Shoreline change monitoring at Gateway National Recreation Area: 2009-2010 Annual Report
Psuty NP, Silveira TM, Soda D, Spahn A, Zarella P, McDermott J, Hudacek W, Gagnon J. 2011. Shoreline change monitoring at Gateway National Recreation Area: 2009-2010 Annual Report. Natural Resource Technical Report. NPS/NCBN/NRTR—2011/500. National Park Service, Natural Resource Stewardship and Science. Fort Collins, Colorado
This annual report documents the collection of shoreline position data and describes the short-term variation that has occurred during the period from Spring 2009 to Spring 2010 in the Gateway National Recreation Area, as called for in the Northeast Coastal and Barrier Network’s protocol on shoreline monitoring (Psuty, et al., 2010). The changes in shoreline position are generally descriptive of the seasonal contrasts (lower energetics in the summer period versus higher energetics in the winter period) that support sediment accumulation during summer and erosion during the winter. However, there are many natural variables and cultural events that affect the gains and losses of sediment and the displacements of the beach, especially along a coastal setting where sediment input and shoreline exposure are as varied as they are at Gateway National Recreation Area. This was an unusually stormy period and the ocean-facing shorelines were displaced great distances, especially in the Fall 2009 – Spring 2010 season when Sandy Hook recorded a mean inland shift of -15.57 m and Breezy Point migrated inland a mean of 17.54 m. For the entire year, Sandy Hook had an average inland displacement of-7.24 m, Great Kills lost a mean of -2.11 m, Miller Field was relatively stable at +0.62 m, Fort Wadsworth lost an average of -0.46 m, Plumb Beach lost -0.68 m, and Breezy Point lost an average of -17.91 m.This annual report on shoreline position change of the Gateway ocean shoreline does offer some insight into the areas of coastal dynamics and sediment budget. However, it is a report on only one year of observations and does not establish a trend. The protocols for shoreline monitoring created a comparable geodatabase that will lead to efficiencies in data assembly and analysis.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Psuty, Norbert; Silveira, Tanya; Soda, Daniel; Spahn, Andrea; Zarella, Paul; McDermott, Jacob; Hudacek, William; Gagnon, John
- Date of Issue
- 2011-11
- Publisher
- National Park Service, Natural Resource Stewardship and Science
- Units
- GATE , NCBN , NRSS
- Keywords
- Gateway National Recreation Area, Northeast Coastal and Barrier Network, shoreline monitoring, shoreline position change