Coastal engineering is a specialized branch of the engineering profession which requires the knowledge of many physical sciences and engineering disciplines 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 protection; 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 undertakings. As the "Shore Protection Manual" provides a handy reference 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 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, ocean engineers, in general, are lacking in awareness and utilization of the available information resources. This publication increases the awareness and promotes the utilization of sources of coastal engineering information by compiling the available sources in a single handy reference volume; directs users to appropriate organizations, personnel, or publications for engineering data or information; and facilitates engineering design or analysis with a minimum effort in site-specific data acquisition activities. Coastal engineering data or information covered by this report include: (a) meteorology and climatology; (b) water levels; (c) winds and storms; (d) waves and currents; (e) ice information; (f) littoral transport and shoreline erosion; (g) coastal geology and geomorphology; (h) topography, hydrography, and bathymetry; and (i) earthquakes and tsunamis. There are data sources, particularly sources from the private sector, that may have been left out by this report. Also, new data sources and/or data files may have been established since the publication of this report. In order to benefit the coastal engineering community with complete and up-to-date information, suggestions of new sources and data information are solicited; they should be sent to the authors. The Coastal Engineering Research Center will update the present publication when the needs become apparent. NOTE: This file is large. Allow your browser several minutes to download the file.
Sources of Coastal Engineering Information
Technical Report ; TR-CERC-87-1
1987
37483766
Report
Electronic Resource
English
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2001
|Online Contents | 1995
Online Contents | 1995
Online Contents | 1997
Online Contents | 1995