Historical Shoreline of Cape Hatteras to Ocracoke Island, North Carolina

A high-resolution historical shoreline GIS data layer for the coast from Cape Hatteras to Ocracoke Island, North Carolina. The data were automated from shoreline maps produced by the NOAA National Ocean Service and its predecessors, based on imagery interpretation and field surveys. It uses the NGS C-COAST attribution scheme to standardize data from various sources.

Use Cases

• Analyze coastal erosion or accretion rates based on the high-resolution historical shoreline data.
• Create baseline GIS layers for coastal zone management based on the standardized C-COAST attribution.
• Validate or calibrate modern shoreline models based on the historical maps derived from imagery and surveys.
• Study long-term geomorphological changes based on the automated, accurate historical data layer.

Strengths

• Data are described as high-resolution and accurate for use as a GIS layer.
• Shoreline maps were produced by the authoritative NOAA National Ocean Service.
• Uses a standardized attribution scheme (C-COAST) to conform data from various sources.

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 may reflect temporal or methodological bias inherent to the historical source maps.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Automated from shoreline maps based on office interpretation of imagery and/or field survey.

Time Range

Historical, but specific temporal coverage is not provided.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 20:58:09.782580; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Cape Hatteras to Ocracoke Island, North Carolina, USA.