Shorelines for the northern Alaska coastal region used in shoreline change analysis, 1947 to 2012

• Main Author: U.S. Geological Survey
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: USGS Science Data Catalog 2015
• Subjects: Shoreline; Shoreline Change Rate; Endpoint Rate; Digital Shoreline Analysis System; DSAS; U.S. Geological Survey; USGS; Coastal and Marine Geology Program; CMGP; National Assessment of Shoreline Change Project; Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center; PCMSC; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; NOAA; Coastal Services Center; CSC; oceans; environment; geoscientificInformation; North Slope; Beaufort Sea; Barrow; Demarcation Bay; Jago River; Staines River; Sagavanirktok River; Colville River; Cape Halkett; Harrison Bay; Drew Point; Tangent Point; Smith Bay; Elson Lagoon; Peard Bay; Alaska; Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; United States; Arctic; National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska; NPR-A; ANWR; Pacific; north slope
• Online Access: https://search.dataone.org/view/36804723-1787-45fe-ba58-0580bbb57d9f

The Arctic Coastal Plain of northern Alaska is an area of strategic economic importance to the United States, is home to remote Native American communities, and encompasses unique habitats of global significance. Coastal erosion along the north coast of Alaska is chronic, widespread, may be accelerating, and is threatening defense and energy-related infrastructure, natural shoreline habitats, and Native communities. There is an increased demand for accurate information regarding past and present shoreline changes across the United States. To meet these national needs, the Coastal and Marine Geology Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is compiling existing reliable historical shoreline data along sandy shores of the conterminous United States and parts of Alaska and Hawaii under the National Assessment of Shoreline Change project. There is no widely accepted standard for analyzing shoreline change. Existing shoreline data measurements and rate calculation methods vary from study to study and prevent combining results into state-wide or regional assessments. The impetus behind the National Assessment project was to develop a standardized method of measuring changes in shoreline position that is consistent from coast to coast. The goal was to facilitate the process of periodically and systematically updating the results in an internally consistent manner.