1968 AP: Historical Shoreline Change Analysis for Northern Ireland

Ulster University and OpenDataNI provide historical shoreline data for the Northern Ireland coastline, derived from Ordnance Survey maps and aerial imagery dating back to the early 1800s. The dataset includes rate-of-change statistics calculated at 25-meter intervals using the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS). It was last updated on 2026-03-18.

Use Cases

• Calculate rates of shoreline erosion or accretion based on Net Shoreline Movement (NSM) and End Point Rate (EPR) statistics.
• Model coastal change over time using Linear Regression Rate (LRR) and Weighted Linear Regression Rate (WLR) data.
• Identify specific areas of coastal retreat or advance using the Shoreline Change Envelope (SCE) measure.
• Visualize historical coastal geometry changes for environmental impact assessments.

Strengths

• Analysis spans a long temporal range, from the early 1800s to the present.
• Rate-of-change data is provided at a high spatial resolution of 25-meter intervals.
• Includes multiple statistical measures of change (NSM, SCE, EPR, LRR, WLR).
• Data is available in multiple geospatial formats including SHP, KML, and GeoJSON.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and total dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the Northern Ireland coastline.

Provenance

Source

OpenDataNI, likely based on work by Ulster University.

Collection Method

Historical analysis based on Ordnance Survey maps and aerial imagery, processed using the ArcGIS Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS).

Time Range

Early 1800s to present.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-18 11:22:49.207281; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Northern Ireland coastline.