Northern Ireland Historical Shoreline Change Analysis, 1800s Onwards

Ulster University, via OpenDataNI, provides historical shoreline data for the entire Northern Ireland coastline. The dataset was created by analyzing Ordnance Survey maps and aerial imagery from the early 1800s onward, using the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) to calculate rates of change. It includes statistics like Net Shoreline Movement and Linear Regression Rate, measured at 25-meter intervals.

Use Cases

• Modeling coastal erosion risk based on historical rate-of-change statistics.
• Visualizing shoreline retreat or accretion over time using the provided geospatial data.
• Assessing the impact of coastal management strategies by comparing historical shoreline positions.
• Conducting geospatial analysis of coastal change at 25-meter transect intervals.

Strengths

• Covers the entire Northern Ireland coastline.
• Analysis spans a long temporal range from the early 1800s.
• Rate-of-change statistics are calculated at a consistent 25-meter interval.
• Derived from multiple historical sources including Ordnance Survey maps and aerial imagery.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Ulster University, published by OpenDataNI.

Collection Method

Analysis of historical Ordnance Survey maps and aerial imagery using the ArcGIS Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS).

Time Range

Early 1800s onward.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-18 11:24:20.182487; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Northern Ireland coastline.