The USGS is a federal science agency that provides impartial and reliable scientific information to describe and understand the Earth; minimize loss of life and property from natural disasters; manage water, biological, energy and mineral resources and enhance and protect our quality of life.
Coastlines are constantly changing landscapes. As coastal populations continue to grow, the need for a regionally consistent assessment of coastal storm impacts—and the ability to accurately predict them—is urgent. USGS scientific programs inform society’s preparedness for coastal impacts through fundamental and applied research. Storm impacts, flooding, variations in sediment supply and transport, sea-level rise and loss of wetlands contribute to changes along our nation’s coasts. USGS conducts research, develops tools, and delivers information designed to guide planners and emergency managers in ways that protect lives, reduce risk, protect ecosystems, and prevent economic losses.
USGS conducts high-resolution elevation mapping in coastal areas to assess long and short term changes, maintains the National Streamflow Information Program and the National Water Quality Assessment Program. The surge, wave and tide hydrodynamic or SWaTH network improves understanding of coastal storm surge and provides more effective early warning of storm-driven flooding. USGS scientists measure and forecast coastal change and associated hazards while also incorporating issues of sea-level rise, extreme storms, flooding and impacts to water quality. The USGS continues to improve real-time and scenario-based predictions of coastal change by providing forecasts of probabilities of coastal change, along with dune elevations and information on how high water levels may reach during a storm. The information, which is integrated with information from NOAA, is easily accessible on the USGS Coastal Change Hazards Portal.
While the science for understanding coastal processes and predicting impacts continues to evolve, USGS focuses on identifying areas that are most vulnerable to coastal change hazards and informing effective strategies to address resilience and habitat conservation. Information and tools available on the Portal can help emergency managers, coastal planners, and community leaders, combine the information found on the portal with other data to identify where hazards pose the greatest risks to their communities. This allows state and local communities to develop specific plans of action before a storm makes landfall.
Scientifically-based informational products support emergency managers and planners for a wide range of potential impacts in coastal environments. These combined efforts, in collaboration with other partners and federal agencies, provide critical data to improve the characterization of flood risks, future storm forecasts, and help assess the vulnerability of natural and built environments. Future USGS research directions are driven by combining societal needs with ongoing assessments of changing environmental conditions and threats to human infrastructure, health and safety.
USGS Resources
Facebook and Twitter: Browse USGS Social Media
For news and topics related to coastal change: Follow @USGSCoastChange, Twitter
For news about floods, droughts, water quality and oceans: Follow @USGSNewsWater, Facebook
USGS Surge, wave and tide hydrodynamic (SWaTH) mobile storm-tide monitoring network – A diverse network designed to document the height, extent and timing of storm surge events and inform predictive models
National Streamflow Information Program-- NSIP provides streamflow information and the understanding required to meet local, State, regional, and national needs.
National Water-Quality Assessments-- NAWQA provides an understanding of water-quality conditions; whether conditions are getting better or worse over time; and how natural features and human activities affect those conditions.
Coastal Change Hazards Portal—An interactive platform where you can explore and share information about extreme storms, shoreline change and sea-level rise using USGS data, maps and other geospatial holdings.
National Assessment of Coastal Change Hazards-- Robust scientific findings help to identify areas that are most vulnerable to diverse coastal change hazards including beach and dune erosion, long-term shoreline change, and sea-level rise.
National Assessment of Storm-Induced Coastal Change Hazards-- Research focuses on understanding the magnitude and variability of extreme storm impacts on sandy beaches.
Coastal Change Probability Maps-- View probabilities of coastal erosion, collision, overwash and inundation for our nation’s coastlines
Coastal National Elevation Database Applications—The Coastal National Elevation Database (CoNED) Applications Project provides high-resolution coastal elevation data to identify flood, hurricane, and sea-level rise inundation hazard zones and support other applications, such as the development of sediment transport and storm surge models.
USGS iCoast—USGS Crowdsourcing application iCoast, allows citizen scientists to identify changes to the coast by comparing aerial photographs taken before and after storms.
USGS News Releases-- USGS Newsroom for up-to-date news on a wide variety of topics.
Additional Resources
Flood Hazards – A National Threat Fact Sheet
Hurricane Hazards – A National Threat Fact Sheet
Tsunami Hazards – A National Threat Fact Sheet