Citation:
Citation_Information:
Originator: U.S. Geological Survey
Publication_Date: 20210831
Title:
Historical shoreline positions for the coast of MA, from 1844 - 2014.
Edition: 1
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data
Series_Information:
Series_Name: data release
Issue_Identification: doi:10.5066/P9O8QA8N
Publication_Information:
Publication_Place: Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole, MA
Publisher: U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Geology Program
Online_Linkage: https://doi.org/10.5066/P9O8QA8N
Online_Linkage:
Larger_Work_Citation:
Citation_Information:
Originator: Marie K. Bartlett
Originator: Amy S. Farris
Originator: Kathryn M. Weber
Originator: Emily A. Himmelstoss
Publication_Date: 2021
Title:
Massachusetts Shoreline Change Project: A GIS Compilation of Vector Shorelines (1844-2018)
Edition: 1
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data
Series_Information:
Series_Name: data release
Issue_Identification: doi:10.5066/P9O8QA8N
Publication_Information:
Publication_Place: Reston, VA
Publisher: U.S. Geological Survey
Other_Citation_Details:
Suggested citation: Bartlett, M.K., Farris, A.S., Weber, K.M., and Himmelstoss, E.A., 2021, Massachusetts shoreline change project—A GIS compilation of vector shorelines for the 2021 update: U.S. Geological Survey data release,
https://doi.org/10.5066/P9O8QA8N
Online_Linkage:
Online_Linkage: https://doi.org/10.5066/P9O8QA8N
Description:
Abstract:
The Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (MA CZM) launched the Shoreline Change Project in 1989 to identify erosion-prone areas of the coast by compiling a database of historical (1800's-1989) shoreline positions and shoreline change maps. Trends of shoreline position over long and short-term timescales provide information to landowners, managers, and potential buyers about possible future impacts to coastal resources and infrastructure. In 2001, a 1994 shoreline was added to calculate both long- and short-term shoreline change rates at 40-meter intervals along ocean-facing sections of the Massachusetts coast. In 2013 two oceanfront shorelines for Massachusetts were added using 2008-2009 color aerial orthoimagery and 2007 topographic lidar datasets obtained from NOAA's Ocean Service, Coastal Services Center. The 2013 update also included a 2000 lidar shoreline covering most of the open-ocean coast, as well as a 2001 shoreline for the South Shore coastal region. In 2018, two new mean high water (MHW) shorelines for the Massachusetts coast extracted from lidar data collected between 2010-2014 were added to the dataset. This 2021 data release contains a compilation of previously published historical shoreline positions spanning 170 years (1844 to 2014), intended to be used as an authoritative shoreline database for the state. This dataset is an update to the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management Shoreline Change Project.
Purpose:
Shoreline positions serve as easily understood features that can be used to describe the movement of beaches through time. This dataset includes shorelines from 170 years ranging from 1844 to 2014 for the coastal region of Massachusetts. Historical shorelines were compiled from a variety of methods including T-sheets, orthophotos, and lidar data. These data are used to calculate rates of shoreline change for the MA CZM Shoreline Change Project. Rates of long-term and short-term shoreline change were generated in a GIS using the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) version 5.1. DSAS uses a measurement baseline method to calculate rate-of-change statistics. Transects are cast from the reference baseline to intersect each shoreline, establishing measurement points used to calculate shoreline change rates.
Supplemental_Information:
Cross-referenced citations are applicable to the entire dataset. Additional citations are located within individual process steps that pertain specifically to the method described in that step. The shoreline database contains both MHW and high-water line (HWL) shorelines, which can lead to incorrect estimates of rates of change since visually identified HWL-type proxy shorelines are virtually never coincident with datum-based MHW-type shorelines. For open-ocean sandy beaches, historical, proxy-based HWL shorelines tend to be landward of datum-based MHW shorelines. A proxy-datum bias (PDB) describes this unidirectional horizontal offset that occurs between the MHW shoreline and the HWL shoreline, and is stored as a line feature class appended to the reference baseline, with an attribute for the bias value as well as the bias uncertainty. The PDB is used in conjunction with the shoreline files to calculate rates of shoreline change.
Time_Period_of_Content:
Time_Period_Information:
Range_of_Dates/Times:
Beginning_Date: 1844
Ending_Date: 2014
Currentness_Reference: ground condition of the data these shorelines are based on
Status:
Progress: Complete
Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: None planned
Spatial_Domain:
Bounding_Coordinates:
West_Bounding_Coordinate: -71.1231
East_Bounding_Coordinate: -69.9258
North_Bounding_Coordinate: 42.8943
South_Bounding_Coordinate: 41.2374
Keywords:
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: ISO 19115 Topic Category
Theme_Keyword: geoscientificInformation
Theme_Keyword: oceans
Theme_Keyword: environment
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: None
Theme_Keyword: USGS
Theme_Keyword: U.S. Geological Survey
Theme_Keyword: Coastal and Marine Geology Program
Theme_Keyword: Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
Theme_Keyword: WHCMSC
Theme_Keyword: Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management
Theme_Keyword: MA CZM
Theme_Keyword: National Assessment of Shoreline Change Project
Theme_Keyword: Massachusetts Shoreline Change Project
Theme_Keyword: DSAS
Theme_Keyword: Digital Shoreline Analysis System
Theme_Keyword: Shoreline
Theme_Keyword: Shoreline Change
Theme_Keyword: Mean High Water
Theme_Keyword: MHW
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: USGS Thesaurus
Theme_Keyword: coastal processes
Theme_Keyword: geospatial datasets
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: USGS Metadata Identifier
Theme_Keyword: USGS:6102d53ed34ef8d7055e79dc
Place:
Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: None
Place_Keyword: United States
Place_Keyword: Atlantic Coast
Place_Keyword: New England
Place_Keyword: Massachusetts
Place_Keyword: North Shore
Place_Keyword: South Shore
Place_Keyword: Cape Cod Bay
Place_Keyword: Outer Cape
Place_Keyword: South Cape
Place_Keyword: Nantucket
Place_Keyword: Martha’s Vineyard
Place_Keyword: Buzzard’s Bay
Access_Constraints: None
Use_Constraints:
Public domain data from the U.S. Government are freely redistributable with proper metadata and source attribution. Please recognize the U.S. Geological Survey as the originator of the dataset.
Point_of_Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Organization_Primary:
Contact_Organization: U.S. Geological Survey
Contact_Person: Marie K. Bartlett
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing and physical address
Address: 384 Woods Hole Road
City: Woods Hole
State_or_Province: MA
Postal_Code: 02543-1598
Country: USA
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 508-548-8700 x2262
Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 508-547-2310
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: mbartlett@usgs.gov
Browse_Graphic:
Browse_Graphic_File_Name:
Browse_Graphic_File_Description: Map view of data
Browse_Graphic_File_Type: PNG
Native_Data_Set_Environment:
Microsoft Windows 10 Version 6.2 (Build 1909) Esri ArcGIS 10.7.1.11595
Cross_Reference:
Citation_Information:
Originator: Kathryn M. Weber
Originator: Jeffrey H. List
Originator: Karen L.M. Morgan
Publication_Date: 2005
Title:
An operational mean high water datum for determination of shoreline position from topographic lidar data
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: Open-File Report
Series_Information:
Series_Name: Open-File Report
Issue_Identification: 2005-1027
Publication_Information:
Publication_Place: Reston, VA
Publisher: U.S. Geological Survey
Online_Linkage: https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2005/1027/
Cross_Reference:
Citation_Information:
Originator: Emily A. Himmelstoss
Originator: Amy S. Farris
Originator: Rachel E. Henderson
Originator: Meredith G. Kratzmann
Originator: Ayhan Ergul
Originator: Ouya Zhang
Originator: Jessica L. Zichichi
Publication_Date: 2018
Title:
Digital Shoreline Analysis System (version 5.0): U.S. Geological Survey software
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: Software release
Series_Information:
Series_Name: software release
Issue_Identification: version 5.0
Publication_Information:
Publication_Place: Reston, VA
Publisher: U.S. Geological Survey
Online_Linkage: https://doi.org/10.5066/P91MNNSN
Online_Linkage: https://code.usgs.gov/cch/dsas
Cross_Reference:
Citation_Information:
Originator: Peter Ruggiero
Originator: Jeffrey H. List
Publication_Date: 200909
Title:
Improving Accuracy and Statistical Reliability of Shoreline Position and Change Rate Estimates
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: publication
Series_Information:
Series_Name: Journal of Coastal Research
Issue_Identification: vol. 255
Publication_Information:
Publication_Place: n/a
Publisher: Coastal Education and Research Foundation
Other_Citation_Details: ppg. 1069-1081
Online_Linkage: https://doi.org/10.2112/08-1051.1