Development of the geomorphological map of Fire Island National Seashore (post-Hurricane Sandy) and metrics of change

Psuty, Norbert; Schmelz, William; Greenberg, Joshua; Beal, Irina; Spahn, Andrea

This report incorporates the geomorphological map, its philosophical underpinnings, legend descriptions, and the GIS data layers for the Fire Island National Seashore, Patchogue, New York in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, October 2012. The theme of the map follows the current scientific organization of geomorphological mapping that includes morphometrics, causative processes, and evolutionary stages. Surface form was interpreted from a combination of recent orthophotos, Post-Hurricane Sandy Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data sets, spatial information on soils and vegetation, and field visits. The geomorphological features of the site include: 1) coastal topography that was created during an early phase of coastal barrier island development; 2) coastal topography that developed seaward of the early stage of barrier island evolution; 3) topographical modifications created by Hurricane Sandy, and 4) anthropogenic modifications to the natural topography, consisting of fill or excavation. The geomorphological map and its legend portray the spatial and temporal association of the surface features created during these stages of landscape development, as well as the broad anthropogenic alterations of the landscape. These processes continue to influence development of the landscape and, as a result, this map will serve to identify a stage in the evolution of the geomorphology of Fire Island. Many of the geomorphological features incorporated on these maps were affected by processes and responses associated with Hurricane Sandy in October 2012. A comparison with a map representation of the pre-storm geomorphological configuration (2011) is tabulated. Thus, this report is organized into two sections: • Part 1: A Post-Hurricane Sandy geomorphological map of Fire Island National Seashore. • Part 2: Quantification of the dimensions of change in the magnitude and distribution of geomorphological features as a result of Sandy. The geomorphological map is viewable as a full compilation of all of the data layers as well as user specified combinations of the data. Each of the map layers contained in this report meets the standards of Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) compliant metadata. The full set of organized data layers is available from the Geologic Resources Division, National Park Service, PO Box 25287, Denver, Colorado 80225 or via the Geologic Resources Inventory publications page http://go.nps.gov/gripubs.

Development of the geomorphological map of Fire Island National Seashore (post-Hurricane Sandy) and metrics of change

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