Satellite-derived shoreline positions from CoastSeg in multiple U.S. locations (1984-2023)

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Frequently anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title:
Satellite-derived shoreline positions from CoastSeg in multiple U.S. locations (1984-2023)
Abstract:
This dataset contains shoreline positions derived from available satellite imagery for multiple locations (Barter Island, Alaska; Elwha, Washington; Cape Cod, Massachusetts; Madeira Beach, Florida; and Rincon, Puerto Rico) across the United States for the time period 1984 to 2023. An open-source toolbox, CoastSeg (Fitzpatrick and others, 2024a; Fitzpatrick and others, 2024b), was used to classify coastal Landsat and Sentinel imagery and detect shorelines at the sub-pixel scale, using the CoastSat (Vos and others, 2019) methodology. Shorelines are derived for multiple slope values, representing the spatial and temporal variance of slope conditions at each site. Resulting shoreline positions are presented as discrete points in comma-separated value (CSV) format. Significant uncertainty is associated with the locations of shorelines in extremely dynamic regions at all sites, including at the locations of river mouths, tidal inlets, capes, ends of spits, and adjacent to wetlands at the Barter Island site. For technical users and researchers, data can be ingested into geospatial platforms (for example, QGIS or GlobalMapper) for more detailed analysis.
Supplemental_Information:
This data release was funded by the USGS Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
  1. How might this data set be cited?
    Buscombe, Daniel D., Burgess, Joseph, Doran, Kara S., Batiste, Sharon N., Gibbs, Ann E., Henderson, Rachel E., Heslin, Julia L., Janda, Catherine N., Lundine, Mark A., O'Neill, Andrea C., Terrano, Joseph F., Warrick, Jonathan A., and Weber, Kathryn M., 20250425, Satellite-derived shoreline positions from CoastSeg in multiple U.S. locations (1984-2023): data release DOI:10.5066/P1NUEFDP, U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Santa Cruz, CA.

    Online Links:

    This is part of the following larger work.

    Buscombe, Daniel D., Burgess, Joseph, Doran, Kara S., Batiste, Sharon N., Gibbs, Ann E., Henderson, Rachel E., Heslin, Julia L., Janda, Catherine N., Lundine, Mark A., O'Neill, Andrea C., Terrano, Joseph F., Warrick, Jonathan A., and Weber, Kathryn M., 2025, Satellite-derived shorelines from CoastSeg in multiple U.S. locations (1984-2023): data release DOI:10.5066/P1NUEFDP, U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Santa Cruz, CA.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Suggested Citation: Buscombe, D., Burgess, J., Doran, K., Fitzpatrick, S., Gibbs, A., Henderson, R., Heslin, J., Janda, C., Lundine, M., O'Neill, A.C., Terrano, J., Warrick, J., and Weber, K., 2025, Satellite-derived shorelines from CoastSeg in multiple U.S. locations (1984-2023): U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P1NUEFDP.
  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -143.83834890
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -67.23436190
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 70.15710875
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 18.31396108
  3. What does it look like?
    SDS_positions_multiplelocations_1984-2023.png (png)
    Image map showing study areas for satellite-derived shoreline positions in multiple locations.
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
    Beginning_Date: 1984
    Ending_Date: 2023
    Currentness_Reference:
    collection years of satellite imagery used to determine shoreline positions
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
    Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form:
    Shoreline positions along transects in comma-separated value formats
  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
    1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?
      This is a point data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):
      • point (835012)
    2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?
      Horizontal positions are specified in geographic coordinates, that is, latitude and longitude. Latitudes are given to the nearest 0.0000000000001. Longitudes are given to the nearest 0.0000000000001. Latitude and longitude values are specified in Decimal Degrees. The horizontal datum used is World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84).
      The ellipsoid used is Geodetic Reference System 80.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.0.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257223563.
      Vertical_Coordinate_System_Definition:
      Depth_System_Definition:
      Depth_Datum_Name: Mean Sea Level
      Depth_Resolution: 0.1
      Depth_Distance_Units: meters
      Depth_Encoding_Method: Implicit coordinate
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
    Shoreline positions for historical period (1984-2023) for multiple locations derived from satellite imagery
    CSV file consists of shoreline positions derived from imagery for multiple locations across the United States (Source: Producer Defined)
    dates
    Date and time of projected data (UTC) in yyyy-mm-dd HH:MM:ss format (where yyyy is 4 digit year, mm is 2-digit month, dd is 2-digit day, HH is hour in 24-hour notation, MM is minute, and ss is seconds). (Source: Producer defined)
    Range of values
    Minimum:1984-01-01 00:00:00
    Maximum:2023-12-31 00:00:00
    Units:yyyy-mm-dd HH:MM:ss
    Resolution:1
    x
    Ending position (x coordinate) of transect. (Source: Producer Defined)
    Range of values
    Minimum:-143.79837210000000
    Maximum:-67.24343491000000
    Units:decimal degrees
    Resolution:0.000000000000001
    y
    Ending position (y coordinate) of transect. (Source: Producer Defined)
    Range of values
    Minimum:18.314209620577572
    Maximum:70.151752936249068
    Units:decimal degrees
    Resolution:0.000000000000001
    start_x
    Starting position (x coordinate) of transect. (Source: Producer Defined)
    Range of values
    Minimum:-143.77516520000000
    Maximum:-67.24289353000000
    Units:decimal degrees
    Resolution:0.000000000000001
    start_y
    Starting position (y coordinate) of transect. (Source: Producer Defined)
    Range of values
    Minimum:18.314553410000000
    Maximum:70.145102510900000
    Units:decimal degrees
    Resolution:0.000000000000001
    tide
    Tide height correction (referenced to mean sea level) used for derived shoreline position in tidally-corrected files. Values of -9999 indicate no tidal correction. (Source: Producer Defined)
    Range of values
    Minimum:-2.387668117063054
    Maximum:2.336757955600731
    Units:meters
    Resolution:0.000000000000001
    transect_id
    Transect along which shoreline position is derived from satellite imagery for date and time indicated. (Source: Producer Defined)
    Range of values
    Minimum:1
    Maximum:772
    Units:integer identification
    Resolution:1
    cross_distance
    Distance of derived shoreline position along transect. (Source: Producer Defined)
    Range of values
    Minimum:-117.8106367952858
    Maximum:1013.6340600000000
    Units:meters
    Resolution:0.0000000000001
    shore_x
    Position (x coordinate) of shoreline derived from satellite imagery for date and time indicated. (Source: Producer Defined)
    Range of values
    Minimum:-143.7983338000000
    Maximum:-67.2434349100000
    Units:decimal degrees
    Resolution:0.000000000000001
    shore_y
    Position (y coordinate) of shoreline derived from satellite imagery for date and time indicated. (Source: Producer Defined)
    Range of values
    Minimum:18.314210372000000
    Maximum:70.151132107101674
    Units:decimal degrees
    Resolution:0.000000000000001
    satname
    Abbreviated name of satellite (Landsat 5-9, Sentinel 2) which collected imagery for date and time indicated. (Source: Producer Defined)
    Formal codeset
    Codeset Name:L5, L7, L8, L9, S2
    Codeset Source:Producer Defined
    Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
    The first line of the CSV is a header line. Files are packaged into zip files by site location (for example, satellite-derived-shoreline_transect_time_series_BarterIsland.zip), and individual files are named for the correction (for example, averageslopecorrection_transect_shoreline_timeseries_Barter.csv is the file for Barter Island and the average slope tidal correction).
    Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation: U.S. Geological Survey

Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
    • Daniel D. Buscombe
    • Joseph Burgess
    • Kara S. Doran
    • Sharon N. Batiste
    • Ann E. Gibbs
    • Rachel E. Henderson
    • Julia L. Heslin
    • Catherine N. Janda
    • Mark A. Lundine
    • Andrea C. O'Neill
    • Joseph F. Terrano
    • Jonathan A. Warrick
    • Kathryn M. Weber
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
    This data release was funded by the USGS Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program.
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
    U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
    Attn: PCMSC Science Data Coordinator
    2885 Mission Street
    Santa Cruz, CA

    831-427-4747 (voice)
    pcmsc_data@usgs.gov

Why was the data set created?

These data provide automatically detected estimates of coastal shoreline positions to support ongoing validation and development of automated feature detection methods, and can be used by science researchers, engineers, students, and the general public. These data can be used with geographic information systems, shoreline evolution models, or other software to assist in identifying and assessing possible areas of vulnerability, along with appropriate inclusion of uncertainty. These data are not intended to be used for navigation.

How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?
    Landsat imagery (source 1 of 10)
    U.S. Geological Survey, 2025, Landsat imagery (from Landsat 5): U.S. Geological Survey, online.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: online database
    Source_Contribution:
    The archive of Landsat 5 satellite imagery was accessed through Google Earth Engine and was used to derive shoreline positions for the study area.
    Landsat imagery (source 2 of 10)
    U.S. Geological Survey, 2025, Landsat imagery (from Landsat 7): U.S. Geological Survey, online.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: online database
    Source_Contribution:
    The archive of Landsat 7 satellite imagery was accessed through Google Earth Engine and was used to derive shoreline positions for the study area.
    Landsat 8-9 imagery (source 3 of 10)
    U.S. Geological Survey, 2023, Landsat 8-9 imagery for multiple locations: U.S. Geological Survey, online.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: online database
    Source_Contribution:
    The archive of Landsat 8-9 satellite imagery was used to derive shoreline positions for the study area.
    Sentinel 2 imagery (source 4 of 10)
    Agency, European Space, 2023, Sentinel 2 imagery for multiple locations: Copernicus, online.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: online database
    Source_Contribution:
    The archive of Sentinel 2 satellite imagery was used to derive shoreline positions for the study area.
    FES 2014 (source 5 of 10)
    Carrere, L., Lyard, F., Cancet, M., Guillot, A., and Picot, N., 20160501, FES (Finite Element Solution) 2014, a new tidal model—Validation results and perspectives for improvements: AVISO, online.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: online model
    Source_Contribution:
    Tidal corrections in the shoreline position were made with tide height predicted from the FES 2014 model.
    Barter slopes (source 6 of 10)
    Gibbs, A.E., Nolan, M., and Snyder, A.G., 20190226, Orthophotomosaics, elevation point clouds, digital surface elevation models and supporting data from the north coast of Barter Island, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey, online.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: online dataset
    Source_Contribution:
    beach slope data used to correct shoreline positions for tidal water levels
    Cape Cod slopes (source 7 of 10)
    Farris, A.S., Weber, K.M., and List, J.H., 20200922, Mean high water shorelines for the Outer Cape of Massachusetts from Nauset Inlet to Race Point (1998-2005): U.S. Geological Survey, online.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: online dataset
    Source_Contribution:
    beach slope data used to correct shoreline positions for tidal water levels
    Elwha slopes (source 8 of 10)
    Stevens, A.W., Gelfenbaum, G., Warrick, J.A., Miller, I.M., and Weiner, H.M., 20171208, Bathymetry, topography, and sediment grain-size data from the Elwha River delta, Washington (ver. 5.0, November 2024): U.S. Geological Survey, online.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: online dataset
    Source_Contribution:
    beach slope data used to correct shoreline positions for tidal water levels
    Madeira slopes (source 9 of 10)
    Brown, J.A., J.J., Birchler, Thompson, D.M., Long, J.W., and Seymour, A.C., 20180314, Beach Profile Data Collected From Madeira Beach, Florida: U.S. Geological Survey, online.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: online dataset
    Source_Contribution:
    beach slope data used to correct shoreline positions for tidal water levels
    Rincon slopes (source 10 of 10)
    Doran, K.S., Long, J.W., Birchler, J.J., Brenner, O.W., Hardy, M.W., Morgan, K.L.M., Stockdon, H.F., and Torres, M.L., 20170805, Lidar-derived Beach Morphology (Dune Crest, Dune Toe, and Shoreline) for U.S. Sandy Coastlines: U.S. Geological Survey, online.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: online dataset
    Source_Contribution:
    beach slope data used to correct shoreline positions for tidal water levels
  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?
    Date: 01-Sep-2023 (process 1 of 6)
    Set up CoastSeg program (Fitzpatrick and others, 2024a; Fitzpatrick and others, 2024b; Buscombe and Fitzpatrick, 2023) for each location. CoastSeg is set up using python 3.7 installed via pip into a conda environment. Regions of Interest (ROIs), transects, and reference shorelines were generated, as included in this data release. For Barter Island, ROIs were generated outside CoastSeg, using the standard CoastSeg sizes, to preserve recommended land-ocean area ratios (Vos and others, 2019) around complex coastlines. In Cape Cod, Elwha, Madeira, and Rincon, ROIs were generated within CoastSeg. Transects were generated outside CoastSeg for all locations and setup to have 30m – 140m alongshore spacing. DSAS (Himmelstoss and others, 2018) was used for Barter Island, Cape Cod, Madeira, and Rincon, to adjust transect orientation (with landward origin point) and consecutive transect labels. CoastSeg’s default reference shoreline was used in Cape Cod, Madeira Beach, and Rincon. In Barter Island and Elwha, a reference shoreline was created outside CoastSeg to reflect older shoreline positions and significant shoreline change over the observation period. These and other settings used at each site are explicitly listed in the shoreline vectors files, included in this data release. See Fitzpatrick and others (2024a, 2024b) and Vos and others (2019) for details on settings, ROIs, transects, reference shorelines, and using CoastSeg.
    Date: 01-Feb-2024 (process 2 of 6)
    After initial setup of ROIs, transects, reference shorelines and settings, the CoastSeg program was run to download all available imagery for satellites (Landsat 5, 7, 8, and 9 for all locations, and also Sentinel 2 for Barter Island) between 1 January 1984 and 31 December 2023. For Barter Island, imagery collected during months when sea-ice is typically present (October – May) were removed. Data sources used in this process:
    • Landsat imagery
    • Landsat 8-9 imagery
    • Sentinel imagery
    Date: 30-Apr-2024 (process 3 of 6)
    After all imagery was downloaded, shorelines were detected within each ROI. Initial shoreline detection images were reviewed and images with bad detections, due to clouds and weather, were manually removed from analysis and the shoreline detection process-step was repeated in CoastSeg. Output from this step included CSV and GeoJSON data for raw (not tidally corrected) shoreline positions. Data sources used in this process:
    • Landsat imagery
    • Landsat 8-9 imagery
    • Sentinel imagery
    Data sources produced in this process:
    • uncorrected shorelines
    Date: Sep-2024 (process 4 of 6)
    Once raw, uncorrected shoreline positions were generated, tidal corrections were conducted using three different slope values (average, high and low) to show the variance of beach slope conditions at each site. Slope values were determined from in situ beach survey and elevation data. Average slope values were defined as the mean from respective datasets for Cape Cod, Elwha and Madeira Beach (Farris and others, 2020; Stevens and others, 2017; Brown and others, 2018), and high/low slope values were defined as +/- 2 standard deviations away from the mean. Because detailed slope data was not available at Barter Island for the study period, slopes at Barter Island were determined empirically from various locations across the site based on elevation data from 2014-2015 (Gibbs and others, 2019). Average, low, and high slope values were derived from the aggregate data (as mean, minimum, and maximum, respectively). Slope values were similarly determined at Rincon based on the elevation dataset from Doran and others (2018). Average/high/low slope values used for Barter Island are 0.07/0.15/0.01; values for Cape Cod are 0.13/0.201/0.061; values for Elwha are 0.125/0.15/.01; values for Madeira are 0.08/0.1596/0.033; and values for Rincon are 0.1287/0.3968/0.0211. Output from this step included tidally corrected CSV and GeoJSON shoreline positions. Tidal corrections were applied using tide heights estimated from the FES 2014 Tidal model. Data sources used in this process:
    • FES 2014
    • uncorrected shorelines
    • Barter slopes
    • Cape Cod slopes
    • Elwha slopes
    • Madeira slopes
    • Rincon slopes
    Date: 15-Dec-2024 (process 5 of 6)
    Output was checked to ensure quality results. In dynamic locations, including areas such as river mouths, capes, and ends of spits, uncertainty can increase, and shorelines in these locations should be inspected and used with care.
    Date: 17-Jan-2025 (process 6 of 6)
    Data were packaged and prepared for data release. Data are zipped together by location and labeled according to whether the SDS are uncorrected or are tidally corrected (using average, high, or low beach slope values). GeoJSON files contain both the CoastSeg setup settings (including ROI, transects, and reference shoreline), and the output shorelines as vectors where vertices are the positions along each transect. CSV files contain the shoreline positions along each transect.
  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?
    Fitzpatrick, S., Buscombe, D., Warrick, J.A., Lundine, M.A., and Vos, K., 2024, CoastSeg: an accessible and extendable hub for satellite-derived-shoreline (SDS) detection and mapping.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Fitzpatrick, S., Buscombe, D., Warrick, J.A., Lundine, M.A., and Vos, K., 2024a, CoastSeg: an accessible and extendable hub for satellite-derived-shoreline (SDS) detection and mapping: Journal of Open Source Software, v. 99(99), 6683.
    Fitzpatrick, S., Buscombe, D., Warrick, J.A., Lundine, M.A., and Vos, K., 2024, CoastSeg: an accessible and extendable hub for satellite-derived-shoreline (SDS) detection and mapping.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Fitzpatrick, S., Buscombe, D., Warrick, J.A., Lundine, M.A., and Vos, K., 2024b, CoastSeg: an accessible and extendable hub for satellite-derived-shoreline (SDS) detection and mapping: (v1.2.9). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12555413
    Buscombe, D., and Fitzpatrick, S., 2023, CoastSeg: Beach transects and beachface slope database v1.0 (Version v1.0).

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Buscombe, D., & Fitzpatrick, S., 2023, CoastSeg: Beach transects and beachface slope database v1.0 (v1.0). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8187949
    Vos, K., Splinter, K.D., Harley, M.D., Simmons, J.A., and Turner, I.L., 2019, CoastSat: A Google Earth Engine-enabled Python toolkit to extract shorelines from publicly available satellite imagery.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Vos, K., Splinter, K.D., Harley, M.D., Simmons, J.A., and Turner, I.L., 2019, CoastSat: A Google Earth Engine-enabled Python toolkit to extract shorelines from publicly available satellite imagery: Environmental Modelling and Software, v. 122, 104528.
    Himmelstoss, E.A., Farris, A.S., Henderson, R.E., Kratzmann, M.G., Ergul, A., Zhang, O., Zichichi, J.L., and Thieler, E.R., 2021, Digital Shoreline Analysis System (version 5.1).

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Himmelstoss, E.A., Farris, A.S., Henderson, R.E., Kratzmann, M.G., Ergul, A., Zhang, O., Zichichi, J.L., Thieler, E.R., 2021, Digital Shoreline Analysis System (version 5.1): U.S. Geological Survey software release, https://code.usgs.gov/cch/dsas.

How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?

  1. How well have the observations been checked?
    Attribute values are estimates of shoreline position based on satellite imagery. The accuracy of this method was assessed by Vos and others (2019), who compared data with ground-based surveys at Duck, North Carolina. In line with these estimates, a cross-shore horizontal error of 10 m (root mean square error) can be used in most locations. In dynamic locations, including areas such as river mouths, capes, ends of spits, and adjacent to wetlands in Barter Island, uncertainty is greater, and positions should be inspected and used with care.
  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
    Data are concurrent with specified transect locations.
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
    There has not been a formal accuracy assessment of vertical position in this dataset and/or is not applicable.
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
    Data set is considered complete for the information presented.
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?
    Data have undergone QA/QC and fall within expected/reasonable ranges.

How can someone get a copy of the data set?

Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?
Access_Constraints No access constraints.
Use_Constraints USGS-authored or produced data and information are in the public domain from the U.S. Government and are freely redistributable with proper metadata and source attribution. Please recognize and acknowledge the U.S. Geological Survey as the originator(s) of the dataset and in products derived from these data.
  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
    U.S. Geological Survey - CMGDS
    2885 Mission Street
    Santa Cruz, CA

    831-427-4747 (voice)
    pcmsc_data@usgs.gov
  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set? These data are available in CSV format by location. Shorelines are identified as points along transects (ID), and transect start and end points are included in the CSV.
  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
    Unless otherwise stated, all data, metadata and related materials are considered to satisfy the quality standards relative to the purpose for which the data were collected. Although these data and associated metadata have been reviewed for accuracy and completeness and approved for release by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the display or utility of the data on any other system or for general or scientific purposes, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty.
  4. How can I download or order the data?
  5. What hardware or software do I need in order to use the data set?
    These data can be viewed with GIS software such as Arc, Global Mapper or QGIS, or numerical processing software such as python or Matlab.

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 25-Apr-2025
Metadata author:
U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
Attn: PCMSC Science Data Coordinator
2885 Mission Street
Santa Cruz, CA

831-427-4747 (voice)
pcmsc_data@usgs.gov
Metadata standard:
Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)
This page is <https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/catalog/pcmsc/DataReleases/CMGDS_DR_tool/DR_P1NUEFDP/SatelliteDerivedShorelines_multiplelocations.faq.html>
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