A next generation beach observing system for Hawai‘i

The proposed project will develop and institute a next-generation program for monitoring short and long-term changes in shoreline location and beach width on Hawai‘i coasts and will increase the accuracy and coverage of existing beach monitoring databases. This pilot project, looking at several key beach sites on O‘ahu, will determine if the efficiency and data quality for beach surveys can be enhanced through recent technologies including advanced GPS-enable survey instruments, digital imagery from unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), and seafloor surveys using a Personal Water Craft (Jet Ski).

Aerial view of one section of beach and near offshore, with numbers superimposed showing depths along traverses perpendicular to the coastline — Drone photo of one stretch of Waikiki Beach, Hawai‘i, illustrating where beach profiles are taken to monitor shoreline changes.

Hawaiʻi Sea Grant Podcast

PROJECT DETAILS

FUNDED:

FY2018

PI:

Charles Fletcher
Professor of Earth Sciences, UH Mānoa

Graduate Scholar:

Anna Mikkelson
Department of Earth Sciences, UH Mānoa

RESEARCH PROJECT