Full document / COSOC-W-86-002 - the National Sea Grant Library

Estuarineand Coastal Management• Tools of the
Trade. Proceedingsof the TenthNationalConference
of TheCoastalSociety. October 12-15.1986. New
Orleans,LA. Copyrightby TheCoastalSociety
1987.
Introduction
A DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR
VISUALLY COLLECTED ENVIRONMENTAL DATA
Ann Sherlock and Andre Szuwalski
Coastal Engineering InfcnnancnAnalysisCenter
Coastal EngineeringResearchCenter
VS. Army EngineerWaterwaysExperimentStation
Vcksbuig, MS 39180
The Corps of Engineers has as part of its illusion the
responsibility for the design and construction of shore protection
works. In carrying out this nlsslon coastal project planners and
designers require Information on meteorologlc and oceanographlc
forces which effect the coast. The objective of the LEO program is
to provide this information by establishing an econoalcal and easily
retrievable reservoir of repetitive and systematic observations of
both the forces and response elements in the coastal zone.
Data Collection
LEO observations include surf conditions, local winds, littoral
currents, and foreshore slope. Surf conditions include estimates of
breaker height, period, direction, and type of breaking waves. Wind
observations Include speed, measured using a wind meter, and
direction. Longshore currents are measured using small packets of
dye which disperse upon immersion. The current speed is estimated
from the movement of the dyo patch centroid for a ono-mlnute
period. Current direction Is also noted. A measurement of foreshore
slope (using a topographic hand level) is aade at the upper limit ot
that part of the beach which la being vetted by awash runup.
All this data is recorded by the observer on the form shown in
Figure 1 from which the data can be readily transcribed to computer
disk or magnetic tape for further processing.
429