Drone Surveys Reveal Effects of Hurricane Florence on Coastal Habitats
Abstract
With sustained winds reaching 50 knots, Hurricane Florence caused waters to rise 1.5 m above predicted tide levels in Beaufort, North Carolina. The Beaufort community is sheltered by fringing saltmarshes and an inlet barrier island complex that is part of the NC National Estuarine Research Reserve (NCNERR). Collecting both pre- and post-storm data, we employed multiple Unoccupied Aerial System (UAS) platforms and sensors to evaluate storm impacts to natural and restored saltmarshes of varying orientation, as well as other barrier island habitats within the NCNERR. Specifically, we deployed a hexacopter with high-resolution RGB and multispectral sensors to map the saltmarshes and a fixed-wing UAS equipped with a high-resolution RGB mapping camera and RTK-GPS to survey the barrier island complex and associated intertidal habitats. Results indicate that fringing saltmarsh study sites remained relatively unchanged in areal extent; however, the eastward-facing sites, which were exposed to the strongest winds, experienced dramatic changes to the shoreline landward of the marsh. The barrier island complex also underwent significant changes with erosion that far exceeded losses caused by Hurricane Matthew in 2016. Intertidal habitats adjacent to the barrier island were not significantly altered by Hurricane Florence, except in instances where overwash deposition buried them. While we have observed back barrier marsh recovering from burial during Hurricane Matthew, impacted back barrier oyster reefs will likely not recover, resulting in localized losses of this habitat.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018AGUFMNH21D3533R
- Keywords:
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- 4313 Extreme events;
- NATURAL HAZARDS