20 Aug 2025

SandSnap Filtering Techniques

Abstract: The aim of this Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory Special Report is to elucidate the new SandSnap image filters. These SandSnap filters distinguish between high-quality and poor-quality images and enhance accuracy in high-quality images. To achieve this goal, a dataset of 5,000 photos was created and curated for this endeavor. Images were collected that had varying levels of focus, sedimentological conditions, foreign objects present, distances from the sediment bed, coin types, and geographic locations. This dataset was used to train multiple quality control check models and uncover beneficial correlations. Additionally, an existing dataset of high-quality images was analyzed using various filtering techniques to highlight key features, leading to higher-accuracy scores. Using the findings from both the high-quality and poor-quality datasets, SandSnap was updated to increase usability and efficiently identify images that may lead to poor results. This ensures that user results can be calculated in less than a minute, emphasizing the commitment to maintaining a fast and responsive model.

21 Apr 2025

Potential Benefits of Subaqueous Soil Data on Department of Defense Installations

Purpose: Many domestic and international US Department of Defense (DoD) installations are located in coastal areas. Recent advances in the classification and mapping of subaqueous soils, which occur in shallow freshwater and marine environments, has the potential to benefit US military operations in several different ways. This technical note communicates the importance of subaqueous soil classification and describes how subaqueous soil information can inform the management of natural resources, infrastructure and transportation, mitigation of coastal storm risk, protection of the coast from natural threats, and the understanding of nearshore environments in the US and abroad.

14 Feb 2025

Validating Sediment Budgets Along the North Atlantic Coast Using the Updated Sediment Budget Calculator

Purpose: This Regional Sediment Management (RSM) technical note (TN) outlines two case studies validating the Sediment Budget Calculator (SBC) using accepted values from the literature and published sediment budgets. Initially developed by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) as a web-based tool, the SBC calculates all viable sediment transport rates for an inlet environment given user-defined inputs. The next-generation SBC was converted into Python 3.9 to make it more accessible than the original C++ version. These case studies outline the efficacy of the SBC tool for deriving accurate and reliable sediment budget values. Finally, the TN discusses future SBC improvements and efforts to incorporate SBC results into the Sediment Budget Analysis System (SBAS).

29 Mar 2022

Evaluating Cross-Shore Sediment Grain Size Distribution, Sediment Transport, and Morphological Evolution of a Nearshore Berm at Fort Myers Beach, Florida

Abstract: Navigation channels are periodically dredged to maintain safe depths. Dredged sediment was historically placed in upland management areas or in offshore disposal areas. Florida state law prohibits placement of beach fill sediment that contains more than 10% by weight of silt and clay, which is typically a characteristic of dredged material. An alternative is placement in a nearshore berm. Some potential benefits of nearshore berms include wave energy dissipation, reduced cost of dredging and shore protection, and possible onshore movement of the berm material. This study considers sediment distribution, morphological evolution, sediment transport, and shoreline trends along Fort Myers Beach, Florida, related to the nearshore berm constructed in August 2016. Due to timing of the field study, this report also includes information on the influence of a major hurricane that impacted the area. The overall conclusion of this study is that the dredge-sourced sediment in the berm performed as expected. Within 2 years, the berm adjusted to the shoreface environment, maintained a large part of its original volume, and contributed to protection of the beach and shoreline. The impact of Hurricane Irma included a shift in sediment textures and a large but temporary increase in shoreface sediment volumes.

25 Jun 2020

PUBLICATION NOTICE: Characterization of eroded mud aggregates with the Flume Imaging Camera System (FICS) and its added value to sediment management projects

Abstract: The goal of this technical note (TN) is to describe the functionality and added research value of the Flume Imaging Camera System (FICS), a US Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC)-developed system designed to measure the size of sediment particles immediately following erosion.

13 May 2020

PUBLICATION NOTICE: Technical Feasibility of Creating a Beach Grain Size Database with Citizen Scientists

ABSTRACT:  The goal of this Coastal and Hydraulics Engineering Technical Note (CHETN) is to investigate the feasibility of collecting beach grain size information with images collected by citizen scientists to build a globally accessible database. Engaging citizen scientists in scientific information collection through crowdsourcing has become a more popular and cost-effective way to collect large amounts of data while increasing interest in the research through public engagement (Irwin 2018). Citizen scientists equipped with their personal smartphones allow for very large datasets to be collected that would otherwise be financially or logistically impossible. Additionally, it provides an opportunity to educate and engage the general public.