Northern Ireland's coastline is divided into 7 first-order coastal cells, delineated for the Historical Shoreline Analysis Project commissioned by DAERA. The boundaries were identified using historical Ordnance Survey maps, aerial photographs, and expert geomorphological knowledge. This spatial tool is intended to support coastal management by defining zones for calculating sediment budgets.
Use Cases
- Calculate sediment budgets for specific coastal sectors based on the defined cell boundaries.
- Identify zones where coastal changes might affect adjacent areas based on the cell delineation.
- Model coastal erosion or accretion patterns using the mapped littoral drift divides and sediment sinks.
Strengths
- Delineates the entire Northern Ireland coastline into 7 first-order coastal cells.
- Boundaries were identified using historical maps, aerial photographs, and expert knowledge.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
Provenance
- Source
- OpenDataNI
- Collection Method
- Project commissioned by DAERA and undertaken by Ulster University, using historical Ordnance Survey maps and aerial photographs.
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-03-18 11:23:22.579255; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- Northern Ireland coastline