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  • Long-term and short-term shoreline change rates for the coast south of Boston, Massachusetts, calculated with and without the proxy-datum bias using the Digital Shoreline Analysis System version 5.0

    Metadata Updated: November 12, 2020

    The Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management launched the Shoreline Change Project in 1989 to identify erosion-prone areas of the coast. The shoreline position and change rate are used to inform management decisions regarding the erosion of coastal resources. In 2001, a shoreline from 1994 was added to calculate both long- and short-term shoreline change rates along ocean-facing sections of the Massachusetts coast. In 2013, two oceanfront shorelines for Massachusetts were added using 2008-9 color aerial orthoimagery and 2007 topographic lidar datasets obtained from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Ocean Service, Coastal Services Center. This 2018 data release includes rates that incorporate two new mean high water (MHW) shorelines for the Massachusetts coast extracted from lidar data collected between 2010 and 2014. The first new shoreline for the State includes data from 2010 along the North Shore and South Coast from lidar data collected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Joint Airborne Lidar Bathymetry Technical Center of Expertise. Shorelines along the South Shore and Outer Cape are from 2011 lidar data collected by the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Geospatial Program Office. Shorelines along Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard are from a 2012 USACE Post Sandy Topographic lidar survey. The second new shoreline for the North Shore, Boston, South Shore, Cape Cod Bay, Outer Cape, South Cape, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, and the South Coast (around Buzzards Bay to the Rhode Island Border) is from 2013-14 lidar data collected by the (USGS) Coastal and Marine Geology Program. This 2018 update of the rate of shoreline change in Massachusetts includes two types of rates. Some of the rates include a proxy-datum bias correction, this is indicated in the filename with “PDB”. The rates that do not account for this correction have “NB” in their file names. The proxy-datum bias is applied because in some areas a proxy shoreline (like a High Water Line shoreline) has a bias when compared to a datum shoreline (like a Mean High Water shoreline). In areas where it exists, this bias should be accounted for when calculating rates using a mix of proxy and datum shorelines. This issue is explained further in Ruggiero and List (2009) and in the process steps of the metadata associated with the rates. This release includes both long-term (~150 years) and short term (~30 years) rates. Files associated with the long-term rates have “LT” in their names, files associated with short-term rates have “ST” in their names.

    Access & Use Information

    License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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    Dates

    Metadata Date August 10, 2020
    Metadata Created Date November 12, 2020
    Metadata Updated Date November 12, 2020
    Reference Date(s) January 1, 2019 (publication)
    Frequency Of Update notPlanned

    Metadata Source

    Harvested from DOI Open Data

    Graphic Preview

    Map view of data

    Additional Metadata

    Resource Type Dataset
    Metadata Date August 10, 2020
    Metadata Created Date November 12, 2020
    Metadata Updated Date November 12, 2020
    Reference Date(s) January 1, 2019 (publication)
    Responsible Party U.S. Geological Survey (Point of Contact)
    Contact Email
    Guid
    Access Constraints Use Constraints: These data were automatically generated using the DSAS v5.0 software applications. Public domain data from the U.S. Government are freely redistributable with proper metadata and source attribution. Please recognize the U.S. Geological Survey as the originator of the dataset. These data are not to be used for navigation., Access Constraints: None
    Bbox East Long -70.495019
    Bbox North Lat 42.309398
    Bbox South Lat 41.777928
    Bbox West Long -70.926071
    Coupled Resource
    Frequency Of Update notPlanned
    Graphic Preview Description Map view of data
    Graphic Preview File https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/file/get/5c6577d8e4b0fe48cb38fc80/?name=SouthShore_rates_browse.png
    Graphic Preview Type png
    Licence Neither the U.S. Government, the Department of the Interior, nor the USGS, nor any of their employees, contractors, or subcontractors, make any warranty, express or implied, nor assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, nor represent that its use would not infringe on privately owned rights. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the USGS in the use of these data or related materials. Although these data and associated metadata have been reviewed for accuracy and completeness and approved for release by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and have been processed successfully on a computer system at the USGS, no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the display or utility of the data for other purposes, nor on all computer systems, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. The USGS or the U.S. Government shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described and/or contained herein. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
    Metadata Language
    Metadata Type geospatial
    Progress completed
    Spatial Data Service Type
    Spatial Reference System
    Spatial Harvester True

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