NOAA Shoreline Data Rescue Project: Historical Shorelines of the Delaware River, PA

NOAA National Ocean Service automated high-resolution historical shoreline data for the Delaware River in Pennsylvania. These data are derived from shoreline maps produced by NOAA and its predecessor agencies based on imagery interpretation and field surveys. The attribution follows the NGS-developed C-COAST scheme, influenced by the IHO S-57 standard for translation compatibility.

Use Cases

• Analyze historical shoreline change and erosion rates based on the high-resolution automated shoreline data.
• Create GIS data layers for coastal management and planning based on the described geographic information system suitability.
• Translate shoreline data into S-57 compliant formats for hydrographic applications based on the C-COAST attribution scheme.
• Validate modern shoreline models against historical baselines based on the office interpretation of imagery and field surveys.

Strengths

• Data is described as high-resolution and accurate for GIS use.
• Shoreline maps are sourced from the authoritative NOAA National Ocean Service and its predecessor agencies.
• Attribution follows a structured scheme (C-COAST) designed for translation into the IHO S-57 standard.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Available file formats are PDF and HTML, which may not be directly machine-readable for analysis.

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 provided)

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 21:51:02.589993; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Delaware River, Pennsylvania, North America