25 Nearshore and Estuarine Research: Dynamics and Future Resiliency in the Coastal Zone II
This session focuses on drivers of change in coastal environments as well as planning for future resiliency in tidal marshes, mudflats, estuaries, and barrier systems, including human activity impacts, sea level rise, & changing sediment supply.
Monday, 23 March 2026
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
CCC, Room 22/23
Coastal Engineering Resilience for the Northeast: A screening tool that integrates coastal geomorphology from topobathy lidar with waves and water levels
Paper number: 25-2
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 1:55 PM – 2:15 PM
Authors
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Charlene Sylvester Presenting AuthorEngineer Research and Development Center, Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory, Concord, MA
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Scott SpurgeonEngineer Research and Development Center, Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory, Kiln, MS
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Quin RobertsonWoolpert
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Zhifei DongTellus
Abstract
Regional topobathy lidar datasets from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) National Coastal Mapping Program (NCMP) are used to map and characterize the coastal geomorphology and engineering resilience of the Northeast coastlines in response to short-term drivers, such as storms and water levels. This presentation details the development of a regional dataset of nearshore geomorphology features that include bluff tops and toes, dune crests and toes, shorelines, and sand bar crests and troughs. These features are integrated into key metrics for engineering resilience, such as beach and dune width, protective elevation, protective width, and beach slope.
These metrics are provided as a USACE Coastal Engineering Resilience Index (CERI). CERI is a screening-level tool that informs regional sediment budgets, navigation monitoring, coastal storm flood risk management projects, ecosystem restoration initiatives, beach profile design, and multi-criteria decision support tools. Scalable, measurable, accessible, and repeatable analysis of engineering resilience is essential for identifying physically vulnerable coastlines and understanding engineering resilience as coasts are re-mapped and new datasets become available in the future. Information gleaned from CERI helps prioritizing projects and selecting appropriate actions aimed at improving resilience over the longer term.
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 58, No. 2
doi: 10.1130/abs/2026NE-411417
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