Abstract
Florida’s beaches are highly dynamic coastal features. They are vulnerable to accretion and erosion over time due in part to human interaction and climate change stressors such as storm activity. This study used the USGS Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) to calculate a long-term change rate from 1875 to 2000 and a short-term change rate from 1950 to 2000 of Florida’scoastline from the NOAA Historical Surveys data set.The results show that Florida’s coastline has not retreated in the past 50 years with overall long and short-term change rates of 0.014 m/yr and 0.110 m/yr of accretion respectively. Although the overall rates imply minimal change, coastline variability at a local level is prevalent.The data set of mapped historical change rates created during this research provides quantitative data that can be used to make local decisions to improve beach stability.
