National Park Service Adaptation

PSDS is currently working with the National Park Service (NPS) on several coastal vulnerability and adaptation projects.These include a national Coastal Hazards and Sea-Level Rise Asset Vulnerability Assessment Protocol and a Marine Habitat Vulnerability Assessment of Cumberland Island National Seashore.

Beach Nourishment

Explore the national beach nourishment experience with WCU’s new interactive beach nourishment web site. Search for beach nourishment episodes and projects by state or beach, and view results in table, chart and map format. Our database represents, to the best of our knowledge, the most comprehensive compilation of beach nourishment history in the United States.

Storm Surge

PSDS is using relational tools and a geographic information system to build a national storm surge database. The database is comprehensive, queriable and will provide one central location for coastal scientists and engineers to access storm surge and high water mark data. The national database currently contains over 5,800 storm surge data points from 42 hurricanes.

Ground Penetrating Radar

The Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines is equipped with two ground-penetrating radar antennas (100 MHz and 250 MHz). GPR has been used in numerous research projects at PSDS, ranging from forensic anthropology and archeological sites, to barrier island stratigraphy.

Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines
Old Student Union
Western Carolina University
Cullowhee, NC 28734