Coastal/Nearshore Sediment Budget Analyses

Regional coastal sediment transport processes influence the evolution of sedimentary environments to varying degrees depending on temporal and spatial response scales. A detailed evaluation of these processes provides valuable information to support and inform scientific investigations, engineering studies, and coastal restoration efforts. To understand three-dimensional influences on sediment dynamics, hydrographic surveys combined with Lidar data and/or topographic surveys of subaerial elevations provide a relatively seamless model of coastal and nearshore morphology, providing a direct source of information for quantifying change. Comparison of digital elevation data for the same region but from different time periods records net transport of sediment into (accretion) and out of (erosion) a geographic area. Erosion and accretion volumes define the magnitude of sediment exchange associated with transport pathways, providing the foundation for development of a coastal sediment budget. The sediment budget establishes the basis for identification and evaluation of local and regional trends in coastal sediment dynamics and the impact of natural processes and human influences on a project area. Applied Coastal personnel have conducted these kinds of studies along all U.S. coasts to evaluate long- and short-term changes in coastal response to physical processes, particularly as they relate to sedimentation patterns associated with inlets and adjacent coastal reaches.