Preliminary 3D Assessment of Coastal Erosion by Data Integration between Airborne LiDAR and DGPS Field Observations

The airborne Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) system has been allowed in monitoring various natural hazards, so highly accurate and airborne LiDAR data have been used in the field of oceanic sciences, including a digital terrain modeling and bathymetric mapping. In this study, the researchers adopted airborne LiDAR measurements to assess coastal erosion for the first time. The airborne LiDAR data were acquired along the east coastal zone of Korea. The 3D topographical data and digital orthophotos, which were obtained from aerial LiDAR with a digital camera, were integrated with the beach profiles conducted by the VRS-based DGPS surveying. The integrated dataset were relocated into a developed flight simulator module, which is a Dynamic geographical information system solution with Digital AirScape, for the 3D visual analysis of erosion status. The 3D visual result of seasonal and yearly variability with respect to beach width is validated to understand the evolution trends of the coastal environment on the test areas.