Analysis of Shoreline Change for Jekyll and Sapelo Islands, Georgia
ANALYSIS OF SHORELINE CHANGE FOR JEKYLL AND SAPELO ISLANDS, GEORGIA WITH GIS TECHNIQUES by BEI TU Under the Direction of E. Lynn Usery ABSTRACT The objective of this research is to use geographic information systems (GIS) to quantify shoreline position change during 1954 and 1999 for Sapelo Island and Jekyll Island in Georgia, USA. Shorelines from multiple years were manually traced from digital raster graphics, aerial photographs, digital orthophoto quad quadrangles and a lidar image using ArcView GIS software, Version 3.3. This study showed that the northern ends of Jekyll and Sapelo islands are eroding, whereas the southern ends are accreting. Mann-Whitney test (two-tailed) indicated that the mean accretion rates and annual change rates (regardless of direction) of the two islands differed statistically during 1954-1974,1974-1993 and 1954-1999. The mean recession rates were significantly different during 1954-1974 and 1974-1993, but not so for 1954-1999. Human activity exerted a heavy influence on the shoreline change. Quantifying shoreline change provides useful data on the effects of engineering structures on erosion and is important for coastal zone management and planning. INDEX WORDS: GIS, shoreline change, Sapelo Island, Jekyll Island, lidar, coastal zone ANALYSIS OF SHORELINE CHANGE FOR JEKYLL AND SAPELO ISLANDS, GEORGIA WITH GIS TECHNIQUES by BEI TU B.E., Wuhan University, P. R. China, 2001 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF SCIENCE ATHENS, GEORGIA 2004 © 2004 Bei Tu All Rights Reserved ANALYSIS OF SHORELINE CHANGE FOR JEKYLL AND SAPELO ISLANDS, GEORGIA WITH GIS TECHNIQUES by BEI TU Major Professor: E.
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