the imagery and video collected from camera installations known as CoastCams in order to remotely sense a range of processes, which include shoreline position, sandbar migration, rip-channel formation, wave run-up on the beach, alongshore current, and nearshore bathymetry.
USGS plans to install additional CoastCam systems at other U.S. locations. The knowledge gained will improve computer-derived simulations of coastal flooding and shoreline change that communities can use to plan for sea-level rise, changing storm patterns, and other threats to beaches.
Marconi Beach, Massachusetts
Nuvuk (Point Barrow), Alaska
Unalakleet, Alaska
Santa Cruz, California
Sunset State Beach, California
Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida
We are using video imagery, scanned aerial photographs, digital images collected from fixed-wing aircraft, and digital images collected from multi-rotor UAS to study coastal processes.
SQUID-5 camera system
Using Video Imagery to Study Coastal Change: Santa Cruz Beaches
Using Video Imagery to Study Coastal Change: Sunset State Beach
Using Video Imagery to Study Wave Dynamics: Unalakleet
Using Video Imagery to Study Sediment Transport and Wave Dynamics: Nuvuk (Point Barrow)
Using Video Imagery to Study Marconi Beach
Big Sur Landslides
Using Video Imagery to Study Coastal Change: Barter Island, Alaska
The Mud Creek landslide on California’s Big Sur coast
Big Sur Coastal Landslides
Data associated with this project
Data to Support Analyses of Shoreline Seasonal Cycles for Beaches of California
Shoreline Change of Western Long Island, New York from Satellite Derived Shorelines
Bathymetry, topography, and sediment grain-size data from the Elwha River delta, Washington, August 2019
Satellite-derived shorelines for the U.S. Gulf Coast states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida for the period 1984-2022, obtained using CoastSat
Underwater Photogrammetry Products of Looe Key, Florida From Images Acquired Using the SQUID-5 System in July 2022
Underwater Photogrammetry Products of Big Pine Ledge, Florida From Images Acquired Using the SQUID-5 System in July 2022
Underwater Photogrammetry Products of Summerland Ledge, Florida From Images Acquired Using the SQUID-5 System in July 2022
Underwater photogrammetry products of Big Pine Ledge, Florida from images acquired using the SQUID-5 system in July 2021
Overlapping seabed images and location data acquired using the SQUID-5 system at Looe Key, Florida, in July 2021, with structure-from-motion derived point cloud, digital elevation model and orthomosaic of submerged topography
Overlapping seabed images and location data acquired using the SQUID-5 system at Eastern Dry Rocks coral reef, Florida, in May 2021, with derived point cloud, digital elevation model and orthomosaic of submerged topography
Coast Train--Labeled imagery for training and evaluation of data-driven models for image segmentation
Point clouds, bathymetric maps, and orthoimagery generated from overlapping lakebed images acquired with the SQUID-5 system near Dollar Point, Lake Tahoe, CA, March 2021
Colored shaded-relief bathymetric map and orthomosaic from structure-from-motion quantitative underwater imaging device with five cameras of the Lake Tahoe floor, California
Below are multimedia items associated with this project.
Tracking Coastal Change with Photogrammetry
Monitoring coastal changes is important for the millions of people that live along coasts in the United States, particularly as climate change hastens coastal erosion by raising sea levels and fueling powerful storms. The USGS uses remote-sensing technologies—such as aerial photography, satellite imagery, structure-from-motion photogrammetry, and lidar (laser-based surveying)—to measure coastal...
Most of the world’s beaches have regular cycles of erosion and recovery, but new USGS research is showing that these cycles may be considerably different from common perceptions.
Two video cameras are mounted on a bluff above Marconi Beach, Cape Cod National Seashore, Wellfleet, MA. Every half hour during daylight hours, the video camera collects imagery for 10 minutes and processes it. This is the snapshot image, like a photo, taken at the beginning of the 10-minute window and looking northeast.
Two video cameras are mounted on a bluff above Marconi Beach, Cape Cod National Seashore, Wellfleet, MA. Every half hour during daylight hours, the video camera collects imagery for 10 minutes and processes it. This is the snapshot image, like a photo, taken at the beginning of the 10-minute window and looking northeast.

A section of Highway 1 along the California coast in Big Sur with more examples of the numerous debris flows and mudslides that occur following a heavy rain. This section is just south of the Rat Creek debris flow that completely washed out a large chunk of the highway.
A section of Highway 1 along the California coast in Big Sur with more examples of the numerous debris flows and mudslides that occur following a heavy rain. This section is just south of the Rat Creek debris flow that completely washed out a large chunk of the highway.
The atmospheric river, a narrow, powerful track of water vapor that can deliver tremendous volumes of rain, hit the central California coast and stalled there between January 26 and 28, 2021 — with catastrophic consequences.
The atmospheric river, a narrow, powerful track of water vapor that can deliver tremendous volumes of rain, hit the central California coast and stalled there between January 26 and 28, 2021 — with catastrophic consequences.
Video camera snapshot at Tres Palmas in Rincón, on the west coast of Puerto Rico.
Video camera snapshot at Tres Palmas in Rincón, on the west coast of Puerto Rico.
Snapshot of Isla Verde in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from a coastal video monitoring station
Snapshot of Isla Verde in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from a coastal video monitoring station
Shawn Harrison stands near video cameras on top of a building overlooking Isla Verde in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The cameras measure wave run-up and flooding as part of a study in response to Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria.
Shawn Harrison stands near video cameras on top of a building overlooking Isla Verde in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The cameras measure wave run-up and flooding as part of a study in response to Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria.
Two video cameras overlook the coast from atop a windmill tower in Unalakleet, Alaska where they look westward over Norton Sound. This is a snapshot taken from one of the cameras.
Two video cameras overlook the coast from atop a windmill tower in Unalakleet, Alaska where they look westward over Norton Sound. This is a snapshot taken from one of the cameras.
Two video cameras overlook the coast at Sunset State Beach in Watsonville, California. Camera 1 looks northwest while Camera 2 looks north. Every half hour during daylight hours, the cameras collect snapshots and video for 10 minutes. The various imagery collected:
Two video cameras overlook the coast at Sunset State Beach in Watsonville, California. Camera 1 looks northwest while Camera 2 looks north. Every half hour during daylight hours, the cameras collect snapshots and video for 10 minutes. The various imagery collected:
The view from one of two video cameras atop the Dream Inn hotel in Santa Cruz, California, that overlook the coast in northern Monterey Bay. This view, from camera 1, looks eastward over Santa Cruz Main Beach and boardwalk.
The view from one of two video cameras atop the Dream Inn hotel in Santa Cruz, California, that overlook the coast in northern Monterey Bay. This view, from camera 1, looks eastward over Santa Cruz Main Beach and boardwalk.
Publications associated with this project
Shoreline seasonality of California’s beaches
Shoreline change of western Long Island, New York, from satellite-derived shorelines
Remote sensing large-wood storage downstream of reservoirs during and after dam removal: Elwha River, Washington, USA
CoastSeg: An accessible and extendable hub for satellite-derived-shoreline (SDS) detection and mapping
Monitoring interdecadal coastal change along dissipative beaches via satellite imagery at regional scale
Benchmarking satellite-derived shoreline mapping algorithms
Accurate maps of reef-scale bathymetry with synchronized underwater cameras and GNSS
Earth science looks to outer space
A 1.2 billion pixel human-labeled dataset for data-driven classification of coastal environments
The future of coastal monitoring through satellite remote sensing
Crowd-sourced SfM: Best practices for high resolution monitoring of coastal cliffs and bluffs
Fire (plus) flood (equals) beach: Coastal response to an exceptional river sediment discharge event
Below are news stories associated with this project.
We use remote-sensing technologies—such as aerial photography, satellite imagery, structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry, and lidar (laser-based surveying)—to measure coastal change along U.S. shorelines.
Why measure coastal change?
Quantifying coastal change is essential for calculating trends in erosion, evaluating processes that shape coastal landscapes, and predicting how the coast will respond to future storms and sea-level rise, all critical for U.S. coastal communities.
Rapid developments have occurred in remote-sensing technologies during the 21st century. With our collaborators in and beyond the Department of the Interior, we seek to apply these technologies in innovative ways to advance understanding of coastal systems and their hazards.

Using photogrammetry to map natural hazards
USGS and partners collect extensive photographic data using airplanes and drones in coastal settings vulnerable to hazards such as landslides, coastal erosion, and powerful storms. Photos are processed with a digital technique called structure-from-motion photogrammetry to make accurate orthomosaics of the coastal landscape. Comparing the data with previously documented conditions provide “before” and “after” perspectives of the effects of those coastal hazards. These data often have immediate or time-sensitive relevance to public health and safety.

Tracking shoreline change from space
For decades, the USGS has monitored shoreline change in the United States by measuring and recording information at a study site (on the ground), using LIDAR (light detection and ranging) or GPS (Global Positioning System) surveys to meticulously collect data on beaches from coast to coast. These surveys are precise but costly, requiring lots of travel, hours of work, and expensive equipment. Using these methods to regularly monitor the 95,471 miles of coastline in the U.S. has been a monumental and impractical task.
That’s why USGS scientists are increasingly using Earth-observing satellites as their “eyes in the sky,” collecting and analyzing satellite imagery to study coastal change.
What traditionally was a labor- and time-intensive endeavor has been transformed by the high quality and quantity of data provided by satellite remote-sensing techniques. For example, global-scale studies of the world’s coastlines have been completed for a fraction of the cost of many labor-intensive field studies.

Seafloor mapping technology
To accurately measure seafloor change at millimeter-scale resolutions—in order to, say, monitor the growth and recovery of coral reefs—USGS scientists developed the “Structure-from-Motion Quantitative Underwater Imaging Device with 5 Cameras” system, or SQUID-5. With its five-camera array, SQUID-5 enables researchers to collect high-resolution images in shallow-water environments, which can be used to create complex three-dimensional seafloor maps with unprecedented accuracy and geolocation.
SQUID-5 is the product of a cross-center partnership. Ocean Engineer Gerry Hatcher of the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center (PCMSC) and Dave Zawada of the St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (SPCMSC) are two of the lead scientists behind the creation of SQUID-5. The Remote Sensing Coastal Change team at PCMSC engineered the device, and the Processes Impacting Seafloor Change and Ecosystem Services team (PISCES) at SPCMSC is tasked with its deployment and data collection.


Using video imagery to study coastal change
USGS researchers analyze the imagery and video collected from camera installations known as CoastCams in order to remotely sense a range of processes, which include shoreline position, sandbar migration, rip-channel formation, wave run-up on the beach, alongshore current, and nearshore bathymetry.
USGS plans to install additional CoastCam systems at other U.S. locations. The knowledge gained will improve computer-derived simulations of coastal flooding and shoreline change that communities can use to plan for sea-level rise, changing storm patterns, and other threats to beaches.
Marconi Beach, Massachusetts
Nuvuk (Point Barrow), Alaska
Unalakleet, Alaska
Santa Cruz, California
Sunset State Beach, California
Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida
We are using video imagery, scanned aerial photographs, digital images collected from fixed-wing aircraft, and digital images collected from multi-rotor UAS to study coastal processes.
SQUID-5 camera system
Using Video Imagery to Study Coastal Change: Santa Cruz Beaches
Using Video Imagery to Study Coastal Change: Sunset State Beach
Using Video Imagery to Study Wave Dynamics: Unalakleet
Using Video Imagery to Study Sediment Transport and Wave Dynamics: Nuvuk (Point Barrow)
Using Video Imagery to Study Marconi Beach
Big Sur Landslides
Using Video Imagery to Study Coastal Change: Barter Island, Alaska
The Mud Creek landslide on California’s Big Sur coast
Big Sur Coastal Landslides
Data associated with this project
Data to Support Analyses of Shoreline Seasonal Cycles for Beaches of California
Shoreline Change of Western Long Island, New York from Satellite Derived Shorelines
Bathymetry, topography, and sediment grain-size data from the Elwha River delta, Washington, August 2019
Satellite-derived shorelines for the U.S. Gulf Coast states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida for the period 1984-2022, obtained using CoastSat
Underwater Photogrammetry Products of Looe Key, Florida From Images Acquired Using the SQUID-5 System in July 2022
Underwater Photogrammetry Products of Big Pine Ledge, Florida From Images Acquired Using the SQUID-5 System in July 2022
Underwater Photogrammetry Products of Summerland Ledge, Florida From Images Acquired Using the SQUID-5 System in July 2022
Underwater photogrammetry products of Big Pine Ledge, Florida from images acquired using the SQUID-5 system in July 2021
Overlapping seabed images and location data acquired using the SQUID-5 system at Looe Key, Florida, in July 2021, with structure-from-motion derived point cloud, digital elevation model and orthomosaic of submerged topography
Overlapping seabed images and location data acquired using the SQUID-5 system at Eastern Dry Rocks coral reef, Florida, in May 2021, with derived point cloud, digital elevation model and orthomosaic of submerged topography
Coast Train--Labeled imagery for training and evaluation of data-driven models for image segmentation
Point clouds, bathymetric maps, and orthoimagery generated from overlapping lakebed images acquired with the SQUID-5 system near Dollar Point, Lake Tahoe, CA, March 2021
Colored shaded-relief bathymetric map and orthomosaic from structure-from-motion quantitative underwater imaging device with five cameras of the Lake Tahoe floor, California
Below are multimedia items associated with this project.
Tracking Coastal Change with Photogrammetry
Monitoring coastal changes is important for the millions of people that live along coasts in the United States, particularly as climate change hastens coastal erosion by raising sea levels and fueling powerful storms. The USGS uses remote-sensing technologies—such as aerial photography, satellite imagery, structure-from-motion photogrammetry, and lidar (laser-based surveying)—to measure coastal...
Most of the world’s beaches have regular cycles of erosion and recovery, but new USGS research is showing that these cycles may be considerably different from common perceptions.
Most of the world’s beaches have regular cycles of erosion and recovery, but new USGS research is showing that these cycles may be considerably different from common perceptions.
Two video cameras are mounted on a bluff above Marconi Beach, Cape Cod National Seashore, Wellfleet, MA. Every half hour during daylight hours, the video camera collects imagery for 10 minutes and processes it. This is the snapshot image, like a photo, taken at the beginning of the 10-minute window and looking northeast.
Two video cameras are mounted on a bluff above Marconi Beach, Cape Cod National Seashore, Wellfleet, MA. Every half hour during daylight hours, the video camera collects imagery for 10 minutes and processes it. This is the snapshot image, like a photo, taken at the beginning of the 10-minute window and looking northeast.

A section of Highway 1 along the California coast in Big Sur with more examples of the numerous debris flows and mudslides that occur following a heavy rain. This section is just south of the Rat Creek debris flow that completely washed out a large chunk of the highway.
A section of Highway 1 along the California coast in Big Sur with more examples of the numerous debris flows and mudslides that occur following a heavy rain. This section is just south of the Rat Creek debris flow that completely washed out a large chunk of the highway.
The atmospheric river, a narrow, powerful track of water vapor that can deliver tremendous volumes of rain, hit the central California coast and stalled there between January 26 and 28, 2021 — with catastrophic consequences.
The atmospheric river, a narrow, powerful track of water vapor that can deliver tremendous volumes of rain, hit the central California coast and stalled there between January 26 and 28, 2021 — with catastrophic consequences.
Video camera snapshot at Tres Palmas in Rincón, on the west coast of Puerto Rico.
Video camera snapshot at Tres Palmas in Rincón, on the west coast of Puerto Rico.
Snapshot of Isla Verde in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from a coastal video monitoring station
Snapshot of Isla Verde in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from a coastal video monitoring station
Shawn Harrison stands near video cameras on top of a building overlooking Isla Verde in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The cameras measure wave run-up and flooding as part of a study in response to Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria.
Shawn Harrison stands near video cameras on top of a building overlooking Isla Verde in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The cameras measure wave run-up and flooding as part of a study in response to Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria.
Two video cameras overlook the coast from atop a windmill tower in Unalakleet, Alaska where they look westward over Norton Sound. This is a snapshot taken from one of the cameras.
Two video cameras overlook the coast from atop a windmill tower in Unalakleet, Alaska where they look westward over Norton Sound. This is a snapshot taken from one of the cameras.
Two video cameras overlook the coast at Sunset State Beach in Watsonville, California. Camera 1 looks northwest while Camera 2 looks north. Every half hour during daylight hours, the cameras collect snapshots and video for 10 minutes. The various imagery collected:
Two video cameras overlook the coast at Sunset State Beach in Watsonville, California. Camera 1 looks northwest while Camera 2 looks north. Every half hour during daylight hours, the cameras collect snapshots and video for 10 minutes. The various imagery collected:
The view from one of two video cameras atop the Dream Inn hotel in Santa Cruz, California, that overlook the coast in northern Monterey Bay. This view, from camera 1, looks eastward over Santa Cruz Main Beach and boardwalk.
The view from one of two video cameras atop the Dream Inn hotel in Santa Cruz, California, that overlook the coast in northern Monterey Bay. This view, from camera 1, looks eastward over Santa Cruz Main Beach and boardwalk.
Publications associated with this project
Shoreline seasonality of California’s beaches
Shoreline change of western Long Island, New York, from satellite-derived shorelines
Remote sensing large-wood storage downstream of reservoirs during and after dam removal: Elwha River, Washington, USA
CoastSeg: An accessible and extendable hub for satellite-derived-shoreline (SDS) detection and mapping
Monitoring interdecadal coastal change along dissipative beaches via satellite imagery at regional scale
Benchmarking satellite-derived shoreline mapping algorithms
Accurate maps of reef-scale bathymetry with synchronized underwater cameras and GNSS
Earth science looks to outer space
A 1.2 billion pixel human-labeled dataset for data-driven classification of coastal environments
The future of coastal monitoring through satellite remote sensing
Crowd-sourced SfM: Best practices for high resolution monitoring of coastal cliffs and bluffs
Fire (plus) flood (equals) beach: Coastal response to an exceptional river sediment discharge event
Below are news stories associated with this project.