Coastal foredunes are important natural resources that serve as nature’s first line of defense to protect inland development and human populations from storms. With the ever-increasing possibility of sea-level rise and the increased frequency of storms, coastal mapping and understanding foredune development are important tools that coastal stakeholders can use to aid in policy planning.
The currently predominant beach-dune interaction models are not wholly adequate and lack sufficient quantitative data and have poorly defined variables to support their underlying concepts, and as a result, they are difficult to verify in field conditions.
An extensive field study was conducted in Gulf County, Florida, a location that experiences little anthropogenic impact. A newly developed cycle of foredune evolution has several potential benefits. First, the cycle places foredunes on a continuous spectrum rather than in distinct categories. Second, the cycle can be tested and verified with quantitative data. Third, this new cycle can be applied not just to open ocean sandy environments, but Great Lakes foredunes undergoing frequent lake level change as well.
A variety of Canadian coastal foredune environments were tested against the model. Foredune and beach data was derived from a combination of new sources, including GPS data, and LiDAR and drone point clouds, to measure volumes, which were then applied to the new cycle of foredune evolution. The model was verified, while also presenting new methods of data collection that may be used to further enhance the quantitative data collection to support a new model.
Climate change impacts on coastal ecosystems and communities , Integrating data from multiple sources, temporal periods, and spatial scales , Emerging tools and technologies for data collection and coastal management
