Northern Ireland Historical Shoreline Change Analysis, 1800s Onward

Northern Ireland's coastline is analyzed for historical shoreline position and geometry changes from the early 1800s onward. Ulster University produced this dataset by analyzing Ordnance Survey maps and aerial imagery using the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS). The data includes rate-of-change statistics calculated at 25-meter intervals, such as Net Shoreline Movement and Linear Regression Rate.

Use Cases

• Modeling coastal erosion risk based on historical rate-of-change statistics like End Point Rate (EPR).
• Visualizing shoreline retreat and accretion patterns spatially using transect data collected at 25m intervals.
• Assessing long-term coastal change dynamics based on analysis of Ordnance Survey maps and aerial imagery spanning centuries.
• Calculating shoreline change statistics like Weighted Linear Regression Rate (WLR) that account for measurement uncertainty.

Strengths

• Analysis spans a long temporal range, from the early 1800s onward.
• Rate-of-change statistics are calculated at a detailed 25-meter interval along the coast.
• Multiple statistical measures of change are provided, including Net Shoreline Movement and Linear Regression Rate.
• Data is derived from authoritative sources like Ordnance Survey maps and aerial imagery.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic/temporal bias inherent to the source maps and imagery.

Provenance

Source

Ulster University, via OpenDataNI.

Collection Method

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

Time Range

Early 1800s onward.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-18 11:24:00.304812; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Northern Ireland coastline.