Evaluation of coastal vulnerability with mobile laser scanning from a vessel

Coastal communities and infrastructure are at continuous risk from the dangers imposed by our oceans. Hazardous geography, episodic weather events and, of more recent concern, sea level rise pose threats to our communities which put lives and infrastructure at stake. Be it landslides, earthquakes or tsunamis, our coastline is in peril of nearly instantaneous devastation. Similarly, slower geologic processes promise eventual loss of beaches and coastline. As development continues within these exposed coastal areas, infrastructure and housing acquire increased risk of impact. Both nationally and internationally, many nations continue to struggle with the economics of sustainable coastal zone management and maintaining sea defense infrastructure. Therefore effective assessment of coastline and sea cliff retreat becomes very important in understanding the condition and prospective needs of a coastal community to best mitigate risk. Due to the nature of many of these locations, access to the site can be challenging and/or the site may have sensitive habitat present. Using remote sensing technologies, such as laser scanning (LiDAR) can be an advantage by reducing disturbance to the sites. Mobile laser scanning can provide a very flexible methodology for monitoring cliff erosion and retreat, especially for relatively small areas with high detail. Performance of periodic surveys can allow quantification of cliff/beach retreat rates and volume assessments which can in turn be used for coastal management planning.