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New Advances in Coastal Processes and Dynamics Using LiDAR

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A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292). This special issue belongs to the section "Remote Sensing in Geology, Geomorphology and Hydrology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 15683

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Chris Blenkinsopp

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Guest Editor

Research Unit for Water, Environment and Infrastructure Resilience (WEIR), Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK
Interests: remote sensing of coastal processes; storm erosion and recovery of beaches, surf and swash zone processes; air entrainment and splash in breaking waves; coastal hazard early warning

Dr. Katherine Brodie

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Guest Editor

U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory, Field Research Facility
Interests: remote sensing of coastal morphodynamics; storm through decadal scale coastal change; surf- and swash-zone hydrodynamics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Approximately 40% of the world’s population live within 100 km of the coast, and coastal regions are typically heavily developed as centers for industry and commerce. Coastal change and flooding hazards therefore present a significant risk to sustainable development, and accurately predicting these hazards requires synthesis of complex forcings, which can be difficult to measure. For example, field and laboratory measurements of coastal processes are challenging due to both the highly dynamic nature of the coastal environment and the strong forces that traditional, in-situ measurement instruments must be able to withstand. As such, our understanding of coastal processes has in part been restricted by the difficulty of obtaining high-quality measurements. Recently, remote sensing using terrestrial LiDAR has provided a simple and cost-effective method to obtain high spatio-temporal resolution measurements of coastal phenomena and is becoming a commonly used tool for coastal research. Recent work has demonstrated the use of LiDAR to measure and advance our understanding of swash flows, wave breaking, energy dissipation in the surf zone, beach erosion and recovery over short timescales, and splash from breaking waves. The goal of this Special Issue of Remote Sensing is to collect papers (original research articles and review papers) that demonstrate novel uses of LiDAR to measure coastal phenomena, or produce new insights into coastal processes based on data collected using LiDAR.

This open-access Special Issue invites high-quality and innovative scientific papers that describe exciting new coastal research based on LiDAR data collected in the laboratory or the field. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

coastal erosion and recovery;
surf and swash zone hydrodynamics;
wave breaking processes;
wave runup and overtopping of coastal structures; and
new LiDAR-based methods that extend our ability to measure coastal phenomena using:
- new instrumentation;
- new instrument configurations or deployment methods; or
- novel data-processing techniques.

This Special Issue will benefit coastal engineers and scientists as well as LiDAR and geomatics scientists interested in non-traditional applications of terrestrial LiDAR.

Dr. Chris Blenkinsopp
Dr. Katherine Brodie
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Remote Sensing is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

LiDAR
coastal processes
swash zone hydrodynamics
surf zone hydrodynamics
beach morphology

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

26 pages, 6486 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Beach Profile, Water Level, and Wave Runup Measurements Using a Standalone Line-Scanning, Low-Cost (LLC) LiDAR System

by Christopher S. O’Connor and Ryan S. Mieras

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(19), 4968; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14194968 - 06 Oct 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2247

Abstract

A prototype rapidly deployable, Line-scanning, Low-Cost (LLC) LiDAR system (USD 400 per unit; 2020) was developed to measure coastal hydro-morphodynamic processes. A pilot field study was conducted at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Field Research Facility (FRF) in Duck, North Carolina, USA to evaluate the efficacy of the LLC LiDAR in measuring beach morphology, wave runup, and free-surface elevations against proven approaches. A prototype LLC LiDAR collected continuous cross-shore line scans for 25 min of every half hour, at ~7 revolutions/s and ~1.3° angular resolution, at two locations (one day at each location), spanning 12 m (i) on the backshore berm (35 scans; Series B) and (ii) in the swash/inner surf zone (28 scans; Series C). LLC LiDAR time-averaged beach profiles and wave runup estimates were compared with the same quantities derived from the continuously sampling terrestrial LiDAR scanner installed atop the dune at the FRF (DUNE LiDAR). The average root-mean-square difference (RMSD) between 17 (6) time-averaged LLC and DUNE LiDAR beach profiles was 0.045 m (0.031 m) with a standard deviation of 0.004 m (0.002 m) during Series B (Series C). Small-scale (cm) swash zone bed level changes were resolved over 5-min increments with the LLC LiDAR. The RMSD between LLC- and DUNE LiDAR-derived wave runup excursions over two 25-min segments was 0.542 m (cross-shore) and 0.039 m (elevation) during the rising tide and 0.366 m (cross-shore) and 0.032 m (elevation) during the falling tide. Between 72–79% of the LLC LiDAR wave runup data were more accurate than the RMSD values, thereby demonstrating the LLC LiDAR is an effective, low-cost instrument for measuring wave runup and morphodynamic processes. Co-located water levels were measured with a continuously sampling (16 Hz) RBRsolo³ D|wave16 pressure logger during Series C. LLC LiDAR free-surface elevations at the nadir during one high tide (4.5 h) compared well with pressure-derived free-surface elevations (RMSD = 0.024 m,

R^{2}

= 0.85). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Advances in Coastal Processes and Dynamics Using LiDAR)

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18 pages, 5724 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Simple, Fully Automated Shoreline Detection Algorithm for High-Resolution Multi-Spectral Imagery

by Hazem Usama Abdelhady, Cary David Troy, Ayman Habib and Raja Manish

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(3), 557; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14030557 - 25 Jan 2022

Cited by 21 | Viewed by 5972

Abstract

This paper develops and validates a new fully automated procedure for shoreline delineation from high-resolution multispectral satellite images. The model is based on a new water–land index, the Direct Difference Water Index (DDWI). A new technique based on the buffer overlay method is also presented to determine the shoreline changes from different satellite images and obtain a time series for the shoreline changes. The shoreline detection model was applied to imagery from multiple satellites and validated to have sub-pixel accuracy using beach survey data that were collected from the Lake Michigan (USA) shoreline using a novel backpack-based LiDAR system. The model was also applied to 132 satellite images of a Lake Michigan beach over a three-year period and detected the shoreline accurately, with a >99% success rate. The model out-performed other existing shoreline detection algorithms based on different water indices and clustering techniques. The resolution shoreline position timeseries is the first satellite image-extracted dataset of its kind in terms of its high spatial and temporal resolution, and paves the road to obtaining other high-temporal-resolution datasets to refine models of beaches worldwide. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Advances in Coastal Processes and Dynamics Using LiDAR)

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18 pages, 4566 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Remote Sensing of Wave Overtopping on Dynamic Coastal Structures

by Chris E. Blenkinsopp, Tom E. Baldock, Paul M. Bayle, Ollie Foss, Luis P. Almeida and Stefan Schimmels

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(3), 513; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14030513 - 21 Jan 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2206

Abstract

The development of coastal regions combined with rising sea levels is leading to an increasing risk of coastal flooding caused by wave overtopping of natural beaches and engineered coastal structures. Previous measurements of wave overtopping have been obtained for static coastal structures using fixed current meters and depth sensors or tanks. These are unsuitable for dynamically stable coastal protection structures however, because the geometry of these structures is expected to evolve under wave action. This study investigates the potential to use elevated 2D laser scanners (Lidar) to remotely sense the flow volumes overtopping the time-varying crest of a porous dynamic cobble berm revetment. Two different analysis methods were used to estimate the wave-by-wave overtopping volumes from measurements of the time-varying free surface elevation with good agreement. The results suggest that the commonly used EurOtop parameterisation can be used to estimate overtopping discharge to an acceptable precision. An advantage of the remote sensing approach reported here is that it enables the spatial distribution of overtopping discharge and infiltration rate to be measured. It was found that the overtopping discharge on a porous dynamic revetment decays rapidly landward of the structure crest, and that this has implications for safety and structure design. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Advances in Coastal Processes and Dynamics Using LiDAR)

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16 pages, 4728 KiB

Open AccessArticle

LiDAR Observations of Multi-Modal Swash Probability Distributions on a Dissipative Beach

by Caio Eadi Stringari and Hannah E. Power

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(3), 462; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13030462 - 28 Jan 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1926

Abstract

Understanding swash zone dynamics is of crucial importance for coastal management as the swash motion, consisting of the uprush of the wave on the beach face and the subsequent downrush, is responsible for driving changes in the beach morphology through sediment exchanges between the sub-aerial and sub-aqueous beach. Improved understanding of the probabilistic characteristics of these motions has the potential to allow coastal engineers to develop improved sediment transport models which, in turn, can be further developed into coastal management tools. In this paper, novel descriptors of swash motions are obtained by combining field data and statistical modelling. Our results indicate that the probability distribution function (PDF) of shoreline height timeseries (

p (ζ)

) and trough-to-peak swash heights (

p (ρ)

) measured at a high energy, sandy beach were both inherently multimodal. Based on the observed multimodality of these PDFs, Gaussian mixtures are shown to be the best method to statistically model them. Further, our results show that both offshore and surf zone dynamics are responsible for driving swash zone dynamics, which indicates unsaturated swash. The novel methods and results developed in this paper, both data collection and analysis, could aid coastal managers to develop improved swash zone models in the future. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Advances in Coastal Processes and Dynamics Using LiDAR)

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14 pages, 4172 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Characterization of Intertidal Bar Morphodynamics Using a Bi-Annual LiDAR Dataset

by Anne-Lise Montreuil, Robrecht Moelans, Rik Houthuys, Patrick Bogaert and Margaret Chen

Remote Sens. 2020, 12(22), 3841; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12223841 - 23 Nov 2020

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2252

Abstract

Intertidal bars are common features on meso-and macro-tidal sandy beaches with low to moderate wave energy environments. Understanding their morphodynamics is, hence, crucial for enhancing our knowledge on beach processes which is beneficial for coastal management. However, most studies have been limited by assessing bar systems two-dimensionally and typically over the short-term. Morphology and dynamics of an intertidal bar system in a macro-tidal environment have been investigated using bi-annual LiDAR topographic surveys over a period of seven years and along 3.2 km at Groenendijk beach (Belgium). The detected bars demonstrate that a morphology of an intertidal bar is permanently on the beach. However, these individual features are dynamic and highly mobile over the course of half a year. The mean height and width of the bars were 1.1 and 82 m, respectively. The highest, steepest, and asymmetric features were found on the upper beach, while they were least developed in the lower intertidal zone. The bars were evenly distributed over the entire intertidal beach, but the largest concentration observed around the mean sea level indicated the occurrence at preferential locations. The most significant net change across the beach occurs between the mean sea level and mean-high-water neap which corroborates with the profile mobility pattern. The seasonal variability of the bar morphology is moderately related to the seasonally driven changes in storm and wave regime forcings. However, a distinct relationship may be inhibited by the complex combination of forcing-, relaxation time- and feedback-dominated response. This work conducted from bi-annual LiDAR surveys has provided an unprecedented insight into the complex spatial organization of intertidal bars as well as their variability in time from seasonal to annual scale. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Advances in Coastal Processes and Dynamics Using LiDAR)

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