Barrier island elevations relevant to potential storm impacts; 1, Techniques

Controls on coastal dune morphology, shoreline erosion and barrier island response to extreme storms

“…On many barrier islands, there is considerable variability in the foredune morphology and the presence of backbarrier dunes (see Elko et al, 2002) but the underlying causes of this variability have not been formally addressed in the literature. In the present study, the height and extent of the foredunes and the presence and relative location of backbarrier dunes on Santa Rosa Island are found to be statistically coherent/correlated at several length scales with the transverse ridges on the innershelf, the backbarrier cuspate headlands (island width), and the historical and storm-related trends in shoreline change (erosion).…”

“…The response and recovery of a barrier island are further complicated by alongshore variations in dune height (Morton, 2002;Gares and White, 2005;Stockdon et al, 2007) and island width (Morton, 2002), which can influence overwash and localize breaching. For example, dunes along Cape Hatteras are relatively continuous, but variations in dune height (in excess of 8 m) have been noted at scales of kilometers to tens of kilometers (Elko et al, 2002). Similar variations in shoreline response (erosion and deposition) have also been documented (Terwindt and Battjes, 1990;Morton et al, 1995), but the mechanisms responsible for this variability remain poorly understood.…”

“…While alongshore variations in coastal dune morphology have been described (Elko et al, 2002;Stallins and Parker, 2003), the controls on this variations are not well understood. In recent years, Santa Rosa Island in northwest Florida has been impacted by Hurricane Ivan (2004), Tropical Storm Arlene (2005), Hurricane Dennis (2005) and Hurricane Katrina (2005).…”

Alongshore variation in foredune height in response to transport potential and sediment supply: South Padre Island, Texas

“…Variations in dune height and localized shoreline response is well documented (e.g. Elko et al, 2002;Schupp et al, 2006;Stockdon et al, 2007), but the source of the variation is not well understood. Localized coastal response can be forced by wave refraction over the inner-shelf bathymetry (Demarest and Leatherman, 1985;Kraft et al, 1987;Pilkey et al, 1993;Riggs et al, 1995;Schwab et al, 2000;McNinch, 2004;Browder and McNinch, 2006;Schupp et al, 2006;Stockdon et al, 2007).…”

Least Cost Path Extraction of Topographic Features for Storm Impact Scale Mapping

“…Elko et al (2002) proposed a geographic information system (GIS)-based, semiautomated procedure for measuring the elevations of dune toe and dune ridge. First, a digital elevation model (DEM) is interpolated from topographic light detection and ranging (LIDAR) using Delaunay triangulation.…”