AN ERTS-1 STUDY OF COASTAL FEATURES 

 ON THE NORTH CAROLINA COAST 



George H. Mil'lev and Dermis W. Bevg 



I. INTRODUCTION 



Imagery obtained by the Earth Resources Technology Satellite (ERTS-1) 

 has proven highly useful in various scientific and engineering applica- 

 tions. Evidence of this has been demonstrated by the numerous technical 

 conferences and symposiums sponsored specifically to exploit ERTS-1 

 imagery, and the increasing amount of published research. 



Most of the research on the usefulness of satellite imagery has 

 depended on the use of highly sophisticated, expensive equipment, and 

 complex computer analysis to derive the significant results published. 

 One of the intentions of the original Coastal Engineering Research Center 

 (CERC) proposal to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

 (NASA) was to determine the possible use of satellite imagery in coastal 

 engineering applications with only the aid of conventional photographic 

 processes and equipment. The results of this report should be beneficial 

 to individuals and small organizations lacking the expertise or financial 

 capability to utilize sophisticated equipment and analysis techniques to 

 derive useful information from ERTS-1 imagery. 



The results described in this report have been documented through the 

 use of ordinary photographic processes, access to libraries, and informa- 

 tion available to the general public. The ERTS-1 imagery was furnished 

 by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, and supple- 

 mented by underflight imagery furnished by the NASA Ames Research Center, 

 Mountain View, California, and the NASA facility at Wallops Island, 

 Virginia. 



The primary objective of this study was to determine if the status of 

 the littoral regime for a part of a coastline could be established through 

 the use of remote sensing imagery, and if the variations of the coastal 

 features, i.e., barrier islands and tidal inlets, could be detected and 

 measured by this use. The exchange of waters between the ocean and tidal 

 areas and its contribution^ to the littoral budget were also investigated. 



II. STUDY AREA 



For an accurate analysis of the imagery, it was decided to choose a 

 study area with plentiful ground-truth data, preferably a coastal segment 

 with sites of active CERC research projects. Accordingly, a segment of 

 the North Carolina coast which included the following sites was chosen 

 (Fig. 1): 



