The Impact of 2004 Hurricane Season on Beach Erosion in Volusia County, Florida Valentina David Bethune-Cookman College Daytona Beach, FL NASA Summer Faculty Research Opportunities June 6 – August 12, 2005 DeNeice Guest Science Systems And Applications, Inc.

Significance of Beach Revenue source Tourist attraction Economic growth Coastal habitat Exotic vegetation Turtle nesting

Tourism in Volusia county, Revenue 9.5 million tourists Spent $3.7 billion ($435/person) Tourist Tax is $4,536,520 Convention tax is $6,908,644 Economic impact of events is $612 million Events are Speed week, bike week, Spring break, Independence day.

Outline 2004 hurricane season Study area description Methodology Change detection analysis Quantification of beach loss Conclusion

2004 Hurricane Season 16 Storms 8 Hurricanes 4 Hitting Florida 3 Cross over Volusia County –Charley –Frances –Jeanne $42 million dollars in damages

Hurricane Charley August 9-14, 2004

Hurricane Francis August 25-September 10, 2004

Hurricane Jeanne September 13-27, 2004

Methodology Acquire Landsat TM 30m data, 1999 and 2004 Erdas Imagine 8.7 Define study area using county vector map Subset imagery DOQQ for Volusia County 2000, 2004 Unsupervised classification Break out mixed clusters Supervised classification Majority filter Final recode for classification map Accuracy Assessment Change detection

Study Area

Erosion Examples

Target Class for evaluation Beach, from back shore to foreshore

Accuracy Assessment 50 Random Points Overall Classification Accuracy (6 classes) 94%90.24% Overall Kappa Statistics

Change Detection Ponce Inlet, New Smyrna

Change Detection Area in Sq. miles Decreased2.87 Increased1.04 Net loss1.83

Conclusion Landsat TM data was successful in identifying beach erosion in Volusia County, Florida Net loss of beach was 1.83 mi 2 Cost to the county, in beach replenishment was $6 – 8 millions for 800,000yd 3 in 6 miles of beach This information can be used by Volusia County Managers in a Decision Support System to determine the most effective area for beach replenishment In future Remote Sensing technique may be useful for a quick beach erosion assessment

Future Plans Ground truthing Meet with Volusia County managers to discuss the results Acquire Landsat image for 2005 for continuation of beach erosion study Involve students from Bethune-Cookman College in the studies Completed Collaboration is continued Not yet, need grant or financial support One Physics major student is doing senior research project.