Historical Shoreline Data for Delaware Bay, DE from NOAA

A high-resolution historical shoreline dataset for Delaware Bay, Delaware, automated for GIS use. The data were derived from shoreline maps produced by the NOAA National Ocean Service and its predecessor agencies, based on imagery interpretation and field surveys. It is a member of a larger NOAA data collection and uses the NGS C-COAST attribution scheme.

Use Cases

• Modeling coastal erosion and accretion over time based on historical shoreline positions.
• Creating baseline geographic layers for environmental impact assessments based on high-resolution shoreline data.
• Translating shoreline data into S-57 hydrographic standard formats for nautical charting based on the C-COAST attribution scheme.
• Analyzing long-term changes in coastal morphology based on NOAA's historical map interpretations.

Strengths

• Data is described as high-resolution and accurate for GIS applications.
• Shoreline maps were produced by the authoritative NOAA National Ocean Service and its predecessor agencies.
• Attribution uses the structured NGS C-COAST scheme, influenced by the IHO S-57 standard.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset scale are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data freshness should be verified; last metadata update is 2026-03-13.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

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

Time Range

Historical, but specific temporal coverage is not stated.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 21:33:11.464236; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Delaware Bay, Delaware, North America