GLIN==> New Computer Model Maps and Predicts Future Lake Erie Coastlines

New Computer Model Maps and Predicts Future Lake Erie Coastlines

February 17, 2010

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

COLUMBUS, OH - Along the eastern coast of Lake Erie in Ohio, where waves can
wash away as much as six feet of land each year, living close to the
shoreline can put your home in danger of washing away in 10 to 30 years,
according to a new computer model created by Ohio Sea Grant researcher Dr.
Ron Li, Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
and Geodetic Science at Ohio State University. The tool can help communities
like Painesville, which experiences significant erosion, to determine which
areas along their coast may be in particular danger. State, county, and
local agencies can also use the model to monitor the problem and continue to
regulate the construction of certain structures within those 30-year erosion
zones.

 

 "State agencies can use the information for planning to assess if current
land-use policies are working," Li says. "It's a way for them to protect the
land, the people, and their investments."

By combining two-dimensional QuickBird satellite data with three-dimensional
LIDAR laser data, as well as information about water levels, water movement,
and the topography of the lake floor, Li's team was able to make their
Erosion Awareness System accurate to within one centimeter. They then
created maps with color-coded lines designating where erosion is likely to
leave the shoreline 10, 20, and 30 years.

 

One common type of erosion occurs when wave action sweeps away soil at the
base of a cliff, which then causes the soil closer to the bluff top to fall
into the lake. Therefore, erosion rates are partially dependent on water
crashing into the bluff and can increase depending on the number of storms
that crop up and even the water level of Lake Erie.

To read more about this Ohio Sea Grant-funded research, visit
http://ohioseagrant.osu.edu/_documents/twineline/v31i4.pdf.

 

The Ohio State University's Ohio Sea Grant College Program is part of NOAA
Sea Grant, a network of 30 Sea Grant Programs dedicated to the protection
and sustainable use of marine and Great Lakes resources. For information on
Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Lab, visit ohioseagrant.osu.edu.

 

###

Contact: 

Ron Li, Ohio State University, li.282 at osu.edu, 614.292.6946

 

 

Stacy Brannan

Associate Editor

Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Laboratory

1314 Kinnear Road

Columbus, OH 43212

614.247.7109

brannan.16 at osu.edu

 

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