SOURCES OF COASTAL MNGINEERING LNFORMAT TON 
PART I: INTRODUCTION 
Objectives 
Coastal engineering is a specialized branch of the engineering profession 
which requires the knowledge of many physical sciences and engineering disci- 
plines in the practice. Typical coastal projects involve planning, design, 
and/or construction for harbor developments; navigation channel improvements; 
coastal inlet stabilization; coastal flooding and shoreline erosion protec-— 
tion; and beach restorations and nourishments. Coastal engineers not only 
have to be familiar with the broad disciplines and the up-to-date technologies 
in their practices, they must also have appropriate environmental data to 
ensure the safety, and economical and functional reliability of their under- 
takings. As the Shore Protection Manual (SPM) (1984) provides a handy refer- 
ence for the application of techniques and methodologies to the solutions of 
coastal engineering problems, this report addresses the sources of coastal 
engineering data and information. 
The success or failure of a particular coastal design is often directly 
related to the amount and quality of available data and information related to 
the physical conditions at the project site. In many cases, the designer is 
unnecessarily restricted because of ignorance of potential sources of useful 
information, most of which are easily accessible. Knowledge and proper use of 
these information sources could result both in monetary savings and in an 
improvement in the quality of the final products. 
The importance and economic value of existing data and information have 
long been recognized. In recent years major efforts have been undertaken to 
make available to the public vast amounts of information and data generated by 
Federally funded activities. 
The National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service of the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) represents a typical 
organization which provides a number of Federal data banks and services on 
data management and data analysis. Numerous information centers and referral 
services, public and private, are also becoming available to the users. 
However, according to the findings by the Panel on Marine Engineering 
Information and Data Exchange of the National Academy of Science (National 
Academy of Sciences 1975), ocean engineers, in general, are lacking in 
awareness and utilization of the available information resources. The objec- 
tives of this publication are to: 
(a) Increase the awareness and promote the utilization of sources of 
coastal engineering information by compiling the available sources 
in a single handy reference volume. 
(b) Direct users to appropriate organizations, personnel, or publi- 
cations for engineering data or information. 
(c) Facilitate engineering design or analysis with a minimum effort in 
site-specific data acquisition activities. 
