A Dynamic Coastline
We are currently studying the effect of waves, water levels, and currents on the transformation of New Jersey’s barrier coastlines using state-of-the-art land surveying equipment, unmanned autonomous vehicles (UAV’s), and ground penetrating radar (GPR). We are ultimately looking to determine how the beaches and dunes along the coast are changing in response to rising sea level and the present day storm climate, to better predict how these landforms might respond as sea level continues to rise and climate changes into the future. Our current field sites include the New Jersey beaches of Sandy Hook, Tuckerton, and the Holgate section of Long Beach Township. Developing an understanding of the aforementioned process-response relationships offers locally useful information to stakeholders in coastal communities for the purpose of making information-based natural resource management decisions.
