A video-based technique for mapping intertidal beach bathymetry

Measuring the location of the shoreline and monitoring foreshore changes through time are core tasks carried out by coastal engineers for a wide range of research, monitoring and design applications. With the advent of digital imaging technology, shore-based video systems provide continuous and automated data collection, encompassing a much greater range of time and spatial scales than were previously possible using field survey methods. A new video-based technique is presented that utilises full-colour image information, which overcomes problems associated with previous grey-scale methods, which work well at steep (reflective) sites, but are less successful at flatter (dissipative) sites. Identification of the shoreline feature is achieved by the automated clustering of sub-aqueous and sub-aerial pixels in 'Hue-Saturation-Value' (HSV) colour space, and applying an objective discriminator function to define their boundary (i.e., 'shoreline') within a time-series of consecutive geo-referenced images. The elevation corresponding to the detected shoreline features is calculated on the basis of concurrent tide and wave information, which is incorporated in a model that combines the effects of wave set-up and swash, at both incident and infragravity frequencies. Validation of the technique is achieved by comparison with DGPS survey results, to assess the accuracy of the detection and elevation methods both separately and together. The uncertainties associated with the two sub-components of the model tend to compensate for each other. The mean difference between image-based and surveyed shoreline elevations was less than 15 cm along 85% of the 2-km study region, which corresponded to an horizontal offset of 6 m. The application of the intertidal bathymetry mapping technique in support of CZM objectives is briefly illustrated at two sites in The Netherlands and Australia. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.