This vegetated escarpment is the high feature on western Bird Shoal, and buffers the Duke Marine Lab and Beaufort NOAA lab from waves. The escarpment ridge, represented by contour lines, retreated as much as 15 meters in response to Florence—about three times the retreat observed after Hurricane Matthew in 2016.
DUKE MARINE ROBOTICS AND REMOTE SENSING LAB
The Duke Marine Robotics and Remote Sensing Lab regularly uses drones to map Bird Shoal and the Rachel Carson Reserve, an island and marsh complex near Beaufort, NC. The lab recently surveyed the reserve before and after Hurricane Florence in September.
The elevation change before and after Hurricane Florence at western (panel A) and central (panels B and C) Bird Shoal, where red indicates vertical erosion of more than one meter, green indicates vertical accretion of more than one meter, and yellow indicates no detectable change. Florence leveled dune features as high...
Interested in reading more?
The Scientist ARCHIVES
Become a Member of
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member?
