Geology Department, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon 97201
Geosciences Department, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331
Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington, 98225
The information contained in this report provides the first regional data base of physical shoreline resources of ocean beaches in Washington, Oregon and northernmost California. This report contains aerial photogrammetry data taken from about 2,000 reference points, spaced at one half kilometer intervals, along the 1,000 km long study area, and (2) profile data taken from 127 across-shore profile sites in 18 representative littoral cells of the Pacific Northwest (PNW) coastal zone. These selected littoral cells represent a total of 500 km in coastal distance or about 75% of the beach-fronted study area.
The data base has been loaded into an Excel version 5.0 workbook format for either the Apple or Windows operating systems. The data base files includes three worksheets (1) PNW Beach Physiography, (2) PNW Beach Survey, and (3) PNW Beach Deposit. The data files can be used in compatible spread-sheet programs and/or graphing programs. Alternatively the data can be loaded into relational data base programs or geographic information systems (GIS). The aerial photogrammetry data contain cartametric variables documenting shoreline type, orientation, length, width, and adjacent geomorphic features. The beach survey and beach deposit data contain variables establishing beach sediment grain size, wave runup elevations, foredune heights, wave-cut platform elevations, across-shore profile gradients, and beach sand cross-sectional areas, among others.
The information presented in this report can be used to map and analyze the regional distributions of different types of shorelines including rocky headlands, sandy beaches, tidal inlets, dune fields and coastal terraces. Specific shoreline variables and beach parameters can be used to help predict regional shoreline susceptibility to (1) chronic and catastrophic hazards, (2) impacts from shoreline protection structures, (3) shoreline instability from sand mining or dredge spoil disposal, and (4) contamination from pollutants. Finally, this shoreline data base can be integrated with other spatially related data bases of wildlife habitats, recreational-economic interests, and jurisdictional boundaries for a wide variety of coastal inventory and planning uses.