Shoreline Data Rescue Project: Historical Shoreline of the Delaware River, NJ and PA

A high-resolution historical shoreline dataset for the Delaware River in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, automated for use as a GIS data layer. The data were derived from shoreline maps produced by the NOAA National Ocean Service and its predecessors, based on imagery interpretation and field surveys. The attribution follows the NGS-developed C-COAST scheme, influenced by the International Hydrographic Organization's S-57 standard.

Use Cases

• Analyzing historical shoreline change and erosion rates based on the high-resolution historical data.
• Creating or updating coastal base maps for GIS applications based on the automated shoreline data layer.
• Conforming shoreline data attribution to S-57 standards for hydrographic data exchange based on the C-COAST scheme.

Strengths

• Data were automated to provide an accurate high-resolution historical shoreline.
• Derived from authoritative NOAA National Ocean Service shoreline maps.
• Attribution scheme (C-COAST) was developed to conform various sources and is influenced by the international S-57 standard.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data are available only in PDF and HTML formats, which may require conversion for direct GIS use.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

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

Time Range

Historical (specific range not stated)

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 21:11:34.678577; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Delaware River, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, North America