Beach profiling

The link below will be helpful as reference for this weeks writing prompt.

You'll be explaining the process of beach profiling in writing.

http://www.unesco.org/csi/pub/papers3/sande18.htm


Beach Profiling Method Summary
Beach profiling is a simple survey technique used to measure the contour of a beach. Very basic equipment, made from two 1.5 meter rods connected by a 3 meter rope, is used to create a line-of-sight with the horizon. The difference in elevation between the two poles defines the topographic change on that segment of the beach. The number resulting from this change is recorded as a single data point. These data points are recorded at regular intervals down the beach, from the frontal dune (or seawall) to the low water mark. When these data points are connected, they create a graphic depiction of the contour of the beach or the beach profile. A limitation of this method is its dependence on the visibility of the horizon. If clouds, fog, haze or rain obscure the horizon, then profiling should not be conducted that day and should be rescheduled. Single-use cameras or digital cameras are also used to photograph the beach at a few established points every month. Long-term beach monitoring data is the first step to understanding complex beach processes. This information, combined with ocean current and wave data, helps scientists to better understand how fast and why our beaches are changing.

Step by Step Instructions for the Emery Method of Beach Profiling Overview

Set a metal stake or pin in the ground as a control point for each profile line. The same control point is reused for all profiling and is the starting point of all measurements. A second pin or in some cases object (such as a utility pole, tree, chimney, etc.) is used also. These two reference points define a line to follow to measure a beach profile. At these control points, it often helps to place a temporary marker post that rises up from the dune or above a seawall to maintain a line-of-sight down on the beach.

1. Begin Notes. Fill in the top part of the log sheet. Include names of people in the team profiling that day, the date, time, profile name and number, beach location, etc.

2. Record Stake Height. Measure the height of the ground in relation to the top of the control point with the numbers (scale) up. If the ground is below the top of the control point, the rod will be held upside down, and the vertical number recorded will be negative. The person holding this rod should stand off the profile line for the next step.

3. Set Rod 1.Stand the end of one profile rod (Rod 1) on the ground next to the control point with the numbers (scale) up. The person holding this rod should stand off the profile line for the next step. 13

4. Set Rod 2. The second person takes Rod 2 toward the ocean. Looking back toward land and Rod 1, this lead person places Rod 2 (with scale up) on the profile line using the control points as a guide. Pick a horizontal distance of a meter (or other suitable distance if obstacles are in the way) as a spacing between the two poles. Use a graduated rope to do this and be careful to hold both poles straight up and down while setting Rod 2 in place.

5. Measure and Record. From the landward pole, the first person sights the horizon and the top of the lower of the two rods. This line-of-sight will intersect part way up the other rod. Read the elevation number marked on the other rod that is in line with the pole top and the horizon. Keep both poles vertical when reading! Note that sometimes the reading will come from Rod 1 and sometimes from Rod 2. This is because the ground may slope down or up and may change which pole is higher at different places on the beach profile line. When the ground slopes down toward the ocean, the forward rod (Rod 1) will be lower, and a negative [-] number is assigned to the vertical reading off of Rod 1. when the ground slopes up looking toward the ocean, the forward rod will be higher, and a positive [+] number is assigned to the reading. In this case, the number is read off the forward rod (Rod 2). So moving forward on the profile, uphill is [+] and downhill is [-]. Always use either a + or – before the number. It takes careful attention to get this right on each measurement. A single error will make the rest of the data plot incorrectly on a graph. Record the elevation change and horizontal distance between poles on the log sheet. Also note any features at the forward rod (such as edge of dune, slope change, water line, etc.) in the Notes column on the log sheet.

6. Move Ahead. After the notes are taken, move Rod 1 to the same “footprint” occupied by Rod 2. Take care to walk next to the profile line, not on top of it. The person at Rod 2 should wait for Rod 1 to come up alongside Rode 2 in order to be certain of getting the position correct. After Rod 1 is in the place of Rod 2, the forward rod can be moved ahead another one to three meters and placed on the ground in line with Rod 1 and the original control point(s). The job of the lead person is to be sure each forward move stays on the line. Rod 2 must be set down on the ground keeping the rope level.

7. Repeat Steps 6 and 7. Measure, Record, & Move. Continue to move ahead, repeat these steps all the way to the water. As you go, everyone on the team should look ahead for features to stop on and measure. If some feature, perhaps the edge of the dune, does not occur at a horizontal interval of one meter, then make the horizontal distance smaller. For example, if the dune edge is only 0.6 m from the last measurement, move the forward pole ahead only that far. On the next measurement move ahead only 0.4 (or 1.4) m in order to get back on a spacing of 1 m intervals. Keeping a set interval in whole meters will help with data analysis later. 14

8. Stop at the Water. Make a measurement that includes the water line. In the notes column of the log sheet abbreviate it W.L. and record the TIME it was measured. Because the height of the tide is changing, the time of the reading is important. Estimate the place on the beach where the water level would be without the waves, the still water level. There is no need to measure how far up the beach the swash is going at the time of the measurement.

9. Continue On (Optional). The process can be continued into the water if teams want to. This is optional and not necessary. In cold water there is a risk of hypothermia. In rough seas there is a risk of getting hit by breaking waves. Do not take chances. Always keep your personal safety and that of your team members in mind. A few extra points on a graph are not work the risk of personal injury.

10.Final Reading. At the last measurement, record the time finished in the Notes column on the log sheet. 11.Photograph the Beach. Refer to the Photo Instructions for your beach found in the following section. 12.Pack Up. Gather up all the gear, including any posts back at the control points, notes, and field gear. The profile is done!

The original reference on Emery beach profiling is: Emery, K.O., 1961, A simple method of measuring beach profiles: Limnology and Oceanography, v. 6, p. 90-93. Source: Maine Geological Survey, Department of Conservation, 22 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0022

Postcard from Shea H.

Today is Saturday, very sunny with rain showers (but in aruba it only rains for like 2 mins then its done) at 10;00 I went to feed the iguanas, they were very friendly. They were on top of bushes, climbing down trees and everything, I sat down and  one came right up to me, it sat on my lap!!!!!! I feed it our left over salad that we had the night before, he wouldn't get down from my lap so had to push it off of me. We left and went to the ice cream shop witch was delicious! later that day We went jet skiing, the water there is so salty that when it would splash my face I wouldn't see! I had an amazing time in aruba we went tubing with lola davis, went fly-bording, swimming, and so much more! 

Anah - Week two of spring break‏

7 night cruise on Disney Magic. First cruise ever.( Yay)

Fri, March 6th

Slept in till 9:00 or 9:30.

10:45 saw into the woods.(best movie ever)

12:00 had lunch.

1:00 went in AguaDunk for first time. The AguaDunk is a water slide that starts from the highest point on the ship. You clime into a compartment and the glass closes around you. Then the floor drops and you fall. Then you slide over the edge of the ship.

After that we went to o'gills pub to hear how Walt Disney made Disneyland so amazing and different.

Then to a musical called Disney Dreams:An Enchanted Classic.

After we went to Fathoms to hear Thomas John.

Then went to dinner with our "table buddies" Tiffeny and Scottie and their two kids Nicculis(age 11) and Annabelle(age 6) at the restaurant Cariocas.

Postcard - Alden T.

I went to the Florida keys for vacation.

The key I went to was called Marathon. 

After a few days in a small town outside of  Marathon, we changed hotels and ended up actually in Marathon 3 minutes away from the airport that we landed in. 

We stayed in Marathon for 2 days at a nice and different hotel.

The next morning we got up at 6:00 to get packed to then get in the plane to fly home!

The next day Ava came over for Mexican food for dinner and then we watched hilarious videos for 2 hours. It was really funny.

That was my vacation! 

Postcard from Louisa L.

For vacation I went to the British Virgin Islands to a little yacht club called the Bitter End Yacht Club!  

We had just spent two days in Puerto Rico touring the old forts and were excited to head to the BEYC. We had to go from Puerto Rico to the British Virgin Islands on a really small plane and I got sit in the passenger seat (It was so cool, we flew over so many little islands.) Once we took a taxi to the water taxi to get to the club we finally got to the club! We checked in and headed to lunch, we got tacos and Sam and I headed to check out the pool. We had to walk up about 100 stairs to get to our room which was kind of on a mountain. 

The Bitter End had something for everyone from sail boats to kayaks to walking trails. And everyday a new, amazing yacht came in to the amazing fake-blue looking harbor, and while we were there it was super windy. Super windy = amazing sailing weather for Hobie cats. We had so much fun in the warm weather it was so sad to come home. I finished 2 really good books called Pretty Little Liars. It was so fun and I loved being in the warm sun! 

This is a picture of the Bitter End!

PostCard from JohnCarl

My Vacation

Londonderry ,New Hampshire, 6:37 pm, Thursday March 6th. I am sitting in my aunts house watching the Amazing Race, its pretty dumb. Its sunny, 32 degrees, the wind is is going between 8 to 22 knots. One cloud takes approximately 54 seconds to go across the sky.

Nantucket, Massachusetts, 2:03 pm, Saturday March 8th. I am about to have a snack. It is sunny, no clouds whatsoever. Wind between 8 and 19 knots.

Postcard from Sophie G.

For vacation this year, my family and I went to Arizona. When my sister and I heard this we were really excited because it would be the farthest place we have ever traveled.

When we started our vacation on February 21 we were scheduled to leave the island on the HyLine, but it was cancelled because the harbor was frozen. Just as we suspected. We had a reservation for the 11:00 plane going to Cape Code. So we went down to the airport and got on our plane. One we were in the air, we could see the whole island including all the ice that covered the ocean all the way to Cape Code. When our plane landed, we got on a bus that took us to the airport in Boston. Our plane got delayed because it was snowing. (Not a surprise) When we did get on our plane it was around 7:00 pm and our plane to Phoenix, Arizona was 6 hours long so we didn't get to Phoenix until 12:00 their time, ad 2:00 am our time. We took a taxi to the hotel that we were staying at in Tempe, and went straight to bed. 

In the morning we went around town and went to eat breakfast. After breakfast we hiked up the 'A Mountain'. 

The A Mountain has a big yellow A on it. Because yellow is the color of the Arizona State University. (ASU)  When ASU plays against AU (Arizona University) and wins they keep it yellow, but if AU wins they paint it white because that is their team color.

In the evening we went to a collage basketball game ASU vs. USC. (University of Southern California) ASU was down by 10 points but came back and won. Boy was it an exciting day.

The next day we drove to Tuscan, AZ because we were going to Tanque Verde Ranch. While we were at the ranch we went biking, horse riding, swimming and we had cookouts. It was so much fun. When we were horse riding over the course of 6 days I had 4 different horses: 1st Powder, 2nd Joker, 3rd Tug and 4th Chunk. I grew out of Powder, Joker and Tug so on the last day they gave me Chunk who I loved a lot. Chunk followed commands when I wanted him to trot, but I had to kick him hard when I wanted him to lope.

Once we left the ranch we spent some more time in Arizona. We went to the Sonoran Desert Museum, The Science Museum in Phoenix and Biosphere 2. Biosphere 2 is an enclosed area in the desert with different environments in it. The rainforest, desert and ocean. In 1991 8 people (biospherians) were sealed inside the biosphere for 2 years with no way to get out. They were in there to try to learn more about different environments. Only once did the biospherians have to open the Biosphere, they did this because one day one of the biospherians woke up and didn't know 2+2. The biospherians then knew that they were running out of air so they opened it up. Other than that they never unsealed Biosphere 2.  

  

The ranch was my favorite part about our vacation because we were away from all the technology, I made new friends and last but not lest I now have a great connection with horses that I never had before.

Postcard from Spain - Ella E.

Dear Lenny,

here is a postcard of my February vacation. I have learned many wonderful things about the culture of Spain

I went to the city of Barcelona, and my family and I spent time with some of my cousins, aunts, and uncles who were also staying there. The food was magnificent, mostly being tapas, and high quality organic meats. The food in Europe seem to be more advanced, and healthy in terms of non-gmo and organic food. It was all very fresh, and I also noticed that they are more layed back than in the states. I LOVED this experience, and understood the atmosphere in Barcelona. I will definitely go back, and will suggest it to other people. I picked up some of the language there, and now know some words and phrases in Spanish. The baked goods were phenomenal, including churros with chocolate, different fillings, and plain. The hot chocolate was pure melted chocolate, and the streets of Barcelona were all filled with people providing different talents to the public. There was so many great aspects of Barcelona, and I 

Loved how different it was from the U.S. The culture there is interesting, and my vacation was an experience I will never forget! We went to fresh markets each day, (there was no grocery stores) and got fresh coconut juices. (They had other kinds too, but that was my favorite!) here are a few of the MANY pictures I took on the trip. I have a passion for traveling, and think that even going through airports is a learning experience. There is so much to take in and absorb in life.

Postcard from Ava W.

Today my family and I are going to hatch baby turtles. We have to get on a little bus and drive for 1 hour to get  to the sanctuary.On the bus we will chose 2 names for our baby turtles. Then we will take a boat tour to look for alligators. After that we will go down to the beach and get our baby turtles, name each one and then hatch them into the ocean. 

Today is February 26, it is very sunny and we are about to start waking down to the motor boats. When we got on the motor boats we went through these "cave like" bushes that have curled over and saw lots of red and blue little crabs that would stare at you till you passed them. After a little bit I noticed something that looked like and baby alligator sun bathing on a stick near the edge of the water. 

I said: "look there's a baby alligator!" It was the first one we had seen since we got on the boat and everyone was taking pictures, but then I heard "Where, I don't see it!". It was my mom she could not see it because it was so camouflaged, but when I pointed it out to her she saw it. After our boat ride in the parching sun we reapplied sun screen and ate lunch. I had a quesadilla and some salad. After lunch we walked down to the beach to get ready to release the baby turtles. When we got down to the beach one of the men who worked there had the turtles in a little box. He told us the babies had hatched that morning so they only had 24 hours to get into the ocean. The man started handing out cups to us to hold the turtles. ( We are not suppose to touch them because we might have oils like sun screen on our hands which can affect the babies.) When he put the baby turtle into my cup I said "I am going to name it Ava. Oh wait don't we have to name our turtles the names we wrote down!?" I said . The guy said "You are suppose to, but you could name that baby turtle something else than what you wrote." I decided just to stick with my original name, I named my first baby turtle Olive and when the guy brought out the second one I named it Tatum. I made some videos and took a lot of pictures. 

So, how is it where you are now?

Postcard - Isobel C.

The pool is not so crowded. I just got off to get dried off. I stayed home with my dad the first week and came to Florida with my mom the second week. It is currently 4:25 pm and the sun is shining down on me. It is 79° and sunny.

We went to Boston and got on Jet blue and watched tv.

After our 2 hour and 50 minute flight we got to Florida.  

When I stepped out of the elevator I felt like I couldn't breathe because of the hot air and the humidity. 

We are staying at my Nana's house and when we got to her house we were super tired so we went to bed.

Every day here has been amazing and I can't wait for more fun days. I think we're going to see turtles tomorrow.

I will be sad to leave but I am excited to see my friends again.

postcard from Katie G.

The slow boat is crowded. Last minute boat rides aren't the best. Lots of friends are surrounding me as we slowly break through the sheet of ice on the sound. 

We finally get to the hotel. My family and I go to bed early due to the early wake up call in the morning. When we wake up I think about the warm weathers in Turks and Caicos. " ahhhhh." I get up and look at the clock- not so relaxing any more "3:32. " I slam my head back into the pillow until I hear my parents wake up. 

With tired eyes we all get to the lobby of the Sheritan hotel in Providence RI. We meet a woman who worked for the planes traveling to Newark, NJ ( our first stop during our indirect flight). She said the flight was delayed to 8:30 am ( this interfered with our flight from Newark to the Turks) when we got to the air port, the lady said the only way to get us  to the Turks today was to cab it to Logan airport in Boston.

After two more long flights we finally made it to our 86 F* location at 10 at night ( even though we were supposed to arrive at 1:00 pm) I felt the warm breeze as I came off the hot plane. It felt amazing. I couldn't believe we would be in this weather for 5 more days. 

When we got up the next morning I saw the light, literally- there was sun blasting through the window right in my face. The water was the color of a teal blue, there was nothing like it. The sand was the finest bit of grains. The trees swayed back and forth in the wind and at that moment I knew that the chaos yesterday was so worth it. The next day we went paddle boarding, snorkeling, sailing, and banana boating ( tubing). It was one of the most exciting experiences I have ever had. It was right up next to my trip to London. The warm water was so beautiful. 

Now getting home is a totally different story for another time. 

Wait!

Samuel joined Raymond and Orion for a day of Nature Walks, Bookmaking, and making walking sticks.

Cooler than the frozen harbor.

Vacation Postcard - Samir B.

Just finishing up my epic fort. 

Just as deep as Mariana Trench. 

Who know what we need, maybe a bed or a table to put a cuppa 

It's great build this fort has many purpose to life, could be anything a hotel such as the Jukkasjärvi the famous ice hotel. 

That was the plan for my week but, the snow storm covered my hotel up. That is the worst but the plow had pummeled my fort in to darkness.

That was a dark day for all, but no worries I had a bed to sleep, so I did for the rest of the week.