Historical Shoreline of Cape Cod, Massachusetts from NOAA

Cape Cod, Massachusetts, is covered by a high-resolution historical shoreline dataset. The data were automated from NOAA National Ocean Service maps based on imagery interpretation and field surveys. The attribution follows the C-COAST scheme, influenced by the S-57 standard for hydrographic data.

Use Cases

• Modeling coastal erosion and accretion based on historical shoreline positions.
• Integrating high-resolution shoreline data into geographic information systems (GIS) for base mapping.
• Analyzing long-term coastal change by comparing this historical data with contemporary surveys.
• Translating shoreline data for hydrographic chart production based on the S-57-influenced attribution scheme.

Strengths

• Data provides a high-resolution historical shoreline for a specific geographic area (Cape Cod, Massachusetts).
• Source is authoritative, derived from NOAA National Ocean Service and predecessor agency maps.
• Attribution follows a structured scheme (C-COAST) designed for translation into the S-57 hydrographic standard.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data formats are limited to PDF and HTML, which may not be ideal for direct geospatial analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Automated from shoreline maps produced by NOAA National Ocean Service based on imagery interpretation and/or field surveys.

Time Range

Historical, but specific temporal coverage is not provided.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 21:56:30.496162; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA.