III. DATA COLLECTION 

 Beach Profiles. 



The sediment budget analysis performed in the study area was based 

 on the beach profile data provided by CERC. Beach surveys were taken 

 at 241 stations along the shoreline, and each profile was perpendicular 

 to the local shoreline. The survey stations were numbered sequentially 

 from north to south and were prefixed by the abbreviation of the 

 corresponding beach name; e.g., WB for Wrightsville Beach (50 stations), 

 MB for Masonboro Beach (31 stations), CB for Carolina Beach 

 (119 stations), KB for Kure Beach (20 stations), and FB for Fort Fisher 

 Beach (21 stations). Station CB2 would therefore represent the second 

 station from the north in Carolina Beach. Figures 6 and 7 show the 

 relative locations of all the stations. 



The beach surveys were conducted by contractor for U.S. Army 

 Engineer District, Wilmington, from 1963 to 1975. Most profiles were 

 measured by level and tape and extended to only about 2.4 meters 

 (8 feet) or less below MSL. These profiles were referred to as short 

 profiles. Long profiles were measured to a depth of 12.2 meters 

 (40 feet) using a depth sounder. Table 1 shows the survey stations, 

 along with CERC's station reference codes, which indicates long profiles 

 by the letter L. 



About 2,952 repetitive beach profiles were taken during 399 surveys, 

 including 2,815 short profiles and 137 long profiles. Table 2 shows the 

 number of short and long profiles for each beach. Table 2 and Figures 6 

 and 7 show that Wrightsville and Carolina Beaches have much better 

 temporal and spatial resolution than the rest of the study area. Of the 

 entire beach data, 89 percent of the profiles were taken on Wrightsville 

 and Carolina Beaches. The Fort Fisher Beach, Kure Beach, and Masonboro 

 Beach profile data were of insufficient quantity to permit a valid 

 analysis. 



All data are available in supplementary data Volumes I to VIII from 

 the CERC library. 



2. Wave Data . 



The wave climate data for the study area are from the following 

 sources : 



(a) A CERC wave gage, located on Johnnie Mercer's Pier at 



Wrightsville Beach, which operated from March 1971 to February 

 1975. The gage was located in 5.2 meters (17 feet) of water, 

 and the recorded wave data represent approximately all waves 

 reaching Wrightsville Beach from all seaward directions. 

 However, wave direction could not be differentiated by the 

 gage. The wave gage data for this study with selected wave 

 spectral plots are presented in supplementary data Volume I. 



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