ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information | |
Barrier Island Dynamics Using Mass Center Analysis: A New Way to Detect and Track Large-Scale Change | |
Paul Paris1  | |
关键词: barrier islands; center of mass; geomorphology; geographic information systems (GISs); GRASS; QGIS; | |
DOI : 10.3390/ijgi3010049 | |
来源: mdpi | |
【 摘 要 】
A geographic information system (GIS) was used to introduce and test a new method for quantitatively characterizing topographic change. Borrowing from classic Newtonian mechanics, the concept of a body’s center of mass is applied to the geomorphic landscape, and the barrier island environment in particular, to evaluate the metric’s potential as a proxy for detecting, tracking and visualizing change. Two barrier islands along North Carolina’s Outer Banks are used to test this idea: Core Banks, uninhabited and largely-undeveloped, and Hatteras Island, altered by the presence of a protective dune system. Findings indicate that for Core Banks, the alongshore change in the center of mass is in accord with dominate littoral transport and wind conditions. Cross-shore change agrees with independent estimates for the island migration rates. This lends credence to our assertion that the mass center metric has the potential to be a viable proxy for describing wholesale barrier migration and would be a valuable addition to the already-established ocean shoreline and subaerial volume metrics. More research is, however, required to demonstrate efficacy.
【 授权许可】
CC BY
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland
【 预 览 】
Files | Size | Format | View |
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RO202003190029850ZK.pdf | 3971KB | download |