Topic
Coastal Resilience & Sand
Coastal Resilience & Sand provides data relevant to increasing coastal communities’ capacity to prepare for and recover from hazards such as storm waves and inundation. The Sand & Sediment Management subtopic has data on locations where sand or other sediment may be present, disposed of, or used for beneficial purposes such as beach nourishment. The Water Levels subtopic includes data from the North Atlantic Coast Comprehensive Study (NACCS), a two-year initiative of the US Army Corps of Engineers to help address coastal storm and flood risk. Data for a new subtopic on Living Shorelines is being developed by NROC for future release.
Subtopics: Sand & Sediment Management, Water Levels
Latest Update
10-Jan-2025: New Coastal Resilience & Sand Category and Datasets
Data Providers and Sources
- NOAA Office for Coastal Management
- Northeast Regional Ocean Council
- RPS
- US Army Corps of Engineers
- US Department of Interior
Subtopic
Sand & Sediment Management
Data within this subtopic are provided by federal agencies with jurisdiction over activities taking place on the seafloor in U.S. federal waters. Agencies and data include the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Beneficial Use Sites, National Channel Framework, National Sediment Management Framework, Ocean Disposal Sites – with NOAA and EPA), and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (Sand Resources, Marine Minerals Shore Study Areas).
Data Considerations
Many of the datasets in this subtopic are also included in the Marine Transportation > Navigation subtopic in the Portal, because they may describe navigational features and/or hazards. The Portal shows a particular visualization, or in some cases, a subset of the full datasets maintained by the agencies on these features. Users should consult these additional resources for more detail and information:
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New England District Beneficial Use Planning Tool
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Regional Sediment Management Platform
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Disposal Area Monitoring System (DAMOS)
- BOEM Marine Minerals Information System (MMIS)
Status
Data from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Beneficial Use Sites, National Channel Framework, National Sediment Management Framework, Ocean Disposal Sites) are updated frequently and the maps on the Portal represent the most recent versions from the agency. Other datasets are updated less frequently but were reviewed by the Portal Working Group in 2025.
Examples of Data
- Atlantic OCS Aliquots with Sand Resources
- Beneficial Use Sites
- BOEM MMIS Sand Resources
- National Sediment Management Framework Borrow Areas and Placement Areas
Subtopic
Water Levels
The Water Levels subtopic currently includes layers derived from the North Atlantic Coast Comprehensive Study (NACCS), which was a two-year initiative of the US Army Corps of Engineers to help address coastal storm and flood risk to vulnerable populations, systems, and infrastructure affected by Hurricane Sandy (2012). The data are intended to support coastal resilience initiatives by providing actionable information on coastal flood risk to the planning and management communities.
Data Considerations
NACCS data are modeled outputs. At each data point, storm surge and significant wave height was computed for a combined set of 1,150 storm events (1,050 synthetic tropical storms and 100 historical extratropical storms) using the coupled ADCIRC/STWAVE models. Users should refer to the full North Atlantic Coast Comprehensive Study Report for more details about the modeling methodology, limitations, and interpretation/use of outputs.
Status
The NACCS study and data are final as of 2015. The NACCS data are modeled outputs that are not representative of a particular time period. Additional data related to water levels throughout the region are currently being developed by NROC for future release.
Examples of Data
- NACCS 100-year Return Period Water Levels
- NACCS 100-year Return Period Wave Heights